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Cornell University Library 1993.EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON
A PARTICIPANT IN THE AFFAIR OF THE ADAMS AND CAL-
EDONIA. WRITTEN FROM HIS OWN JOURNAL
BY HIS DAUGHTER,
MRS. JAMES HOSKINSON1
John Dickson was born in Baltimore in 1785, of English
parents. At eleven years of age he lost both father and
mother and was left in the care of an aunt who, he thought,
was too strict. He lived with her two years and ran away
and shipped on board a merchant brig bound for the Medi-
terranean. When on their passage they encountered severe
storms, which made him tired of a sea life. When the brig
arrived at the port of Leghorn and discharged her cargo he
absconded. Search was made for him, but he was safely
hid in a cellar. For two days he wandered about the city
without money, and did not meet with any one who could
speak English. On the third day he attracted the attention
of an English gentleman who took him to his hotel and told
him he was going to make a tour of Italy and said if he
chose to go with him he would “give him good pay.” He
quickly consented and was presented with a new suit of
1. Here printed from the manuscript owned by Major T. J. Hoskinson,
paymaster of the U. S. Naval Home at Philadelphia. Dickson’s original jour-
nal has not been found by the editor of this volume. In 1885 it was in the
hands of his daughter, who then prepared her narrative for publication in the
Gazette of Erie, in which journal it appeared, Feb. 15, 1885. This, the only
known record of the exploits of John Dickson, clears up certain allusions to
him in the Dobbins papers, and adds another picturesque figure to the history
of the Niagara.412
EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
clothes. They embarked on board the Navielle, on the river
Arno. There were several other passengers of different
nations. They had a very pleasant voyage, stopping at every
place of note on the way. They remained at Pisa two days
and were in the Grand Duke’s palace, which Dickson des-
cribes as very magnificent. They remained at Rome for
some time. Young Dickson’s employer was very kind to
him. In after years he often spoke of the delight he experi-
enced in this journey. The grandeur of Rome, comprised
in her palaces, churches, and ruins, left an indelible impres-
sion on his memory.
It was fortunate for this poor boy that he took this
journey. It was an oasis in the desert. For the next eleven
years of his life his sufferings were almost incredible.
The travelers returned to Leghorn and soon after a
British man-of-war appeared and anchored in the offing.
It was the brig Speedy, which had slipped her cable and
gone to sea leaving her purser (young Dickson’s new friend)
on shore. He told him to come on board, and there was no
alternative; he had to obey. When on board, the purser
said to the captain: “Here is a fine boy I picked up at Leg-
horn !” He then told Dickson he must part with him as he
had another boy on board.
He was then left to the mercy of the sailors and their
rough treatment. Their manner of living was extremely
disgusting; they had to eat and sleep in the hollup1 deck of
the brig, which was encumbered with cables and rigging,
and they had to crowd as near the hatchway as possible.
Their victuals were put in a small tub. Each mess consisted
of six persons, who were supplied with horn spoons; they
all sat cross-legged around the tub, and were obliged to eat
as fast as possible. Their beds were old sails.
England, France, and Spain were then at war. Lord
Nelson’s fleet was in the Mediterranean watching its ene-
mies. Dickson was transferred to the Hamadryad, a Span-
ish frigate, taken off Cadiz, and now an English prize. She
immediately took four French prizes, and was soon after-
i. A sailor’s perversion of “orlop,” the lowest deck in a three-deck vessel,
below the water-line.EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
418
wards wrecked on the coast of Algiers. It was in the midst
of an awful storm and many vessels foundered in their sight.
The crew of the Hamadryad all escaped from drowning, but
were made prisoners by the piratical Algerians. They were
treated cruelly by them until the English consul came to
their assistance. They were prisoners six months.
This unfortunate young American was then put on board
of the Leander, a 50-gun ship, one of Admiral Nelson's
squadron commanded by Captain Thompson, and was in
that memorable battle in Aboukir Bay between the combined
fleets of England and France.
The fight commenced Aug. 1, 1798, at 31 minutes after 6
p. m., and lasted three days. During the engagement there
was not a breath of wind. Five days after the victory, which
obtained so much glory for England, Capt. Berry of the
Vanguard, Nelson's ship, came on board of the Leander as
she was off Cadiz, with despatches for Earl St. Vincent.
She speedily took her departure and on the morning of the
15th of August, encountered Le Generoux, a French 74-gun
ship, and after a most desperate battle, which lasted six
hours, the Leander surrendered. Dickson saw Captains
Hood and Berry hide the dispatches in an apron of one of
the guns, which was thrown overboard.
