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114-756: In 1841, the United States was in the midst of a war scare with the United Kingdom over the American boundary with Canada, among other issues. Americans remembered the British invasion of the United States by sea during the War of 1812 and, to avoid its recurrence, President John Tyler and Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur called for a large increase in the size of the U.S. Navy in order to defend

228-647: A fleet action with the Royal Navy. On the high seas, the Americans pursued a strategy of commerce raiding , capturing or sinking British merchantmen with their frigates and privateers. The Navy was largely concentrated on the Atlantic coast before the war as it had only two gunboats on Lake Champlain , one brig on Lake Ontario and another brig in Lake Erie when the war began. The United States Army

342-532: A 225-pound (102-kilogram) shell 5 miles (8.0 kilometers), soon proved that 4.5-inch (114-millimeter) armor was insufficient. In March 1845, Robert Stevens' health failed and he spent the next two years recuperating in Europe. His absence and the need to rethink the ship's armor scheme led to little work being done on her for several years. In 1851, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft ordered work on

456-506: A British appeal to come to their aid. However, the Americans did not pursue the retreating British forces until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive at the Battle of Stoney Creek on 5 June. The British launched a surprise attack at 2   a.m., leading to confused fighting and a strategic British victory. The Americans pulled back to Forty Mile Creek rather than continue their advance into Upper Canada. At this point,

570-561: A complete victory. Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory that they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake ) on 10 December 1813, incensing the Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without shelter, freezing to death in the snow. The British retaliated following their Capture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813. A British-Indian force led by Riall stormed

684-406: A day. Their leaders sought to fight only under favourable conditions and would avoid any battle that promised heavy losses, doing what they thought best for their tribes. The Indigenous fighters saw no issue with withdrawing if needed to save casualties. They always sought to surround an enemy, where possible, to avoid being surrounded and make effective use of the terrain. Their main weapons were

798-414: A few country the honorific high position of commodore it is indicated with the high rank denomination of senior captain . Traditionally, commodore is the title of the president of a yacht club. During wartime, a shipping convoy will have a ranking officer—sometimes an active-duty naval officer , at other times a civilian master or retired naval officer—designated as the convoy commodore . This title

912-431: A great increase in the ship's size and capabilities. She was now to be 420 feet (130 m) long, 53 feet (16 m) in beam, and displace 4,683 tons. She was to be proof against 125-pound (56.7-kilogram) shells, with armor made up of 6.75-inch (171-millimeter) iron plates sloping upwards from 1-foot (0.30 m) below the waterline to the main deck and running along the entire side of the ship from stem to stern . She

1026-479: A high rate of fire. Water was to be injected into each gun automatically after it fired, to cool the gun and prevent it from being damaged by extended, rapid firing. The ship was to have eight steam engines generating 8,600 ihp (6,400 kW) to drive two propellers and give the ship a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h), breathtakingly fast for the time. She would have consumed a lot of coal , and her 1,000-ton coal capacity suggests that she would have had

1140-454: A long siege. He agreed to surrender on 16 August. Hull also ordered the evacuation of Fort Dearborn (Chicago) to Fort Wayne , but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they were massacred on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned. Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General Stephen Van Rensselaer was attempting a second invasion. The Americans attempted an attack across

1254-608: A militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day". The United States was only a secondary concern to Britain, so long as the Napoleonic Wars continued with France. In 1813, France had 80 ships-of-the-line and was building another 35. Containing the French fleet was the main British naval concern, leaving only the ships on the North American and Jamaica Stations immediately available. In Upper Canada,

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1368-460: A mixture of muskets, rifles, bows, tomahawks , knives and swords as well as clubs and other melee weapons, which sometimes had the advantage of being quieter than guns. On 1 June 1812, Madison sent a message to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. The House of Representatives then deliberated for four days behind closed doors before voting 79 to 49 (61%) in favour of

1482-565: A newspaper, which eventually led to over a month of deadly rioting in the city. Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in London on 11 May and Lord Liverpool came to power. He wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. On June 23, he issued a repeal of the Orders in Council , but the United States was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross

1596-469: A revolutionary design with potential capabilities far beyond the norm for her times. But her first design proved inadequate in the face of the advance of gun technology, her second design took too long to build and never found favor with the U.S. Navy, and her third design, although modernized, came too late to salvage the project before it ran out of money. Had the Stevens Battery ever put to sea in

1710-527: A second American force led by Major Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Credit Island . These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandon Fort Johnson , in central Illinois Territory. Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and eastern Missouri . However,

