AMER WINTER 2018
The live portion of this session begins on Thursday, February 8, 2018.
RARE WAR OF 1812 "CHESAPEAKE BAY FLOTILLA" GUN BOAT LOG, US GUN BOAT NO 70 AND SHIP USS BLACK SNAKE.This fine folio bound manuscript is titled on front fly leaf "US GUN BOAT No. 70 / kept by "GEORGE WASHINGTON STORER, COMMANDER / COMMENCING FEBRUARY 23, 1813". We know of no other logs of any ship from the "Chesapeake Bay Flotilla" which were commanded by Commodore Josiah Barney whose sailors and marines fought a defensive campaign on land and sea against the British Invasion and capture of Washington, DC. Josiah Barney submitted his plan of defense of Chesapeake Bay July 4, 1813. He estimated that a force of gun boats and barges that could be sailed or rowed. The [i]Black Snake[/i] was indeed just a barge that was rowed by crew with two deck cannon, it drew only 21 feet of water so could maneuver deep up river. The flagship was the USS Scorpion which the last entry in this text shows armaments and crew from Storer's command were transferred to on September 4, 1813. The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla engaged the Royal Navy before Barney was forced to scuttle the vessels themselves in August 1814. The men of the Flotilla then served on shore in defense of Washington, DC and Baltimore. This day-by-day account of about 6 months, 46 pages, is sampled in a few pages which can be seen on line. An interesting note is that June 5-6, 1813 entries tells of the flagship Scorpion being grounded and assisted in removing her guns and provisions, etc., so that she could be re-floated. From this same family, a rare 16-star American flag of the Scorpion was sold on these floors February 4, 2010 as Lot 2087. At the time, of the flag's cataloguing, this journal was not known. This book was re-used; if you turn book around and flip book upside down, George Washington's Storer's son, Colonel John L. Storer of the Maine State Militia, utilized this as a letter book (20 pages) from August 31, 1820 until the date of his resignation April 5, 1821. SIZE: CONDITION: Good to very good overall. Pages and signatures are tight and intact, foxed and stained end papers and boards. Edge wear and worn 3/4 leather binding with scuffs to leather and French wallpaper boards. 52737-11 JGS (3,000-6,000)