About thirty English sailors were placed on board of
Le Brune, a French frigate. They made their escape by
night, in a large barge, and landed at the Isle of Quarte,
where they sold the barge for about $200. Dickson left the
island in a vessel for Algiers, from which he was taken and
placed on the Alliance, an old ship which had formerly be-
longed to John Paul Jones's squadron. He was now again in
the British Navy, where he remained more than eight years.
He made his escape several times, but was captured by
pi ess-gangs or British seamen.
In London he met a Capt. Smith of Baltimore, who had
known his parents, and as his vessel was soon to set sail he
obtained a protection for him from the American consul.
This so elated him that he went with a friend to Greenwich
hospital to see the disabled sailors. On his return he was
seized by the gang and his protection burnt.414
EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
At last he made a safe escape, being assisted by the
captain of a merchant vessel belonging to Philadelphia. He
told him to get into a berth and feign sickness. He swal-
lowed some tobacco, which made him so very sick that when
the vessel was searched for English sailors they thought he
was too ill to be removed, and the captain said he would
soon die and go to the place where no one wants to go.
After this he made a whaling voyage to Greenland which
proved successful. He spent two years in the “Island of
Desolation” killing sea-elephants to obtain blubber. The sea-
men suffered much, the weather being extremely cold. They
subsisted on the tongues, hearts, flippers and flukes of the
sea-elephants, and when there was a scarcity they had to eat
the carcasses they found on the beach.
[Here follows a period in Dickson's career without rec-
ord. He was at Erie, and sailing the lakes, as early as 1808.]
Soon after Mr. Dickson arrived in Erie he was employed
by Capt. James Rough as mate of the Mary. She was one of
the largest vessels on the lakes, and was at Mackinaw when
war was declared. She was loaded with furs for the North-
west Fur Company, which were to be delivered at Black
Rock. The fort at Mackinaw was unable to stand a siege,
being garrisoned by only fifty men, and surrendered to the
British. Dickson, the mate of the Mary, was making hur-
ried preparations to get her off, when two British armed
vessels hove in sight and bore up? and they were obliged to
give up. She was made a cartel of to carry the soldiers on
parole to Detroit, and those citizens who were not willing to
stay on the island. An English officer and ten men were
placed on board to guard her. After leaving Detroit, and on
reaching Cleveland, the crew and prisoners absconded, leav-
ing only the captain, mate and the guard on board. The
mate was obliged to steer all night, and the captain took the
helm in the daytime. On arriving at Fort Erie it was de-
cided that the vessel was a lawful prize, and the cargo should
be given up to the owners, the Northwest Fur Company.
The captain and mate were paroled and landed on the
American shore next day.EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
415
Soon after Mr. Dickson was paroled he was ordered by
Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott to take charge of the navy yard at
Black Rock, where some small vessels were being fitted out,
intended for the war. His duty was to collect and store the
rigging and put things in order.
On Oct. 8, 1812, two British armed brigs arrived at Fort
Erie—the Caledonia and the Adams. Dickson informed
Lieut. Elliott that he was well acquainted with those brigs
and the number of their men, as they were loading when he
was made a prisoner. The Adams or Detroit, which was
taken by the British at the commencement of the war, was
loaded with cannon and arms for Fort George. The Cale-
donia was one of the two brigs that took the Mary. Lieut.
Elliott directed Dickson to fit out two large salt boats for an
expedition, which he did. The oars were muffled and every-
thing was put in readiness for action. In the meantime there
arrived a draft of eighty seamen from the frigate Adams to
join Commodore Perry’s squadron. They were within a few
miles of Buffalo. Lieut. Elliott sent Dickson with an express
to the commanding officer of those men to use all possible
dispatch to get them to Black Rock. Dickson was obliged to
crawl on his hands and knees in some places, for fear of
exposure. He directed the officer to take the land road to
Black Rock and not expose his men to the view of the
enemy. They went on board at night and the boats started
to Buffalo at 2 a. m., and steered across below Point Abino
to make a safe landing above the brigs for the purpose of
boarding them, and also to have the assistance of the current
and to prevent the brigs from seeing them. They got within
a cable’s length (720 feet) of them, when they were discov-
ered by a sentinel, who hailed and fired. The night was very
dark. The boats grappled and boarded the brigs, and in a
few minutes they were in the possession of the Americans.
