Writing on board his ship H.M.S. Blenheim in 1839, Captain Sir Henry Le Fleming Senhouse of the Royal Navy looked back to his time as commodore of the British naval forces in the Bay of Fundy during the War of 1812. Sir Henry was writing an endorsement for his friend Lieutenant Charles Hare, whose “activity and enterprize” in destroying US coastal trade and privateers won the admiration of Senhouse “and of every officer who knew him.” Yet, notwithstanding Hare’s undeniable ability, Senhouse had to admit that Hare’s case was one of “neglected merit,” for the unfortunate officer had remained at the rank of lieutenant for thirty-seven years despite his performance during the last war with the Americans. Hare’s lack of recognition parallels that of the naval War of 1812 as it played out in the battle for the Bay of Fundy. This work aims to rescue the service of Hare and his fellow Royal Navy officers and sailors from obscurity by examining three warships that played important roles in defending New Brunswick.
These vessels, the provincial sloop Brunswicker, His Majesty’s schooner Bream, and His Majesty’s brig-of-war Boxer, were small and operated out of Saint John during the war. While many Canadians are aware of the naval battles fought on the Great Lakes or the frigate duels fought on the ocean during the War of 1812, few will know of the naval component as it relates to the Maritimes, except for those who might recall it had something to do with privateers. The vessels that fought this war were small, yet extremely busy, and often involved in low-level combat against various US forces.
The size of these vessels and the missions assigned to them indicate that they were not warships designed to engage with enemy fleets in grand battles, but patrol craft. In peacetime they performed a constabulary role, enforcing maritime law and policy. In wartime they engaged in a form of naval warfare known as guerre de course that emphasized attacking the enemy’s commercial shipping and protecting one’s own. It was not the sort of glamorous duty that made for rapid promotion, as Lieutenant Hare found to his dismay. But it was important work, even if it was tedious to fight winter winds, summer fogs, and the fierce tidal currents of the notoriously dangerous Bay of Fundy. It could also be deadly: shipwreck, combat, and imprisonment were constant hazards.
The Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine generally is an area that has been largely ignored in histories of the War of 1812. The frequent small-scale combat fought in these waters between privateers and government vessels has received little consideration. In part this is because of the historiographical “big ship” bias that emphasizes blue-water battles. The War of 1812 in the Bay of Fundy and off the New England coast was decidedly not a big-ship conflict; privateers, from both the United States and the Maritime colonies, usually were less than one hundred tons and some were mere open rowboats. The naval units were equally rudimentary: a few sloops-of-war, gun brigs, and schooners. This was a petty raiding war, guerre de course in a littoral, or coastal, environment. Although they seldom operated together as a squadron, let alone a fleet, these naval forces nevertheless played an important role in the war, convoying ships between ports, patrolling the bay for hostile vessels, and raiding the enemy’s coast.