Guns, Diplomacy, and Litigation

On April 17, 1882, the House of Representatives of the 47th Congress passed Senate Bill 185, thus formally recognizing a claim which had originated nearly sixty-eight years before in one of the most remarkable sea fights in American history. This claim had its inception in the smoke of the battle of the American privateer General Armstrong, with a squadron of British warships in the War of 1812. Unusual not only for the circumstances attending the actual combat, but also because of its diplomatic and legal ramifications, the case of the little privateer and her commander, Samuel Chester Reid, plagued our State Department and courts through the administrations of seventeen presidents. Long before it was settled, Reid and most of the men who had participated in the battle were dead, but the fight was carried on by their heirs.

A short sketch of Samuel Chester Reid is necessary for the proper appreciation of the events which made the General Armstrong case the most famous of the nineteenth century. Reid was the son of a former British naval officer who resigned his commission after being captured and joined the American cause in the Revolution. The elder Reid settled in Norwich, Connecticut where Samuel was born on August 25, 1783.

At an age when most children were still rolling hoops, Samuel was introduced to seamanship and the grim arts of war. First going to sea at eleven, he was captured by a French privateer and spent six months as a prisoner of war on the island of Guadaloupe. Then, after his release, he served a year as acting midshipman in the Baltimore, which was then attached to Commodore Truxton’s West India Squadron. At the age of twenty, he was master of the brig Merchant of New York, and during the War of 1812 he was for a time in command of the schooner Boxer. From this command; he went to the General Armstrong, a privateer brig of 246 tons, carrying nine guns and a complement of ninety men, most of whom were fishermen by trade.

The General Armstrong had already distinguished herself under the competent command of Captain Guy R. Champlain. She had taken several valuable prizes, and in two separate engagements with British privateers of superior tonnage and armament, had fought one to a draw and captured the other. But a change of commanders was not destined to tarnish her fighting record, for Samuel Chester Reid was worthy of such a ship.

Soon after assuming command of the General Armstrong, Reid began the cruise which was to make him and his vessel the center of controversy for decades to come. On the evening of September 9, 1814, the little privateer got underway from New York and slipped through the British squadron on blockade off Sandy Hook, and began her search for prizes.

The new skipper’s character may be inferred from his official report for September 11, 1814: “ . . . fell in with an enemy’s gun brig; exchanged a few shots with and left him.” Thus, with Anglo-Saxon brevity, he describes a gun-range encounter with an enemy warship, an exceptionally bold operation for a privateer.

After two weeks of cruising without sighting anything more exciting than a couple of neutral vessels, which were boarded and examined, the General Armstrong was in the vicinity of the Azores. On the afternoon of September 26th, Captain Reid decided to put in at Fayal for the purpose of replenishing his fresh water and provisions. Soon after anchoring in Fayal Roads, he called upon the American consul, John D. Dabney, who informed him that no British men-of-war had visited the Azores for several weeks. Thus reassured, Reid returned to his ship after arranging for water and provisions.

However, late that afternoon a British squadron was seen standing into Fayal Roads. This force consisted of the 74-gun ship of the line Plantagenet; the 38-gun frigate Rota; and the war brig Carnation, carrying 18 guns. Under command of Captain, and acting commodore, Robert Lloyd of the Plantagenet, these vessels were carrying part of the expedition being sent to reinforce General Pakenham for the coming Battle of New Orleans. Reid, though, was at this time unaware of the mission of the British force.

Reid immediately went ashore and inquired of Consul Dabney if the neutrality of the port would be respected. Dabney, who naturally assumed that the rules of war would be observed, assured him that he need not be concerned as long as his vessel remained at anchor. As a result of his conference with Dabney, Reid decided to return to his ship, with the intention of remaining in his present position.

But, shortly after the British force anchored, he observed that the brig Carnation had lowered her boats and sent them to the Plantagenet. Construing this operation as part of the preparations for an attack, Reid immediately cleared for action and, with the aid of sweeps, began to move in closer to a fortified castle on shore.

The Carnation, after slipping her cables, attempted to make sail, but the wind was so light that she could make little way. Her commander then sent one or more boats¹ in the direction of the General Armstrong. In Captain Reid’s later report, it was stated that these boats were excessively manned and armed, if they were on a strictly reconnoitering expedition, as the British commander later claimed.

Reid dropped anchor at once, springing his cables so that he could wind ship in order to bring either battery into action. Two of the nine-pounders were loaded with grape and brought to bear upon the boats. Reid hailed the British, warning them to lie off. The boats stopped for a few minutes, but, after a short conference among themselves, the British approached close aboard. Convinced now that an attack was intended, Reid gave the command to open fire with both small arms and cannon. In the ensuing action, one American seaman was killed and the first lieutenant of the General Armstrong was wounded. The British losses were heavy, being estimated as about ten killed and wounded.

