Going Among English Sailors American Tars Aboard HMS Belvidera, 1809-1814
Arriving at Portsmouth, England, the Belvidera paid off her crew and the last members of the ship’s company were discharged on August 24, 1814. Four years, six months, and five days had passed since the crew first mustered at the Nore under Captain Richard Byron before sailing for the North Sea and later North America. Over the course of her tenure on active duty, twenty-two American tars called her lower-deck home as they served under the British ensign.
Their time in the Royal Navy, during the Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812, coincided with an era of fluid nationalities on the waterfront and ambiguity for laborers at sea when it came to defining what it meant to be an American. As a result, these sailors often weighed national loyalties against a greater devotion to the seafaring livelihood. Through their collective service aboard the Belvidera, they would greatly influence the socio-cultural seascape of the trans-Atlantic world
Reviews
From Charles Fithian, Curator of Archaeology, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (Ret.)
Andrew Lyter is to be commended for undertaking the difficult task of the in-depth analysis required to reveal the complexities of Jack Tar's world. This work is an important contribution to maritime studies and is well worth the read by anyone interested in the human experience at sea.
From Jayne Friend PhD, University of Portsmouth
Lyter poignantly examines the complexities of loyalty and citizenship in this thoroughly researched and sensitive acknowledgment of American sailors serving in the Royal Navy in the age of sail. This engaging book explores the nature of voluntary service and impressment against a backdrop of Anglo-American conflict and the fascinating career of the Belvidera
From Kyle Hulbert PhD, Hampden-Sydney College
Going Among English Sailors offers an insightful look at the lives, motivations, and experiences of American sailors aboard the British Royal Navy's HMS Belvidera. These stories are engaging, intriguing, and surprising at times, and will no doubt be of interest to maritime scholars, social historians, and War of 1812 buffs alike.
From Capt. Michael Rutstein, Former Captain of the Schooner Fame
Most maritime histories concern themselves solely with the doings of admirals, captains, and ships. In Going Among English Sailors, Andrew Lyter examines the experience of common sailors, in this case Americans who served in the British Royal Navy — at a time when Britain and the United States were at war. A fascinating look into the lives and careers, the loyalties and prejudices, of the common sailors who sailed, fought, lived and died during the momentous decades of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
From Matthew Brenckle, Research Historian at the USS Constitution Museum (Ret.)
In Going Among English Sailors Lyter accomplishes no mean feat. He sifts an abundance of obscure primary sources and weaves them into a gripping narrative- all while holding a lantern to a little-considered facet of life in early nineteenth century naval service.
From David McDonald for Sea History
HMS Belvidera, a 36-gun frigate, was typical of the 5th-rate vessels of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Commissioned in 1810, she saw extensive service in the North Sea, and in 1811 she was assigned as flagship of Admiral Herbert Sawyer on the North American station at Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the United States declared war on 18 June 1812, Belvidera patrolled the American coastline from Maine to the Delaware Capes, enforcing the blockade, and capturing American merchantmen and privateers. She also was involved in two well-known encounters with US Navy vessels, but her wartime record is not the focus of this study. Like most Royal Navy vessels of the period, maintaining manpower levels sufficient for routine operations was a major challenge. Belvidera was rated for a crew of 264 officers and men to sail, maintain and fight the ship. As a result, her enlisted crew was composed of a mixture of raw and experienced seamen of many nationalities. Notable for this examination is the fact that during the period 1810–1814, twenty-two American citizens served in the Belvidera. Some were there due to impressment, one of the major reasons why the US went to war against Britain, but a significant number of others were volunteers. Which raises the question: Why would an American citizen serve on ships of the Royal Navy during a period of increased tension between Britain and the United States, and the War of 1812?
Going Among English Sailors—American Tars Aboard HMS Belvidera, 1809–1814 considers this conundrum in the context of the social history of the period and the world of the 19th-century merchant seaman. Lyter draws upon a variety of sources to document and understand the experience of American sailors among the British. Ship’s muster rolls and logbooks, applications for sailor protection certificates, personal correspondence and newspaper accounts help offer insight into the lives of individuals who were often illiterate and lacking a permanent home. Newspaper accounts also reveal the economic and political realities of the period, which drove mariners to seek employment outside the United States. The Non-Importation Act of 1806 and the subsequent Embargo Act of 1807, intended to counter British and French interference with American trade, had a devastating effect on shipping interests and put thousands of American sailors out of work. As a result, many sought employment in foreign vessels, often migrating to Canadian or other ports to find a berth. Others, previously impressed aboard a Royal Navy vessel, chose to join another ship as a volunteer when discharged. With the declaration of war in June 1812 these mariners were faced with a choice: continue their current service as voluntary or involuntary crew or apply for release on the basis of their US citizenship. The decision may have been affected as well by the fraternal bonds among seamen of the period, where loyalty to one’s ship, one’s shipmates, and self-interest carried more weight than national allegiance. Lyter’s examination of these factors includes three major segments: the service career of HMS Belvidera, a review of the American tars who volunteered to serve aboard her, and those who were impressed to her service. The cases of three sailors, hailing from Maine, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, are presented in depth as examples.
Going Among English Sailors offers an insightful view of the experiences of American sailors on board HMS Belvidera that is well-researched and presented. Extensive notes and references support the material, which is enhanced by Lyter’s personal experiences sailing as the sole American in a British crew of a sail training vessel. The author holds an MA in maritime history from the University of Portsmouth, England, and is currently pursuing a PhD in maritime history. A frequent lecturer at historical conferences both in the United States and abroad, Lyter currently serves as maritime curator for the Lewes Historical Society in Lewes, Delaware.
David McDonald is an amateur historian with special interest in maritime history. While working at the Maryland Historical Society 2007–2017 he reviewed several maritime titles for the Maryland Historical Magazine. In 2014, he wrote and designed a traveling exhibit: The Baltimore Privateers—Fast Ships, Bold Captains and their Role in the War of 1812, for The Pride of Baltimore, Inc.