The defense of the cutter Eagle was a battle on and around Long Island New York, that took place from October 10 to 13, 1814, between the British Royal Navy and the United States' Revenue Marine. Early on in the engagement, the United States' only involved vessel, USRC Eagle, was beached near Negro Head. Despite the loss of their ship, her crew continued fighting the Royal Navy vessels from shore using cannon recovered from their wrecked vessel. Eagle crew was ultimately able to repair and refloat her, but unsuccessful in their attempts to drive the British ships away. Once more she was beached, but after exhausting their ammunition over three days of fighting, the Eagle crew was unable to prevent her from being towed off by the Royal Navy, which then sailed her back past the shoreline for a victory lap. Though there were no fatalities on either side in the battle, a cow grazing in the area died after being hit by a round shot fired by one of the Royal Navy ships.
USRC Eagle, along with two of the involved British ships HMS Narcissus and HMS Dispatch, are among six vessels celebrated in the lyrics of "Semper Paratus", the service march of the Revenue Marine's successor force, the U.S. Coast Guard.
Background
At the outset of the War of 1812, the United States' diminutive naval forces consisted of 30 armed ships, 16 of which were sailed by the United States Navy with the remainder operated by the United States Revenue Marine. Throughout the war, ships of the Revenue Marine suffered from poor provisioning, the United States Department of the Treasury, to whom the force answered, insisting that the war was not its responsibility to fight—except in cases where tax collection was threatened—and that any extra appropriations needed to bring Revenue Marine cutters up to battle-ready condition should come out of the Department of the Navy's budget.
On May 26, 1813, the United Kingdom announced the closure of New York harbor and Long Island Sound to almost all outgoing shipping, the closure to be enforced by means of a blockade. The blockade was not total; American merchantmen carrying certain foodstuffs to Europe were issued transit passes by the Baron Hotham due to the British Army's provisioning needs for its forces engaged in Spain during the concurrent War of the Sixth Coalition. Nonetheless, by 1814, according to historian Melvin Jackson, the entire American seaboard "lay all but deserted" to maritime traffic leaving the United States essentially cut-off from the rest of the world.
The American cutter Eagle, the second Revenue Marine ship to bear that name, was a 130-ton schooner outfitted with six cannon and sailing with a normal complement of twenty-five. Home ported in New Haven, Connecticut, she was under the command of Frederick Lee.
The battle
Prelude
On October 9, 1814, the American packet ship Susan left New York bound for New Haven, Connecticut, hugging the coast so as to avoid violating the British blockade. The next morning she was approached by a similarly sized vessel which—once within gun range—ran up the British colors and ordered Susan to surrender, which she promptly did. This vessel, the Liverpool Packet, was a British privateer operating under command of the nearby frigate HMS Pomone. The seizure of Susan was witnessed by another ship in the area which made for land to raise the alarm.
Engagement
Upon being informed of the seizure of Susan, Lee ordered USRC Eagle to put to sea to find and rescue the American packet boat. Several volunteers from local companies of the Connecticut State Militia offered to join the voyage and were taken aboard, the senior officer among them being Captain John Davis. By this point, five hours had passed and Eagle left the port of New Haven as dark was settling. As the sun rose the next day, Eagle found herself "dangerously close" to the 18-gun brig HMS Dispatch, which launched its barges in an apparent attempt to board the smaller Eagle. Eagle opened fired on the barges while attempting to withdraw, but the cutter was unable to pick up enough wind to outsail the approaching Royal Navy vessels.