SPECIAL TOPICS: CONTRIBUTIONS BY JOHN G. SHARP
Letters from and to the Gosport Navy Yard 1826-1828
Introduction: Letters and documents are the keys to unlocking the past; they are history in the raw. The following selected and transcribed letters were written from 1826-1828 to Commodore James Barron and the Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard. They describe the officers, the seamen, and daily events of the Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard.1 All of the authors wrote to Barron and Southard on important or troubling events which had occurred, or concerns they had about individuals assigned to the USS Alert. Their subject matter included military housing, medicine, opium, pensions, desertion, robbery, murder, a free black woman, mental illness, the rights of naval chaplains, anxious parents, and more. Most of the correspondence and documents from Gosport Navy Yard before 1861 were destroyed in the Civil War. We are fortunate that these unique letters and papers survived both time and war. They have been safely filed with the records of the Secretary of the Navy’s letters in Washington DC, and consequently escaped destruction. In transcribing these letters I hope to bring to life the teeming, noisy, contradictory, and sometimes violent world of Gosport. Today these fascinating manuscripts remain a mirror that allows us to peer into the past and view the hopes, concerns, and dreams of this now vanished generation.1 Samuel Lewis Southard June 9, 1787 – June 26, 1842 was a prominent U.S. statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy 1823-1829, and the tenth governor of New Jersey
Discussion: The focus of these letters is the USS Alert, which began life in 1804 as a 20 gun British naval sloop. During the War of 1812 the Alert was captured and became part of the United States Navy where she was assigned to Gosport Navy Yard. In June 1818 she became the navy yard’s first receiving ship. Through the years 1826-1828, the Alert was in “Ordinary;” that is she was designated as a ship or vessel held in reserve, or for later need. The Alert had seen hard service. Like most receiving ships her sails and substantial portions of her mast, spars, and rigging were removed to allow conversion into living and office spaces. Before the creation of training stations, she and receiving ships like her served the Navy as temporary barracks, a location to train new recruits, and to house veteran sailor’s in-between ships. In addition to recruits, the Alert contained the first apprentice school for boys established on 29 November 1826.2 Among its other functions the old ship served as jail used to confine captured deserters or those guilty of greater offenses prior to a court martial. In yet another usage in 1830, she served to temporarily hold two civilian witnesses to a murder.3 Lastly, due to the acute housing shortage in Norfolk, some officers and senior enlisted men (See James Barron’s letter 27 Dec 1827) had received permission from the commandant to live aboard and in Lt. David Glasgow Farragut’s case, to have his wife Susan accompany him4
2 A. B. Wyckoff The United Naval Apprentice System
http://navalapprentice.white-navy.com/history.shtml accessed 28 March 2019.
3 Baron to John Branch dated 13 February 1830 NARA RG 260 M125 “Captains Letters” 1 Feb 1830 -28 Feb 1830, letter 40 The two witnesses John L. Barker and Thomas Barret both merchant seamen had witnessed a “murder of a mate” (no name given) in Montevideo Uruguay and were needed to testify in a United States Court in Norfolk against Peter Gilson.
4 Robert J. Schneller Farragut: America’s First Admiral, ( Potomac Books 2002), 20.All military and civilian employees of Gosport Navy Yard were under the command of Commodore James Barron commandant of the shipyard from 1825-1831.5 The crew of the Alert was under the charge of Master Commandant Edmund Pendelton Kennedy. On a day to day basis, though the crew looked to the Alert’s first Lieutenant Farragut for their orders and work direction.6 Farragut knew the Alert better than anyone aboard. On 13 August 1812 as a twelve year old midshipman, he had been on the USS Essex when it defeated the Alert in battle.7 The crew included a small group of specialized officers, such as the Purser John De Bree.8 In keeping with naval regulations those assigned were required to muster periodically for record keeping and pay purposes. In a typical year the Alert received hundreds of new recruits prior to their transfer to permanent assignment on ship or shore. Besides Norfolk Virginia, receiving ships were also located at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. To maintain these ships required a substantial number of men to keep the vessels preserved and secure. The muster roll for January to September 1826 reflects the Alert had a crew of fifty seamen and fifteen marines.9 The seamen took care of many of the routine maintenance tasks on the station, and for ships that had seen hard service abroad and were awaiting restoration. Any ship in ordinary typically had a small or minimal crews comprised of sailors in transit, and semi-retired or disabled sailors who stayed aboard to ensure that the ship remained in usable condition, provided security, kept the bilge pump running, and ensured the lines were secure. The crew was housed on the ship either temporarily or for indefinite duration. While the seamen were responsible for the maintenance of the ship, the marines were responsible for providing security and ensuring the new recruits did not desert. Both groups were also responsible for whatever tasks and the shipyard commander assigned.
5 Commodore James Barron September 15, 1768 to April 21, 1851 served in the Quasi-War and the Barbary Wars, in which he commanded a number of famous ships, including the USS Essex and the USS President. As commander of the frigate USS Chesapeake, he was court-martialed for his actions in 1807, which led to the surrender of his ship to the British. After criticism from some fellow officers, the resulting controversy led Barron to a duel with Stephen Decatur, one of the officers who presided over his court-martial. Suspended from command, he pursued commercial interests in Europe during the War of 1812. Barron traveled extensively in Northern Europe including the Kingdom of Denmark, (26 January 1828) where he observed the poppy fields. Barron finished his naval career on shore duty, becoming the Navy's senior officer in 1839. Barron was commandant of the Gosport Navy Yard from 1825-1831. His letters from Gosport Navy Yard reflect a conscientious and capable manager. He also had an interest in nautical science and even submitted a detailed plan for new dry dock see his letter to the Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard of 21 July 1826. His Achilles heel as prominent naval historian Christopher McKee summarized it was “Barron’s actions in the Chesapeake –Leopard incident of 1807 inflicted a mortal wound on his professional reputation. He carried with him the seeds of his own downfall. A man of repeatedly proven bravery in the face of danger, he was also prey to deep pessimism that could reduce him to inaction at critical junctures when an ambiguous situation demanded moral rather than physical courage.” Christopher McKee's A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession the Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794-1815 ( Naval Institute Press: Annapolis MD 1991), 336.
6 Admiral David Glasgow Farragut July 5, 1801 to August 14, 1870 was a flag officer of the United States Navy in the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay usually paraphrased as "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" in U.S. Navy tradition. Born near Knoxville, Tennessee, Farragut was fostered by naval officer David Porter after the death of his mother. Despite his young age, Farragut served in the War of 1812 under the command of his adoptive father. He received his first command in 1824 and participated in anti-piracy operations in the Caribbean Sea. He served in the Mexican-American War under the command of Matthew C. Perry, participating in the blockade of Tuxpan. After the war, he oversaw the construction of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the first U.S. Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean.
7 Though Farragut resided in Norfolk, Virginia prior to the Civil War, he was a Southern Unionist who strongly opposed Southern secession and remained loyal to the Union after the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite some doubts about Farragut's loyalty, Farragut was assigned command of an attack on the important Confederate port city of New Orleans. After fighting past Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson, Farragut captured New Orleans in April 1862. He was promoted to rear admiral after the battle and helped extend Union control up along the Mississippi River, participating in the Siege of Port Hudson. With the Union in control of the Mississippi, Farragut led a successful attack on Mobile Bay, home to the last major Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico. Farragut was promoted to Admiral following the end of the Civil War and remained on active duty until his death in 1870.
