Book Review : Michael Palmer ’ s Stoddert ’ s War
“ rattling good history ” that Thomas Hardy spoke about ( xvii ), there is plenty of action to be found in Stoddert ’ s War . Captain Thomas Truxtun ’ s capture of the French frigate l ’ Insurgente while commanding USS Constellation in 1799 is heavily featured as the Quasi-War exploit most celebrated by contemporary Americans . Coast Guard historians will be thrilled to read of USS Pickering ’ s ( a vessel borrowed from the US Revenue Cutter Service ) defeat of l ’ Egypte Conquise , a privateer with three times Pickering ’ s firepower and four times her manpower . Such figures from John Paul Jones to David Farragut to William Halsey and beyond could take great pride in the young navy described by Palmer ’ s work .
I found it interesting to discover that Michael Palmer apparently was not quite through with the Quasi-War when Stoddert ’ s War was published . In the author ’ s own words , “ I still suspect that the US Navy was more active in and around St . Domingue during the Quasi-War than we will ever know ” ( xiv ), although he was unable to document anything beyond shipping armaments and supplies to support Toussaint l ’ Ouverture ’ s rebellion in what later became Haiti . Such open support of rebels in the French colonies would certainly have escalated the conflict if it had been discovered , and the topic definitely merits further study . Palmer also lamented the lack of a history of the common seaman in the early US Navy , similar in scope to the light that Stephen Taylor ’ s recently published Sons of the Waves has shined on the British Royal Navy during the Age of Sail . As thorough as Stoddert ’ s War certainly was , it makes evident the need for more research into the Quasi-War .
While it has certainly come a long way since the 1790s , the US Navy is in a period of transition today . Current leaders have repeatedly called for expansion of the navy from today ’ s 280- plus vessels to 355 , even as many as five hundred when the latest concepts of unmanned platforms are considered . Even as naval planners are taking hard looks at Russia and China as potential future adversaries , multiple new technologies are being developed and deployed throughout the fleet ... arguably prematurely in some cases . As the US Navy continues to grow and sail into an uncertain future , the lessons of the Quasi-War remain quite relevant . The forward-thinking and flexible Benjamin Stoddert , the initiative of the navy ’ s first squadron commanders , and the tenacity and courage of eighteenth-century sailors provide many examples worthy of emulation .
Given the recent announcement from Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite that the US Navy ’ s next generation of frigates will be named Constellation-class , partially in honor of Truxtun ’ s celebrated ship , it is obvious that the Quasi-War ’ s examples are still being examined . For that reason , Stoddert ’ s War is well deserving of another reprint , and historians would be wise to answer Michael Palmer ’ s call to dig deeper into US naval history of the 1790s .
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