commissioners and cuttermen were transported to New Bern to write up reports. The spat between the commissioners did not end with the completion of the survey. They argued about the final settling of finances-Tatham charging that Coles and Price were withholding funds due to him. Coles publicly fired back with strong words. Tatham eventually brought a defamation suit seeking 1,000 pounds from Price for "wi llfully, secretly combining against me ...viciously combining and colluding to destroy, interfere, confuse, impede and set at naught any appointment [by me]" and other abusive conduct. The jury sided with Tatham, but awarded him only thirty-seven pounds. Tatham accepted the judgment bur turned down the money, saying he was interested only in being proven right and in clearing his name. Despite the stormy relationship between the commissioners and the loss of their vessels, the survey was still a success. Coles and Price produced a concise six-page report and an accurate chart of the region. Tatham, h aving lost his notes, would later
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produce a separate report. In contrast to the Coles and Price document, Tatham's was more than fifty pages of rambling information and complaints-which nevertheless provides fascinating insight and details of their efforts. The success of their endeavors would lead Congress to authorize surveys of the entire American coast, establishing the United States Coast Survey in 1807. .!-
Dan Laliberte served for over thirty years in the United States Coast Guard, during which time he participated in or provided intelligence support to the interdiction and repatriation ofhundreds of undocumented Haitian migrants, and the seizure of numerous drug smuggling vessels and the arrest oftheir crews. He writes on historical topics involving the Revenue M arine Service and Coast Guard.
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(Left) :4 Chart ofthe Coast of North Carolina between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear from a Survey Taken in the Year 1806, " map by 7homas Coles and Jonathan Price. (below) A copy of the 1806 chart produced by Coles and Price showing the tracks that the cutters Diligence and Governor Williams followed during the survey.
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SEA HISTORY 151, SUMMER 2015