Old Navy: Women in a Warship

This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected.  Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies.  Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue.  The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.

Until recently, the Civil War was thought by many to be the earliest conflict in which women served at sea with the Navy. But manuscript records in the National Archives indicate that, during the War of 1812, Commodore Stephen Decatur had women serving as nurses on board his warship. The facts of the case, insofar as they can be assembled at this late date, tell an intriguing story.

After the United States declared war on Great Britain on 18 June 1812, there were a series of American naval vic­tories in ship-to-ship encounters. These were the Constitu­tion vs. the Guerriere, the Wasp vs. the Frolic, the United States vs. the Macedonian,* and the Constitution vs. the Java. Although these victories cheered and inspired a pub­lic that had grown weary from hearing of defeats suffered by the U. S. Army, they did not change the strategic situa­tion at sea, which was becoming more worrisome.

On 30 March 1813, a British Order in Council imposed a blockade on the U. S. coast from New York to New Orleans. Some commerce out of New England was se­cretly allowed because it helped to support British armies in Canada and Europe. But a strong force was to remain off Boston to keep a lookout for American frigates. When the USS Chesapeake sailed from Boston on 1 June 1813, she was quickly engaged by HMS Shannon. After a 15- minute fight, the frigate Chesapeake was captured and James Lawrence, her captain, was killed.

At New York, a squadron under Commodore Stephen Decatur tried unsuccessfully to get to sea, first by way of Sandy Hook, and then via Long Island Sound. From 26 May to 1 June, the squadron, consisting of the frigates United States, Macedonian, and the sloop-of-war Hornet, remained off New London, Connecticut. Because he was

*The Macedonian was placed into U. S. service after her capture by Commodore Decatur.

determined to break through the blockade, and anticipated casualties, Decatur declared that it might be useful to have nurses on board his ship, in case his wounded men could not be easily transferred to hospitals ashore. Apparently, his decision was reinforced by the knowledge that some of his men had wives who were willing to go to sea.

While the United States was at New York, Lieutenant Lewis Warrington tried to recruit additional men for the crew. He also reenlisted a veteran seaman whose real name was William Goodman. Born an Englishman, he had come to the United States in a merchant brig about 1810. While his ship was at Norfolk, he and a group of his shipmates deserted her and signed on as crewmen of the United States. To protect himself from British retaliation, Goodman had joined the U. S. Navy under the name of John Allen. In September 1811, while in New York, he married Mary Humphries, whom he had known for H months. Allen continued to serve in the United States, and seems to have won the approval of Commodore Decatur.

The commodore must have known about Allen's wife when Allen reenlisted on 11 March 1813. He seems to have told her that he intended to break through the British blockade and offered her the opportunity of sailing with her husband in the capacity of a nurse. Mary Allen took up his offer, for she later stated in a deposition that “During the War, I went on board the said Frigate [United States] in the capacity of a Nurse to the Sick at the particular request of Commodore Decatur.” This statement is sup­ported by other members of the crew. Stephen Jones, a former quarter gunner, declared that Mary Allen “served on board said Ship in the capacity of a Nurse by the ex­press order of Commodore Decatur.” Similar statements were made by George B. Raymond, a former master’s mate, and by James Banks, an ex-boatswain. Master Commandant John B. Nicholson also knew of the arrange­ment. Regarding Mrs. Allen, he said that “Commodore Decatur intended to take her out [to sea] as well as another

Proceedings / January 198^

'^v°man by the name of Marshall to act as nurses in case of Setting into action. ...”

Who was the other woman? The log of the United States ^c°ntains the names of Mary Marshall and Mary Allen as ^nurses, and they are entered on the ship’s records as super­numeraries on 10 May 1813. The immediate reason for eeatur’s action may have been to care for some British P^f|soners who were being taken to New London.

Mary Marshall’s husband must have been a member of ^{e Cf}ew of the United Slates, but he is not easy to find. A ^Scaman named James Marshall was entered in the log on

30 July 1811; Thomas Marshall, another seaman, was en­listed at New York on 21 March 1813. Since the latter date was about the time of John Allen’s reenlistment, the two men and/or the two women may have known each other before joining the United States.

The records do not suggest that either of these women had any previous family or employment connections with the medical profession. There are also no references to the views of the surgeon, but Decatur probably consulted with him about how the women might be employed. Whatever the arrangements, the women were on board the United States when she left New York with the rest of the squad­ron on 24 May 1813.

Decatur’s force passed through Hell Gate, and reached Fisher’s Island off New London on 26 May. He anchored there and spent the next five days collecting any informa­tion he could about the disposition of the British blockad­ing ships. Hearing that British ships were southwest of Montauk Point, Long Island, Decatur put to sea while the escape route was open. Off Block Island, he sighted two additional enemy ships, HMS Ramillies and HMS Valiant, both of 74 guns. The British tried to cut off any escape route back to shore, but failed. After Decatur's force made it back to New London, the British imposed a close block­ade—they were determined that the Americans would not put to sea again.

While waiting for an opportunity to slip through the blockade, Decatur kept his ships in a state of readiness, and protected them with fortifications on shore. In the United States, John Allen fell overboard and drowned on 28 October 1813, while working with the anchor from the ship’s cat head. His body was recovered and buried in New London. Mary Allen, still serving as a nurse on the ship, had to think about her future as a widow. She asked Decatur for permission to return to New York, which he granted, and her naval experience ended.

During the winter of 1813-1814, Decatur kept his squadron ready for service. But when spring came and the squadron was still blockaded, the men of the Macedonian were sent to the Great Lakes. Decatur was transferred to the frigate President at New York, and most of his crew went with him. The United States and the Macedonian spent the rest of the war at New London. On 14 November 1814, the Hornet managed to slip through the blockade— taking a merchant prize en route to New York—and oper­ated successfully in the South Atlantic. She won her last victory against the British three months after the war was officially ended.

It is not known what happened to Mary Marshall. She might have accompanied Mary Allen back to New York, or stayed on until her husband was reassigned. We know that Seaman Thomas Marshall was reassigned to the frig­ate President on 7 May 1814. Seaman James Marshall was transferred to that ship on the same date.

As for Mary Allen, she received a pension on the basis of her husband’s naval service. This indicates that, as far as the government was concerned, she was never officially in the Navy. Yet her service on board the United States remains as the earliest documented instance of a woman serving in a warship.