The Other* Victorious Battle of Sag Harbor–1813: Guest Post by David Thommen

Many of you may have started this article in your SHHS Sentry Newsletter. Here is the extended version! Enjoy! SHHS applauds David Thommen for his efforts to erect a memorial marker and put together a ceremony in honor of the 200th anniversary of the battle that took place on July 11, 1813.

The following was printed in the SHHS Sentry, and it is the speech prepared and delivered by David Thommen on 11 July 2013:

Tension between the United States and Great Britain had been escalating for at least a decade before President James Madison signed a bill declaring war on June 18th, 1812. Although there were many factors leading to the hostilities, the actions of the Royal Navy stood out among the Americans. Britain was engaged in a colossal struggle with Napoleon’s France. One of their tactics was a global economic blockade to prevent ships from neutral nations to reach ports controlled by the French. This required the British to maintain the largest navy in the world estimated at 1,000 ships. This created a shortage of able-bodied seamen.  Undermanned British warships stopped neutral ships and took the sailors they needed by force. American ships were often targeted, and the Americans saw this as a just and sufficient cause for war. Then, for more than two and a half years battles raged from the northern Canadian borders to the Gulf of Mexico. And, a sea war was fought on every ocean in the world. In the fall of 1814, delegates from both sides negotiated in Ghent, Belgium, and on Christmas Eve 1814 the Treaty of Ghent was signed thus ending hostilities and restored “status quo ante bellum.” Word of a treaty did not reach North America in time to stop the famous Battle of New Orleans on January 8th, 1815 or the 5-day Battle at Fort Bowyer in Alabama starting on February 12th, 1815.

• The Fort On High Street— The Fort at Sag Harbor was built sometime during the summer or fall of 1810 when Brigadier General Joseph G. Trotten was a 22-year-old West Point Graduate, 1st Lieutenant and engineer in the U.S. Army. From 1808 through 1812 he was the assistant to the army engineer and was instrumental in the building of the defenses of New York Harbor and having special supervision of the construction of Fort Clinton at Battery Park in lower Manhattan. He chose our site as it must have afforded the best view for a lookout and best placement for the coastal artillery. The Fort would have been constructed of stone and timber with a wooden parapet wall. The grounds surely would have contained officers’ quarters, militia barracks, mess hall, guardhouse and a storehouse for gunpowder, weapons and shot. The artillery was composed of cannons referred to as 9 and 18 pounders. The weight reference pertained to the weight of the cannonballs they fired. According to cannon expert, Richard Hendrickson of Bridgehampton, a 9 pounder would have a barrel length of about 5 feet and threw a shot about the size of softball. An 18 pounder had a barrel length of 10 feet and its shot was the size of a melon. Our fort was manned by the ranks of the Fourth Regiment of The New York Artillery, the equivalent of today’s Army National Guard. Three thousand men were assigned to the Fort working rotating tours of duty. I have seen estimates that about ten officers and fifty men were assigned at a time. The fort’s site was preserved as a village green when the Sleight Hill /High St. property was subdivided, and the stone was placed in 1902 by Mrs. Mary Gertrude Aldrich of the first Sag Harbor Historical Society.

• The Battle—In the spring of 1813, a British fleet appeared in Gardiners Bay under the command of Sir Thomas Hardy. On May 1st, American Gen. Abraham Rose was ordered by the commander-in-chief to call together the field and staff officers of the most easterly regiment and arrange alarm signals with them, places of rendezvous in case of attack, and to consider methods of arming the people. Henry P. Dering was to have charge of the signals at Sag Harbor in case a landing should be attempted.Guards were kept at the Three Mile Harbor Gut. 16-year-old Charles R. Hand of Amagansett was there one evening and saw British armed boats leaving the fleet and proceed toward Sag Harbor. He ran home, saddled his mare, and galloped to Sag Harbor to give warning all in 40 minutes. The warnings signals were given, and the militia and fort were readied to repulse the attack. Captain Henry Green and militiaman John Gann were the sentinels on the wharf. Green heard a boat and challenged it. Obtaining no reply, he fired and the battle was under way.

The following excerpt is from General Rose’s official report.

“Sir, about 2 o’clock this morning, five barges from the British squadron came and made an attack upon Sag Harbor, took three vessels, set fire to one, but met with a reception so warm and spirited from our militia there stationed, who are entitled to much credit, as also many citizens of the place, that they abandoned their object and made a very precipitate retreat. They threw some shot almost to the extreme part of the place, but fortunately no lives were lost or injury done except to the vessels which they had in possession, one of which was bored through and through by an 18 lb. shot from the fort. It is probable the enemy must have suffered, as they departed in such confusion as to leave some of their arms and accoutrements.”

*The first “victorious battle” was Meigs Raid in 1777. For more information on Meigs' Raid, check out SHHS's Fourth of July Post: http://sagharborhistorical.org/wordpress/?p=138

About David Thommen's Ceremony to commemorate the Battle of Sag Harbor in 1813:

The Flag

The flag I have chosen to fly today is of the 15 star and 15 stripe design. Adopted by Congress in 1795 and adding 1 star and 1 stripe each for the admission of Kentucky and Vermont to the Union it flew until 1818. At that time the design was changed back to 13 stipes to represent the 13 original colonies and 1 star would be added for every new state on the 4th of July after its admission to the Union. This is the flag that flew here during the 1812 conflict and according to United States Flag etiquette is appropriate to fly over an historical site. this is also the design that flew over Fort McHenry during the battle of Baltimaore on September 13th and 14th 1814 when Frances Scott Key wrote the words to our National Anthem “The Star Spangled Banner.” The actual battered flag from that battle can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. It measures 30 x 42 feet.

In Honor

Today we dedicate this place to honor those who fought to protect our homes and families from hostile invaders and to the memory of militiamen Nathanial Baker and John Pierson who lost their lives on this spot on February 18th, 1815 in an explosion while attempting to fire the cannons once more in celebration of the war’s end.

Note that images from David Thommen's memorial event feature veterans in civilian clothes, instead of a traditional uniformed color guard. This is a particularly fitting choice, since the men involved in the Battle of Sag Harbor were members of the militia. This means they were civilians, who often wore minimal or mismatched uniforms, or in the case of an emergency, might just leave whatever they were doing to respond.