When they were bringing them to the American side the
Detroit drifted too far into the stream and dropped down
toward Squaw Island, where she ran aground on the Cana-
dian shore. When daylight appeared the enemy had a good
chance of raking her, and she was abandoned.
Lieut. Elliott ordered Dickson to land the prisoners in416
EXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
charge of the squad. It was now daylight, and Dickson was
steering the boat. The commanding officer of the Detroit,
then in the boat, recognized him and seemed greatly sur-
prised.
“Did I not land you,” he said, “about two months ago on
the American side as a prisoner on parole? You are now
fighting against us. If we ever take you, we will try you for
your life! I will report you to our government, as you are
an Englishman, and you may thank Capt. Rough for your
life. Leave the lines as quickly as possible.” As the British
were determined to take him, Capt. Elliott gave him his
discharge.
Mr. Dickson originally went to Erie in 1808, and was
married the next year to Miss Susan Gillespie, a native of
Nova Scotia. In 1812 he opened a hotel in the Cowgill
house, a large double log house on French Street opposite the
old “red store,” where he remained five years.
When Gen. Mead's brigade was in Erie the men were
quartered in private and public houses. Mr. Dickson’s hotel
was full. They were mostly raw recruits, and when they ar-
rived many of them had nothing but corn bread in their
knapsacks. Mrs. Dickson supplied them with cooking uten-
sils, and there would be a rush by the cook of each mess for
the pots, pans and kettles. The frying pans had long handles
which were used as weapons, as a fight would generally en-
sue ; and often as the victors were cooking their meat a
shovelful of ashes was slyly thrown in. Mrs. Dickson would
have to “settle the hash” by telling them that if they did not
behave better she would not lend them anything. This
would produce quiet for a short time.
Mr. Dickson died in Houston, Texas, in November, 1839.
Mrs. Dickson died in March, 1865.1
1. It is noted in the Dobbins papers (p. 379), that after the war Dickson
became owner of the Caledonia, which he renamed the General Wayne; she
was sailed by Capt. James Rough. (See Buf. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. I, pp. 56-
57, 106-108; Vol. V, pp. 293-4.)
On Aug. 27, 1859, at Erie, Benjamin Fleming made a sworn statement, in
which the following appears:
“I was in the expedition under the command of Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, that
captured the British brigs Caledonia and Detroit on the 8th or 9th of October,
1812, from under cover of the batteries of Fort Erie. When the draft of menEXPLOITS OF JOHN DICKSON.
417
to which I belonged were on their way from New York to Buffalo—and which
said draft of men assisted in capturing said vessels—were within about two
miles of Buffalo, a short thick-set man met us and had some conversation with
Lieut. Sisson and Mr. Watts. It was rumored among the men that he was an
express from Black Rock.
“I afterwards saw the same man have partial charge of the boats we used
in the expedition. He acted as pilot of the boat I was in, and which was under
the command of Capt. Elliott in person. After we had grounded the Detroit
on the foot of Squaw Island, and the British firing rapidly upon us, Capt.
Elliott called up this same person, whom he called Dickson, saying, ‘Mr. Dick-
son, haul the boat alongside, get the prisoners in her and land them, and then
we will all go on shore, as there is no use of our trying to get the vessel afloat
or defend her at present.* Dickson obeyed the order and landed the prisoners.
I afterwards saw him at the navy-yard at Black Rock several times. When I
was afterwards discharged I met him at Erie, Pa., where we had several con-
versations in relation to the capture of those vessels. The correctness of his
account of the expedition, together with my recollection of his personal appear-
ance, enabled me fully to recognize him as the same man, although I had no
personal acquaintance with him until I met him at Erie. . . .**
The name of Benjamin Fleming should be preserved in local annals, for he
served his country well on the Niagara, as elsewhere. He was born in Sussex
Co., Delaware, July 20, 1782; was brought up a sailor in the coasting trade,
and was attached to a pilot-boat on the Delaware bay and off the capes for
many years. In 1808 he became a seaman on board the frigate Essex, serv-
ing on her for a number of years. In 1812, when war was declared he was
still attached to the Essex, and with others of his shipmates, volunteered for
service on the lakes. They came to Buffalo early in October and on the night
of the 8th participated in the capture of the British brigs Caledonia and De-
troit. He went with a draft of men to Erie, assisted in fitting out Perry’s
fleet, was attached to the Niagara as maintop-man, and shared in the battle of
the 10th of September; also in the movement of General Harrison and Com-
modore Perry against Proctor which culminated in the battle of the Thames.
After the war he settled in Erie and reared a numerous family, sailing the
lakes himself for many years.