1824-693: A small American post on the Sandusky River near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry fought the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory at Put-in-Bay ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in

1938-401: A smaller target for enemy gunners. Her steam engines were to produce 900 indicated horsepower (ihp) and give her an estimated top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h)r), and this very high speed for the era combined with good maneuverability were intended to make her a hard target to hit as well. Experiments by John Ericsson with his 12-inch (305-mm) wrought iron gun Oregon , which could fire

2052-592: A threat to Canada in 1812, the United States Navy was a well-trained and professional force comprising over 5,000 sailors and marines. It had 14 ocean-going warships with three of its five "super-frigates" non-operational at the onset of the war. Its principal problem was lack of funding, as many in Congress did not see the need for a strong navy. The biggest ships in the American navy were frigates and there were no ships-of-the-line capable of engaging in

2166-487: A very short operating range. She was to be the first ship equipped with fan -driven ventilation , to increase crew comfort by extracting fumes and hot air from below decks. The Stevens brothers made significant progress on the newly designed ship between January 1854 and September 1855, but then work slowed again. When Robert Stevens died in April 1856, worked stopped entirely, and did not resume until 1859. The Navy by then

2280-509: A warship that would demonstrate to the U.S. Navy some of the principles he had in mind for the Stevens Battery, including high maneuverability, a respectable top speed, a semisubmersible capability, and a large gun on the main deck capable of a high rate of fire and loaded from below the deck by gun crews protected by armor. The resulting vessel, Naugatuck , went into service with the United States Revenue-Marine in

2394-613: Is a senior naval rank used in many navies which is equivalent to brigadier or brigadier general and air commodore . It is superior to a navy captain , but below a rear admiral . It is either regarded as the most junior of the flag officers rank or may not hold the jurisdiction of a flag officer at all depending on the officer's appointment. Non-English-speaking nations commonly use the rank of flotilla admiral , counter admiral , or senior captain as an equivalent, although counter admiral may also correspond to rear admiral lower half abbreviated as RDML . Traditionally, "commodore"

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2508-495: Is not related to the individual ' s military rank (if any), but instead is the title of the senior individual responsible for the overall operation of the merchant ships and naval auxiliary ships that make up the convoy. The convoy commodore does not command the convoy ' escort forces (if any), which are commanded by a naval officer who serves as escort commander. Civilian yacht clubs , yachting associations and fellowships with formal hierarchical structures, began to use

2622-427: Is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship, even temporarily, much as "captain" is the traditional title for the commanding officer of a single ship even if the officer's official title in the service is a lower rank. As an official rank, a commodore typically commands a flotilla or squadron of ships as part of a larger task force or naval fleet commanded by an admiral . A commodore's ship

2736-628: Is typically designated by the flying of a broad pennant , as compared to an admiral's flag. "Commodore" is typically regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6 , known in the U.S. as " rear admiral (lower half)", but whether it is regarded as a flag rank varies among countries. It is sometimes abbreviated as "Cdre" in British Royal Navy, "CDRE" in the US Navy, "Cmdre" in the Royal Canadian Navy, "COMO" in

2850-615: The Argentine Army , and a colonel or group captain in other air forces of the world. The Argentine rank below commodore is the rank of vice-commodore (Spanish vicecomodoro ) equivalent to a lieutenant-colonel in the Argentine Army, and a lieutenant-colonel or wing commander in other air forces. Commodore is a rank in the Royal Netherlands Air Force . It is a one-star rank and has essentially

2964-637: The Democratic-Republican Party in favour and the Federalist Party against. News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway. At sea, the Royal Navy imposed an effective blockade on U.S. maritime trade, while between 1812 and 1814 British regulars and colonial militia defeated a series of American invasions on Upper Canada . The April 1814 abdication of Napoleon allowed

3078-468: The Niagara River on 13 October, but they were defeated at Queenston Heights . However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American General Henry Dearborn made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory. After Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of

3192-606: The Old Northwest . In 1807, these tensions escalated after the Royal Navy began enforcing tighter restrictions on American trade with France and impressed sailors who were originally British subjects , even those who had acquired American citizenship. Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both the House and Senate voted for war, they were divided along strict party lines, with

3306-636: The Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary —PCGA—each of the directors in command of the ten Coast Guard Auxiliary districts are commodores, as well as most of the Deputy National Directors (some may be rear admirals). Commodore is abbreviated to COMMO in the PCGA. Vanderbilt University 's intercollegiate athletics teams are nicknamed the " Commodores ", a reference to Cornelius Vanderbilt 's self-appointed title (he

