United States Sea Fencibles, 1813-1815
- "... within the five cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk, there are a large number of seafaring men, who from their hardihood and habits of life, might be very useful in the defense of the seaboard, particularly in the management of the great guns...."
- (Report, U.S. Senate Naval Affairs Committee, June 1813)
On July 26, 1813, during the War of 1812 with the United Kingdom, the United States Congress passed "An act to authorize the raising a Corps of Sea Fencibles ... not to exceed one year, and not to exceed ten companies who may employed for the defense of the ports and harbors of the United States..."
At Baltimore, two companies were raised under the command of Captains Matthew S. Bunbury and William H. Addison. Though generally mariners by trade, the Sea Fencibles were equipped and organized under the authority of the War Department. Officers received the uniform, pay, and rations of the Army, while the balance of each company (boatswains, gunners, and privates) received the uniform, pay, and rations of the Navy.
A company consisted of 107 officers and enlisted men.
| No. | Rank | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Captain | $40 |
| 1 | First Lieutenant | $30 |
| 1 | Second Lieutenant | $25 |
| 1 | Third Lieutenant | $23 |
| 1 | Boatswain | $20 |
| 6 | Gunners | $20 |
| 6 | Quarter-gunners | $18 |
| 90 | Privates | $12 |
Both companies at Fort McHenry were considered part of the regular garrison. Records indicate that Captain Bunbury's company was quartered at Fort McHenry, while Addison's men were quartered at Fort Covington. Their duties consisted of manning the barges, maintaining the chain-mast boom, providing guard duty, and manning the great guns of Fort McHenry's water batteries. On February 27, 1815, Congress repealed the act establishing the Corps of Sea Fencibles.
Read more about this topic: Sea Fencibles
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states and/or sea:
“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“fundamentally an organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism—something it is like for the organism.”
—Thomas Nagel (b. 1938)
“At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)