War of 1812 Bicentennial

Appendix I

Extracts From The "Chicago Tribune" of January 30, 1898.¹

The naval authorities at Washington have thoroughly investigated the situation of Chicago in the event of attack from the Canadian shore, and, after doing some figuring and drawing up some simple plans, have dismissed the matter as settled for ever.

There are but four ways for an enemy to reach Chicago, and three of these are by land. From the Atlantic coast the city is separated by 1,000 miles, and no foe could penetrate the country. It is a like distance from the Gulf States, and an invading army would be annihilated long before it reached the Mason and Dixie line.

The idea of an invading army landing in San Francisco and crossing the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies en route for Chicago is so preposterous as to require no attention whatever.

The only possible point from which an enemy could hope to reach this city is by way of the great lakes. If vessels could be fitted out with guns, and despatched here from the Canadian border, and if Chicago and the Government did not raise a hand to prevent, an army might be landed on the lake front, and ships might train guns upon the city.

But they will never do it. The auxiliary navy that Chicago has now and at all times within her harbour is sufficient to blow out of the water any possible squadron that would be sent against us.

Powerful Fleet at Hand.

Few realize what a really powerful fleet is at hand, ready to be transformed into a fighting force. It is often said that the Government is entirely unprepared for an attack upon these waters, and the treaty between this country and Great Britain is referred to in proof. That treaty specifies that neither country shall maintain more than four warships upon the lakes, and that these ships shall not be larger than 100 tons, armed with one 18-pound gun. This treaty was adopted by both countries during the year 1817, and the provisions have been practically ignored by both countries.

There are now on the lakes one United States war-vessel, the side-wheel barque Michigan, which was constructed in Pittsburg, removed in sections to Erie, and there put together in 1841. The Michigan created a storm of remonstrance on the part of the British, who claimed that this country had broken its agreement. As a matter of fact, the Michigan is a 498-ton vessel, armed with two 8-inch guns and four 32-pound carronades. While the vessel is of an obsolete type, it is a formidable foe to any vessel that could be brought against it by the Canadians.

But Uncle Sam has other vessels that may be turned into fighting ships. They are not called warships, but revenue cutters. They are fleet, and are able to do as much in the way of a sea-fight as any other vessels of their tonnage.

Foremost among the three cutters is the new Gresham, a splendid steel screw-steamer, built with a ram-bow, of 770 tons, one long rapid-fire gun, and the rest¹ for half a dozen more if occasion requires. The Gresham is in reality a splendid cruiser.

The Fressenden is an old side-wheel cutter of 350 tons, which carries four good-sized guns of old style, but capable of good execution. This vessel is regarded as fast, and would certainly sink any merchantman that sought to encounter it.

Chicagoans are familiar with that graceful cutter that is stationed here, and which was christened the Calumet out of compliment to this city. This cutter is of the swift tug-boat mode, is a steel craft, strong and seaworthy, and is armed with a formidable Hotchkiss rifle that would throw a shell three miles, and send its projectile clear through the iron sides of any boat afloat on the lakes.

These boats form the nucleus of a squadron that would keep any foreign vessels far from the point where they could bombard the city.

Large Auxiliary Navy.

The auxiliary navy, which may be called out within a week's notice, numbers anywhere between 100 and 200 huge lake freighters, as strong and stanch as heavy timbers and selected steel can make them. At the present moment there lie in the rivers 119 craft of all kinds. They ply in and out of the harbour several hundred steam-vessels other than passenger-boats, and of these 208 are over 250 feet in length, and are enumerated within the auxiliary navy list.

It was with a view to arming and turning these huge lakers, and their counterparts on the Atlantic and Pacific, into cruisers that the Naval Militia was organized. While that arm of the service is yet in its infancy, it has already accomplished a vast good, and already some 400 young men resident in this State have a practical knowledge of the handling of big guns aboard ship.

In the event of an attack by a foreign foe, the first thing that the War Department would do would be to co-operate with the navy. The National Guard nearest the threatened point would be called to arms, and the members probably to a considerable extent distributed among the auxiliary cruisers to act as a marine detail. The warship Michigan and the revenue cutters would be ordered here, and all, or as many as needed, of the freighters, would be levied upon and instantly transformed into fighting ships.

