HMS Nancy
Encyclopedia
HM Schooner Nancy was a schooner, built in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1789. She served for several years in the fur trade on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, but is best known for playing a part in the Anglo-American War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, serving as a vital supply ship for the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. Blocked in by an American fleet near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River
Nottawasaga River
The Nottawasaga River is a river in southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located on the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine. It flows through the Minesing Swamp, recognized as a wetland of international significance , and empties into Nottawasaga Bay, an inlet of Georgian Bay, at...
, she was set on fire on 14 August, 1814 to prevent the capture of the ship and the cargo she carried. Forgotten for many years, the wreck was re-discovered in July, 1927 and raised to form the centrepiece of the Nancy Island Museum.
Construction
The Nancy was built by the fur trading company Forsyth, Richardson and Company of MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, at Detroit. (Although Detroit was by rights on American territory, it was not handed over to the United States until the Jay Treaty
Jay Treaty
Jay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
was signed in 1796.) At this time the company was one of the several merchant firms based in Montreal that made up the loose partnership known as the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. The Indian trade on the Great Lakes was conducted by larger sailing vessels whereas birchbark canoes remained the principal means of transport in the fur trade of the Canadian north-west via the Ottawa River.
John Richardson, one of the partners in the company, travelled to the trading post at Detroit to begin construction, accompanied by a master carpenter and six other carpenters. Construction began in late June 1789. On 23 September 1789, Richardson wrote:
The schooner will be a perfect masterpiece of workmanship and beauty. The expense to us will be great, but there will be the satisfaction of her being strong and very durable. Her floor-timbers, keel, keel-son, stem and lower futtocks are oak. The transom, stern-post, upper futtocks, top-timbers, beams and knees are all red cedar. She will carry 350 barrels.
The schooner, named after Richardson's eldest daughter, was launched on 24 November that year. The following spring, she made her maiden voyage to Fort Erie
Fort Erie
Fort Erie was the first British fort to be constructed as part of a network developed after the Seven Years' War was concluded by the Treaty of Paris at which time all of New France had been ceded to Great Britain...
, under the command of Captain William Mills, and in June 1790, went to Grand Portage at Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie may refer to:* Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario , a Canadian city** Sault Ste. Marie , a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada...
with a full cargo. For the next twenty-two years, the Nancy was engaged in the fur trade. The ship changed owners several times, being sold first to George Leith and Company in 1793, and later to the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. She changed commanders in 1805, when Captain Alexander MacIntosh replaced Captain Mills.
War of 1812
The Nancy was in MacIntosh’s wharf at Moy (WindsorWindsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
) when the War of 1812 broke out between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Great Britain. Moved for protection to Amherstburg, the ship was taken by the commander of the British garrison, Lieutenant-Colonel St. George, as a transport vessel. Before the war, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Elliott
Matthew Elliott (loyalist)
Matthew Elliott was born in County Donegal, Ireland in 1739 and died on May 7, 1814 in Burlington, Ontario. He was a trader, farmer, Indian Department official, political, fur trader, and militia officer during and after the era of the American Revolution...
of The Indian Department had surveyed the Nancy as part of an inventory of the means available in case of war. According to Elliott, the Nancy could mount six 4-pounder carriage guns and six swivel gun
Swivel gun
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...
s. The schooner was apparently armed with some 3-pounder guns. Most of these were dismounted from the schooner and used to arm several small gunboats patrolling the Detroit River
Detroit River
The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...
. At some later date, the Nancy was armed with two 6-pounder guns and two 24-pounder carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s.
On 30 July 1812, the Nancy sailed to Fort Erie
Fort Erie
Fort Erie was the first British fort to be constructed as part of a network developed after the Seven Years' War was concluded by the Treaty of Paris at which time all of New France had been ceded to Great Britain...
in convoy with the new Provincial Marine schooner Lady Prevost
USS Lady Prevost (1812)
USS Lady Prevost was a schooner captured from the British during the War of 1812 and pressed into use in the United States Navy.Built in 1810 as the Lady Prevost at Canadian Provisional Marine in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, she was a 13-gun ship named for the wife of General Sir George Prevost,...
