“Old Ironsides” Earns Her Moniker,
August 19, 1812

“Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” —Deuteronomy 20:3-4

n August 19, 1812, an American legend was forged into being when the United States frigate, USS Constitution, met and defeated the British warship Guerriere in the waters of the North Atlantic. The battle occurred two months into the second war that the United States would be forced to wage against Great Britain—now known as the War of 1812. No longer granted the naval aid France had lent the colonies during their Revolution, setbacks and defeats were abounding in the beginning days as the United States stood alone against the full might of Britannia, the reigning monarch of the seas.

An artist’s depiction of the launch of the USS Constitution from Hart’s Shipyard, Boston, MA, October 21, 1797

Despite this disadvantage, America’s first victories in the War of 1812 would in fact happen at sea, whereas her inland campaigns against Canada and her loss of Detroit caused the public morale to plummet almost as soon as the conflict began. One of these maritime victories went down in history as an emblem of the American spirit.

On June 18, 1812, Congress’ declaration of war against Great Britain was read out on deck to the crew of the USS Constitution as it lay at anchor undergoing repairs in Washington Navy Yard. Thereafter, under the command of Connecticut native Captain Isaac Hull, the ship set sail to rejoin the tiny American squadron in the North Atlantic.

After two weeks of daily gun drills in preparation for combat in the blustery seas off Nova Scotia, the Constitution sighted five ships on the horizon that the crew believed to be an American squadron, but ultimately was identified as a powerful British squadron that included the frigates Guerriere and Shannon.

When Constitution blundered within range, the British squadron opened fire. Realizing his crew’s mistake, Constitution’s Captain Hull cleverly pulled out every trick in the book, wetting sails and towing his ship slowly ahead of its pursuers by means of kedging. The ordeal of slipping from the trap of the British squadron took all hands on deck for two grueling days of arduous labor before they successfully escaped.

The USS Constitution escapes the British squadron

Having regrouped and gathered themselves into readiness to now pursue, on August 19, Constitution again sighted the powerful Guerriere while cruising off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As the ships drew near, Guerriere opened fire on Constitution; however, the round reportedly fell harmless into the ocean after glancing off the ship’s side. Constitution’s wooden frame was rather poetically made from timber sourced all along the American east coast, with her hull being an accumulative twenty-two inches thick and comprised of three layers of oak: white oak on the outside and inside, and live oak wedged in the middle. The oak was resistant to rot and thrived in salt air, and as an additional benefit in maritime warfare, was strong enough to repel in some small degree the onslaught of cannonballs.

The interior of USS Constitution and her cannon

When Guerriere poured her last hope volley along Constitution’s side at point-blank range, the maddeningly minimal damage inflicted on the American frigate earned her the fond nickname of “Old Ironsides”.

At such close range, with their canons shelling each other’s decks and Marines of both sides in the rigging picking off hapless sailors, all of Guerriere’s masts shattered and fell, causing her to collide with Constitution, snarling with the opposing ship’s rigging. Never ones to find intimate proximity to the enemy anything other than a challenge, the Americans proceeded to board the British frigate right as the British sailors tore down their Union Jack in surrender.

The USS Constitution rams into the HMS Guerriere

After the battle, Captain Hull counted only seven men killed and eight wounded aboard the Constitution, while the British casualties numbered in the dozens. Upon coming home—Guerriere’s charred wreck having been scuttled and Constitution’s belly full of British prisoners—Congress voted Captain Hull a gold medal, as well as $50,000 to share with the crew.

Interior view of the commodore’s forward cabin aboard the USS Constitution

Great Britain, confidant nemesis of Napoleon and uncontested mistress of the seas, was stunned. This victory elevated and cemented the upstart American States to a position of international respect, one that would remain resilient even amidst her upcoming defeats later in the war.

After Constitution’s defeat of Britain at sea, the Times of London wrote:

“It is not merely that an English frigate has been taken after, what we are free to confess, may be called a brave resistance, but that it has been taken by a new enemy, an enemy unaccustomed to such triumphs, and likely to be rendered insolent and confident by them... Never before in the history of the world did an English frigate strike [her colors] to an American.”