The attacking boats now withdrew and, under a full moon, the British could be seen making preparations for another attack. Reid took advantage of the lull by hauling in closer to the beach. Here, within a few boat’s lengths of the castle, the General Armstrong was anchored bow and stern. Two of the nine pounders were moved from the shore side across the deck, where holes for them were cut in the bulwarks. In addition to six nine- pounders, the privateer carried a 24-pounder “Long Tom” and at least two swivel guns, the 24-pounder being mounted amidships from where it could bear upon either side.

About midnight several boats, each mounting a bow swivel gun, and carrying a number of men, variously estimated as from 180 to 400, approached the General Armstrong. Reid’s crew began firing at close range both with heavy guns and small arms and the British suffered heavy casualties. But, in spite of their heavy losses, the tenacious attackers received the order to board. As they attempted to climb over the bulwarks, the Americans met them with muskets, cutlasses, pistols and pikes. They were beaten off aft by the force under Reid, but reaching the deck forward, they killed the second officer, in charge of the forecastle, and wounded the third officer. Reid now led the after section in a charge which cleared the forecastle.

Having now suffered heavy losses for the second time that night, the British withdrew. In the last action, a desperate and bloody affair lasting forty-five minutes, they had at least thirty-four killed and eighty wounded. Two boats were sunk and two others captured by the Americans. Only three of the flotilla were able to return to their ships. Many men were killed in the boats, and several escaped only by swimming ashore. American losses were two killed and seven wounded.

No more attacks were made that night, and the General Armstrong’s crew took advantage of the remaining hours of darkness by repairing the damage to the ship’s armament. The 24-pounder, which had been knocked off its base, was remounted, and the broadside guns made ready for another action.

Meanwhile, at about 0300, the American consul informed Reid that the Portuguese governor had sent an urgent note to Captain Lloyd, reminding him that he was in a neutral port and requesting that he refrain from further action, but this appeal the British commander had rejected, announcing that he was determined to capture the privateer regardless of the cost. Reid made his preparations accordingly, transferring his dead and wounded ashore, together with the personal effects of the crew, and awaited the next attack.

About daylight the Carnation stood in close to engage the privateer, but the General Armstrong’s long 24 beat her off with her rigging severely cut up. After hauling out of range to repair the damage to her sailing gear, the Carnation again stood in close to the privateer and resumed her fire.

Reid now gave the order to abandon ship and, as the last of his crew went over the side, scuttled the General Armstrong in order to prevent her capture. A few minutes after he had left his ship, the British boarded her and set her on fire, which shortly completed her destruction.

The gunfire from the Carnation had also damaged several buildings on shore and at least two of the town’s inhabitants had been wounded. These causalities were the bases of later Portuguese claims submitted to the British.

Captain Reid and his surviving men fled into the hills to evade capture, as it was now apparent that the British commander considered that the principle of neutrality was nonexistent. Lloyd immediately ordered the Portuguese to produce the members of the privateer’s crew for examination to determine if there were British deserters among them. Having no forces with which to resist, the governor was compelled to yield. A detachment was sent into the mountains to return the seamen, who were turned over to the British. However, no deserters were found and the men were released. Shortly afterward, Reid and his men returned home, where they received great honors and acclaim. The gunpowder phase of the General Armstrong’s last cruise was over.

As a military sidelight on the affair, it should be remembered that Lloyd’s force was carrying troops to New Orleans. Thus, without design, the American privateer served as a “red herring,” which delayed the whole New Orleans campaign, for the British force was detained in Fayal for over a week as a result of the action. After the dead had been buried, two sloops of war were detailed to carry the wounded back to England. Why Lloyd allowed himself to become involved in this costly fight with a relatively unimportant antagonist, especially in view of the primary mission of his squadron, is a question which is difficult to answer, except on the grounds of pride and prestige. Having a substantial part of the New Orleans expedition on board, he allowed it to be delayed at a most critical time. In fact Theodore Roosevelt credits the delay occasioned by the General Armstrong’s determined defense with helping to save the Crescent City.

Unlike most naval battles, the one at Fayal did not end with the cooling of the guns. The diplomatic phase now began. It was to create a situation which would seriously strain Portuguese-American relations for many years to come. Then, with the final oiling of the diplomatic waters, the battle was to shift to the courts of the United States, and eventually to the halls of Congress.

Immediately upon the circumstances of the fight becoming known in the United States, our State Department in the interest of the owners, officers, and crew of the privateer, demanded reparations from the Portuguese. The representations were made on the grounds that the port authorities were responsible for allowing the destruction of the privateer, which was a violation of neutrality. Portugal at first admitted that the neutrality of the port was violated, and that it was responsible. She in turn demanded reparations from Britain. That country paid for the damage to Portuguese citizens, but refused to pay the American claim of $131,000 for the General Armstrong.