, returning with military supplies and 60 men of the 41st Regiment
Welch Regiment
The Welch Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1969.-History:It was formed as the Welsh Regiment during the Childers Reforms of 1881, by the amalgamation of the 41st Regiment of Foot and the 69th Regiment of Foot...
who then participated in the Siege of Detroit
Siege of Detroit
The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit, or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the Anglo-American War of 1812...
. After Detroit was captured by British and Indians under Major General Isaac Brock
Isaac Brock
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...
, the Nancy carried troops, stores and provisions between Fort Erie and Detroit during the late summer and autumn. The following spring, on 23 April 1813 the Nancy joined a small squadron in moving Major General Henry Procter's division from Amherstburg to Miami Bay, positioning them for what would be an unsuccessful Siege of Fort Meigs
Siege of Fort Meigs
The Siege of Fort Meigs took place during the War of 1812, in northwestern Ohio. A small British army with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently-constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, which the British had captured the previous year...
.
On 9 September 1813, while the Nancy was in Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
on a trip to Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac is a former American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century near Michilimackinac, Michigan, on Mackinac Island...
(which had been captured by a British force in the first few days of the war), the Americans won the decisive Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...
, capturing all the British armed vessels on the lake. Nancy was the only British ship remaining on the Upper Lakes. On 5 October, as Captain MacIntosh returned to the Detroit River, he sent some of the crew ashore to discover the situation. A storm blew up and MacIntosh entered the river anyway, as his anchors and cables were defective. A group of American militia on the river bank demanded that the schooner surrender. Instead, once the wind allowed, MacIntosh weighed anchor and sailed back up the river and into the lake. Although two American armed schooners and a gunboat were lying in wait for him further down the river, the Nancy was damaged only by musket fire from the shore.
On Lake Huron, the schooner was further battered by storms. Her sails and cables were too badly worn or damaged to withstand any more bad weather, so she sailed to Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie may refer to:* Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario , a Canadian city** Sault Ste. Marie , a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada...
, where she was laid up, and refitted by her crew during the winter.
By recapturing Detroit, the Americans had cut the principal route by which the British at Fort Mackinac and other posts in the North West were supplied. During the winter, the British opened an alternate route overland from York
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
via Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
to Holland Landing
Holland Landing, Ontario
Holland Landing is a village in the town of East Gwillimbury, located in the northern part of the Regional Municipality of York, in south-central Ontario, Canada. Its major road is Yonge Street and the village has bus service by GO Transit and York Region Transit...
and the Holland River
Holland River
The Holland River is a river in Ontario, Canada that drains the Holland River watershed into Cook's Bay, the southern extremity of Lake Simcoe. It is named after Captain Samuel Holland, , Dutch born first Surveyor General of British North America. The river flows generally north, and its...
. From here, the route entered Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...
and led to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay (Barrie
Barrie, Ontario
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
) where Nine Mile Portage led to Willow Creek, the Nottawasaga River and Lake Huron. Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall
Robert McDouall
Major-General Robert McDouall was a Scottish-born officer in the British Army, who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War of 1812...
reached Fort Mackinac via this route on 19 May 1814, to take charge of the post and the surrounding area. McDouall was accompanied by Lieutenant Newdigate Poyntz of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
who took charge of the naval establishment on Lake Huron, which essentially was the Nancy only. (MacIntosh was retained as a pilot.) Plans to turn the schooner into a gunboat were discarded as unproductive, and the ship continued as a supply ship during that summer, making three round trips between the Nottawasaga and Mackinac.
Destruction of the Nancy
During one of the ship's supply trips to the Nottawasaga, in July 1814, an American force left Detroit, intending to recover Fort Mackinac. Their frontal assault was defeated in the Battle of Mackinac IslandBattle of Mackinac Island
The Battle of Mackinac Island was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron...
. However, they had learned of the location of the Nancy from a prisoner, and three of their vessels proceeded to Nottawasaga Bay.
At the Nottawasaga, Lieutenant Miller Worsley
Miller Worsley
Miller Worsley was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for playing a major part in the Engagement on Lake Huron in the Anglo-American War of 1812....
of the Royal Navy had succeeded Poyntz and taken command of the Nancy, which was about to sail to Mackinac with 300 barrels of flour, bacon and other rations. He was warned of the American presence and had the Nancy towed two miles up the river, where he hastily built a blockhouse armed with two 24-pounder carronades and a 6-pounder gun (presumably dismounted from the schooner). His force consisted of 21 sailors, 23 Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
and 9 French-Canadian voyageurs.