3420-603: The Six Nations of the Grand River began to come out to fight for the British as an American victory no longer seemed inevitable. The Iroquois ambushed an American patrol at Forty Mile Creek while the Royal Navy squadron based in Kingston sailed in and bombarded the American camp. General Dearborn retreated to Fort George, mistakenly believing that he was outnumbered and outgunned. British Brigadier General John Vincent

3534-488: The passage between Lakes Huron and Michigan , which was important to the fur trade. The British garrison, aided by fur traders of the North West Company and Sioux, Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Ottawa, immediately besieged and captured Mackinac . The war was conducted in several theatres: The war had been preceded by years of diplomatic dispute, yet neither side was ready for war when it came. Britain

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3648-587: The 1840s, 1850s, or 1860s, she might have set a new standard for the time in naval design. War of 1812 1814 1813 1814 1815 East Coast Great Lakes / Saint Lawrence River West Indies / Gulf Coast Pacific Ocean The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America . It began when

3762-588: The Air Force. It is usually—but incorrectly—referred to as "navy commodore", to avoid confusion with the "air force commodore", which is equivalent to the navy's captain and army's colonel. The sleeve lace is identical to that of the Royal Navy, and wears one star on the epaulette. Commodore, in Spanish comodoro , is a rank in the Argentine Air Force . This rank is the equivalent of a colonel in

3876-609: The American Army of the Northwest . He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by Colonel Henry Procter and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at Frenchtown along the River Raisin on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped 60 captive Americans . The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember

3990-652: The American Lake Ontario squadron began bombarding Fort George . An American amphibious force assaulted Fort George on the northern end of the Niagara River on 27 May and captured it without serious losses. The British abandoned Fort Erie and headed towards Burlington Heights . The British position was close to collapsing in Upper Canada; the Iroquois considered changing sides and ignored

4104-463: The American attack on Fort George and Newark in May. The British were vulnerable along the stretch of the St. Lawrence that was between Upper Canada and the United States. In the winter of 1812–1813, the Americans launched a series of raids from Ogdensburg, New York that hampered British supply traffic up the river. On 21 February, George Prévost passed through Prescott, Ontario on the opposite bank of

4218-556: The American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies. Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of a Shawnee ambush on Major Thomas Van Horne 's 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant Colonel James Miller remained in Canada, attempting to supply

4332-560: The American position in the Sandwich area, with little success. Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong. He moved to Amherstburg near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements and attacked Detroit , using Fort Malden as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, and Fort Detroit lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand

4446-644: The American victory at the Battle of the Thames on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed. The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except around St. Louis and a few forts and trading posts in the Boonslick . Fort Belle Fontaine

4560-467: The Americans into surrender. Meanwhile, Commodore James Lucas Yeo had taken charge of the British ships on the lake and mounted a counterattack, which the Americans repulsed at the Battle of Sackett's Harbor . Thereafter, Chauncey and Yeo's squadrons fought two indecisive actions, off the Niagara on 7 August and at Burlington Bay on 28 September. Neither commander was prepared to take major risks to gain

4674-640: The Atlantic. On 28 June 1812, HMS  Colibri was dispatched from Halifax to New York under a flag of truce. She anchored off Sandy Hook on July 9 and left three days later carrying a copy of the declaration of war, British ambassador to the United States Augustus Foster and consul Colonel Thomas Henry Barclay . She arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia eight days later. The news of the declaration took even longer to reach London. British commander Isaac Brock in Upper Canada received

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4788-450: The British general Phineas Riall engaged with Winfield Scott , who won against a British force at the Battle of Chippawa on 5 July. The American forces had been through a hard training under Winfield Scott and proved to the professionals under fire. They would deploy in a shallow U formation bringing flanking fire and well-aimed volleys against Riall's men. Riall's men were chased off the battlefield. Commodore (rank) Commodore

4902-608: The British had the Provincial Marine . While largely unarmed, they were essential for keeping the army supplied since the roads were abysmal in Upper Canada. At the onset of war, the Provincial Marine had four small armed vessels on Lake Ontario , three on Lake Erie and one on Lake Champlain. The Provincial Marine greatly outnumbered anything the Americans could bring to bear on the Great Lakes. When

5016-405: The British needed Indigenous allies to compensate for their numerical inferiority. The Indigenous allies of the British, Tecumseh's confederacy in the west and Iroquois in the east, avoided pitched battles and relied on irregular warfare , including raids and ambushes that took advantage of their knowledge of terrain. In addition, they were highly mobile, able to march 30–50 miles (50–80 km)

