General Hunter (Brig, 1805)

Description

Identification

Construction and Ownership

Built at:: Amherstburg, Ontario
Vessel Type:: Brig
Hull Materials:: Wood
Bow Type:: Plain Head
Builder Name:: Augustus Jones (and others)
Ownership Notes:: British Government, (1805-1813); United States Government, (1813-1815); Dickson, John, (1815);
Master(s):: Bignell, George, (1813); Barnham, John, (1815);

Power

Tonnage

Enrollments/Registration

Next document: Presque Isle 7-8-1815
July 8, 1815: Port: Presque Isle Number: 6 of 1815
Document Type: Registration
Reason: Captured as a prize vessel

History

Classification:: a. Brig, General Hunter (1805-1813)*;
b. Brig, Hunter (1813-1816)
Nationality:: British (1805-1813); American (1813-1816)
Chronology:: 1. 9/10/1813, Lake Erie, captured by Commodore Perry;
2. 8/00/1816, Southampton, Ontario, Lake Huron, caught in a gale and wrecked on the beach;**

Notes

General notes:: *She was built under the name "General Hunter" but, was often referred to as just "Hunter" in the newspapers.
Being part of the British force on Lake Erie in 1812, she had a crew of 45 and carried 14 guns; In 1813, she carried 10 guns: (4) short six pounders, (2) four pounders, (2) two pounders, (2) twelve pounders;
Schooner Days, #213, notes her as having been dismantled and her guns moved from Erie, Pennsylvania to equip the Schooner, Firefly;
Macpherson list her captured by the Americans in 1813 armed with six guns and renamed "Hunter"; Finally sold postwar;
**As of the year 2012, her remains could still be seen buried on the beach of Southampton, Ontario, on the shore of Lake Huron;
Sources:: 1. Master Abstracts: Presque Isle (Erie), Pennsylvania:
2. Certificates of Registry: Presque Isle (Erie), Pennsylvania:
3. John Poole's notes:
4. Kingston Gazette: 8/29/1812;
5. George A. Cuthbertson, Freshwater;
6. Buffalo Gazette: 7/21/1812, 8/4/1812, 9/1/1812, 9/29/1812, 11/24/1812, 8/17/1813, 9/28/1813, 10/5/1813, 10/26/1813,
6/7/1814, 8/15/1815;
7. Schooner Days: #213;
8. Gerard T. Altoff, A Signal Victory, The Lake Erie Campaign 1812-1813, p. 100;
9. K. R. Macpherson, List of Vessels Employed on British Naval Service on the Great Lakes, 1755-1875, Ontario
Historical Society, September, 1963, Vol. LV, p. 174;
10. J. H. Beers, History of the Great Lakes, Vol. I, p. 134, 172;

Contact

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