A glance over the list herewith furnished will show that many really formidable vessels are among these, some as huge and as weighty as men-of-war. Their stability and carrying capacity enable them to carry heavy guns and to afford a stable float for gunnery operations.

The vessels that happened to be in port or immediately due would be selected and protected. The protection added would be in the shape of iron ore placed about the boiler-rooms, and the engines and chains stretched along the sides or hung from the decks. These protections would turn the steel vessels into fairly invulnerable fighting ships.

Guns are all Ready.

But where are the guns to come from?

The Government has provided for that. It is notorious that no Government takes the world into its confidence in the matter of military preparations. For some years back the War Department has been quietly turning out siege-guns for harbour defence, and the Navy Department has been at work constructing 4, 5, and 6 inch rapid-fire guns, and hundreds of 6-pound and 1-pound rapid fire rifles. These guns are designed for use upon the auxiliary fleets wherever they may be required. They have not been distributed, and never will be, save in real emergency, being held in the arsenals in Washington, whence they may be despatched at a moment's notice to the threatened point.

If an Atlantic port were threatened, the guns would be sent to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. If the objective point were the Gulf, guns would be sent by freight to the Gulf ports. The same thing would result if danger threatened San Francisco. If danger threatens the lake cities, these guns would be loaded upon cars and sent here. Two days would be sufficient to send 100 here. As soon as they arrived they would be placed aboard the waiting steamers, which would already have coaled, and protected their boilers and engines with iron ore.

The guns in question are specially designed for merchant vessels. They have a strong shield fitted over the breech to protect the gunners. Each gun is designed for a certain class of vessel, and the Navy Department knows just what vessels it needs and just where the guns must be placed.

Small Guns Principally Needed.

Lake vessels are smaller than Atlantic steamers, and consequently smaller guns suffice for them. Some of the big Atlantic liners are fitted with 6-inch rifles of rapid-firing pattern. The largest gun designed for lake vessels is 5-inch measurement, and but sixteen vessels are listed that can carry these.

As before stated, all vessels are to be divided into classes. Those of 1,600 tons will be given four 4-inch guns, four 6-pounders, and two 1-pounders. Vessels of 2,000 tons will carry six 4-inch guns, four 6-pounders, and a couple of 1-pounders. In fact, two or more of these light 1-pounders are designed to be carried on all vessels. Vessels of from 2,500 to 2,600 tons will carry six 4-inch and six 6-pounders; 3,000-ton vessels, six 5-inch guns and six 6-pounders. Vessels of 3,500 tons and upwards are to carry eight 5-inch guns and four 6-pounders. The largest number of big guns that any lake steamer will carry will be twelve, as described in the last class.

Each vessel is also rated by size for officers and crews. Vessels of 2,600 tons and under will be assigned 10 officers and from 185 to 190 men in the crew. Those above 2,600 tons, and not exceeding 3,500 tons, will carry 12 officers and a crew of 200. The largest size vessels will have a complement of 15 officers and 350 seamen.

To man the 208 vessels enumerated in the lists, were all to be called into the service at once, would require 2,114 officers of all grades and 39,970 men. It would be quite impossible to secure so many trained seamen, but it is contemplated that the regular crews of the freighters would stand by their duty and see to the actual sailing of the vessel. Thus each steamer would carry its own crew, augmented by enlisted landsmen, Naval Militiamen who would act as gunners and officers, and National Guardsmen sent aboard as marines and sharp-shooters.

Force Practically Unlimited.

In this way a practically unlimited force could be got together in an incredibly short time, and it would be an organized force, for officers of the navy would be in high command, the vessels would be navigated by their Captains, and worked by their regular crews, and the fighting men would be free to operate the guns and pick off the enemy with rifles.

Just imagine such a flotilla drawn across the harbour four or five miles from the sea-wall. What possible chance would the foe have to shell the city, much less land a formidable land force?

