HISTORY

The War on Lake Ontario 1812

The War of 1812 started with the United States having a grand fleet of but one ship on Lake Ontario. The USS Oneida (18 Guns) under the command of Lt. Melancthon Woolsey. Mr. Woolsey had to face four ships of the Royal Navy based out of Kingston on the east side of the lake. The Prince Regent (12 Guns), Royal George (20 Guns), the Duke of Gloucester (12 Guns), and the Earl of Moira (10 Guns). The Lieutenant was not only outnumbered, 54 guns to 18 but outgunned. The Royal George could bring 32lb cannon into the fray where the U.S. could only bring 24lb cannon to bear. Worse yet, on July 19, 1812, the guns were taken off the Oneida to create a shore battery.

Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy, understood the discrepancy. In September 1812, he sent Captain Isaac Chauncey north from New York City to Sacket’s Harbor with the crew of the frigate USS John Adams. His orders were to construct a fleet to challenge the British control of Lake Ontario. Chauncey was then commandant of the New York Naval Shipyard. With the help of a naval architect and shipbuilder Henry Eckford, he set about building or equipping a fleet of ships.

Washington, however, did not appreciate the immensity of the task. Chauncey would have to get cannon, supplies and heavy ropes to the naval base at Sacket’s Harbor without the help of any roads from New York City. Whatever Chauncey failures as a naval commander, they were more than offset by his skills at administration and organization. By November of 1812, he had built or equipped ten ships of war. On the 10th of November, he took them out into the lake.

The British had not yet organized their ships into a fleet and they were still operating independently. Chauncey took the American fleet and blockaded Kingston harbor; his goal was to capture each ship as it returned to the British base. The English had a stroke of luck and the winds blew in such a way as to allow most of the warships to evade the blockade and sneak into port. The unarmed Governor Simcoe was damaged by running aground as it entered the harbor. Captain Chauncey did manage to capture two unlucky merchant ships. They would become the USS Asp (3 Guns) and the USS Scorpion (2 Guns) by the end of the year. A third ship was burnt.

Returning to base, Chauncey built two additional schooners, bringing the US fleet up to fourteen ships. During the same time, the British were only able to start building one brig and outfit the Governor Simcoe as a warship. Renamed the Sir Sydney Smith (12 Guns), she was the only addition to their five-vessel fleet. Having won the naval race on Lake Ontario, the American fleet anchored for the winter. Probably the only place in the known world where the Royal Navy was outnumbered by anyone.