72 Naval War of 1812 



Irishman, formerly of the British Navy; he was 

 born in Baltimore, and was never in the British 

 navy in his life. The third lieutenant "was sup 

 posed to be an Irishman" (Brenton, II, 456). The 

 first lieutenant "was a native of Great Britain, we 

 have been informed" (James, VI, 194) ; he was 

 Mr. George Parker, born and bred in Virginia. The 

 remaining three citations, if true, prove nothing. 

 "One man had served under Mr. Kent" of the Guer- 

 riere (James, VI, p. 153). "One had been in the 

 Achille" and "one in the Eurydice" (Brenton, II, 

 456). These three men were most probably Ameri 

 can seamen who had been impressed on British ships. 

 From Cooper (in "Putnam's Magazine," Vol, I, p. 

 593) as well as from several places in the Consti 

 tution's log, 10 we learned that those of the crew who 

 were British deserters were discharged from the 

 Constitution before she left port, as they were afraid 

 to serve in a war against Great Britain. That this fear 

 was justifiable may be seen by reading James, Vol. 

 IV, p. 483. Of the four men taken by the Leopard 

 from the Chesapeake, as deserters, one was hung 

 and three scourged. In reality the crew of the Con 

 stitution probably did not contain a dozen British 

 sailors; in her last cruises she was manned almost 



10 See her log-book (Vol. II, Feb. i, 1812, to Dec. 13, 1813) ; 

 especially on July i2th, when twelve men were discharged. 

 In some of Hull's letters he alludes to the desire of the Brit 

 ish part of the crew to serve on the gun-boats or in the ports ; 

 and then writes that "in accordance with the instructions 

 sent him by the Secretary of the Navy" he had allowed the 

 British-born portion to leave the ship. The log-books are in 

 the Bureau of Navigation. 