On 14 August, Captain Arthur Sinclair
Arthur Sinclair
Commodore Arthur Sinclair was an early American naval hero, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War and in the War of 1812...
led three American ships (Niagara
USS Niagara (1813)
The US Brig Niagara or the Flagship Niagara, is a wooden-hulled brig that served as the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. It is one of last remaining ships from the War of 1812. The Niagara is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in...
, Scorpion
USS Scorpion (1813)
The USS Scorpion was a schooner of the United States Navy during the War of 1812. She was the second USN ship to be named for the scorpion....
and Tigress
USS Tigress (1813)
The first USS Tigress was a schooner of the United States Navy that took part in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, which in September 1814 was captured by the British and subsequently served in the Royal Navy as HMS Surprise....
) into Nottawasaga Bay. The Americans believed that the Nancy was still out on the lake and heading back to the Nottawasaga, and intended to wait in ambush for her in the bay. However, Sinclair landed some of his embarked troops to make an encampment on the spit of land between the river and the lake shore, and some wood-cutting parties discovered the schooner's hiding place.
The next day, three companies of American regular infantry supported by a 5.5-inch mortar and the guns of Sinclair's ships attacked Worsley's position. Faced with overwhelming odds, Worsley determined to scuttle
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
the Nancy to prevent her being captured by the enemy, with her valuable stores. A line of powder was set running to the Nancy and from there to the blockhouse. At four o'clock, the Nancy was set alight which in turn by way of the powder train, set off an explosion in the blockhouse. The blockhouse explosion surprised Sinclair, causing him to think that one of the howitzer's shots had found its mark.
After the action, the gunboats Scorpion and Tigress were left to guard the river to prevent canoes and bateaux from getting supplies to Fort Mackinac. Eventually the river mouth was blocked with felled trees, and the two gunboats proceeded along the north shore in the hope of intercepting fur-laden canoes on the lake. Worsley and his men removed the obstructions and reached Mackinac in a large canoe on 31 August after paddling and rowing for 360 miles. They subsequently surprised and captured both American gunboats in the Engagement on Lake Huron
Engagement on Lake Huron
The series of minor Engagements on Lake Huron left the British in control of the lake and thus of the Old Northwest for the latter stages of the War of 1812.-Background:...
.
Aftermath
The North West Company was compensated 2,200 pounds by the AdmiraltyAdmiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
after the war for the destruction of the ship in service, with additional compensations for services between 1812 and 1814 totalling 1,743 pounds, 5 shillings.
Nancy Island
An island grew over the remains of the ship as silt was deposited by the river around the sunken hull. The hull remained visible under water. It was discovered on 1 July 1911 by C. H. J. Snider, a noted Canadian marine historian and editor of the Toronto Telegram, but drew little notice until after 1924. In August of that year, Snider, Dr. Alfred H. Macklin, C. W. JefferysCharles William Jefferys
Charles William Jefferys was a Canadian painter, illustrator, author, and teacher best known as a historical illustrator.-Biography:...
and Dr. F. J. Conboy
Frederick J. Conboy
Frederick Joseph Conboy was a Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1941 to 1944....
began a fund-raising campaign to assist with the recovery of the wreck the following year.
In the process, the recovery crew found numerous valuable artifacts including an assortment of 24-pounder and 6-pounder shot. Following further explorations by C. H. J. Snider and his salvage crew, the hull was excavated. The Nancys figurehead, ship's cutlery and numerous personal artifacts were recovered from both the bottom and the banks of the Nottawasaga River
Nottawasaga River
The Nottawasaga River is a river in southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located on the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine. It flows through the Minesing Swamp, recognized as a wetland of international significance , and empties into Nottawasaga Bay, an inlet of Georgian Bay, at...
. Dr. Macklin and C. W. Jefferys persuaded the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
to provide a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
style metal military storage building for the museum. The Nancy Museum was opened on the island on 14 August 1928 to recognize the ship and its major contribution to the war effort and the border committee.