Tempers and Tempests: the First Coast Survey Succeeds! (Despite the Sinking of Both Its Assigned Cutters) by Daniel A. Laliberte he first maritime survey of a section of the United States' coast was completed in September of 1806, just hours before a hurricane sank both of the Revenue cutters assigned to support it. President Thomas Jefferson had urged Congress to authorize such an undertaking given the expansionist sentiment of the US and the good fortune of a growing budget surplus. Congress selected North Carolina for rhe initial survey because of the high threat to shipping posed by the many uncharted shoals and other hazards in the area. The commissioners who were selected for the job would face two large hurdles: their own tempestuous relationship, and a season marred by frequent gales and back-to-back hurricanes. Despite these challenges, they did succeed in producing an accurate chart and collected other useful navigational information, an effort that led Congress to plan a survey of the entire US coast. The US Coast Survey was established the following year. The United States enjoyed an enviable position at the start of 1806: the Lewis and C lark expedition was well underway, its territory had nearly doubled with the recent acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, revenues were rolling in, and, despite the cost of the recent territorial purchase, the national debt was rapidly shrinking. With
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In his 1806 "Sixth Annual Address, "President lhomas Jefferson urged Congress to use some of the budget surplus to fund projects that would improve commerce. lhe 1806 Survey of the Coast of North Carolina was one the first ofthose projects. 22
budget surpluses projected for the foreseeable future, President Thomas Jefferson urged Congress to apply some of the surplus "to the great purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvement as it may be thought proper." Congress was happy to accom modate the sentiment for infrastructure development. A February report by the House Committee of Commerce and Manufactures found that "with the exception of Nantucket Shoals, it is supposed that there is no part of the American coast where vessels are more exposed to shipwreck, than they are in passing along the coast of North Carolina." Given this finding and the high volume of shipping that passed through the area, Congress quickly passed legislation authorizing a survey of the North Carolina coast from Cape Hatteras to Cape Fear. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin appointed three politically well connected and highly qualified men as commissioners of the survey: William Tath am, Jonathan Price, and Thomas Coles.
The Commissioners Colonel William Tatham was by all accounts a brilliant man. Highly educated, he was a lawyer, a surveyor, a former representative in the North Carolina state legislature, and a lieutenant colonel in the North Carolina state militia. He also frequently exchanged correspondence with the president. Jonathan Price was a well-respected surveyor and cartographer-well known for his work in North Carolin a and along its coast. He had drafted earlier ch arts of portions of the region and possessed a wealth of local knowledge. Price had done much work for John Grey Blount, a prosperous maritime merchant who had been a staunch supporter of the president's recent second election campaign; Blount was the one who recommended him for the survey. Major Thomas Coles (sometimes misspelled as "Cole" in associated records) was arg uably the least qualified of the three. He had begun his military career as an impressed seaman in the Royal Navy before the American Revolution. Deserting his
ship in Boston, Coles briefly taught school, then enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment when the War for Independence broke out. He was later commissioned and served as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General John Paterson, whose brigade fought in the Saratoga campaign under Horatio Gates, and in New Jersey at Trenton and Princeton under George Washington. When the war ended, Coles became a merchant shipmasrer and a self-taught surveyor. The appointment letters for the three directed them to meet at Ocracoke Inlet, along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and begin work as soon as any two of them arrived. The appointment letters and other pertinent papers were entrusted to Tatham, who was staying in Washington, DC, at the time. Tatham delivered the first of these to Price, whom he met along the way, in Edenton, North Carolina, on 15 May. The meeting began amiably enough. Tatham had been quite satisfied with Price's credentials. As a professional surveyo r and cartographer familiar with the region to be mapped, Price would be a valuable member of the commission. When Tatham learned from him that "[Coles] was self-taught and knew little of 'nautical astronomy,"' he proposed that they ask the secretary of the treasury to replace him with his friend, a Mr. Flagg. Flagg was an experienced seaman who had hi s own tools, could repair nautical and surveying instruments, and could be quire useful to them in general. Price politely declined to get rid of Coles but did not object to hiring Flagg to support the team. Tatham was satisfied with the decision, bur disappointed. He would later complain to Gallatin of this decision-as he would of many others during the season. As Tatham proceeded to Washington, North Carolina, to enlist Flagg, he did not realize that he had already set the tone for poor relations between the commissioners-Coles and Price would work together in harmony, bur wo uld minimize interaction with him and oppose almost all of his proposals for the entire mission.
Ocracoke Inlet & Shell Castle Island Ocracoke Inlet was a well-chosen starting point. Ir provided access to three major SEA HISTORY 151 , SUMMER 2015