Defense of the cutter Eagle
The defense of the cutter Eagle was a battle on and around Long Island that took place from October 10 to 13, 1814. The United States’ only involved vessel, USRC Eagle, was beached near Negro Head. Despite the loss of their ship, her crew continued fighting the Royal Navy vessels from shore using cannon recovered from their wrecked vessel.
About Defense of the cutter Eagle in brief
The defense of the cutter Eagle was a battle on and around Long Island that took place from October 10 to 13, 1814. The United States’ only involved vessel, USRC Eagle, was beached near Negro Head. Despite the loss of their ship, her crew continued fighting the Royal Navy vessels from shore using cannon recovered from their wrecked vessel. Eagle’s crew was ultimately able to repair and refloat her, but unsuccessful in their attempts to drive the British ships away. Though there were no fatalities on either side in the battle, a cow grazing in the area died after being hit by a 32-pound round shot fired by one of the Royal navy ships. USRC eagle, along with two of the involved British ships HMS Narcissus and HMS Dispatch, are among six vessels celebrated in the lyrics of “Semper Paratus”, the service march of the Revenue Marine’s successor force, the U.S. Coast Guard. The cutter was the second Revenue Marine ship to bear that name, outfitted with six cannon and sailing with a normal complement of twenty-five.
On May 26, 1813, the United Kingdom announced the closure of New York harbor and Long Island Sound to almost all outgoing shipping, the closure to be enforced by means of a blockade. By 1814, according to historian Melvin Jackson, the entire American seaboard “lay all but deserted” to maritime traffic leaving the United States essentially cut-off from the rest of the world. American merchantmen carrying certain foodstuffs to Europe were issued transit passes by the Baron Hotham due to the British Army’s provisioning needs for its forces engaged in Spain during the concurrent War of the Sixth Coalition. American packet ship Susan left New York bound for New Haven, Connecticut, hugging the coast so as to avoid violating the British blockade. The next morning she was approached by a similarly sized vessel which ran up the British colors and ordered Susan to surrender, which she promptly did.
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This page is based on the article Defense of the cutter Eagle published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
