The Little Belt Affair
By 1811, relations between the U.S. and Great Britain had been deteriorating for years. The British were adamant about continuing their policy of impressing U.S. seamen, their insistence that any ship sailing to Europe had to stop in a British so its cargo could be inspected, and kept denying that British soldiers were helping Native-Americans attack U.S. settlers in the Northwest Territories.
The U.S., on the other hand, had responded with a series of laws – The Embargo Act of 1807, the Non-Intercourse Act of 1807, and Macon’s Law #2 – that prohibited U.S. businessmen from trading with either the British or French. The result of these three laws caused the U.S. economy to contract by 10% or more.
At sea, the Royal Navy became even more aggressive and stopped U.S. Navy ships. The first incident between the two navies took place in 1803 during the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair. You can read about this event in my 7/31/22 post The Chesapeake-Leopard Incident https://marcliebman.com/the-chesapeake-leopard-incident/ .
On May 1st, 1811, the 1,100-ton frigate H.M.S. Guerriere, 38 guns, stopped the 92-ton brig U.S.S. Spitfire, 3 guns, off the coast of New Jersey. Spitfire’s sailing master, John Diggio, from the part of Massachusetts that is now Maine, was taken on board Guerriere.
This led the Secretary of Navy Paul Hamilton to order the 1,600-ton U.S.S. President, 44 guns and the last of the original six frigates to be completed and the brig U.S.S. Argus, 30 guns to patrol the 780 miles of coastline between the Carolinas and New York. Hamilton’s orders – prevent any Royal Navy ship from taking sailors from U.S. merchant vessels.
President’s captain, John Rodgers, was acting as the commodore of the two-ship squadron when it spotted the Royal Navy sloop of war, the 460-ton H.M.S. Little Belt, 20 guns. Captain Arthur Bingham on Little Belt, turned away.
From this point on, the U.S. and Royal Navy accounts differ on what happened. Rodgers claims that he was trying to identify the unknown ship in American waters. Bingham claimed he was trying to avoid a collision with a larger ship.
With the moves and countermoves occurring at night, Rodgers managed to get President within hailing distance of Little Belt. When he asked Bingham to identify himself, i.e., what was the name of his ship and its nationality, Bingham refused.
At this point, a shot was fired. The American investigation determined that Little Belt fired first; the Royal Navy claims that the President shot first.
Within 15 minutes, the Royal Navy sloop of war was badly damaged. Rodgers asked Bingham if he had struck his colors. Bingham said no, even though nine of his crew were killed and 23 injured, two of whom would die shortly after the engagement.
The diplomatic row that followed went on for months, but nothing substantial happened. Rodgers retained his command, and during the War of 1812, President captured 23 prizes, a record for the U.S. Navy. Bingham managed to get Little Belt to its naval base in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for repairs and later was given command of a larger ship.
The footnote to this incident is that Rodgers was searching for Guerriere, which, 16 months later, went into action against Constitution on August 19th, 1812. Painted on Guerriere’s topsail on her foremast were the words “Not the Little Belt.”
1811 painting by William Elmes, engraving by Edward Orme.