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Letter to Editor
April 1, 1799
The Gazette
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
What is this article about?
Captain Thomas Tingey corrects a misrepresentation in the press about a 1799 encounter between his U.S. ship Ganges and the British ship Surprize, emphasizing polite interactions and his pledge to protect his crew from impressment.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
Miscellaneous Articles.
To the Printers of the Norfolk Herald.
GENTLEMEN,
EVER an enemy to misrepresentation, I must beg of you to correct the statement of the transaction between his Britannic Majesty's ship Surprize, of 32 guns, and the United States ship Ganges, under my command.
It is true, that Captain Hamilton of the above Ship sent an officer on board, requesting information whether any Englishmen were in my crew; observing that my assurance would be sufficient to prevent an officer being sent to examine their protections. I did not hesitate to say I considered all my crew Americans by birth or adoption—not I also observed to the officer, that there were no protections on board to my knowledge—the only one we carried in our public ships being our Flag. This business terminated here. It is not true that the officer demanded a sight of my commission; but during his stay behaved with much politeness, and was in return, treated with all the civility I was capable of. Nor did I, as I have heard it represented, lay any thing about my guns being a protection, if my flag was deemed insufficient.
As soon as the boat put off a second time to come on board the Ganges, being on the quarter deck with my officers, I declared to them my determination to fall through sooner than suffer an investigation, or permit any man's name to be called over.
When the boat came along side again, it was with the surgeon; and with a polite message from capt. Hamilton, requesting to assist him with some medicine he was in need of. But no apology was made for the message sent by the lieutenant; nor was the subject thereof ever mentioned by the doctor or myself.
Apprehensive that a similar circumstance might occur on a future day, I thought it incumbent on me, to let my people know what they had to trust to. At evening therefore, I caused all hands to be called, and when assembled, did pledge myself to them, that not a man should be taken from me, by any force whatever, while I was able to stand by my quarters—with declaration, they received with three cheers, and high spirits.
THOMAS TINGEY.
Norfolk, Feb. 27th 1799.
To the Printers of the Norfolk Herald.
GENTLEMEN,
EVER an enemy to misrepresentation, I must beg of you to correct the statement of the transaction between his Britannic Majesty's ship Surprize, of 32 guns, and the United States ship Ganges, under my command.
It is true, that Captain Hamilton of the above Ship sent an officer on board, requesting information whether any Englishmen were in my crew; observing that my assurance would be sufficient to prevent an officer being sent to examine their protections. I did not hesitate to say I considered all my crew Americans by birth or adoption—not I also observed to the officer, that there were no protections on board to my knowledge—the only one we carried in our public ships being our Flag. This business terminated here. It is not true that the officer demanded a sight of my commission; but during his stay behaved with much politeness, and was in return, treated with all the civility I was capable of. Nor did I, as I have heard it represented, lay any thing about my guns being a protection, if my flag was deemed insufficient.
As soon as the boat put off a second time to come on board the Ganges, being on the quarter deck with my officers, I declared to them my determination to fall through sooner than suffer an investigation, or permit any man's name to be called over.
When the boat came along side again, it was with the surgeon; and with a polite message from capt. Hamilton, requesting to assist him with some medicine he was in need of. But no apology was made for the message sent by the lieutenant; nor was the subject thereof ever mentioned by the doctor or myself.
Apprehensive that a similar circumstance might occur on a future day, I thought it incumbent on me, to let my people know what they had to trust to. At evening therefore, I caused all hands to be called, and when assembled, did pledge myself to them, that not a man should be taken from me, by any force whatever, while I was able to stand by my quarters—with declaration, they received with three cheers, and high spirits.
THOMAS TINGEY.
Norfolk, Feb. 27th 1799.
What sub-type of article is it?
Informative
Persuasive
What themes does it cover?
Military War
What keywords are associated?
Naval Encounter
British Ship Surprize
Us Ship Ganges
Thomas Tingey
Crew Protection
Impressment
Norfolk 1799
What entities or persons were involved?
Thomas Tingey
To The Printers Of The Norfolk Herald
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Thomas Tingey
Recipient
To The Printers Of The Norfolk Herald
Main Argument
the letter corrects a misrepresented account of the encounter between the u.s. ship ganges under tingey's command and the british ship surprize, stating that interactions were polite, no demands were made for commissions or inspections, and tingey pledged to protect his crew from impressment.
Notable Details
Officer Inquired About Englishmen In Crew
No Protections On Board Except The Flag
Second Visit By Surgeon For Medicine
Pledge To Crew Received With Cheers