8 Commodore Edmund Pendleton Kennedy (22 February 1785 to 28 March 1844) was an officer in the United States Navy. He became the first commander-in-chief of the East India Squadron. Kennedy was born in Maryland in 1780. He lost his parents in his early life. He entered as a boy on board the frigate John Adams. At the Battle of Tripoli Harbor in 1804, in the First Barbary War, Kennedy was gunner's mate on board and was distinguished by his valor and intrepid ardor in the performance of duty. He was promoted to midshipman on 22 November 1805. On 9 June 1810 Kennedy was promoted to lieutenant. Early in 1813 he was appointed to the command of the schooner Nonsuch, but was never permitted to go to sea. Kenney was transferred to the frigate Constellation at Norfolk ready for sea under Captain Charles Gordon. But Constellation was closely blockaded by a British Squadron and failed to get to sea. In April 1814, he moved to Lake Erie and was there until the end of the war. On 5 March 1817, he was promoted to master commandant, and to captain on 24 April 1828.
9 The Naval War of 1812 A Documentary History Vol.1 editor William S. Dudley (Naval Historical Center: GPO Washington DC 1985), 435.One of the principal responsibilities of the shipyard commandant was to ensure a sufficient number of seamen for the ships of the fleet. To accomplish this James Barron relied on the “naval rendezvous” (temporary recruiting centers) which opened as directed in the larger port cities of the east coast. Many of the men that arrived on the USS Alert were recruited in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, or Norfolk. The largest of the naval rendezvous in the 1820’s was in New York. Between 1815 and 1832, New York City shipped 12,002 of the estimated 22,157 seamen that enlisted for cruises in navy ships. A naval rendezvous was typically located near the waterfront and often relied on “crimps” men who recruited or ensnared seaman for a bounty or fee. Many of the crimps operated out of boarding houses while others owned them. Crimps and the proprietor often one and the same, dispense liquor to the unwary seamen or landsmen at over charged rates. This meant the debt could only be paid directly from the recruit signing the enlistment papers and signing over his three months advance wages at twelve dollars per month for able seaman, ten dollars for ordinary seaman, and eight dollars for a landsmen given up to the crimp and tavern owner.10
10 Bruce A. Castleman Knickbocker Commodore The Life and Times of John Drake Sloat 1781-1867 (State University of New York Press: Albany 2016) 126-128.
Not all naval recruits on the Alert were satisfied in their new vocation. Transformation from civilian life to the rigors of military life afloat was harsh and some failed to adapt. Many recruits, like the young Herman Melville who in 1843 shipped aboard the frigate USS United States as an Ordinary Seaman,11 found they “could not have chosen a more rigidly hierarchical, oppressive, and undemocratic world” then a naval frigate.12 New recruits were shocked to learn obedience to orders was a requisite of naval life enforced by often brutal punishment. However despite corporal punishment at sea such as flogging, or being beaten with a boatswain starter, many poor working class men came to depend on the navy for a place to stay. The men found that the monotonous but plentiful rations of salted meat (beef and pork), bread and vegetables, peas, rice, and their half pint of distilled spirits was a welcome daily ration. Modern nutritionist estimate the nineteen century naval sailor’s diet contained about 4000 calories well above the 2,500 to 3000 required by the average healthy male.13
11 National Archives and Records Administration microfilm roll T-829, Roll 446; Logs of USS UNITED STATES, Aug. 1843 to Oct 1844. “Honolulu Island of Oahu Friday August 18th, 1843 Shipped Herman Melville O. S. and Griffin Williams O.S.”
12 Lorie Robertson Melville: a Biography. (Clarkson N. Potter: New York, 1996), 117 and 129.
13 Charles E Brodine, Michael Crawford, and Christine Hughes: Ironsides!: The Ship, the Men and the Wars of the USS Constitution (Fireship Press, 2007), 65-68.In the 1820’s the average age of the naval seamen in the Gosport was age 27. The median age for all seamen in the period 1820-1820 was doubtless lower. Throughout these years the average lifespan was short by twenty-first century standards. Life expectancy at birth was 38.4 years for white American males and 23.0 years for blacks in the period 1820-1850.14 On 26 July 1820 Dr. Thomas Williamson, surgeon at the naval hospital Gosport, wrote that Joseph Barlou, a navy yard laborer age 56 years, suffered from “old age.”15
14 The Oxford Companion to United States History editor Paul S. Boyer “Life Expectancy” Michael Haines (Oxford University Press: New York 2001) 444-445.
15 Average age was computed by using ages stated in the Register of Patients for Gosport Naval Hospital 1821.Naval captains frequently complained to the Secretary of the Navy regarding the quality of the recruits the naval rendezvous provided their vessels, claiming that too many of the new men were old, infirmed, or had a criminal background. Sporadically, Commodore Barron would order a survey of the men recently taken aboard. This was accomplished by Dr. Thomas Williamson and the Gosport Naval Hospital staff. In such a survey (6 March 1828), each man was scrutinized and the results reported in a complete muster of all recent recruits and seamen, their names, pay grades, experience, and their overall fitness for duty.
The naval hospital in the 1820’s was still a rudimentary facility; in 1830 it was replaced with the first permanent naval hospital at Portsmouth. This following letter from Captain John Cassin, Commandant of the Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard, to Secretary of the Benjamin Crowninshield is dated 5 December 1816.a, b Cassin’s letter reflects the long standing tension regarding the chain of command and the authority of Commandants of Navy Yards and installations ashore over United States Marine Corps officers heading marine detachments at such places. In 1836 Commodore Lewis Warrington, Commandant of Gosport Navy Yard, 1829-1840, even “felt compelled to call for the arrest and court martial of Colonel [Archibald] Henderson” Commandant of the Marine Corps, on the charge of “disobedience of orders.”c Fortunately the Secretary of the Navy, Mahlon Dickerson, never acted on this request and the two men continued to work together.
Navy Yard Gosport, 5th December 1816
Sir,
Be pleased to excuse the liberty I have taken of addressing you on this subject having had it long in contemplation to write you on this subject which appears to be somewhat pregnant with evil, the inconsistency with all military subordination of planning the marine officer within the command or the captain commandant of a navy yard without subjecting him to the order of said commandant is so absurd that it is strange it should have been so long without being corrected, the marine officers who are stationed here while they admit the right of the commandant to give them orders respecting planning essentials and their duties within the yard contend they are not under the orders of the said commandant this having a right of command but not having the right to command is certainly paradoxical and in my opinion subversive to military discipline the case in point the commandant of marines on this station, has received orders from the Col[onel] Commandant to repair to a court martial at Philadelphia to set a court martial which is to convene on the 12th instant and the officer notified me this day, that he had delivered the command of the Marine guard to Lieutenant Green in consequence of the above orders.d
I beg leave to draw your attention to the 4th section of the Act of Congress titled an Act for establishing and arranging a Marine Corps passed July 11, 1798, clearly defines the rules and regulations to which the Marine Corps shall be subject expressly stating that they shall be governed by the same rules and articles of war as provided for the military establishment of the United States and by the Rules and regulation of the Navy hereafter on which shall be established by law according to the service in which they may be employed.e I contend that it cannot be contended that by guarding naval property with the Navy Yard commanded by a Naval Officer is not Naval Service merely doing duty on shore brings the Marines within military rules and is itself a military service with equal plausibility may it be argued that the captain commanding does not Naval duty but military service. But I append that a just construction of the afore mentioned law admits the Corps to be subject to military rules and regulations only when stationed in forts and garrisons or another duty on shore not within the jurisdiction of a naval commander. The injury that occurs to the public in practicing so incongruous a system is clearly in a letter from Commodore Bainbridge to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy in consequence of letter from me some time since on the same subject.f A copy of his letter is respectfully annexed to these remarks we further observe that we cannot discover that any sense of dignity can result to a Marine officer by being ordered by the commandant to report himself to the commandant of the yard at which he is stationed. If the said Marine officer from the nature of his commission; to be placed under the command of Lieutenant of the Navy on ship. And we are at a loss to discover in what manner it can possibility be inferred with what legal authority of the Col[onel] Commandant. We therefore recommend that orders be given to the Col[onel] Commandant of the Marine Corps in placing a detachment of Marines in the Navy Yard for the protection of naval property or for other reasons, he shall particularly direct the officer commanding to report himself to the commandant of the Navy Yard and for his orders in the same manner as if the said detachment were on board one of the vessels of our Navy, which I have the honor to submit for your consideration. I have the honor to be Sir, your obedient servant.[Signed] John Cassin
To: The Honorable Ben. Crowninshieldg
a Cassin to Crowninshield 5 December 1816, Letter Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Captains (“Captains Letters” ), 1805-61, 1865-85 volume 51, 1 October 1816, 31 December 1816, letter number 92, RG 260, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
b Commodore John Cassin (July 7, 1760 to March 24, 1822) was a United States Navy officer, who led the vital defense of Gosport Navy Yard during the War of 1812 and served as its Commandant from 10 August 1812 until 1 June 1821.