5130-937: The British to send additional forces to North America and reinforce the Royal Navy blockade, crippling the American economy . In August 1814, negotiations began in Ghent , with both sides wanting peace; the British economy had been severely impacted by the trade embargo, while the Federalists convened the Hartford Convention in December to formalize their opposition to the war. In August 1814, British troops captured Washington , before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh in September ended fighting in

5244-525: The Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac. On 3 July, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from Detroit to recapture Mackinac. A mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the brief Battle of Mackinac Island and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered

5358-475: The Northeast were opposed to the war, but it obtained financing from London-based Barings Bank to cover overseas bond obligations. New England failed to provide militia units or financial support, which was a serious blow, and New England states made loud threats to secede as evidenced by the Hartford Convention . Britain exploited these divisions, opting to not blockade the ports of New England for much of

5472-462: The River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans. In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set siege to Fort Meigs in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada. Along the way they attempted to storm Fort Stephenson ,

5586-642: The Royal Navy. The United States was also not prepared for war. Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would follow. In 1812, the regular army consisted of fewer than 12,000 men. Congress authorized the expansion of the army to 35,000 men, but the service was voluntary and unpopular; it paid poorly and there were initially few trained and experienced officers. The militia objected to serving outside their home states, they were undisciplined and performed poorly against British forces when called upon to fight in unfamiliar territory. Multiple militias refused orders to cross

5700-650: The Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle of Cote Sans Dessein in April 1815 at the mouth of the Osage River in the Missouri Territory and the Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815 near Fort Cap au Gris . This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the British were supplying

5814-643: The Spanish Navy and in some navies speaking the Spanish language , or "CMDE" as used in the Indian Navy and in navies of several other countries. The rank of commodore derives from the French commandeur , which was the second highest rank in the orders of knighthood , and in military orders the title of the knight in charge of a commandery . The Dutch Navy also used the rank of commandeur from

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5928-503: The St. Lawrence. Hampton was delayed by road and supply problems and his intense dislike of Wilkinson limited his desire to support his plan. Charles de Salaberry defeated Hampton's force of 4,000 at the Chateauguay River on 25 October with a smaller force of Canadian Voltigeurs and Mohawks . Salaberry's force numbered only 339, but it had a strong defensive position. Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on 17 October, but it

6042-424: The Stevens Battery now was to have her guns in a revolving turret like that of USS Monitor , although the type and caliber of guns were never determined. Her machinery was removed and replaced by ten large-diameter boilers and two Maudsley and Field vertical overhead-crosshead steam engines which were to give the Stevens Battery a top speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). By 1874, all the money for her completion

6156-511: The Stevens plan was approved on April 14, 1842. The ship, which became known as the "Stevens Battery," was to be the first such ship ever to be built under government authorization. She was intended to serve as a fast, powerful, heavily armored, mobile battery, reinforcing the coastal fortifications of New York City. The Stevens brothers selected their family estate in Hoboken , New Jersey , as

6270-467: The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard . It was discontinued as a rank in these services during the postwar period, but as an appointment, the title "commodore" was then used to identify senior U.S. Navy captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel or functional air wings or air groups that were not part of a carrier air wing or carrier air group. Concurrently, until the early 1980s, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard captains selected for promotion to

6384-599: The United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent , the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815. Anglo-American tensions stemmed from long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support for Tecumseh's confederacy , which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in

6498-401: The United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty. Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after

6612-412: The United States and settled into winter quarters. He resigned his command after a failed attack on a British outpost at Lacolle Mills . The Americans again invaded the Niagara frontier. They had occupied southwestern Upper Canada after they defeated Colonel Henry Procter at Moraviantown in October and believed that taking the rest of the province would force the British to cede it to them. The end of

6726-414: The United States and the British Empire and its First Nation allies, have been long debated. The War of 1812 was caused by multiple factors and ultimately led to the US declaration of war on Britain : American expansion into the Northwest Territory (now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and northeast Minnesota) was impeded by Indian raids. Some historians maintain that an American goal in

6840-433: The autumn of 1861, but soon was loaned to the Navy. In action in May 1862, her main gun burst. Her armor protected the gun crew from the explosion as Stevens intended, but the Navy was not won over by the design, and Naugatuck soon went back to the Revenue-Marine. Although the Navy had a large ironclad program during the Civil War for which the Stevens Battery seemed a logical fit, a Navy board found numerous deficiencies in

