Autographs
War of 1812 August 30, 1814-Dated Manuscript Letter Signed by Oliver Hazard Perry Approves Pay for the Officers of the U.S.S. JAVA
CAPTAIN OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, (1785-1819). Historic American Naval Officer who defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie (1813), and afterwards sending his famous dispatch to General William Henry Harrison (Later President) reading: "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
August 30, 1814-Dated War of 1812 Period, boldly written Manuscript Letter Signed, "App'd (Approved) O. H. Perry", measuring 9.75" x 8", 1 page, Baltimore (Maryland), Very Fine. Even in tone, loss of about 2" along left margin edge not near or affecting any written text, edge tear at top margin, old archival tape reinforcement along the horizontal centerfold and top edge, and prior edge mount traces on its blank reverse. Here, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry in command, approves by Signing at middle-right, "App'd (Approved) O. H. Perry", the request of Samuel Hambleton, (writer of the letter) which reads:
"Required for the pay of officers attached to the Java, the sum of one-thousand dollars / S. Hambleton". The written text below reads: "Received of James Beatty Esquire, Navy Agent, one thousdand dollars in virtue of the the above Requistion: for which sum I am accountable at the Navy Department. S. Hambleton".
USS Java was a Sailing Frigate in the United States Navy, bearing 44 guns. She was named for the American victory over HMS Java off the coast of Brazil on December 29th 1812, Captured by the USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) under the command of Captain William Bainbridge. That HMS Java had suffered severe damage during the engagement and being far from home port was ordered burned.
This newly constructed USS Java was built at Baltimore, Maryland in 1814 and 1815 by Flannigan & Parsons. Not completed until after the end of the War of 1812, Java, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry in command, got underway from Baltimore August 5, 1815, picked up spare rigging at Hampton Roads and New York, and sailed to Newport, Rhode Island, to fill out her crew. Ordered to the Mediterranean to serve in the Second Barbary War, the new frigate departed from Newport 22 January 1816 in the face of a bitter gale. At sea one of her masts snapped with ten men upon the yards, killing five.
Java was off Algiers in April where Perry went ashore under a flag of truce and persuaded the Dey of Algiers to honor the treaty which he had signed the previous summer but had been ignoring. Next she sailed for Tripoli with Constellation, Ontario, and Erie to show the strength and resolve of the United States. Then, after a cruise in the Mediterranean stopping at Syracuse, Messina, Palermo, Tunis, Gibraltar and Naples, the frigate returned to Newport early in 1817 and was laid up at Boston, Massachusetts.
Java returned to active service in 1827 under Captain William M. Crane for a second deployment in the Mediterranean. There she protected American citizens and commerce and performed diplomatic duties. Toward the end of the cruise she served as flagship of Commodore James Biddle.
After returning to the United States in 1831, Java became receiving ship at Norfolk, where she was broken up in 1842.
Oliver Hazard PERRY, (1785-1819) was an American Naval Commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Captain John Heath challenged Perry to a pistol duel, which was fought on October 19, 1817, on the same field in Weehawken, New Jersey where Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton. Heath fired first and missed. Perry declined to return fire, satisfying the Marine's honor.
HAMBLETON, Samuel (1777-1851) was an officer in the United States Navy who served with distinction during the War of 1812. Samuel Hambleton, being eight years older than Oliver Hazard Perry, became Perry's most trusted officer and confidant. In July, 1813, when Perry suggested to Hambleton that he needed a signal flag to let his fleet know when to engage their British counterparts, it was Samuel Hambleton who suggested using the words of Captain James Lawrence, "Don't Give Up The Ship."