c Warrington to Dickerson, 10 February 1836 Letter Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Captains (“Captains Letters” ), 1805 to 61, 1865 to 85 volume 214, 1 February 1836 to 29 February 1836, letter number 26, RG 260, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
d Lt. Col. Franklin Wharton, 1767-1818, third Commandant of the Marine Corps. “Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Wharton, USMC". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps https://web.archive.org/web/20110615064816/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/
Whos_Who/Wharton_F.htm accessed 19 March 2021
e U.S. Congress 11 July 1798, "An Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps". http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=7833&page=1 Retrieved 19 March 2021.f Commodore William Bainbridge 1774-1833 Naval History and Heritage Command,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb-files/zb-files-b/bainbridge-william.html
Bainbridge briefly commanded Norfolk Navy Yard from 1798 to 1800 but the letter Cassin referred to was probably written during Bainbridge’s years as Commandant of the Charlestown Navy Yard.g Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (December 27, 1772 to February 3, 1851) served as the United States Secretary of the Navy between 1815 and 1818, during the administrations of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe.
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This 8 September 1817 letter from Commodore John Cassin to the Secretary of the Navy provides some idea of the old Gasport Navy Yard hospital. The hospital’s central location, at the middle of the busy shipyard made it an unavoidable sight when dead patients were removed. For navy yard workers the old hospital quickly became a source of dread and worry as a font of possible contagious disease in their midst.
Navy Yard Gosport, 8th September 1817
Sir,
I beg leave to draw your attention to the situation in which we are placed in this yard by having the Hospital placed in the Center of the yard having lost five men since the first instant. One Sergeant & three Private Marines, and one Seaman, which was seen by all at work & having created such alarm that one half the laborers have left the yard, apprehension of some contagious disease prevailing which I submit for your consideration. Very Respectfully your Obedient Servant
[Signed] John Cassin[To] The Honorable, Benj. W. Crowninshield
Source: Cassin to Crowninshield, 8 September 1817, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Captains ("Captains' Letters") 1805-1861; 1866-1885, volume 55, letter number 8, RG 260 National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC
In 1830 the Naval Hospital it was replaced with the first permanent naval hospital at Portsmouth. Leading the hospital was Surgeon Thomas Williamson USN (1791-1859). Dr. Williamson had rapidly established himself as an energetic and resourceful naval physician and, except for two tours at sea as fleet surgeon to the Mediterranean Squadron, from 1831 until 1855, he remained chief surgeon and officer in charge.16 Two of the transcribed letters deal with Dr. Thomas Williamson and Commodore Barron’s interest in opium production. Dr. Williamson wanted Barron to forward to “the Secretary of the Navy, a specimen of opium extracted from the whole poppy, cultivated in the garden of the Hospital.” At that time opium was part of the standard pharmacopoeia, and used for the treatment of pain and diarrhea by such notables as Thomas Jefferson, but its addictive properties not widely known.17 Opium was available for sale in all major cities including Norfolk, and was mostly imported from Turkey and Persia (modern Iran).18 Gosport Naval Hospital registers for 1827 reflect Dr. Williamson used opium as tincture in his practice sparingly for most opium was imported and relatively expensive.19 This was most likely laudanum a common tincture of opium and widely used in nineteenth century medicine. Commodore Barron was primarily focused on opium as a profitable and marketable crop “Sixty two thousand three hundred and eight plants may be raised on one acre of land, each plant will yield seventeen grains of superior opium, and the seed of those plants about thirty or forty gallons of delicious salad oil, therefore, it is evident, that an acre of land cultivated for this object, would produce a gross amount of eight hundred and ninety two dollars-” Secretary of the Navy Southard comments about Dr. Williamson’s idea reflects his cautious approach and a desire for greater study. See letters dated 14 October 1827 and 21 and 26 January 1828.
16 John G. Sharp "Gosport Naval Hospital Staff in 1834" Norfolk Navy Yard 2019 retrieved 3 April 2019 http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/nnysharp10.html
17 Jefferson to Dunglison November 17, 1825, Special Collections University of Virginia Library. Transcription available at Founders Online, see also John M. Dorsey, ed., The Jefferson-Dunglison Letters (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1960), 41-42.
18 American Beacon (Norfolk VA) 12 July 1823, p.3, Advertisement Archer & Co. “Have just received a large invoice of Wormwood, Opium Epson Salts…” etc .
19 U.S., Naval Hospital Tickets and Case Papers, 1825-1889 National Archives and Records Administration Gosport Naval Hospital dated 1 January 1827 re Dr. Thomas Williamson Rx for: “Scott persist with pills of Sac Sat & Opium [with ] his port wine…”In the antebellum era black seamen were a common sight in Norfolk. Reliable data shows them well over ten percent of all enlistees.20 Black men served aboard the Alert. James Barron (5 March 1827) detailed the stabbing and murder of one such man, the Alert cook Charles Morris. Life in the naval service exposed all seaman to a multitude of dangers, but large naval vessels and shore stations typically had a doctor or surgeons mate aboard and naval hospitals such as those at Gosport, Washington DC, and New York City provided free care to ill seaman comparable or better than that accorded their civilian counterparts. Herman Melville wrote that although he was never officially on the sick list, when he “felt in need of a little medicine [would on occasion] call upon the hospital steward who would mix him a potion in a tin cup…” To his surprise the young apothecary charged nothing for it. In White Jacket Melville devoted a chapter “The Hospital in a Man of War” where he contrasted merchant vessels with the naval service and found ill naval seamen treated favorably. “The privilege of going off duty and lying by when you are sick is one of the few points in which a man-of-war is far better for the sailor than a merchantman.”21 The mortality rate for Gosport Naval Hospital was relatively low. For the year 1829 -1830, the hospital admitted or prescribed for 300 patients with 9 deaths. The most common cause of death (four cases) was “consumption” or pulmonary tuberculosis.22 Naval vessels and shore stations also generally enforced a higher standard of cleanliness than their civilian counterparts. New recruits quickly found that much of their time was devoted to sweeping, scrubbing decks, ventilating spaces and fumigating the ships hold to reduce vermin.23
20 John G. Sharp "The Recruitment of African Americans in the U.S. Navy, 1825-1839" Norfolk Navy Yard 2019
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/nnysharp8.html retrieved 31 March 2019. In 1839 of the 1016 men for naval service, 122 were black or 12%. Philadelphia had the highest level, entering a total of 176 men, “of which 39 were Blk” for 22.1 % of the total. Norfolk station recruited 180 men total “of which 16 were Blk” or 8.89%. Similar recruitment patterns are evident in the limited data for 1827. In a letter from William Bainbridge Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard to Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard dated 14 September 1827 NARA M125 RG 260“Captains Letters” 30 July 1827 to 6 Oct 1827, letter 51. Bainbridge writes, “Finding that 18 Blacks had been entered in the total number of 102 [17.6%]. I ordered the Recruiting officer, not to exceed any more until further orders.”
21 Herman Melville White Jacket or the World in a Man-of-War (Library of America: New York 1983) G. Thomas Tansselle editor First published 1850.
22 Thomas Williamson to James Barron 1830 undated NARA M125 RG 260 “Captains Letters” Letter Received from Captains 1805- 1885, 1 Jan 1830 to 31 Jan 1830, letter number 10.
