The Secretary of the Navy ordered one of America's premier warships to sea, one of the six heavy frigates of the American fleet. Unlike the Chesapeake-Leopard incident, there was no violence but this continued affront to American sovereignty was not about to go unanswered. The British proceeded to search the ship for supposed deserters and impress men into the Royal Navy, including a master apprentice, John Diggio from Maine. The HMS Guerriere, a British frigate, stopped an American naval vessel, the USS Spitfire off Sandy Hook, NJ. Off the coast of the Chesapeake Bay, British warships enforced an effective blockade on American shipping out of the port, harassing and interdicting commerce and threatening the fledgling American Navy.
It was an incident such as this, a British patrol ship operating in American waters, which led to this final incident on the road to the War of 1812. Worse, British ships patrolled off the American coast, snatching up merchantmen and impressing sailors still within sight of American territory. American merchants were still incapable of trade with Europe, for fear of their ships being seized by either Britain or France. The memory of the Chesapeake-Leopard incident was still fresh, having happened only four years before. Impressment meant that no American merchantman was safe from the Royal Navy snatching its best sailors by the threat of force of force itself.
Suspicions are brewing in the Northwest with colonists claiming that Great Britain is inciting the Native American tribes to war with the white American settlers. It is May of 1811 and the United States and Great Britain are nearly in a state of war. This is not the end of the troubles with Tecumseh or his allies, but their story is coming back with the war itself. Once again, we shift from the woods of the Old Northwest to the rolling waters of the Atlantic where the US Navy will push the United States and Great Britain down the path of war.
Today we see the final piece in the puzzle of the War of 1812's causes. I know, I know, it has been a fun ride, but the causes are over after today and then the real fun starts when I start to outline and take apart the war, busting some myths and exploring some untold stories. Hey there loyal readers and newcomers to this blog! Today marks a major milestone in this blog – the end of the causes of the War of 1812.
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