Action of 1 January 1800
| Action of 1 January 1800 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Quasi-War, War of the Knives | |||||||
 A sketch of the action between Experiment and picaroons | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
 France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
William Maley David Porter | André Rigaud | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 schooner 4 merchantmen |
12 armed barges 400 – 500 Haitian Picaroons[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 wounded |
2 barges sunk, many killed | ||||||
|
2 merchantmen captured 1 civilian killed 1 wounded | |||||||
The Action of 1 January 1800 was naval battle of the Quasi-War that took place off the present day Haitian island of Gonâve in the Bight of Leogane. The battle was fought between an American convoy consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the United States naval schooner USS Experiment and a squadron of armed barges manned by Haitian picaroons.
A French aligned Haitian general, André Rigaud, had instructed his forces to attack all foreign shipping within their grasp. Thus the picaroons attacked the American convoy, capturing two of the schooners before retiring. Experiment managed to defend the other two ships in her convoy and escort them to a friendly port. Although the picaroons took heavy losses after their engagement with Experiment they still remained strong enough to wreak havoc among American shipping in the region until Rigaud was forced out of power by the forces of Toussaint L'Ouverture.
Background
With the dawn of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, a successful slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue had allowed the local population to gain control over the government there. Despite their success in removing the French colonial authorities, the new administrators were extremely fractious with fighting breaking out amongst different political factions. By the year 1800, the War of Knives between the pro-French André Rigaud and the pro-autonomy Toussaint L'Ouverture was in full swing and Saint-Domingue was divided in two. Rigaud controlled part of the southern portion of Saint-Domingue while L'Ouverture controlled the rest of the French colony. In need of supplies and materiel, Rigaud's forces regularly attacked any non-French ship that passed them.[2]
Concurrently with the War of Knives, the United States and France were engaged in a bout of limited naval warfare in the Caribbean as part of the Quasi-War. In late December of 1799 the American schooner Experiment, had taken under convoy several merchant vessels to prevent their capture by French privateers. On 1 January 1800, Experiment's convoy (consisting of the brig Daniel and Mary and the schooners Sea Flower, Mary, and Washington) was caught in a dead calm off the north side of the present day Haitian island of Gonâve, in the Bight of Leogane. Seeing the stranded convoy, Rigaud sent ten armed barges out to attack and seize the American vessels becalmed in the bight.[3]
The merchant vessels of the American convoy only possessed small arms though their escort, Experiment, was a much more powerful vessel. Commanded by William Maley, the 135 ton Experiment was armed with twelve 6 pounder guns and had a complement of 70 men. In comparison Rigaud's initial attack force consisted of ten barges crewed by 40 to 50 men each in the smaller ones and 60 or 70 in the larger vessels.[3] These barges were primarily propelled by oars, with 26 per vessel.[4] As for armament the Haitian craft were each equipped with a mix of swivel guns and four pounder cannon, with most vessels armed with two or three guns as well as small arms.[3] In addition to the vessels that set out to attack the convoy, there were more barges and men nearby that the Haitians could call upon if reinforcements were needed. In total some 37 barges and 1500 men were at Rigaud's disposal in the area, though this remained unknown to the Americans until after the attack. Individually, the Haitian barges were weak enough to present only a small threat to the convoy, but when attacking en masse could easily overwhelm and capture the American ships if they were allowed to board them.[5]
Battle
Experiment kept her gunports sealed and passed herself off as a merchantmen while the Haitians sailed closer to the convoy with the intent of boarding and capturing all five vessels. Once the Haitians were in musket range of the American vessels they opened fire upon them, which was returned with fire from Experiment. Grapeshot from the Americans wreaked havoc among the Haitian barges and they were forced to withdraw. They waited some ways off the American convoy for thirty minutes before beaching at the nearby island of Gonâve to land their wounded and gather reinforcements. With two more barges and fresh crews, the picaroons set off to assault the American convoy once more. They divided themselves into three squadrons of four barges each and set course to attack Experiment.[6] Each of the lead and centermost divisions attacked a side of the American warship while the rear division assaulted the aft of the vessel. During the lull in fighting Experiment had readied herself for the picaroons next assault by positioning musketeers in defensive positions, loading her main guns, and raising boarding nets. Thus, when the Haitians attacked the American warship again she was well prepared to repulse any attempt at boarding her.[7]