6954-516: The border and fight on Canadian soil. American prosecution of the war suffered from its unpopularity, especially in New England where anti-war speakers were vocal. Massachusetts Congressmen Ebenezer Seaver and William Widgery were "publicly insulted and hissed" in Boston while a mob seized Plymouth's Chief Justice Charles Turner on 3 August 1812 "and kicked [him] through the town". The United States had great difficulty financing its war. It had disbanded its national bank , and private bankers in

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7068-406: The clubs that are more than a century old, such as the Los Angeles Yacht Club have formal ceremonies, where commodores from more than 100 surrounding yacht clubs, flag officers of the US Navy and Coast Guard attend a ceremony at the beginning of the year. The ceremony includes a bagpipe entrance, a presentation of the country flag by commissioned officers of the country's navy and a cannon shot upon

7182-428: The coast. A like-minded U.S. Congress authorized the use of $ 8,500,000 ( USD ) to fund the expansion. In this environment, Robert L. Stevens and Edwin Augustus Stevens , the sons of Colonel John Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey , proposed to the Department of the Navy on August 13, 1841, the construction of a revolutionary steam-powered ironclad vessel of high speed, with screw propellers and all machinery below

7296-411: The commander of the Army of the Potomac early in the Civil War, became engineer -in-chief. McClellan redesigned the ship yet again. The 1866 Battle of Lissa , in which ramming had proven an important tactic , was influential in ship design for 40 years, and his 1869 design called for the ship to have an iron spur ram bow . She also was to have a heavier hull. Instead of guns mounted in casemates,

7410-464: The concept of a unit commodore for the commander of a wing, usually in the rank of colonel (OF-5). Commodore is also a title held by many captains as recognition of exceptional navigation ability and seagoing seniority in the Merchant Service, and by the directors of a few yacht clubs and boating associations. Commodores 'in command' as Master aboard Merchant Marine ships wear distinctive rank and cap insignia denoting their honorific high rank position. In

7524-477: The construction site for the ship. They had to have a drydock dug out of solid rock there, and then install large pumps to keep the drydock from flooding, and delays occurred from the very beginning of the project. The budget for the ship was set at $ 600,000 (USD), based on vaguely similar earlier ships, but in fact the new ship was revolutionary in concept and design that no one really knew how to build her or how much she would cost. The Stevens' original design for

7638-407: The deck above an armored casemate . The 15-inch (380 mm) guns were to fire 425-pound (193-kilogram) shells. The gun crews, protected by the casemates, would load the 15-inch (380 mm) guns from below through holes in the deck protected by armored hoods; the gun's muzzle would be pointed into the hole, and a steam-powered cylinder would use a ramrod to load the gun for the next shot, allowing

7752-416: The early 1980s. This immediately caused confusion with those senior U.S. Navy captains commanding destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, functional air wings and air groups, and so on, who held the temporary "title" of commodore while in their major command billet. As a result of this confusion, the services soon renamed the new one-star rank as commodore admiral (CADM) within the first six months following

7866-444: The end of the 16th century for a variety of temporary positions, until it became a conventional permanent rank in 1955. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has adopted the English spelling of "commodore" for an equivalent rank. In the Royal Navy , the position was introduced in the 17th century to combat the cost of appointing more admirals—a costly business with a fleet as large as the Royal Navy's at that time. The rank of commodore

7980-409: The first declaration of war . The Senate concurred in the declaration by a 19 to 13 (59%) vote in favour. The declaration focused mostly on maritime issues, especially involving British blockades, with two thirds of the indictment devoted to such impositions, initiated by Britain's Orders in Council. The conflict began formally on 18 June 1812, when Madison signed the measure into law. He proclaimed it

8094-422: The first two years of the war. He urged Lieutenant General George Prévost to maintain a defensive strategy. Prévost, who had the trust of the Canadians, followed these instructions and concentrated on defending Lower Canada at the expense of Upper Canada, which was more vulnerable to American attacks and allowed few offensive actions. Unlike campaigns along the east coast, Prevost had to operate with no support from

8208-501: The government called out 450,000 men from the state militias during the war. The state militias were poorly trained, armed, and led. The failed invasion of Lake Champlain led by General Dearborn illustrates this. The British Army soundly defeated the Maryland and Virginia militias at the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814 and President Madison commented "I could never have believed so great a difference existed between regular troops and

