Josiah Tattnall - Schooling and War of 1812

Schooling and War of 1812

Josiah was the son of Josiah Tattnall who was Governor and U.S. Senator from Georgia. He was born on his father's plantation of Bonaventure, near Savannah, Georgia. After studying in England, he was appointed a midshipman on 1 January 1812 and attended the Naval academy at Washington, D.C., until 1 August when he was assigned to the frigate Constellation.

When his ship tried to slip out to sea, the strong British squadron operating in the Chesapeake Bay forced her to put into Norfolk, Virginia. Constellation remained bottled up in Hampton Roads for the duration of the War of 1812, but Tattnall and his comrades still managed to get into the fray. He was among the 100 or so sailors and marines assigned to the shore battery on Craney Island. On 22 June 1813, the British attempted to carry the island by storm in preparation for an attack on nearby Norfolk. Tattnall's battery and a force of American boats gave the attackers a sound rebuff that deterred the British from further attempts to take the city.

In April 1814, Midshipman Tattnall was detached from Constellation and, by 24 August, was in command of a force of employees from the Washington Navy Yard. He led them into the Battle of Bladensburg in an unsuccessful effort to stop the British advance on the American capital. On 14 October, he was ordered to Savannah for duty on Epervier. In May 1815, that sloop sailed for the Mediterranean with Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron to engage the Barbary Pirates in Algiers in the Second Barbary War. On 17 June, she participated in the capture of the frigate Mashouda and, two days later, of the brig Estedio. In July, when Epervier was ordered back to the United States with dispatches, Tattnall remained in the Mediterranean in Constellation. In January 1817, he transferred to Ontario and returned in her to the United States.