Portugal was then under the control of Napoleon. Her royal house had been banished, and the Portuguese government had been set up in Brazil. After the final overthrow of Napoleon, Portugal remained in a state of dissension and revolution until 1834, when Donna Maria was replaced upon the throne. Immediately after the restoration, the United States renewed her demands in the Fayal case. .

Here another phase of international politics reared its head in the pathway of settlement. Donna Maria had been aided greatly by Great Britain in the regaining of her throne. Hence it was quite natural that she should be influenced by that country in her decision regarding the claim. She agreed to pay several other United States claims against Portugal, but refused to consider that of the General Armstrong, admitting that it was because of the British that she did so.

The British government maintained that the boats which first approached the General Armstrong were sent merely to inspect the vessel; while the United States contended that the boats were armed. By the Treaty of Ghent, the United States had renounced all such claims against Great Britain, and so Portugal was the only one which could be pressed for settlement.

Negotiations between the United States and Portugal reached a critical point under President Taylor’s administration. Early in 1850, a final demand for settlement was made. Secretary of State Clayton sent these instructions to Commodore Morgan, together with orders from the Secretary of the Navy to proceed to Lisbon in a warship and deliver them to James Clay, American minister to Portugal.

On June 19, 1850, Commodore Morgan reached Lisbon and delivered these special instructions to Clay. On June 21, Clay presented his final demand for settlement before the Portuguese government. Shortly after, he was approached by the Russian minister, who offered to act as mediator, but Clay refused to consider any further negotiation in the General Armstrong affair.

A few weeks previously the Portuguese had offered to submit the case to the arbitration of a third power. Now, on July 7, the Portuguese minister reaffirmed the willingness of his government to arbitrate the question. Clay’s instructions did not admit of the acceptance of this offer. In accordance with these instructions, he immediately rejected the proposal and asked for his passports. A few days later the American minister departed from Lisbon, thus bringing United States relations with that country to a ticklish state.

The American refusal to submit to arbitration was based upon the contention that the claim was a just and proper one which had been recognized as such by Portugal herself. Some authorities blame President Taylor himself for the uncompromising attitude of his administration in the matter of claims. At any rate, upon Taylor’s death, July 9, 1850, Secretary of State Clayton resigned and was succeeded on July 22 by Daniel Webster, under whom the General Armstrong case was speedily submitted, under protest of the vessel’s owners, to arbitration. Louis Napoleon was agreed upon as arbitrator.

Representatives of the claimants called upon the State Department to allow them to prepare a brief and see that the case was fairly presented. This was refused. Then, it was alleged, the case was presented to Napoleon merely by the submission of a part of the correspondence between the United States and Portugal. The first part in which the admission of responsibility by Portugal was contained was not included. As a result, Louis Napoleon decided against the United States. Now, the ground work for a knotty legal question was laid.

The claimants maintained that the claim against Portugal, having been lost to them by action of the United States, should be made good by the United States. The claim was taken before Congress, but that body referred it to the United States Court of Claims, where the government was sued by Captain Reid and his son.

At this point we shall return for a moment to the personal life of the General Armstrong’s commander. Several years after the Azores affair, Captain Reid, in recognition of his outstanding service, had been appointed as sailing master (a warrant rank at that time) in the Navy. For many years he was harbor master at New York, where he made many improvements in the harbor system and pilot service. At the time of his death in 1861, the case of the General Armstrong was still dragging its weary way through the courts, but his son, Samuel Chester, vigorously prosecuted the claim.

The case enjoyed wide publicity for many years. Finally it was decided by the Court of Claims, with a bench of three judges. Two of these judges affirmed that it was a valid claim against the United States and ought to be paid. Upon testimony presented before the court, the amount due the claimants was found to be $70,739. However, upon a rehearing, one judge who had decided in favor of the claimants changed his mind and united with the other dissenting jurist to reverse the judgment. This change was not based upon any doubt as to the moral justification of the claim, but rather upon the fact that it was not a legal technical claim that could be adjudicated by the court. The opinion was that it must be referred to Congress for final action. So the case of the little privateer returned to vex the legislative body which had previously thought itself permanently rid of it.

Now that Congress found itself saddled again with the perennial privateer, legislative action to dispose of it was not long to be delayed. On April 13, 1882, the Senate passed a bill for the relief of the claimants. Four days later the House passed the bill, which became law without the President’s signature. Unfortunately for the claimants, however, the bill as passed was more or less indefinite as to any specific settlement. It merely authorized and directed the Secretary of State to examine and adjust the claims “on principles of justice and equity.” As a result, when the chief prosecutor of the suit, the younger Reid, died fifteen years later, a considerable part of the sum which had originally been approved by the court still remained unpaid.

Thus ended the final phase of the case of the little 246-ton vessel whose guns had set in motion one of the longest fights in history. Few vessels have matched her record in battle. Probably none has equalled her record of mention in diplomatic, legal, and legislative documents.