gence, and legal branches, and a captain 

 was detailed to head the bureau. 



About the same time, the service began 

 building cutters with iron hulls and auxili- 

 ary steam power. The first, the Legare, 

 was launched in time to be ordered into 

 action in the Mexican War in 1846. The 

 Forward and McLatte aided Commodore 

 Perry in carrying out an amphibious as- 

 sault at the mouth of the Tabasco River 

 in 1847. In the operation, however, the 

 McLane ran aground and had to be pulled 

 off, which may be why Perry reserved his 

 praise for the Forward. "I am gratified," 

 he wrote, "to bear witness to the valuable 

 services of the Revenue Schooner For- 

 ivard." There was no word for the Steamer 

 McLane. 



Ill-starred steamers 



Not only the McLane but all the first 

 steam cutters were ill-starred. The B/bb, 



like the AicLane, Dallas, and Spencer, 

 equipped with a novel and untried under- 

 water paddle-wheel, began to leak so badly 

 on her way to Mexico that she had to be 

 beached. The Polk leaked on launching 

 and was never used. The Spencer, found 

 defective, was used as a lightship at 

 Hampton Roads. The McLane had her 

 machinery removed and was converted 

 into a lightship in 1848. The Woodbury 

 and Van Biiren, though not steamers, were 

 condemned as not worth repairs. The 

 Legare was withdrawn from service be- 

 cause of a dangerous boiler and trans- 

 ferred to the Coast Survey. The Walker, 

 also turned over to the Coast Survey, was 

 run down and foundered off Barnegat. 

 Modern engineering officers say that, con- 

 sidering early steamships used sea water 

 in square-shaped boilers with no safety 

 devices, it's a wonder they didn't all just 

 blow up. 



Tabasco River landings in which the Forward and tAcLane participated. 