Panoramic interior view of the USS Constitution

The Constitution would continue to have a long and renowned career during the War of 1812. In fact, Constitution ran the blockade at Boston seven different times and made five cruises ranging from Halifax, Nova Scotia, south to Guiana, and east to Portugal where it captured, burned, or took as a prize nine merchantmen and five enemy warships. While out at sea on one of these daring excursions, the American crew received word that peace terms had been agreed upon, and the war had ended.

Commemorative ship’s bell aboard the USS Constitution

Over the next century, the USS Constitution continued off and on as an active and commissioned ship of the US Navy, serving to patrol the coast of Africa for slavers and representing American might in the terrorized waters of the Mediterranean until at last she was deemed obsolete and relegated to be used as a training ship in Annapolis.

Constitution undergoing repairs at the Navy yard, Portsmouth, NH, 1858

When she was deemed unseaworthy for a final time after many overhauls, and condemned to be scrapped or used as target practice for other ships, public sentiment stepped in and aided in an entire restoration of the old legend in the year 1905. These efforts were greatly funded by Armenian immigrant, Moses Gulesian, who had come to America penniless at the age of seventeen. He had risen to such success in his business that he was in a position to telegraph the Secretary of the U.S. Navy, on December 12, 1905, after having read in the newspaper of Constitution’s intended fate: “Will give ten thousand dollars for the Constitution (Old Ironsides). Will you sell?”. The Secretary of the Navy informed him he did not have the right to sell the ship, only Congress did.

Moses Gulesian, center front, copper-works owner, with his staff and their cast of the lion and unicorn for the Old State House, Boston, Massachusetts, 1901

In the end, Gulesian did not buy the USS Constitution; instead, the press got word of Gulesian’s offer, igniting a firestorm of headlines and public outrage over the Navy’s disastrous plan for the iconic frigate. Boston artist Eric Pape organized a petition and within three weeks over 30,000 names of Massachusetts residents were submitted, demanding Congress preserve the ship.

On January 18, 1906, only six weeks after Gulesian’s offer, Congress voted to have the Committee on Naval Affairs determine how much funding was needed to repair the ship. By June, Congress had appropriated $100,000.

Constitution sailing unassisted for the first time in 116 years, July 21, 1997
in celebration of her 200th birthday

In 1916 a group of private supporters organized the “Old Ironsides Association” for the benefit of the ship, and Moses Gulesian was unanimously elected as its first president. Among the board of directors were notables Henry Cabot Lodge and Calvin Coolidge.

The fully-restored Constitution in full sail

After more than a century of diligent maintenance and ongoing restoration, Constitution has now been returned to her home port of Boston, where nearly half a million people visit the ship every year, including those who attend Landmark Events’ tours of Boston and Plymouth. There she remains a proud and noble relic of our country’s sacrifices and of the God of battles who granted America victory a second time over a foreign tyranny.

This Thanksgiving season, journey through the heart of America’s history on our tour of Boston and Plymouth. Experience the pivotal moments that shaped the United States through an adventure filled with iconic landmarks, immersive experiences, and the spirit of freedom that defines America. Learn More >

The USS Constitution Museum in Boston, MA

Below is the famous poem, Old Ironsides, by American poet Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr., written during one of the first public crusades to have the ship preserved or maintained. In it he pleaded that it were better she go out in a blaze of glory than for her government to dishonorably dismantle so symbolic a vessel:

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;—
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

O, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every thread-bare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,—
The lightning and the gale!

The USS Constitution under a blanket of snow

Image Credits: 1 1797 Launch (wikipedia.org) 2 Captain Isaac Hull (wikipedia.org) 3 Escaping the British squadron (wikipedia.org) 4 Gulf of St. Lawrence (wikipedia.org) 5 Cannon (wikipedia.org) 6 USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerriere (wikipedia.org) 7 Cabin (wikipedia.org) 8 Panoramic (wikipedia.org) 9 Bell (wikipedia.org) 10 1858 Repairs (wikipedia.org) 11 Moses Gulesian (wikipedia.org) 12 Gulesian Copper and Ironworks (wikipedia.org) 13 200th Birthday (wikipedia.org) 14 Full sail (wikipedia.org) 15 Museum (wikipedia.org) 16 Snowscape (wikipedia.org)