23 Ironsides, 75.For Commodore James Barron the desertion of new recruits and able seaman was a constant worry and frustration (19 April 1827). Barron attributed naval desertions “to the feeble state of the Marine guard attached to this Yard” and proposed stringent penalties. His worries entailed more than simple desertion for recruits often pleaded to the Secretary of the Navy stating they were erroneously enlisted. Each month fresh queries made their way to Barron and the Secretary of the Navy Southard desk from distressed parents seeking information or begging for their errant child’s discharge. Three such examples are included in the letters below. The first regards Ann Randall’s grandson Thomas Young dated 28 July 1826. Randall a free black woman claimed her grandson Thomas was illegally shipped [enlisted]. While the facts are hard to untangle he had fallen victim to a crimp, though his troubles were compounded when he was charged with desertion. The second group of letters pertains to John Wells and Mirland Garland (see 28 September 1827) two sailmaker apprentices possibly lured by tales of adventure they heard on the Philadelphia water front, seeking a life at sea the two left their employer in Philadelphia. Next they journeyed to New York City where they promptly enlisted in the navy. Following transfer to Norfolk and the entering the Receiving Ship Alert, both boys hurriedly wrote their mothers and former employer each imploring help to secure their discharge and return to civilian life. The third (13 February 1828) relates the story of Thomas H. Steel, a forty one year old mechanic from Alexandria Virginia who allegedly, “in a moment of intoxication, enlisted as an ordinary seaman.” Steel, once he realized what he had done wrote desperate letters to his father, requesting help, secure a discharge.
While alcohol may have played a part in the enlistment of Thomas Steel, it figured significantly in the attempted robbery of the spirit room of the USS North Carolina see 12 November 1827. In that case as James Barron related it to Southard the two witnesses thought the sole object of the prisoners was to obtain spirits to drink. In 1844 Herman Melville while on the USS United States paid close attention to the ship officers and noted their drinking habits. Melville later in White Jacket contrasted what he perceived as the best and the worst characteristics of naval leadership and famously lampooned the ship’s Captain James Armstrong as “Captain Claret” for being a heavy drinker.24 On 10 May 1828 Barron writes of seeing a young Midshipman William H. Pendleton drunk about the streets of Norfolk. As this was not Pendleton’s first episode Barron suspended Pendleton from duty.25 Dr. Thomas Williamson chief of Gosport Naval Hospital and Alert surgeon attributed the deaths of Seaman John Horsey age 43 and William Wallace age 22 both suffering from malignant fever (yellow fever) as aggravated by “strong drink”2624 Robert L. Gale A Herman Melville Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press: Westport, 1995), 407.Alexander Murray served from 22 Aug 1835 until his retirement with the rank of rear admiral 26 April 1876. Murray died 10 Nov 1884. Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-1900 http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1069
25 William H. Pendleton Midshipman, 1 September 1827. Resigned 7 July 1835.
26 Register of Patients U.S. Naval Hospital Gosport volume 5 1818-1823 September 1820 John Horsey patient number 300 and William Wallace patient number 302 Record Group 52: Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 1812-1975 National Archives Washington DC.Two newly discovered letters of Chaplain Edward McLaughlin of 17 February 1827 and Dr. Thomas Williamson 24 February 1827 to Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard offers insight into the evolving role of military chaplains and their conflicts with the medical profession. Chaplain McLaughlin stressed to Southard, his need to visit patients at the hospital. “It does appear to me, Sir, there is too much formality for the case, and the rule might be dispensed with or modified as to allow the Chaplain a free ingress and access to the Camber of misery.”
Dr. Williamson responded to Southard of his unease with chaplains entering the wards with no notice. “Cases do occur when the presence of a minster would be attended with the [wrong] consequences – the patient perhaps is much debilitated - the surgeon approaches with the Minister accompanying him – the patient immediately thinks that the Surgeon considers his case hopeless and that he resigns him to the Minster – here the fear of death might produce it – It has always been my practice never to abandon a patient no matter how hopeless.”
In yet another letter by Dr. Williamson (14 October 1827) reflects his concern for Lt. Joseph Cutts, a young officer suffering from a severe mental disorder. Williamson was concern for Cutts and the safety of hospital staff. “[He is] now a maniac here. His derangement continues without any mitigation and without the smallest hope of his recovery here. There are no accommodations in the Hospital for a person in his situation, and I feel it is my duty to state to you the necessity of his removal to some asylum more appropriate to persons in a state similar to his.”During this same period the Alert there were surprising acts of kindness and generosity. The selection below includes two letters to the Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard from writers asking that a place be found for two aged and distressed seamen, Edward Coffee (11 October 1827) and John McCarty (2 October 1827). Both letters were from former shipmates and friends. In McCarty’s case the requestors liked their former shipmate so much, they actually took up a collection from their own meager resources and asked Southard to deduct it from their pay. Secretary Southard granted both Coffee and McCarty pensioner status, See: Survey of the Receiving Ship Alert dated 5 February 1828.
Abbreviations: The following are some of abbreviations commonly found in the letters and documents below. Landsmen is abbreviated “Lds”, Landsmen were the lowest rank of the United States Navy in the nineteen century. Landsmen were almost always new recruits with little or no experience at sea and typically performed menial, unskilled work aboard ship. A Landsman who gained three years of experience or re-enlisted could be promoted to Ordinary Seaman. Next is, Ordinary Seaman is abbreviated “O.S.” or “OSea” the second-lowest rank of the nineteenth century. This was the U.S. Navy ranking above Landsman and below Seaman. Promotion from Landsman to Ordinary Seaman normally required three years of experience or re-enlistment or had prior service in the merchant marine. An ordinary seaman who gained six years of life at sea and “knew the ropes”, that is, knew the name and use of every line in the ship’s rigging could be promoted to seaman. An Ordinary Seaman’s duties aboard ship included “handling and splicing lines, and working aloft on the lower mast stages and yards. Seamen were enlisted men who had served at least three years and were experienced in most of the stations found aboard a naval vessel such as the helm, sea and anchor detail, gunnery and had shown proficiency in working sails. Apprentices is abbreviated “App”, apprentices were boys, between the ages of 12 -18 who were in training and usually promoted to Ordinary Seaman on reaching maturity. Lastly as a rank the “Petty Officer” was between naval officers (both commissioned and warrant) and most enlisted sailors. Petty officers usually were men with years of experience working with the ship’s boatswain mate and quartermaster, or as a clerk to the captain or the purser.
Transcription: This transcription was made from digital images of letters and documents received by the Secretary of the Navy, NARA, M125 “Captains Letters” National Archives and Records. In transcribing all passages from the letters and memorandum, I have striven to adhere as closely as possible to the original in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviation, superscripts, etc., including the retention of dashes and underlining found in the original. Words and passages that were crossed out in the letters are transcribed either as overstrikes or in notes. Words which are unreadable or illegible are so noted in square brackets. When a spelling is so unusual as to be misleading or confusing, the correct spelling immediately follows in square brackets and italicized type or is discussed in a foot note.
John G. Sharp, 10 April 2019* * * * * * * * * *
Editor's Note: In 1826 Ann Randall a free black women, wrote to Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard numerous times to request the discharge of her grandson Thomas Young. While some of the facts and exact circumstances of this case are difficult to discern, Randall asserted Young was a minor and the Shipping Master (recruiter) induced him to enlist. In response Captain Edmund P. Kennedy in his 17 June 1826 letter described Randall as a “free mulato women” and “very worthless character” Kennedy’s attitude toward free blacks was common place. Many white Virginians shared similar and believed that blacks were more dangerous when freed then when enslaved.27 Randall contended her grandson Tom “was wrongly shipped” (enlisted) and that she had never agreed to his induction. Kennedy in his letter mentions Tom Young was “my servant” on the Hornet and had stolen some clothes and supplies. The term “servant” in early Virginia was frequently a polite euphemism for slave, and regularly used in the naval correspondence, musters, payrolls and hospital registers.28
27 Alan Taylor Slavery and War in Virginia 1772-1832 The Internal Enemy (WW Norton: New York 2015), 100.
28 Surviving Gosport records contain numerous examples of “servant”, e.g. Gosport Naval Hospital Registers for 23 January 1825 prescription “Com Barron Servant” and “Capt. Gallagher’s servant” and 13 July 1825 “Dr. Williamson’s Servt” Occasionally the given name was included e.g.
