ter Operations pursue rheir law enforcement mission in American warers, despire more numerous parrols by unirs of rhe Royal Navy. For example, during rhe summer of 1812, a Brirish squadron comprising rhe 38-gun frigare HMS Spartan, rhe 36-gun frigare HMS Maidstone, rhe 18-gun brig HMS Indian, and the 12-gun brig HMS Plumper parrolled off rhe Maine coasr near rhe Canadian border. The fim battle pitting a revenue cutter against Royal Navy forces took place berween rhe cutter Commodore Barry and elements from this squadron. By rhe beginning of Augusr 1812, rhe Commodore Barry had rounded up five smuggling vessels in chis area and was esconing chem back to rh e customs house for adjudicarion. On 2 Augusr, cutter masrer Daniel Elliott learned of a Royal Navy patrol and heard distant gunfire as the British captured American vessels nor far from his anchorage. For self-defense, Elliott anchored next to the American privateer Madison in rhe harbor of Lierle River, Maine, east of Machias . Anticiparing a British attack, rhe Americans beached their vessels and set up shore batteries behind defenses improvised from cordwood. On 3 August, the Brirish sent five armed barges with approximately 250 officers and men to attack the small American force . The British paid dearly for rhe attack on the Commodore Barry, suffering several dead and wounded, but the attackers carried rhe day. A local Maine fisherman witnessed the battle, recounting char at ''about 1 p. m. five launches of men (about 250) started from [rhe Royal Navy warships] for the harbor. In a Jew minutes the firing commenced and continued for nearly two hours, then it ceased." All but three of the cutter's crew escaped into the woods, and these three cuttermen became rhe firsr POWs in Coasr Guard history. The British sent the three men to Halifax, where they were incarcerared at the British milirary prison on Melville Island. Cutter fames Madison During the seventeenth and eighreenth centuries, the French developed a naval srraregy, termed guerre de course, chat relied on warships or armed vessels to attack enemy merchant shipping. As chis was nor SEA HISTORY 139, SUMMER 2012
US Revenue Cutter Service 1812 flintlock pistol. a mandated mission of the Treasury Department's cutters, which had their hands full with law enforcement and protecring American commerce, only rhe James Madison pursued this srrategy during rhe war. To increase rhe offensive capabiliry of the Madison, Master George Brooks added four extra cannon, including sh ort-range carronades, to the standard cutter armament of six guns. Brooks also more than tripled the cutter's usual complement of fifteen men to support boarding operations and acco mmodate prize crews for captured vessels. Brooks had turned rhe Madison into a tool for carrying our guerre de course racrics against the British. On 13 August 1812, fa mes Madison set sail on a cruise out of Savannah, in company with privateers Paul Jo nes and Spencer, to prey on British merchantmen. On 22 August, the f ames Madison located a British convoy and attacked that night. According to repons, Captain Brooks mistook rhe 32-gun frigate HMS Barbados for a large merchantman, ordered the curter to fire several guns, and attempted to board the British warship before realizing his error. For seven hours afterward, rhe Barbados chased the Madison, which jettisoned rwo guns in its attempt to escape. The wind died, however, and the frigate even ruallycaptured the cutter after deploying barges to tow the enemy warship to the cutter's position. Barbados's captain, Thomas Huskinsson, noted char he had
already chased Madison once before and complimented the cutter on its fast sailing qualities. After the capture of the James Madison, the ship-of-the-line HMS Polyphemus sent a prize crew on board the cutter to sail it to England. On 7 October 1812 Madison's captors formally designated the cuttermen prisoners of war and processed the men for parole or internment. The British paroled Captain Brooks and his officers and, on 24
US Revenue Cutter Service
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The US Revenue Cutter Service was established by law on 4 August 1790. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton initiated the system of revenue cutters and is considered the founder of the service. In 1915, the US LifeSaving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service were merged under the Woodrow Wilson Administration and the new service was named the Unired States Coast Guard. Since 1915, other maritime services, such as the US Lighthouse Service, have also become pan of the Coasr Guard. 11