The last of Mr. Brown's Mosquito Fleet : a history and archaeology of the American row galley Allen on Lake Champlain, 1814-1825

Abstract

The early nineteenth century witnessed a surge in oared warship production within the U.S. Navy. Shipwrights modified hull and rigging plans in order to develop armed vessels capable of navigating inland waterways under both canvas and sweeps. Unfortunately, primary evidence of the materials and construction practices actually used to transform these designs into reality has largely been lost, as well as information on the living and working conditions of the men who served at the sails, guns, and oars. Commodore Thomas Macdonough relied upon the versatility of row galleys and gunboats to secure U.S. naval control of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. Originally intended to spearhead an amphibious offensive into British Canada via the Richelieu River, these vessels were relegated to a support role by a shift in American military strategy. They helped combat the smuggling of naval stores, performed reconnaissance missions, transported communications, bombarded shore targets, and even provided a tow for the larger warships when the winds failed. This dissertation investigates the history and archaeology of Allen, an American row galley built at Vergennes, Vermont, in 1814 by Master Shipwright Noah Brown of New York City. The galley cruised the waters of Lake Champlain in the final year of the war and participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh Bay on 11 September 1814. Abandoned in the Poultney River, just above Whitehall, New York, Allen was rediscovered in 1981 and subsequently made the subject of an archaeological excavation in 1995. The first half of the dissertation reviews the history of Allen and the Champlain galley flotilla, while the second half describes the archaeological procedures used to document the galley's hull and associated artifacts. The study concludes with a reconstruction of Allen, as it would have appeared in 1814.