7 September 1820 “Capt. Warrington’s (Serv) Henry” in some instance we have the family name as on 21 October 1822 “ James Bacchus: C. W.’s Servant “and 16 March 1822 “Corn[elius] Soans age 15 Drs Servant” and 1 January 1823 “Cornelius Soanes age 17 Servant.”Captain Kennedy was a slaveholder and for the 1830 census in Norfolk Virginia enumerated as “Capt. E.P Kennedy” with seven slaves. One of the economic benefits of being a naval officer and slaveholder, the officer “could enlist his experienced mariner – slave at an appropriate rating and receive the slave’s wages as income.”29 Kennedy was considered a brave and resourceful officer yet for all his “superlative leadership qualities…was a man of hot (if usually controlled) temper and one thoroughly enculturated causal violence endemic in a war ship.” In 1806 he flogged a servant (slave) onboard the Brig USS Franklin so harshly that he was forced to explain his actions to the Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith.30
29 Christopher McKee A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession the Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794-1815 ( Naval Institute Press Annapolis MD 1991), 333.
30 Christopher McKee, 229.
If a recruit was enslaved, or intoxicated, he could not have been enlisted legally.31 If he was below eighteen years of age parental consent was required. However while the enlistment of enslaved persons was illegal, at Norfolk the practice of enlisting slaves was frequent. As late 1845 the Commandant Commodore Thomas Wilkerson had to confess to the Secretary of the Navy “It is my duty, however to appraise the Department, that a majority of them are negro slaves, and that a large portion of those employed in the Ordinary for many years, have been of that description, but by what authority I am unable to say as nothing can be found in the records of my office on the subject – These men have been examined by the Surgeon of the Yard and regularly Shipped for twelve months.”32 In the end, Ann Randall’s pleading for her grandson’s discharge received no credence nor did it change the determination. In a note dated 2 Aug 1826 Southard simply concluded: “As my view of case not changed will not order his discharge without further evidence.”
31 James Barron to John Branch dated 22 Sept 1830 NARA M125 RG 260 re discharge of Charles Hogskins, a minor 17 years of age at enlistment.
32 Wilkinson to Bancroft, 6 December 1845 NARA M125 RG 260 “Captains Letters” Letter Received from Captains 1805-1885, 1 Nov 1845 to 31 Dec 1845, letter number 84, 1-2 and John G. Sharp, Negro Slaves Employed at Gosport Navy Yard, 1845 Norfolk Navy Yard http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/nnysharp12.html retrieved 30 March 2020.Editor's Note: The shipping masters in the merchant service were individuals who helped fit out a vessel prior to a voyage typically recruiting the crew and negotiating with suppliers. There is no comparable title in the US Navy of the era. Mr. Lassin was possibly a crimp see introduction for discussion of their role in recruitment. There was a Miles King (1747-1814), a merchant in Hampton, who served intermittently on coastal patrols in Virginia thru the Revolution. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Elizabeth City County in 1777 and 1778 and served in that body continuously from 1784 until 1798. He also was a member of the Virginia convention that ratified the federal Constitution in 1788. He was not appointed collector of the port of Norfolk, but in 1798 he resigned from the House of Delegates to assume the relatively lucrative position of clerk of his county’s court. In 1804 and again in 1805 he was elected mayor of Norfolk. King’s son Miles King Jr., was later the Navy Agent in Norfolk Virginia and also served as mayor of Norfolk in 1813 and 1832
Norfolk May 31st 1826
Sir,
Having received no letter from you, had induced me to trouble you again – Suffer me to say Sir, Sometime ago a Mr. Lassin Shipping Master, came to my House and he wished to no, if I would ship my Grandson Thomas – I told him he had enough of the shipping; I told him that if he expressed a wish to do so, that the shipping master would give me 8 [illegible dollars a month and if not he should by no means go. He got to Drinking and [illegible] Mr. Lassin shipped him. He is a youth 18 years of age, his mother died when he was only 3 years old. He has been with me ever since. He was my daughter’s son. It is my wish Sir that you have him discharged. I am a poor old woman and truly distressed I spoke to Mr. Miles King Agent of the Borough. He directed me to write to you to beseech you to have him discharged. I shall wait patience for your response I am Sir &c
Ann Randall* * * * *
Norfolk 17th June 1826
Sir,
In re to the inclosed letter recd by you from Ann Randall – You will perceive by Capt. Kennedy’s letter what character sustains; and what claim he has for a discharge. This Ann Randall is not a woman of good character; and is in fact, altho she complains of the lad being shipped, was the person herself who went to the Landlord, and requested him to enter him; but his being destitute of clothes, a part of his advance was used for that purpose; and in consequence of they were not satisfied. I also enclose a list of five men who were sent from the Macedonian to the Alert, as unfit for service.33I shall await your instruction respecting them.
I have the honor to be & remain
with high regard Sir
Your Obt. Sevt.
A. Sinclair33 The USS Macedonian began life as a British naval vessel HMS Macedonian. She was built in 1809. The Macedonian left Madeira on 22 October 1812, but only a few days later, on the morning of 25 October, encountered USS United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur. The United States had just declared war on the United Kingdom, and both captains were eager to achieve personal glory in a fight. Unfortunately for Macedonian, United States was a 44-gun heavy frigate, and her broadside was 864 pounds of metal, versus Macedonian's 528 pounds. USS United States hove round, turning downwind and making HMS Macedonian chase her. Within a few minutes of closing, fire from United States’ 24-pounder cannons brought down all three of Macedonian's masts, and riddled the hull. United States then pulled away temporarily, leaving the British time to contemplate their lack of options. Finally, with United States preparing to rake the British vessel again, she struck her colors, making Macedonian the second Royal Navy vessel to surrender to the Americans during the war On 20 May 1815 she departed for the Mediterranean to join Commodore Decatur's 10-ship squadron in the Second Barbary War in Algeria, a renewal of naval action against the Barbary powers, to stop harassment of American shipping. On 17 June the frigate assisted in the capture of the Algerian flagship, the frigate Mashuda, by frigates Constellation and Guerriere, the sloops-of-war Epervier and Ontario. The signing of a treaty with Tunis and Tripoli on 7 August, following that with Algeria in June, won maritime freedom in the Mediterranean. The next three years Macedonian patrolled there and off the East Coast. From January 1819 to March 1821 the frigate operated off the Pacific coast of South America, giving aid and protection to the commercial ships in the area among the disorders following the Latin American colonial revolts, before returning to Boston in June 1821. On 11 June 1826 USS Macedonian departed Norfolk for service on the Pacific station, returning to Hampton Roads, 30 October 1828. She was decommissioned in 1828 and was broken up at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The crew for this final voyage included William Henry Leonard Poe, brother of American writer Edgar Allan Poe.
* * * * *
Receiving Ship Alert
June 17th 1826Sir,
Ann Randall, who has written to the Honble Secty of the Navy respecting her Grandson Thomas Young, is a free mulatto Woman & is a very worthless Character. She has four daughters & a Son & as notorious a set of thieves & drunkard as can be found in Virginia. Tom Young was in Gaol [Jail] at the time he entered [enlisted] for the service & on that account he escaped punishment, he is a very smart lad but a great rascal, he was my servant on board the Hornet & stole my stores & clothes – he might be assisted by his Grandmother by [illegible] The letters signed by Ann Randall is in the hand writing of a notorious scoundrel by the name of Rose who lives with the Husband of A. Randall.34
Very Respectfully
Your Obt. Servt.
