View source for USRC Gallatin (1807)

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{{Other ships|USS Gallatin}}
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|Ship name=USS ''Gallatin''
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|Ship laid down=c 1807
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|Ship fate=Sank, 1 April 1813
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'''USS ''Gallatin''''' was a post-Revolutionary War sailing vessel that the [[U.S. Department of the Treasury]] purchased at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], for the [[United States Revenue-Marine]] in December 1807. An explosion on board destroyed her in 1813.

== Service history ==
On 5 December 1807, in Norfolk, Daniel McNeil paid {{USD}}9,432.93 for ''Gallatin''. He was her first master and he sailed her to Charleston, South Caroline to assume [[revenue cutter]] services. His master's commission for the State of South Carolina bears the same date.<ref name=USCG/> In February 1808, ''Gallatin'' arrested the schooner ''Kitty'' for violating the [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]] of March 1807. She had 32 slaves on board and the seizure gave rise to a court case. The court voided the seizure on the grounds that the law was passed after ''Kitty'' had left the United States and her captain could not have known of its passage.<ref>''The Federal Cases: Comprising Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Federal Reporter, Arranged Alphabetically by the Titles of the Cases and Numbered Consecutively'' (1896) Book 26 (West Publishing Company), pp.791-2.</ref>

=== War of 1812 ===
America's declaration of war, in mid-June 1812, was followed shortly by the [[Enemy Trade Act of 1812]] on 6 July, which employed similar restrictions as previous legislation such as the [[Embargo Act of 1807]], including prohibiting all trade with Great Britain; the 1812 Act was as ineffective as prior acts. On 7 July 1812, Norfolk native and experienced merchant Edward Herbert, of Norfolk, and an experienced merchant captain, replaced McNeil as master of ''Gallatin''. Then in August 1812, the Treasury transferred ''Gallatin'' from Charleston back to Norfolk.<ref name=USCG/>

On 1 August 1812, ''Gallatin'', under the command of Daniel McNeil, captured the brig ''General Blake'', which was sailing from London to [[Amelia Island]]. ''General Blake'' was flying the Spanish flag and carried an illegal cargo, including African slaves. The capture was adjudicated in Charleston, South Carolina. A French privateer captured ''General Blake'' as she departed Charleston in January 1813.<ref name=USCG/> According to a newspaper report, ''Gallatin'' captured a British [[letter of marque]] on 6 August as the British vessel was sailing to Jamaica. However, the ''New York Evening Post'' later declared the report false, and likely referencing the capture of the ''General Blake''.<ref name=USCG/>

On 12 August, ''Gallatin'' escorted the British schooner {{HMS|Whiting|1805|6}} out of American waters at Hampton Roads. The Norfolk privateer ''Dash'' had captured ''Whiting'', which had been bringing official dispatches to the US government from Britain and which was unaware of the outbreak of war. The US government ordered the release of ''Whiting''. Unfortunately for the schooner, the French privateer ''Diligent'' or ''Diligence'' captured ''Whiting'' shortly after she was released.<ref name=USCG/> On 2 September ''Gallatin'' escorted the ship ''Tom Hazard'' into Norfolk. The privateer [[USS Comet (1810)|''Comet'']] had captured her and the master of ''Comet'' had kept the ship's papers and manifest before releasing her. As far as McNeil was concerned, ''Tom Hazard'' was carrying an illegal cargo of British goods.<ref name=USCG/>{{efn|''Comet'' was a  successful Baltimore privateer, launched in 1806 and sold in Charleston in 1814. In her career she captured or recaptured more than 25 British and American vessels.{{sfnp|Cranwell|Crane|1940|pp=377-379}}}}

Then on 10 October, ''Gallatin'' detained ''Active'', of London, and ''Georgiana'', of Liverpool, for violation of the Enemy Trade Act. Nine days later, while on a cruise, ''Gallatin'' sighted a British warship near Savannah, Georgia.<ref name=USCG/> John Hubbard Silliman replaced Herbert as master after ''Gallatin'' returned to Charleston. His commission as a revenue cutter master in the State of South Carolina is dated 22 October 1812.<ref name=USCG/> On 7 November, Silliman sailed ''Gallatin'' in company with the privateer ''Saucy Jack'' to attempt to intercept the British privateer ''Caledonia''. They were unsuccessful.<ref name=USCG/>{{efn|''Caledonia'', of 336 tons ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]), was armed with eight 9-pounder guns and twelve 18-pounder [[carronade]]s. She had a crew of 30 men under the command of John Cameron, and her [[letter of marque]] was dated 19 December 1811, i.e., originally for operation against French shipping.<ref name=LM>"Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815".[http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.htm] - accessed 11 June 2011.</ref>}} In the new year, on 27 March 1813, the captain of the schooner ''Malaparte'' published a letter thanking Silliman and his men for helping to save his schooner's cargo after she went ashore near Savannah.<ref name=USCG/>

''Gallatin'' sank on 1 April in the harbor at [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. The cause of the sinking was an explosion that killed three men and seriously wounded five more.<ref name=USCG>United States Coast Guard History Program: ''Gallatin'' (1807)[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Gallatin_1807.pdf] Accessed 8 October 2013.</ref> ''Gallatin'' had returned from a cruise the day before and Silliman had gone ashore, leaving orders that the crew clean the muskets and pistols. They were engaged on this task when the ship's [[magazine (artillery)|powder room]] exploded. The cause of the explosion was never determined.{{sfnp|Maclay |1900|pp=49-50}} On 31 March 1814 a Charleston newspaper reported that salvors had built a diving bell to retrieve ordnance and equipment from the sunken cutter.<ref name=USCG/>

==Notes==
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==Citations==
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==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Cranwell |first1=John Philips |last2=Crane |first2=William Bowers |year=1940 |title=Men of marque; a history of private armed vessels out of Baltimore during the War of 1812 |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.}}
* {{cite web | last=Maclay | first=Edgar Stanton | title= A history of American Privateers | publisher=Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. | year=1900 | oclc=606621677 | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/7769838.html }}

*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/gallatin-i.html}}

{{1813 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallatin (1807)}}
[[Category:War of 1812 ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1800s ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1813]]