Other 18th-/19th-century conflicts
Maps, views and documents from 19 wars
San Salvador, 1812 (Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) 12°58'16"S 38°30'39"W
published 1 Jan 1814Aquatint with etching and engraving; printed on paper; laid down on paper, the paper backing brought round the edges of the recto | 39.4 x 45.1 cm (image) | RCIN 735179.a
The three-hour action between the Java and the Constitution was an uneven contest between the small British 38-gun fifth rate frigate and the larger, heavier, 44-gun American 'super frigate'.
This view represents the position of the two ships at 15.05 hours, at which time the log of the Constitution records 'Shot away The enemies foremast by the board'. Five minutes before that, the log had recorded 'The Head of the enemies Bowsprit & Jib boom shot away by us'. This damage to the Java is seen in this view, where the jib-boom appears to make a bridge from the Java to the Constitution with sailors swarming up it, as if to board the bigger ship, though there does not appear to be a record of this happening.
The original drawing for this print was made by Lieutenant Buchanan, R.N., an officer on board the Java, who was praised by first Lieutenant Henry Ducie Chads (later Sir Henry; Rear-Admiral; 1788-1868), who took over when Captain Lambert was mortally wounded. Chads said that he 'can never speak too highly' of Buchanan and the other officers.
The character of Henry Lambert appears in Patrick O'Brian's Fortune of War in which the real life story of Lambert's death on the Java is told.
Proof copy. The upper-case lettering in the title is engraved in outline. One of a set of four aquatints; the companion prints are at RCINs 735179.b-d.
Additional text: [bottom left, faintly engraved:] Proof [bottom left, between 'Proof' and title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the English Force.] [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the American Force.]
For further reading, see:
US Department of the Navy - Naval History and Heritage Command: Selected naval documents: USS Constitution, 'Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge': American National Archives, Record Group 45, Captain's Letters, 1813, Vol.1, No.8 1/2 and British TNA Admiralty 1/5435.
W. James, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A new edition, with additions and notes, 6 vols, London, 1837, VI, pp.126-33.
J.K. Laughton, 'Chads, Sir Henry Ducie (1788–1868)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
J.K. Laughton, 'Lambert, Henry (d. 1813)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: brown discolouration.
Josiah Boydell (18 January 1752-27 March 1817) (publisher) [bottom centre, below title:] Jan,y 1, 1814. Publish'd by Mess,rs Boydell & C,o N,o 90 Cheapside, and Colnaghi & C,o Cockspur Street, London.
Alexander Buchanan (b. 1793) (artist)
Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821) (draughtsman and etcher) [bottom left, below edge of view:] Drawn & Etch'd by N. Pocock, from a Sketch by Lieut. Buchanan.
Robert Havell (1769-1832) (engraver)
Daniel Havell (d. 1826) (engraver) [bottom right, below edge of view:] Engraved by R, & D, Havell.
Colnaghi & Co. (c.1785-1911) (publisher)
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (dedicatee)
Subject(s)
Navy-USAUSS Constitution (frigate, launched 1797)Java (HMS)Royal NavyWatermark: None visible
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: brown discolouration
35.4 x 45.1 cm (neatline)
39.4 x 45.1 cm (image)
41.3 x 52.8 cm (platemark)
44.0 x 55.3 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. / Plate 1. Situation of His Majesty's Frigate JAVA, Captain Lambert, at 5 Min. past 3 P.M. after an hours close & severe Action with the American / Frigate CONSTITUTION, in which she was so much disabled in her Masts, Sails, & Rigging, by the Enemy's very superior Force & Weight of Metal, / that in the attempt to Board, with every prospect of success, her Foremast fell, & she was rendered totally unmanageable. [bottom, below view]
Additional text:
[bottom left, faintly engraved:] Proof [bottom left, between 'Proof' and title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the English Force.] [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the American Force.]
Annotations:
(Recto) [bottom left, black pencil:] XV-179-a. (Verso) [bottom left, black pencil, in Evelyn Heaton-Smith's hand]: 228.a; [centre, black pencil:] 41; [top right, black pencil, obscured by paper backing:] 41.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement Four Views of the Action between H.M. Frigate Java, Captain Lambert, and the American Frigate, Constitution, on the 29.th of Dec.r 1812: by Pocock and Havell from a sketch by Lieut. Buchannan, published by Boydell, 1814.
Subject(s)
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (12°58'16"S 38°30'39"W)
Bibliographic reference(s)
H. Parker, Naval battles from the collection of prints formed and owned by Commander Sir Charles Leopold Cust, With an introduction by C.N. Robinson, London, 1911, no.228.a
US Department of the Navy - Naval History and Heritage Command: Selected naval documents: USS Constitution, 'Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge': American National Archives, Record Group 45, Captain's Letters, 1813, Vol.1, No.8 1/2 and British TNA Admiralty 1/5435.
W. James, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A new edition, with additions and notes, 6 vols, London, 1837, VI, pp.126-33.
J.K. Laughton, 'Chads, Sir Henry Ducie (1788–1868)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
J.K. Laughton, 'Lambert, Henry (d. 1813)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.
Page revisions
3 November 2024
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