E.P. Kennedy
To Capt. A. Sinclair35
Chf Nav Station Norfolk34 USS Hornet was a brig-rigged (later ship-rigged) sloop-of-war in the United States Navy. In the War of 1812, she was the first U.S. Navy ship to capture a British privateer.
35 Arthur Sinclair Lieutenant, 10 June 1807. Master Commandant, 2 July 1812. Captain, 24 July 1813. Died 7 February 1831* * * * *
Norfolk June 7 - 1826
Sir,
I flatter myself with the pleasure & expectation that I should have recd an answer from you long ago, I cannot Sir, construe the cause, I write you again Sir, to inform you, that I have a Child, 18 years of age and Mr. Lessing, Shipping Master of this port shipped him –without my approbation my sole dependence was upon him for my support. I have never received [illegible] of a shilling from him. I hope Sir, you will have him Discharged, I am a poor old Woman and whose sole support relies on and upon him, do Sir, write me in answer to this letter I am Miserable beyond Expression. I am Sir – Your obt. Servt. Ann Randall* * * * *
Norfolk July 28 – 1826
Sir,
Received you letter of sometime ago, where in you informed me, that you could not discharge my son Thomas Young, that he was legally [enlisted] by the Shipping Master of the Borough, this Sir, is wrong, for this reason, I can prove by a respectable man in this Borough, that he was wrongly shipped. This can be proved, if you [are] requiring it. In the first place, the Boy, was under age, and secondly, I never consented, that he should be shipped, But the Shipping Master, [Recruiting Officer]ungenerously shipped him – I promise you, I can prove it, that I never recd a shilling. I have taken in the advice of every Lawyer in this –Borough, now Sir, if you will not consent to have my son discharged, I shall commence a suite against the Shipping Master. Suffer me to say Sir; my Child has been much erroneously shipped Contrary to the Laws of our Country. I therefore hope Sir, you may Order him to be discharged -Your answer to this letter, and will much oblige your Obt. ServtAnn Randall
Editor's Note Obverse by Samuel L. Southard “As my view of case not changed will not order his discharge without further evidence.” 2 Aug 1826
* * * * *
Editor's Note: “The Season” or “sickly season” in Norfolk Virginia was thought to be May to September. The season was signaled by the return of the West India Squadron in early spring. Frequently these squadron ships returned with their crews already suffering yellow fever, or other tropical diseases. The great majority of the officer corps came from portions of the United States where they had no familiarity with tropical diseases. The desire to flee what was correctly perceived as a life threatening environment manifested itself in a steady stream of letters to the Navy Office especially from officers assigned to southern stations.36 Before the advent of germ theory, the exact cause was something of a mystery. The medical profession generally ascribed the disease to bad air miasma. Today, we know yellow fever and malaria as an acute febrile viral disease transmitted in humans by the female Aedes, mosquito.37 Fear of disease made naval, marine officers and civilian officials desire to relocate their families to the north during “the season”.
36 McKee, 410.
37 Samuel Choppin "History of the The Importation of Yellow Fever Into the United States From, 1693 to 1878." Public Health Reports and Papers, Volume IV: 190-206, American Public Health Association. Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1880, 195.United States Navy Yard
Gosport July 18th 1826Sir,
The objects which appeared particularly to interest the Navy Commissioners in this Yard and those which require my personal attention being now generally finished, or nearly so, I have to solicit the indulgence of your permission to visit the North for the balance of the warm weather which is considered our sickly season here. During this period I have constant apprehension of fever having but seldom escaped the expectation of the climate when exposed to its influence. I wish to start on Monday the 31st of the month for Washington. I have the Honor to be
Sir
Most respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James BarronThe Honorable
Samuel L Southard
Secretary of the Navy Washington DC
Editor's Note: The attendants at the naval hospital were slaves. Officers who wanted liquor or brandy would on occasion press them to purchase it for them. Midshipman Charles Childs was appointed a midshipman on 28 January 1815 and was dismissed from the navy on 1 May 1828.(Copy) U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
8 Febr 1827Sir,
I have this day discharged from the Hospital on account of his conduct Midshipman Charles B. Childs. He endeavored to make one of the attendants act dishonestly by getting him to obtain brandy for him, he in a very unofficer manner struck the attendant with his fist, and inflicted blows upon him with a stick of wood. As this was in direct violation of the rules of this establishment I considered him to unworthy an object for a hospital and discharged him instantly.
Very Respectfully
(Signed) Thomas Williamson
[To] Commodore James Barron
Commanding
Navy Yard
Gosport VirgaThe following entries are from the Gosport Naval Hospital. They were extracted from Dr. Thomas Williamson daily case notes. 38
38 Hospital Tickets and Case Papers compiled 1825 -1889 Department of the Navy, Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Record Group 52 National Archives at Washington DC, Norfolk, Virginia, 1825-1827, roll 1.
24 November 1826: “Friday Evening into the Hospital Charles B. Childs by an order from Commodore Barron Rx Sal Epson tart antimony”
25 November 1826: “Mr. Childs has an apparent exostosis on the tibia, he says in 1818 he had the tibia fractured on board the Macedonian while in the Pacific Ocean there is great enlargement and some inflammation his general health is good, appetite good and natural functions good.”
8 February 1827 “Mr. Childs –This officer is discharged This day from the Hospital his conduct this morning has been most outrageous & improper – he has repeatedly been guilty of bad conduct, Such a man is fit for no establishment.”
U.S. Naval Hospital Gosport Va
March 1, 1827Sir,
Commodore Barron has put me this day in possession of a copy of a letter addressed by Midshipman Charles B. Childs to the Department. As it is necessary to enter fully into the matter so as to give you an opportunity of judging correctly the subject, I deem it important to lay the following statement before you.
