The March of the Seamen [by Pullen] and The Story of H.M. Armed Schooner TECUMSETH [by Stevens]; Occasional Paper Numbers 8 and 9

Halifax: Maritime Museum of Canada, 1961. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Wraps. Format is approximately 7 inches by 9 inches. IIlustrated front cover. [2], 29, [1] including covers, Unpaginated folding diagram at back. Map. Illustrations. Notes Cover has some wear and soiling. The Story of H. M Armed Schooner TECUMSETH was reprinted by Courtesy of Nautical Research Journal. Hugh Francis Pullen was born 9 July 1905 at Oakville, Ont. and entered the Royal Naval College at Esquimalt, B.C. in 1920. He spent two years at sea with the Canadian Pacific Steamships and rejoined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1924. In 1944 he received the Order of the British Empire for his services while commanding a convoy escort group. He retired from the navy in 1960, his last appointment as flag officer Atlantic Coast, Maritime commander Atlantic, and commander Atlantic Sub-Area (NATO), 1957-1960. He was also co-founder of the Maritime Museum of Canada (now Maritime Museum of the Atlantic) and the Halifax Grammar School, and first commodore of the Nova Scotia Schooner Association. He was the author of several books and articles on Maritime history. Among his best known works are Atlantic Schooners (1967), The Shannon and the Chesapeake (1970), and The Pullen Expedition (1979), for which he won the John Lyman Book Award in 1980 from the North American Society for Oceanic History. John Richard Stevens, Canadian architectural historian. Curator Maritime Museum Canada, Halifax, 1960-1963. Two vessels, Tecumseth and Newash, were built by the Royal Navy in the months following the Treaty of Ghent. They sailed for less than two years before being retired in favor of peaceful relations. The British felt that maintaining naval vessels on the water was necessary to keep Americans from encroaching again into Canada. The Royal Navy determined to build a small number of transport vessels. After some consideration, it was determined that two transport schooners would be constructed on Lake Erie for service on Lakes Erie and Huron. The leader of the Royal Navy in Canada, E. W. C. R. Owen offered names for the ships: “I propose to name them Tecumseth and Newash from two friendly Indian Chiefs. Tecumseth, also spelled Tecumseh, was a Shawnee warrior who resisted the encroachment of the United States into Indian lands. Later a British ally, he was killed in the Battle of Moraviantown in 1813. Newash was an Ojibway chief and British ally as well. Owen wrote that the schooners were to be, “adapted to receiving guns and acting as Men of War at any time hereafter if it shall be necessary. Two 24-pounder long guns were mounted abaft the foremast on pivots, to maximize versatility and two 24-pounder carronades were placed on carriages abaft the mainmast. The decision on whether or not to carry the weapons was left to their commander. Captain William Bourchier, placed in command of the Lake Erie vessels, was instructed that, “such of the Guns as you think proper may be left on shore. Complements of the vessels were reduced from typical wartime numbers, but the sailors were trained as soldiers as well. Owen instructed that, “the Seamen are to be exercised and trained to the use of Small Arms, the same as the Marines; one half of the Seamen of each Are to be armed with Muskets, and the rest with Cutlass, Pike and Pistol.” The Rush-Bagot agreement disarmed the Great Lakes and rendered Newash and Tecumseth obsolete. Even without their 24-pounder guns, the hulls were larger than 100 tons. Each vessel was to be laid up, stripped of her guns and most of her other equipment, and left at anchor. Penetanguishene Bay, on Lake Huron, was chosen as the retirement home for the two hulls, and they arrived there on 18 June 1817, just a few weeks after the Rush-Bagot Agreement had been passed and signed. Newash and Tecumseth both fell into disrepair and eventually sank at the harbor in Penetanguishene Bay. In the 1950s, archaeological investigations of the harbor led to the raising of the hull of Tecumseth, which is on display at Discovery Harbour (Havre de la Dècouverte) along with a sailing replica in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Armed Schooner, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, U.S.-Canadian Border, Rush-Bagot, H.M. TECUMSETH, Newash, Royal Navy, Carronades, William Bourchier, Gunboat

[Book #82118]

Price: $75.00

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