Flotilla Service Act of 1814 explained

Shorttitle:	Flotilla Service Act of 1814
Longtitle:	An Act authorizing the appointment of certain officers for the flotilla service.
Enacted By:	13th
Effective Date:	April 16, 1814
Cite Statutes At Large:	, Chap. 59
Acts Repealed:	P.L. 13-62,, Chap.62
Introducedin:	Senate
Passedbody1:	Senate
Passeddate1:	April 7, 1814
Passedvote1:	11-16^[1]
Signedpresident:	James Madison
Signeddate:	April 16, 1814

Flotilla Service Act was a United States federal statute passed on April 16, 1814 preceding the British Royal Navy blockade of the New England Colonies commencing on April 25, 1814.^{[2] [3]} The public law established a temporary Mid-Atlantic naval auxiliary service for amphibious operations orchestrated by the Chesapeake Colonies during the War of 1812. The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla conducted amphibious maneuvers in low-level tidal creeks seeking to deter the territorial headway of the British Royal Navy offensive into the Chesapeake Bay tributaries. The Act of Congress authorized appropriations for the federal law in response to the foreseeable onslaught by the British Army redcoats arson offensive on August 24, 1814 at Washington City better known as the Burning of Washington.^[4]

Provisions of the Act

The Thirteenth United States Congress drafted public law 13-59 as three sections providing a manpower formulation which coincided with the military objectives discharged by the Colonial American counter-offensive naval flotilla forces.

Chapter LIX § 1: Appointment of Flotilla Officers

• Four captains
• Twelve lieutenants
• Officers employed in the flotilla service of the United States, without rank in the Navy, but with the same relative rank and authority in the flotilla service as officers of the same grade are entitled to in the Navy of the United States.

Chapter LIX § 2: Pay and Emoluments

• Captains shall receive the pay and subsistence of a captain in the Navy commanding a ship of twenty and under thirty-two guns.
• Lieutenants shall receive the same pay as officers of the same rank are entitled to in the Navy of the United States, and shall be governed by the rules and regulations provided for the government of the Navy.

Chapter LIX § 3: Authorization of Presidential Appointments

• It shall be lawful for the President of the United States to appoint, in the recess of the Senate, any of the officers authorized by this act, which appointments shall be submitted to the Senate at their next session.

Abolishment of the Flotilla Service Act

On the tenth day after the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent, Flotilla Service Act of 1814 was repealed by the United States 13th Congressional session occurring on February 27, 1815.^{[5] [6] [7]}

See also

	Origins of the War of 1812
	Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
	USS Scorpion (1812)

British Royal Military Commanders During the 1814 Washington Offensive

	Robert Ross
	James Scott
	Harry Smith
	John Wainwright

Chesapeake Bay River Tributaries

	Patuxent River
	Potomac River

Associated United States Statutes

Date of Enactment	Public Law No.	U.S. Statute Citation	U.S. Bill No.	U.S. Presidential Administration
July 5, 1813	P.L. 13-6		Chapter VI	James Madison
March 9, 1814	P.L. 13-21		Chapter XXI	James Madison
November 15, 1814	P.L. 13-3		Chapter III	James Madison
December 7, 1999	P.L. 106-135			William J. Clinton