8322-451: The highest levels of the organization, similar in nature to active and reserve rear admirals and vice admirals use the term commodore (e.g., district commodore, assistant national commodore, deputy national commodore, national commodore, etc.). These Coast Guard auxiliarists may permanently append the title commodore, sometimes abbreviated COMO, to their names (e.g., Commodore James A. Smith, National Commodore; or COMO Jim Smith, (NACO)). In

8436-619: The indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged it – with support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi. Black Hawk played a leadership role. The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall established a new supply line from York to Nottawasaga Bay on Georgian Bay . He arrived at Fort Mackinac on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition which successfully besieged and recaptured

8550-473: The key trading post of Prairie du Chien , on the Upper Mississippi. The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in the Battle of Rock Island Rapids . In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed

8664-403: The largest fired by U.S. Navy guns at the time. To achieve this, she was to be armored with 4.5-inch-thick (110 mm) thick iron plate reinforced by 14 inches (360 millimeters) of locust timber , a thickness of iron and wood believed by the Stevens to be sufficient to resist any gun then known. Furthermore, she was to be semisubmersible, able to submerge herself to her gunwales to make her

8778-430: The last hope to make something out of the project was to sell the ship. A possible sale to Prussia fell through, and there were no other potential buyers. Most of the ship's machinery was sold in 1874 and 1875, and the ship was sold for scrap at public auction in 1881. The scrappers had to use blasting to dismantle her hull. The Stevens Battery in many ways was far ahead of her time when proposed in 1841, and remained

8892-409: The neighbouring town of Lewiston, New York on 19 December; four American civilians were killed by drunken Indians after the battle. A small force of Tuscarora warriors engaged Riall's men during the battle, which allowed many residents of Lewiston to evacuate the village. The British and their Indian allies subsequently attacked and burned Buffalo on Lake Erie on 30 December 1813 in revenge for

9006-418: The new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schooner Nancy that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. These engagements on Lake Huron left Mackinac under British control. The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to

9120-410: The news much faster. He issued a proclamation alerting citizens to the state of war and urging all military personnel "to be vigilant in the discharge of their duty", so as to prevent communication with the enemy and to arrest anyone suspected of helping the Americans. He also ordered the British garrison of Fort St. Joseph on Lake Huron to capture the American fort at Mackinac . This fort commanded

9234-654: The next day. This was the first time that the United States had formally declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote was approved by the smallest margin of any declaration of war in America's history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favour of the war, while other critics referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War". Just days after war had been declared, a small number of Federalists in Baltimore were attacked for printing anti-war views in

9348-659: The north. In the Southeastern United States , American forces and Indian allies defeated an anti-American faction of the Muscogee . In early 1815, American troops led by Andrew Jackson repulsed a major British attack on New Orleans , which occurred during the ratification process of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent , which brought an end to the conflict. The origins of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), between

9462-525: The project. It was not clear when the ship would be completed, and in 1862 Edwin Stevens estimated that it would take another $ 730,484 (U.S.) just to complete the ship enough for to be launched . When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Edwin Stevens claimed that a completed Stevens Battery would have a decisive impact against Confederate forces. Hoping to prove his point, he purchased an iron- hulled steamer and modified her greatly into

9576-527: The racing season. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary also employs variants of the title of commodore. Members of the Auxiliary serve in the Coast Guard's uniformed auxiliary service and they do not have military rank, but who do wear modified U.S. Coast Guard uniforms and U.S. military-style officer rank insignia to indicate office. Auxiliary members who have been elected or appointed to positions in

9690-416: The raising of each individual officer's flags on a flag staff, (also known as flagpoles ) for each flag officer (commodore, vice commodore, rear commodore) as their term of office officially begins. Sometimes a trumpet fanfare is also include for special occasions like ribbon cutting in 2019 for the 50th Transpacific Yacht Race . Salutes are given to commodores for special ceremonies, including opening days of

9804-412: The rank of rear admiral (lower half), would wear the same insignia as rear admiral (upper half), i.e., two silver stars for collar insignia or sleeve braid of one wide and one narrow gold stripe, even though they were actually only equivalent to one-star officers and paid at the one-star rate. To correct this inequity, the rank of commodore as a single star flag officer was reinstated by both services in

9918-578: The rank's reintroduction. However, this was considered an awkward title and the one-star flag rank was renamed a few months later to its current title of rear admiral (lower half), later abbreviated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard as RDML. The "title" of commodore continues to be used in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard for those senior captains in command of organizations consisting of groups of ships or submarines organized into squadrons ; air wings or air groups of multiple aviation squadrons other than carrier air wings (the latter whose commanders still use