The signal corps would be stationed on the sky-scrapers, and would command with their glasses the lake for twenty miles.

The troops from Fort Sheridan would guard the bluffs, to the northward. No foe would attempt to steal to the southward, where he surely would be hemmed in and cut to pieces.

There are in this city two batteries of four guns each, and one battery is located at Fort Sheridan. These guns, twelve in number, would probably be placed on board a couple of vessels, and the members of the Federal and National Guard batteries would be distributed throughout the fleet as gunners.

There are in the National Guard of Illinois 415 officers and 6,245 enlisted men. All of these men are familiar with the use of arms, and many of them are used to siege-gun practice. The Naval Reserves of the State number 48 officers and 498 enlisted men. These men are capable of working 100 guns.

In addition to the forces that reside here or are stationed in the State, the Navy Department would hurry here several hundred seamen from the Atlantic Squadron, among them a large number of trained gunners, so that it will be seen that the question of furnishing crews is not a serious one. And it must also be borne in mind that it is extremely improbable that more than twenty or thirty of the steamers would be called upon. It would appear as though that number would be more than adequate to cope with any force that could be sent against us.

The list of available vessels that are listed for emergency does not include a hundred or more whalebacks, which some competent authorities believe to be the most formidable of all the vessels that sail the lakes. Indeed, Captain Alexander McDougall, who is at the head of the whaleback concern, has for some years been in consultation with the authorities in Washington with a view to perfecting plans for making these vessels instantly available for war service, both on the lakes and on the open sea. The Captain has prepared plans, which the Navy Department is said to have approved, which makes the "pigs" ideal cruisers.

To begin with, they all have several watertight compartments, so that they may be ballasted to any depth that may be required. In fact, if desired, they may be sunk almost entirely beneath the water, their forward turrets and after-works alone appearing above the surface. This feature renders them almost impossible to hit with a shot. It is well known that the whalebacks ha narrow snout—that is the termination of a small watertight compartment in the bow. Captain McDougall proposes to adjust a movable steel shutter, similar to the ports of an old-fashioned man-o'-war, over the snout of a whaleback, and place a powerful rifled gun in this position. There is ample room for working the gun. The whaleback, which is speedy, would approach a foe presenting practically no mark for its shot. The projectiles that struck its rounded steel sides would glance off harmlessly. At the proper moment the long gun would be thrust out, sighted, fired, and run back, the hood, or shutter, automatically closing as the gun delivered its fire and receded.

Captain J. G. Keith, of this city, who is an enthusiast on whaleback subjects, has in his possession a drawing of the Christopher Columbus, the big whaleback passenger steamer that plies between this city and Milwaukee, wherein are shown the modellings requisite to turn the flier into the swiftest cruiser afloat.

"The Christopher Columbus has ten watertight compartments," said Captain Keith, "and carries water ballast. It is possible to sink the boat to any level. It can catch and pass any vessel on the lakes. If properly armed and fitted up, it could sweep the enemy from the lakes, and could not be seriously damaged in return.

"There are ten steel turrets distributed along the 362 feet of the hull. These turrets are built of ¾-inch steel. Within two days the turrets could be reinforced with extra plates of boiler-iron placed inside, and the intervening space packed with cotton or other material.

"Port-holes could be cut in these turrets on the sides, fore and aft, and in this manner seats and protection for ten guns, two in each of five turrets, could be provided. Then one of the long rifled rapid-firing guns could be placed in the compartment under the snout, and, if required, smaller guns could be distributed all over the vessel. The smoke-stack could be reinforced by additional plates of boiler-iron bent on, and the boiler-room and engines could be protected by heavy anchor chains dropped over the side. But little would be exposed to the shots of the enemy, and if the bow guns were dispensed with, the hull could be sunk so deep by flooding one or more of the compartments that it would be impossible to put a shot into the boiler-room. Then, the upper deck if of steel, covered with planks.

"The enemy could shoot away at the top works all day, and could not harm the vessel if they were all carried away, for in reality they are but a deck resting upon the turrets. The wheel-house would be protected with boiler-iron. You could not sink the Columbus, even if you could put a shot through her below the water-line, for you could fill half of her compartments and still she would float.

