Dudley, William S.

OUR SYNOPSIS: William S. Dudley tells the story of the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, tracing its inner workings from 1812 through 1815. He focuses on operational logistics, naval leadership, and political implications of the conflict. He argues that at the start of the war, “What the nation lacked was a mature system of military and naval logistics.” (2) The logistical infrastructure that did exist was rooted in naval shipyards, which stockpiled shipbuilding materials. When the war began, the British Royal Navy was far superior to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. declared war in June 1812 “with one-third of the nation’s small navy in disrepair or beyond hope of repair.” (14) It was thus remarkable that the U.S. achieved substantial naval successes early in the war, boosting morale and contributing to President James Madison’s November 1812 re-election. However, British naval responses on the Great Lakes made clear the need for greater U.S. naval presence in this region. As he works through the conflict, Dudley pieces together narratives of individual ships and the people who ran their operations to build understanding of naval war experiences. When William Jones began his highly successful nearly two-year term as secretary of the American navy in January 1813, he brought order, stability, and reform to a disorganized naval system. Two simultaneous operational theaters made this difficult. Dudley connects this to his central emphasis on naval logistics, which gained further importance in a two-front war and became Jones’s primary concern. Logistics also became a primary target. In 1814, both the British and American navies focused their attacks on enemy logistics “to pre-empt or derail plans in execution by destroying the material strengths of their opponent.” (75) The U.S. Navy also officially permitted privateering and these privately funded forces became a vital part of the naval conflict. The British blockade starting in late 1812 was also key to this conflict, blocking crucial logistical supply lines through 1814.