10032-441: The river with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements and local militia attacked in the Battle of Ogdensburg and the Americans were forced to retreat. The Americans made two more thrusts against Montreal in 1813. Major General Wade Hampton was to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under General James Wilkinson that would sail from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and descend

10146-500: The same rank insignia as the British air commodore . Many air forces use the rank of air commodore . This rank was first used by the Royal Air Force and is now used in many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Greece, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand and Zimbabwe. It is the equivalent rank to the navy rank of "commodore", and the army ranks of brigadier and brigadier general . The German air force used

10260-516: The senior officer present afloat (SOPA). In the Argentine Navy, the position of commodore was created in the late 1990s, and is usually, but not always, issued to senior captains holding rear-admirals' positions. It is not a rank but a distinction and, as such, can be issued by the chief of staff without congressional approval. Its equivalents are colonel-major in the Army and commodore-major in

10374-652: The ship and the Navy decided not to spend any more money on her. On July 17, 1862, Congress voted to turn all ownership of and rights to the Stevens Battery over to the Stevens family, and the ship spent the Civil War in her drydock. Edwin Stevens died in 1868, leaving the Stevens Battery and $ 1,000,000 (USD) with which to finish her to the State of New Jersey . New Jersey Governor Theodore F. Randolph appointed an oversight commission, and Major General George B. McClellan ,

10488-409: The ship stopped because of her inadequate armor, and Commodore Charles W. Skinner , chief of the Navy's Bureau of Construction announced his intention to scrap the incomplete ship and sell her materials. The Stevens brothers succeeded in getting Congress to overrule Bancroft and Skinner, and set about radically redesigning the Stevens Battery. The new design was ready by January 1854. It called for

10602-417: The ship was completed in 1844 and called for a 250-foot-long (76-meter) ship 40 feet (12 m) in beam and displacing 1,500 tons. She was to be armed with six large-caliber muzzle-loading cannons in open casemates on decks, loaded from below the main deck by gun crews protected by armored casemates employing sloped armor to further improve protection. She was to be proof against 64-pound (29-kilogram) shells,

10716-452: The thousands of sailors and shipwrights assigned there and recruited more from New York. They completed a warship (the corvette USS Madison ) in 45 days. Ultimately, almost 3,000 men at the shipyard built 11 warships and many smaller boats and transports. Army forces were also stationed at Sackett's Harbor, where they camped out through the town, far surpassing the small population of 900. Officers were housed with families. Madison Barracks

10830-454: The title " CAG "); explosive ordnance disposal ( EOD ), mine warfare and special warfare ( SEAL ) groups; Mobile Inshore Underwater Warfare (MIUW) groups; and construction ( SeaBee ) regiments. Although not flag officers, modern day commodores in the U.S. Navy rate a blue and white command pennant, also known as a broad pennant , that is normally flown at their headquarters facilities ashore or from ships that they are embarked aboard when they are

10944-519: The title "commodore" in countries around the world for their presidents in the early twentieth century along with "vice commodore" in the same manner as "vice president,"and "rear-commodore" and "port captain' or "international bridge member" in the same manner as board members. Commodores, vice-commodores and rear-commodores are also known as civilian flag officers because they have an epaulettes , regalia and maritime flags with designated symbols and number of stars for their ranks. Many of

11058-714: The war and encouraging smuggling. An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich ( Windsor, Ontario ) after crossing the Detroit River . Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender. The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyed – unless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction". He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters. Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to

11172-547: The war and played pivotal roles in several engagements, including the Battle of the Chateauguay which caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence River theatre. The highly decentralized bands and tribes considered themselves allies of, and not subordinates to, the British or the Americans. Various tribes fighting with United States forces provided them with their "most effective light troops" while

11286-641: The war broke out, the British Army in North America numbered 9,777 men in regular units and fencibles . While the British Army was engaged in the Peninsular War , few reinforcements were available. Although the British were outnumbered, the long-serving regulars and fencibles were better trained and more professional than the hastily expanded United States Army. The militias of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were initially far less effective, but substantial numbers of full-time militia were raised during

11400-442: The war ended in the east. Both sides placed great importance on gaining control of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River because of the difficulties of land-based communication. The British already had a small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario when the war began and had the initial advantage. The Americans established a Navy yard at Sackett's Harbor, New York , a port on Lake Ontario. Commodore Isaac Chauncey took charge of

