Battle of Fayal

The Battle of Fayal was an engagement fought in September 1814 during the war between the United States and the United Kingdom at the Portuguese colony of Fayal in the Azores. A British warship and several boats filled with sailors and marines attacked an American privateer in port. After repulsing two British attacks, the Americans won a tactical victory but they scuttled their ship the following morning to prevent her from being captured.

Background
The Royal Navy ships HMS Plantagenent of seventy-four guns was commanded by Captain Robert Loyd and was sailing to the West Indies with two other ships for the Louisiana Campaign. The other ships were the thirty-eight gun frigate HMS Rota and the eighteen gun brig-sloop HMS Carnation. At night on September 26, all three were in company and cruising in Fayal Roads when the spotted the Baltimore Clipper General Armstrong, a brig of seven guns and with a complement of about ninety men. She was commanded by Captain Samuel Chester Reid who was not prepared to surrender his ship. First Captain Loyd ordered that a pinnace under Lieutenant Robert Faussett be sent from the Plantagenet to ascertain the nationality of the stranger in port. But when the British came within gun range of the American vessel and requested that its crew identify themselves, Captain Reid declared that he we would fire if the British came any closer.

Battle
Rough tide water ended up starting the engagement, according to British reports Lieutenant Faussett couldn't stop his boat where he wanted to and it ended up drifting too close to the General Armstrong. The Americans then opened fire with their long 9-pounders and scored hits on the pinnace. Two men were killed and seven others wounded before it was able to retire out of range. Carnation then immediately moved in and anchored in front of the American schooner to begin negotiations for a solution to the problem at hand. When discussing for a peaceful solution failed and now that the General Armstrong had fired the first shot in a neutral port, Carnation cut her cable and lowered four boats filled with heavily armed men and headed towards Captain Reid as he maneuvered his ship closer to shore. The first attack came at about 8:00 pm and when the American observed the incoming boats they maneuvered again to receive them. In the following skirmish, Carnation was kept out of range by enemy fire and the boats were repulsed with a loss estimated by Reid to be twenty dead and twenty wounded, one American was killed and another wounded.

At about 9:00 pm, twelve boats armed with carronades and filled with 180 marines and sailors from the Plantagenet and the Rota were towed into battle by the Carnation which stopped out of gun range. There the boats divided into three divisions for another attack. Lieutenant William Matterface commanded the boats and Carnation was directed to provide covering fire. Loyd anchored the Rota and the Plantagenet a few miles away from the Americans and they did not participate in the engagement. Just after 9:00 pm the British headed forward, the boats advanced but accurate American fire and the current kept the Carnation from closing the range and she was damaged fairly. It took Lieutenant Matterface until about 12:00 am for his boats to reach the General Armstrong, largely due to the current but partly because of where Loyd had stopped his ships. While the Americans were waiting they offloaded three of their cannon and erected a battery so when the British arrived, a boarding was attempted but the American gunners sank two of the British vessels before they could get close, captured two more and killed many with swords and musketry at point blank range. Lieutenant Matterface along with several other officers were killed and no one of sufficient rank survived to lead the remaining Britons. Altogether thirty-six Royal Navy sailors and marines were killed in action, another ninety-three were wounded. The main action lasted over a half hour and only two Americans were killed and seven wounded in total, including Reid who was hit with a musket ball. Reid's men fired nails, knife blades, brass buttons and other makeshift projectiles from their cannon which reportedly caused severe pain to the surviving British. After being repulsed the British slowly rowed back to their ships and it was 2:00 am on September 27 when they found them. Captain Loyd's response to the defeat was sending the Carnation back to destroy the General Armstrong after daylight but when she arrived, American fire damaged her some more so she broke off the attack. A little later the Carnation appeared again but Captain Reid had already chose to scuttle his brig by firing one of his swivel guns straight through the hull, the vessel was boarded while she sank and the British set her sails on fire. Reid and his crew made it to shore and escaped, the British wanted to land a detachment to search for the Americans but the Portuguese governor prevented them from doing this. Captain Reid and the crew of General Armstrong were credited with helping delay the British attack on New Orleans and when they returned to America they were greeted as heroes. However, later analysis showed that this was not the case.

It should be clearly noted that the above historical version, and similar accounts, on the Battle of Fayal are disputed by scholars. An English eye witness along with numerous official reports from the American embassy and Portuguese records claim that the British squadron had full intentions of seizing the General Armstrong illegally and surreptitiously. In addition it would make no sense for the British to send fully armed launches simply to ascertain the identity of the Armstrong. This could have been easily done by contacting their own consulate, the American consulate, or simply sending a peace delegation to the ship when it was in dock.