Reading Bibliography

• Web site: [{{google books|iS1CAAAAIAAJ|plainurl=y}} Biographical Memoir of the Late Commodore Joshua Barney ]. Barney . Mary . 1832 . Google Books . Boston, Massachusetts . Gray and Bowen . 2577741 .
• Web site: Biographical Memoir of the Late Commodore Joshua Barney . Barney . Mary . 1832 . Internet Archive . Boston, Massachusetts . Gray and Bowen . 2577741.
• Web site: [{{google books|foUTAQAAMAAJ|plainurl=y}} Flotilla: Battle for the Patuxent ]. Shomette . Donald . 1981 . Google Books . Solomons, Maryland . Calvert Marine Museum Press . 7967914 .
• Web site: [{{google books|twENAQAAMAAJ|plainurl=y}} Flotilla: The Patuxent Naval Campaign in the War of 1812 ]. Shomette . Donald . Hopkins, Jr. . Fred W. . 2009 . Johns Hopkins Books on the War of 1812 . Google Books . Baltimore, Maryland . Johns Hopkins University Press . 978-0801891229 . 966582548 .
• Web site: [{{google books|AVKdugEACAAJ|plainurl=y}} The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Reference Guide to Historic Sites in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia ]. Eshelman . Ralph E. . Sheads . Scott S. . Hickey . Donald R. . 2010 . Johns Hopkins books on the War of 1812 . Google Books . Baltimore, Maryland . Johns Hopkins University Press . 978-0801892356 . 260254246 .
• Web site: [{{google books|252ACgAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} Lion in the Bay: The British Invasion of the Chesapeake, 1813-14 ]. Quick . Stanley L. . Reid . Chipp . 2015 . Google Books . Annapolis, Maryland . Naval Institute Press . 978-1612512372 . 908374258 .
• Web site: [{{google books|6hxpCQAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} War in the Chesapeake: The British Campaigns to Control the Bay, 1813-1814 ]. Neimeyer . Charles Patrick . 2015 . Google Books . Annapolis, Maryland . Naval Institute Press . 978-1612518664 . 931799215 .

External links

• • Web site: The Chesapeake Flotilla . September 24, 1997 . Barney Family Historical Association . Excerpt from the Maryland Historical Trust.
• Web site: Barney's Flotilla . WhitehouseHistory.org . White House Historical Association.
• Web site: Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement . March 2004 . U.S. National Park Service . U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Web site: Operations Around Washington D.C. and Baltimore, 19 August-17 September 1814 . The War of 1812 . . United States Military Academy.
• A British View of the Naval War of 1812 . Black . Jeremy . August 2008 . 22 . 4 . Naval History . United States Naval Institute.
• Commodore Barney at the Bladensburg Races . Eden, US Army: LTC . Steven . October 2010 . 24 . 5 . Naval History . United States Naval Institute.
• Web site: The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently Than Americans Do . Foreman . Amanda . July 2014 . Smithsonian Magazine.
• Web site: The Chesapeake Flotilla . 1981 . War on the Patuxent: 1814 . Bugeye Times Quarterly Newsletter . . Calvert Marine Museum.
• Web site: Archeology: Discovering Hidden 1812 History . Preserving the War of 1812 for Future Generations . U.S. National Park Service . U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Diane Garey (Director), Lawrence Hott (Director), Joe Mantegna (Narrator) . October 10, 2011 . The British Blockade . The War of 1812 . Television production . Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
• Web site: British Invasion of the Chesapeake . Reid . Chipp . May 28, 2016 . Internet Archive . C-SPAN.

Notes and References

1. Flotilla Service Act of 1814 - Senate Bill 52 . Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 13th Congress . V . Thursday, April 7, 1814 . U.S. Library of Congress . 488.
2. Web site: British Strategy in the War of 1812 . Lambert, PhD . Andrew . Sea History No. 145, Winter 2013-14 . National Maritime Historical Society.
3. Web site: The War of 1812 . American Military History . Office of the Chief of Military History - United States Army . 130–131.
4. Web site: Days of Destruction: August 24-25, 1814 . WhitehouseHistory.org . . United States Capitol, President's House, The Navy Yard, Treasury Department & Other Buildings, Saving the Washington Portrait.
5. Web site: Repeal of Flotilla Service Act ~ P.L. 13-62 . 3 Stat. 217 ~ Chapter LXII . February 27, 1815 . USLaw.Link.
6. Relief of Commodore Barney . Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 13th Congress, 3rd Session . Thursday, October 20, 1814 . U.S. Library of Congress . 414–416.
7. The Flotilla Men . Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 13th Congress, 3rd Session . Wednesday, November 2, 1814 . U.S. Library of Congress . 517.