On the morning of February 8, 1827, when I was about entering the Hospital gate I found Samuel McFall one of the attendants in tears – I interrogated him upon the cause, he stated Mr. Childs had struck him in the face with his fist and inflicted blows upon him with a stick of wood – As such conduct was in direct violation of positive orders which I had frequently given to officers in the Hospital (that no attendant should be punished without my orders) I sent for Mr. Childs to know the reason for his acting contrary to orders – and to know the reason why he had punished the attendant – He said he was insolent to him – this I did not believe, as I knew the man too well to know he would not be guilty of such conduct and I was convinced what Mr. Childs had stated was incorrect, as I had but too often found him guilty of such things – He acknowledged the fact of beating the man and I instantly ordered him out of the Hospital – I then questioned the attendants, whose integrity and veracity I have never doubted and whose general good conduct has been most exemplary (as is fully proven by the certificates of officers who had been sick here, and by the Surgeon Mate and Steward of the Hospital) and directed him to state if he knew any reason why Mr. Childs had treated him thus, he said that a short time previous during the temporary absence of the Steward (in case of emergency) that Mr. Childs had endeavored to make him act dishonestly by getting him to obtain the brandy belonging to the Hospital –I considered this is the proximate cause of the difficulty - the attendant would not act dishonestly and he became his enemy from this time - Perhaps I may not have stated in my note to Commodore Barron as correctly as I ought to have done, the following facts upon which I discharged Mr. Childs from the Hospital
1st He was unworthy of being a patient there as he endeavored to make one of the attendants act dishonestly toward the Government –
2nd He violated my orders in beating one of the attendants –
3rd I do not consider him a man of veracity and for that at the time permitted him to go on liberty he stated he would return at a stated time he did not do so –
Mr. Childs acknowledges the fact of beating of one of the attendants – this is what I considered him guilty of – the attendant who is a man of veracity says that Mr. Childs endeavored to obtain brandy unlawfully from him – Mr. Childs says he did not – I must believe the attendant as I know him to be a man of truth - Childs I know has told me many things that were not correct more particularly when he said he would return to the Hospital at a particular time and has not done so, or given such a reason as he ought to have done so for violating his word –
I think Commodore Warrington will be able to state to you that during the time he commanded the Gosport Navy Yard Mr. Childs was several times reported to him for quitting the Hospital without permission – I mention this as it will show you that this officer has frequently been complained of whether justly or not I must leave to your decision –
I am authorized by Capt. Gallagher, Lieutenant Rose and Scott to state distinctly that they have never given any testimonials of good conduct to Midshipman Charles B. Childs – If you will examine the copy of the letter of Midshipman Childs, you will find that states, permit me to refer you to such testimonials afforded me by Capt. Gallagher and Lieutenants Rose and Scott –
They have never done what he has stated and this fully proves that he does not at all time times state the facts, if further proof were necessary -I have the honor to be Sir your most respectfully servant
T.V. WiesenthalI certify that I have been doing duty at the U S Naval Hospital at Gosport since August 1826 and have had ample opportunity of witnessing and judging the conduct of the several attendants employed in the Hospital and that I have always found Samuel McFall remarkably correct and particularly attentive to his duty and that I consider Samuel McFall a man of strict honesty and unimpeachable veracity – I further certify that Midshipman Charles B. Childs while a patient, in this Hospital did violate a regulation of the Institution by absenting himself without permission -
(Signed) T.V. Wiesenthal
Commanding Officer
United States Navy Yard
Gosport March 24th 1828Sir,
Since I returned to you the letter intended for Midshipman Childs, he made his appearance here, and was informed of its purport to which he replied that he should not resign –
I do not know, that this information can be of any importance, but have thought it my duty to convey it, less he should avail himself of any advantage that his being supposed to be still in the service may afford –
I have the Honor to be Sir,
Most respectfully
Your Obedient Servient
James BarronThe Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington DCNote: Secretary of the Navy Southard “Write a letter to Mr. Childs & inform him that his services are dispense with.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Editor's Note: Edward McLaughlin was Gosport Navy Yard chaplain on 17 February 1827 and wrote to the Secretary of the Navy to state naval chaplains be allowed visit patients of the hospital.39 Chaplain McLaughlin claimed Dr. Thomas Williamson had denied him admittance. McLaughlin wrote there have been “lately two deaths, of the sickness of which cases I was never apprised until notified to attend the funerals. One of these men I was told died in great distress of mind and was very desirous to see me during his short illness.” McLaughlin further requested that he be notified whenever there were patients in the hospital who were seriously ill. Dr. Williamson replied “compliance was impossible.” Williamson’s reservations about chaplains on the hospital wards were not unique.40
39 E. McLaughlin to Southard 17 February 1827 NARA RG 45 Navy Officers Letters 1802-1884, 1 Jan 1827 to 18 May 1827, Volume 107 -108.
40 When Samuel L. Southard became Secretary of the Navy on 16 September 1823, he instigated reform. Southard changed how chaplains were selected and urged chaplains pay greater attention to moral reform and ministering to seamen. Clifford M. Drury History of the Chaplain Corps Vol.1, 1798-1934 (Bureau of Naval Personnel Washington DC 1982 ), 43. http://www.navybmr.com/study%20material/14281.pdf
Southard later made the following notation on the back of McLaughlin‘s letter: “Write to Dr. Wmson [Williamson] that it is desirable where there is an attending Chaplain he should be admitted unless the sick requires another.”41 Naval chaplains had a poor reputation during this period and were often seen as men who had failed in their vocation and had no other way of finding a living. Chaplain McLaughlin entered the navy on 19 April 1826. He was a college educated, Presbyterian minister and very much a reforming evangelical. In his letters, he expressed a strong belief that “God has called …me to preach … to poor, ignorant and perishing seamen.”42 He was passionate in his desire to reform the naval service and wanted to abolish flogging and alcohol aboard ships.
41 Drury, 48.
42 E. McLaughlin to John Branch 2 September 1830 NARA RG 45 Navy Officers Letters 1802-1884, 1 Aug1830 to 30 May 1830, Volume 139-140.
Let there be no alcohol in any of its forms, but in the doctor’s medical stores—let flogging be suppressed, and other modes of punishment substituted, and regulated by courts martial according to crime—give them the Bible . . .and back all by sending on board of every ship of the line, every frigate and every sloop of war, an enlightened, discreet, evangelical, and efficient chaplain,—let the schoolmaster in all cases, be a man of practical godliness; and then . . . change every ship’s company into as moral, Christian, and orderly a community as any of our country societies generally are. . . 43
43 Drury, 54.
From his letters it is clear McLaughlin never fully understood the importance of chain of command. His avowed reformist agenda quickly any support he might have had. In taking his concerns to the Secretary of the Navy, he quickly alienated Dr. Williamson, Navy Yard Lieutenant Robert Rose and Commodore Barron. In one instance he stated “called upon Lieutenant Rose then executive officer of the yard remonstrating against the manner of burying the dead from the Naval Hospital.” Chaplain Rose wanted a more formal ceremony for the dead and recollected that he and Lt. Rose “differed over the number of seaman I wished to attend.”44 He claimed to have innocently offended Comm[odore] Barron”45 He was dismissed 2 October, 1829.
44 E. McLaughlin to John Branch, 25 July 1829 NARA RG 45 Navy Officers Letters 1802-1884, 1 Jul 1829 to 31 Aug 1829, Volume 130.
45 ditto.Following his dismissal he wrote President Andrew Jackson, though the letter was redirected to the Secretary of the Navy John Branch. McLaughlin wanted to be reinstated and wrote that while assigned to the USS Brandywine he fell and badly injured his arm. He stated, “I do Sir very much need the help of a boy from the ordinary if it can be granted”…I have 9 in the family … mostly females to support”46
46 E. McLaughlin to John Branch, 2 Sept 1830, NARA RG 45, Navy Officers Letters 1802-1884, 1 Aug 1830 to 39 Sept 1830, Volume 139-140.
In the 1820’s naval chaplains were responsible for reading the divine service at Sunday muster, and performing funerals for those who died onboard ship. There main task however was to serve as schoolmaster to midshipmen, and by custom chaplains at sea served as the captain’s secretary. Most naval chaplains were untypical naval officers for they were largely drawn from the New England states, had some college and were older than other officers. Their median age 26. Naval chaplains were exclusively from Protestant denominations. Indeed for the first eighty years of the Navy’s history, chaplains were predominately Episcopalians and Methodists.47 There were no Catholic chaplains until 1888 and the first Jewish chaplains were commissioned in WW1. Chaplains unlike the career deck officers, commonly served only a few years, they were “birds of passage” transient pastors, whose naval service was for a brief period.48
47 Drury, 100.
48 McKee, 195-196.In the minds of many seamen (though McLaughlin was the first naval chaplain to speak out against flogging) naval chaplains were associated with flogging. This link to flogging arose from the custom of mustering the ship’s crew on a Sunday morning, reading the Articles of War, performing Divine Service, and then detaining the crew to witness any flogging that might be prescribed.
The following entries from the log of the USS Congress were typical (see last paragraph of image).