11514-473: The war was to annex some or all of Canada, a view many Canadians still share. However, many argue that inducing the fear of such a seizure was merely an American tactic, which was designed to obtain a bargaining chip . Some members of the British Parliament and dissident American politicians such as John Randolph of Roanoke claimed that American expansionism , rather than maritime disputes,

11628-406: The war with Napoleon in Europe in April 1814 meant that the British could deploy their army to North America, so the Americans wanted to secure Upper Canada to negotiate from a position of strength. They planned to invade via the Niagara frontier while sending another force to recapture Mackinac. They captured Fort Erie on 3 July 1814. Unaware of Fort Erie's fall or of the size of the American force,

11742-547: The water line. Congress passed and President Tyler signed the Stevens Battery Act the same year to authorize funding for the construction of the ship, and the U.S. Navy's Board of Commissioners approved the Stevens brothers' specific proposal for the ship in January 1842. An Act of Congress authorizing Upshur to contract for the construction of a shot- and shell-proof steamer, to be built principally of iron, on

11856-569: Was an old trading post converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters. Fort Osage , built in 1808 along the Missouri River , was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war. Fort Madison was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after

11970-523: Was at first a position created as a temporary title to be bestowed upon captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel. In many navies, the rank of commodore was merely viewed as a senior captain position, whereas other naval services bestowed upon the rank of commodore the prestige of flag officer status. In 1899, the substantive rank of commodore was discontinued in the United States Navy , but revived during World War II in both

12084-525: Was delayed by weather. Wilkinson heard that a British force was pursuing him under Captain William Mulcaster and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison and landed near Morrisburg, Ontario by 10 November, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) from Montreal. On 11 November, his rear guard of 2,500 attacked Morrison's force of 800 at Crysler's Farm and was repulsed with heavy losses. He learned that Hampton could not renew his advance, retreated to

12198-408: Was encouraged when about 800 Iroquois arrived to assist him. An American force surrendered on 24 June to a smaller British force due to advance warning by Laura Secord at the Battle of Beaver Dams , marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada. British Major General Francis de Rottenburg did not have the strength to retake Fort George, so he instituted a blockade, hoping to starve

12312-411: Was gone, and the ship was not yet ready for launching even after the Stevens family had spent $ 2,000,000 (USD) on her since proposing her in 1841. McClellan estimated that she would require another $ 450,000 (USD) just to reach a state where she could be launched, with more necessary to fit her out after that. No more money was available from the Stevens family, Robert and Edwin Stevens both were dead, and

12426-775: Was heavily engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, most of the British Army was deployed in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain, and the Royal Navy was blockading most of the coast of Europe. The number of British regular troops present in Canada in July 1812 was officially 6,034, supported by additional Canadian militia. Throughout the war, the British War Secretary was Earl Bathurst , who had few troops to spare for reinforcing North America defences during

12540-476: Was initially much larger than the British Army in North America. Many men carried their own long rifles while the British were issued muskets , except for one unit of 500 riflemen. Leadership was inconsistent in the American officer corps as some officers proved themselves to be outstanding, but many others were inept, owing their positions to political favours. Congress was hostile to a standing army and

12654-563: Was later built at Sackett's Harbor. Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, on 27 April 1813 Chauncey and Dearborn attacked York , the capital of Upper Canada. At the Battle of York , the outnumbered British regulars destroyed the fort and dockyard and retreated, leaving the militia to surrender the town. American soldiers set fire to the Legislature building, and looted and vandalized several government buildings and citizens' homes. On 25 May 1813, Fort Niagara and

12768-404: Was losing interest in the ship. By 1861, it had spent $ 500,000 (U.S.) on the project, and the Stevens family had spent another $ 228,435 (U.S.). That year, Edwin Stevens and his brother John C. Stevens offered to pay for completion of the ship themselves if the Navy would agree to pay for the ship if it was completed and proved successful, but a Navy board rejected the offer, finding deficiencies in

12882-399: Was the primary motivation for the American declaration of war. That view has been retained by some historians. During the years 1810–1812, American naval ships were divided into two major squadrons, with the "northern division", based at New York, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, and the "southern division", based at Norfolk, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur. Although not much of

12996-437: Was to have bulwarks to make her more seaworthy when steaming which could be lowered to reduce her freeboard in combat, making her a smaller target. Again, the ship was to be semisubmersible, able to submerge herself down to the gunwales, also to make her a smaller target. Her armament was to consist of two 10-inch (254-millimeter) rifled guns mounted on pivots fore and aft and five 15-inch (381-mm) smoothbore guns mounted on

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