"Moreover, the vessel would carry all the troops that are stationed in Chicago and be a regular fort. The Naval Department knows what can be done with the Christopher Columbus, and these plans are drawn with an object in view."

The guns that are being made for the auxiliary navy are said to be the finest models turned out in the history of gunnery. The work is under the supervision of Commodore Charles O'Neill, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy. The 6-inch guns each weigh 5 tons, and throw a solid shot weighing 100 pounds a distance of six and a half miles. However, in actual warfare the range is rarely over 5,000 yards. The chance of hitting a ship at a greater distance are so small as to render the long ranges impracticable.

It will be noticed that none of the passenger vessels are included in the list of available ships. The reason for the omission is not because they are not staunch vessels, but because their top works are unsuited to warfare. The woodwork would be reduced to dangerous splinters by the shot of the enemy; hence the cabins would have to be removed. They are also in the way of the guns, and prevent their free use. It would consume considerable time and involve large expense to prepare passenger steamers for fighting. Moreover, they stand high out of the water, and their machinery is more exposed than in the freighters, so that their usual superior speed is more than offset.

In preparing merchantmen for fighting, the small boats must be got out of the way, so that they will not be torn from the davits. Heavy planking must be laid upon the decks in the gun positions, for in the majority of cases it will be considered best to locate the big guns on the main deck, two in the bows and two aft, the others distributed along the bulwarks. The guns are not much more exposed on deck than they would be if ports were cut through the vessel's sheathing, for the plating of the steel ship is rarely more than ½ to ¾ inch, and it must be remembered that the guns carry a shield that protects the gunners.

There is a division of opinion as to whether wooden or steel ships will prove the better for the auxiliary navy. It is claimed that the wooden vessels will stand more hard usage before sinking. Where the steel vessel is not divided into compartments, it certainly would sink if pierced below the water-line, while a wooden vessel would float until the breach could be stopped.

Taken all for all, it is probable that both styles of freighters have their advantages. The Government seems to select them indiscriminately. In one respect both types of vessel are at an immense advantage over an ordinary cruiser, and that is the enormous coal stores that they can carry. These big lakers can load up a regular cargo of coal, which will not only afford them steam for long periods, but will sink them, so as to leave their vulnerable parts less exposed, and the coal will act as a secondary armour.

Thus is the harbour of Chicago safe from the attacks of armed foes. Not only is the geographical position of the city such as to render a land invasion impossible, but the navy at hand is far stronger than required to repel any fleet that Canada can scrape together, for Canada is the only Power that can war upon us from the lakes. The shipping owned by the Canadians is hardly 1 per cent of the total, and they own practically none of the larger vessels. It would be practically impossible for Canadian war-vessels to pass into Lake Michigan from the lakes on either hand, for the narrow straits are easily commanded from the shore, and torpedoes would prove an impossible barrier.

To sum up what is stated in the above paper, the vessels which in 1898 (or twelve years ago) were available upon the lakes for conversion upon emergency, at Chicago, into fighting ships of an American auxiliary naval force, numbered approximately 208 large lake freighters, and 100 powerful whalebacks. Of this last class, the proposed conversion of the Christopher Columbus, one of the largest and swiftest, is given in detail. These 308 vessels are exclusive of passenger steamers, which are deemed as a class, for reasons fully explained, to be less suitable for fighting purposes than freighters and whalebacks.

Of these 308 vessels it is estimated that not more than about thirty selected ships (or one-tenth) would be sufficient at first to meet any requirements of lake warfare.

For armament, many 4, 5, and 6-inch rapid-firing guns, and hundreds of 6 and 7 lb. rapid-firing rifles, adapted for the requirements of auxiliary fleets of converted merchant vessels, had been provided, and were in the arsenals at Washington.¹

For crews, 415 officers and 6,245 men of the National Guard of Illinois,² many of them used to siege-gun practice; and 48 officers and 498 enlisted men of the Naval Reserves of the State, capable of working 100 guns (in addition to the crews of the vessels and enlisted landsmen), are available.³