For three hours Experiment battled the barges, sinking two and killing a great many of the picaroons. During this time two of the barges veered off from the warship and attacked the merchantmen. These barges managed to protect themselves from Experiment by sailing behind the schooner Mary which was between the two barges and the warship.[7] Boarding Mary, the Haitians killed the captain while the rest of the crew jumped into the sea and hid in the hold. The second barge attempted to take Daniel and Mary but was sunk by fire from Experiment. Once the Haitians had boarded Mary, Experiment opened fire upon her with grapeshot, driving the picaroons off.[8]
The entire flotilla of Haitians then once more retired to Gonâve and again replaced their wounded crews with fresh ones.[9] Seeing that Daniel and Mary and Washington had drifted off from the convoy, the Haitians set out once more to attack them. The two civilian vessels, having drifted to far from the protection of Experiment's guns, were abandoned by their crews and passengers who fled to the American warship. The Haitians boarded and plundered these two vessels, carrying them off away from Experiment.[10] Experiment managed to get close enough to the barges to attack them with her cannon, but could not pursue them as two barges had broken off of the main flotilla and were positioned to take Mary and Sea Flower if Experiment left them. Eventually the remnants of the convoy managed to make it to Léogâne, where they were looked after by the American consul stationed there.[5]
Aftermath
USS Experiment had succeeded in protecting two of the convoy, but the other two ships were taken by the picaroons. On the American side, only the captain of the schooner Mary had been killed. The Americans also suffered two wounded consisting of one civilian and Experiment's second in command David Porter, who had been shot in the arm during the action. In exchange the Haitians had lost two of their barges and a great many casualties.[11] Rigaud's picaroons would strike another American convoy later in the year and continue to harass American shipping until he was ousted from Saint-Domingue at the end of the War of Knives.[12] After fleeing to Guadeloupe, he then left for France on the schooner Diane, but was captured and taken to Saint Kitts when the Experiment intercepted her on 1 October 1800.[13]
The action would prove to be controversial back in the United States due to several officers' reports that Lieutenant Maley had shown extreme cowardice during the action. Lieutenant Porter made statements to the effect that Maley was insistent on surrendering instantly due to the sheer number of forces the French threw against the convoy and deemed the situation hopeless. Some officers alluded to the fact that if Porter had not acted on his own initiative and urged the crew to ignore Maley's convictions and fight on, the entire convoy including Experiment would have been lost.[14] Threats of court-martial were brought against Maley, but no formal charges regarding the incident were ever put against him.[15] The incident however continued to haunt his career until his retirement, and on 16 July 1800 he was replaced as commander of Experiment by Charles Stewart.[4]
Notes
- ^ Williams 2009, p. 111.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 115
- ^ a b c Allen 1909, p. 139.
- ^ a b Maclay 1906, p. 205.
- ^ a b Allen 1909, p. 144.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 140.
- ^ a b Allen 1909, p. 141.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 142.
- ^ Abbot 1886, p. 265.
- ^ Cooper 1847, p. 183.
- ^ McMaster 1885, p. 521.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 178.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 205.
- ^ Soley 1903, p. 7.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 148.
References
- Abbot, Willis John (1886). The Naval History of the United States. Dodd, Mead and Company. ISBN 9780559124983.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Allen, Gardner Weld (1909). Our naval war with France. Cornell University Library. ISBN 1112127070.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Cooper, James Fenimore (1847). History of the Navy of the United States of America. Cooperstown: H & E Phinney. OCLC 61687750.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Maclay, Edgar Stanton (1906). A History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1902 Volume I. New York: D. Appleton and Company. OCLC 5090232.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - McMaster, John Bach (1885). A History of the People of the United States: Volume 2 - From The Revolution to The Civil War. D. Appleton and Company. ISBN 1596050381.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Soley, James Russell (1903). Admiral Porter. New York: D. Appleton and Company. OCLC 497056.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Williams, Greg H. (2009). The French Assault on American Shipping, 1793–1813. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786438372.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)