On 20 June 1819 at 11 called all hands to witness the punishment of Willard Scott and Isaac Waldroon, Marines, the former with 12 lashes for quarrelling and the latter with 6 lashes for Drunkenness. 13 Feb 1820 Mustered the Crew and read the Articles of War, Punished John Black with 12 lashes. In the period 1840-1849 the numbers of floggings were proportionately higher some as high as three hundred lashes.4949 Drury, 31-32
In the 1840’s the practice of flogging seamen increased. One witness was author Herman Melville who spent a year aboard the frigate USS United States (1843 -1844) as an Ordinary Seaman, where he saw many a flogging. The ship log for that year period records one hundred and sixty- three floggings. Melville later wrote the autobiographical novel White Jacket where he described this brutal punishment. In White Jacket Melville made a successful appeal for an end to the practice. In this period corporal punishment was typically awarded for being absent without leave, drunkenness, and disobedience. Such punishment could also be awarded for sleeping on watch, theft, smuggling and fighting. In the 1840’s flogging was a common punishment in almost all American men-of-war. Flogging was carried out by the cat-of –nine- tail made from a thick rope as a handle and nine pieces of light line, knotted in places. Melville relates (chapter 33) how the frigate crew was assembled with the Boatswain shouting “All hands to witness punishment, ahoy!” Next the marines and boatswain mates led out the malefactor. The spectacle of flogging was meant to inspire fear in the ship crew thereby deterring misconduct and ensuring obedience to naval law. The seaman being punished was tied to a grating taken from one of the hatches. His wrists and ankles were tied to the grate and his back stripped. The boatswain was then ordered to cut him with the cat. The frigate United State's daily log is transcribed below for Friday August 12, 1843, Herman Melville’s first day in the navy. This entry also reflects typical floggings awarded by Commodore Catesby Jones.
Log Book of the U.S. Frigate United States bearing the broad Pendant of Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, James Armstrong Esq. Captain
Honolulu Island of Oahu
Friday August 18th 1843 (see second entry on the log page)
Commenced with moderate breezes from the Nd & Ed. and clear. Shipped Herman Melville. “O.S.” and Griffith Williams “O.S.”
From 8 to meridian, light breezes from the Nd & Ed, and cloudy. at 9 a m . mustered the crew at Quarters, Punished John Hall, “O.S” with 12 lashes with cats for striking sentry on Post. Geo Clark “OS” with 12 of cats for smuggling liquor, Bos. C. B. Stanly “App” with 12 lashes with Kittens for fighting and Wm B Ewing “App” with 6. for using provoking language. Suspended the Boatswain from duty for disrespectful - conduct to the Officer of the Deck,- by replying when ordered by same through – Midn [Midshipman] Key, to call all hands stand by their washed clothes “ that he would ‘receive no more orders in this Ship”, or words to that effect.* * * * * * * * * *
Portsmouth 17 Feby 1827
[To] The Honble Saml L. Southard EsqrSir,
There is a rule in the Medical Dept. here which seems to be at variance with the free discharge of the Chaplains Official duties to the sick. I ask leave to state it, that from a view of the apparent impropriety of it you may [illegible] whether some alteration may not be necessary.
There have been lately two deaths, of the sickness of which cases I was never apprised until notified to attend the funerals. One of the men I was told died in great distress of mind and was very desirous to see me, during his short illness.50 This induced me to call on Dr. Williamson the presiding resident physician. I informed him of the above case and observed, as a free visitation of the Hospitals was not allowed me, I would be thankful, if he would acquaint me by note or message when in his opinion any persons were seriously or dangerously sick that I might visit them. The Dr. replied that however desirable it was to gratify me, compliance was impractical, as it was subjected to a special rule in this case, he remarked - It was first the duty of the patient to signify to him his wish to convene with a Minister, and of what profession he desired to be visited – then he would address a not to the Comm stating his application, when it would be the proper business of the latter Gentleman to send for a Clergyman as the sick man required. An instance occurred yesterday of a Marine who is sick of a pleurisy. The orderly Sergeant called upon me at the earnest solicitation of the sick man. I attended but was denied access because he had not applied to Dr. Williamson & I had not come in the prescribed way. He is not expected to live. Besides, the sick are no informed of their duty in this matter. It does appear to me, Sir, there is too much formality for the case, and the rule might be dispensed with or modified as to allow the Chaplain a free ingress and access to the Camber of misery.
I am Sir; with Sentiments of great respect your obedient humble servant
E. Mc Laughlin
50 The Gosport Naval Hospital Case Files for 1827 has no deaths listed for the months of January and February 1827. For the year 1826 the hospital admitted 316 patients, 329 were discharged and 7 deaths. Department of the Navy Case Files for Patients at Naval Hospitals and Registers Thereto: Registers of Patients 1812–1929. Series Record Group 52: Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 1812-1975 National Archives Washington DC, Norfolk Virginia 1825-1827, roll 1.
* * * * *
U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
24 Febr 1827
Sir,
I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant relative to admitting the Revd Chaplain of this Station unto the Hospital under my charge. I want the Department distinctly to understand that in all areas when I have been requested by sick men to have a minister of the Gospel sent for, I have universally (when I considered it proper) had one obtained; and such a one as they might select.
We have at times various denominations of Christians under charge. I can hardly permit Presbyterians to turn Father Confessor to a Catholic and that Clergyman would be an unreasonable Christian who could wish a thing of that kind – and unless I have been requested or ordered, I could not permit any Christian to encroach upon the last dying moments of a man.
Cases do occur when the presence of a minster would be attended with the[wrong]consequences – the patient perhaps is much debilitated - the surgeon approaches with the Minister accompanying him – the patient immediately thinks that the Surgeon considers his case hopeless and that he resigns him to the Minster – here the fear of death might produce it – It has always been my practice never to abandon a patient (no matter how hopeless his care maybe) as long as there is life and I have uniformly when I have been requested to do it, and when there was not a danger in the cure, permitted such Minsters as several patients have requested to visit them.
Am I to understand that the Chaplain is allowed to visit the patients wherever he thinks it is advisable or is it left discretionary with me to say when he shall not? More particularly when the sick man expresses no wish to see him.
Immediately upon the reception of your communication the Revd Chaplain is allowed to visit the sick at this establishment.
Very Respectfully I have the honor
to be your obedient servant
Thomas Williamson
[To] The Honorable Samuel L. Southard
Secretary of the Navy
Washington* * * * * * * * * *
Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport April 3rd 1827
Sir,
It not infrequently happens that the men from the Alert employed in this Yard, run, and it has not been the practice to send after them, or to advertise in either case or otherwise incur any expense about them particularly where they do not owe anything to the government. This apparent neglect encourages, those disposed to leave the service continually to attempt and often to succeed. Although the officers in charge of the men, are vigilant and the punishment as severe as the law will admit, I have therefore, to request of you to give me such instructions on this interesting subject, as you may be pleased to suggest, and they shall hereafter be strictly attended to.
I have the honor to be
Sir Most Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James BarronEditor's Note: In 1828 there were fourteen marines aboard. The marine contingent consisted of twelve privates and two corporals they were enumerated for the April to June 1828 muster roll of the USS Alert. In the pre-1815 U.S. Navy, desertion was a serious offence and accounted for nearly three quarters of all court martial convictions.51 The following year small congressional appropriations hindered Barron’s call for additional marines to check desertion and on 6 October 1829 he yet again wrote the new Secretary of the Navy John Branch a similar letter.52
51 McKee, 495.
52 Barron to John Branch 6 Oct 1829 “Captains letters” NARA M125 RG 260 1 Oct to 31 Oct 1829, Volume 142, letter 16.Commandants Office
United States Navy Yard
Gosport April 19th 1827Sir,
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 13th instant and should not have importuned you again on this subject, if I did not feel myself constrained by candor to acknowledge that the desertion that took place from the crew of the Alert occurred in this Yard, and not from that Ship. This arises from the present condition of our enclosure, and the feeble state of the Marine guard attached to this Yard, and not withstanding all our vigilance still appears to require particular attention to some efficient remedy. I have therefore most respectfully to suggest that no punishment which we are authorized to inflict has or will put an end to this injurious practice, but I believe that a more formal and of course more severe chastisement would effectively check this disposition in the men to change their situations and it is this alone by which they are actuated for it is next to an impossibility for the crew of any ship to be better treated than the Alerts are, and have been since Lieutenant Farragut joined her. We have generally a sufficient number of officers near at hand to form a Court, and few examples accompanied by judicious course of admonishment would I think have a beneficial effect, if not entirely remove the will.
I have the honor to be
Sir Most Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
James Barron
