Letter by Stephen Decatur and Painting by Thomas Chambers Related to the War of 1812

By late October of 1812, the United States and Great Britain had been at war for more than four months. The impressment of American sailors into the British navy, British restraints on neutral trade, and British military support for native tribes blocking American settlement of the Northwest territories led Congress to pass legislation in June declaring war on Great Britain. The Declaration of War signed by President James Madison authorized him to use "land and navel force" against the British. Among the many naval encounters that followed was a battle that Commodore Stephen Decatur described in a letter to Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton. Writing on October 30, while aboard the USS United States in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the Azores, Decatur explained how the United States defeated and captured the frigate HBM (His Britanic Majesty's) Macedonian during a 1-1/2 hour battle five days earlier. In language formal by today's standards, Decatur praised the actions of his seamen and marines, listed the names of those men killed or wounded on both ships, and described the condition of the Macedonian. According to the logbook of the United States, the two ships lay alongside each other for more than two weeks after the battle while the men completed repairs, and then both set sail for the United States. They arrived in early December and were met with much excitement, for their appearance was the first news most people received about Decatur's success. A headline in the Newport, Rhode Island, Mercury announced "Another Brilliant Naval Victory," and in a letter to Decatur dated December 29, 1812, Secretary Hamilton relayed the following message: The President of the U.S. desires me to express to You & to Lt. Allen through You, to the officers & crew of the frigate U.S., his warmest thanks & highest appreciation of Your & their conduct on the defeat & capture of his Britanic [sic] Majesty's frigate the Macedonian. Hamilton then discussed the Macedonian's value and explained the factors that would determine the amount that Decatur and his crew could expect to receive as compensation for their prize. Within a year following the victory, Americans could visualize the battle's excitement with the aid of several well-known canvases painted by various artists. There was a ready market during the first half of the nineteenth century for oil paintings of famous naval battle scenes from the War of 1812 and an even larger audience for less expensive etched and engraved commemorative prints made after the canvases. One reason for their popularity, especially for images of the battle between the United States and the Macedonian, was the celebrity of its American hero, Stephen Decatur. Artist Thomas Chambers conveyed the noise and turmoil of this particular battle in his 1852 painting entitled Capture of H.B.M. Frigate Macedonian by U.S. Frigate United States, October 25, 1812 (see p. 212). Chambers based his painting on earlier depictions, yet this scene has a sense of immediacy. Two large ships, with punctured sails, engage in battle on stormy waves amidst billowing clouds of smoke. Everything seems to be in motion, from the waves and smoke in the painting's foreground, to the diagonal placement of the ships in the center, shown framed by rolling thunderclouds above. The artist used bright, flat colors that contrast with each other: puffy white clouds against a blue-grey sky; dark green-black waves with white caps. He also applied the paint thickly, which adds to the intensity. How do we know which ship is winning? Chambers was not very subtle. The sails of the United States, although damaged stand tall, and the American flag still flies unharmed (on the right). In contrast, one of the Macedonian's main sails is collapsed in darkened shreds and several other smaller sails drag in the water while the unsecured British flag hangs off its mast as if the next gust of wind will blow it out to sea (on the left). …