United States Revenue Cutter Service
Urged on by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the United States Congress on 4 August 1790 established the Revenue-Marine, later renamed the Revenue Cutter Service by act of 31 July 1894 (28 Stat.Among those commissioned were Hopley Yeaton and John Foster Williams of Massachusetts, Jonathan Maltbie of Connecticut, Patrick Dennis of New York, James Montgomery of Pennsylvania, Simon Gross of Maryland, and Richard Taylor of Virginia.[9][10] Standing orders for individual cutters were stated in general terms, allowing captains to exercise their discretion and judgment to the fullest.Yet despite this considerable authority, Alexander Hamilton, in his first letter of instruction to the captains, had specifically directed that they "will always keep in mind that their countrymen are freemen, and, as such, are impatient of everything that bears the least mark of a domineering spirit.Revenue cutters were assigned to enforce the very unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which outlawed nearly all European trade, import and export, through American ports.[13] On 3 August 1812, the boats of the British frigates Maidstone and Spartan captured the 6-gun revenue cutter Commodore Barry in the Little River, Bay of Fundy, together with three privateer schooners, Madison, Olive, and Spence (or Spruce)."[15] On the night of 12 June 1813, the small cutter Surveyor, with a crew of 16 and an armament of only six 12-pounder (5.4 kg) carronades, was anchored in the York River (Virginia), when a 90-man boarding party from the frigate HMS Narcissus attacked her.[17] On 11 October 1814, the cutter Eagle encountered Narcissus, and the Cruizer-class brig-sloop Dispatch, which was guarding the Suzan, a captured American merchant ship.Not yet defeated, the Revenue Marine seamen removed the guns from Eagle, hoisted them up a 160-foot bluff, dragged them into position, and continued firing at Dispatch.In 1832, Secretary of the Treasury Louis McLane issued written orders for revenue cutters to conduct winter cruises to assist mariners in need, and Congress made the practice an official part of regulations in 1837.[19] Captain John Faunce, skipper of Harriet Lane, gave permission for Nashville to proceed to Charleston harbor and she was promptly seized by the Confederate Navy.After carrying President Lincoln from Washington on 9 May 1862, USRC Miami assisted navy transports in landing federal troops at Ocean View, Virginia.In June 1863, in an incident known as the "Battle of Portland Harbor", the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing was captured by Confederate raiders, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Read, CSN, from the CSS Tacony.The increase in coastal trade along the Atlantic seaboard after the civil war and the purchase of Alaska in 1867 had a significant impact on the development of the Revenue Cutter Service.[22] Demands by the public to do something about losses in lives and property at sea prompted Secretary of the Treasury George S. Boutwell, under President Ulysses S. Grant, to reorganize the service.Additionally, Devereaux requested $125,000 to cover the unexpected costs of operating cutters Lincoln, Wayanda and Reliance in Alaskan waters during 1869.[25] Although the Department of the Treasury remained in charge of the service throughout the 19th century, its conventional organization was resumed after the war, with cutters reporting to local customs officials.[citation needed] During the harsh winter of 1897–1898, Lieutenant David H. Jarvis of USRC Bear led a relief party to 265 whalers whose ships had been stranded in the ice off the northern coast of Alaska.
Maritime lawDepartment of the TreasurySecretary of the TreasuryAlexander HamiltoncustomsU.S. Department of the TreasuryUnited States Life-Saving ServiceUnited States Coast GuardAmerican Revolutionary WartariffssmugglingUnited States Congresscutter"System of Cutters"cuttersMassachusettsNew HampshireLong Island SoundNew YorkBay of DelawareChesapeakeNorth CarolinaGeorgiamastersHopley YeatonJohn Foster WilliamsConnecticutPennsylvaniaMarylandVirginiaSouth CarolinaScammelGeneral GreenCustoms HouseSlave Trade Act of 1794slave shipsimporting slavesQuasi-WarUnited States NavyUSRC PickeringEmbargo ActUSRC JeffersonWar of 1812frigatesSpartanCommodore BarryBay of FundyThomas HuskissoncarronadesYork River (Virginia)HMS Narcissusfirst lieutenantCruizer-classbrig-sloopLong IslandlogbookwaddingCaribbean SeaGulf of MexicopiracyGulf CoastWest Indies anti-piracy operations of the United StatesUSRC AlabamaUSRC LouisianafoughtBreton IslandLouisianaLa BalizeUSS PeacockHMS SpeedwellLouis McLaneMexican–American Waramphibious assaultsUSRC Harriet LaneAmerican Civil WarNashvilleCharlestonbombardment of Fort SumterConfederate NavyAbraham LincolnSalmon P. ChaseFort Clark and Fort HatterasUSRC E.A. StevensUSS MonitorUSS GalenaJames RiverDrewry's BluffUSRC MiamiOcean View, VirginiaBattle of Portland HarborCharles ReadCSS TaconyFort PrebleassassinatedAlaskaGeorge S. BoutwellUlysses S. GrantMarine Hospital ServiceUSRC MahoningLincolnWayandaRelianceDavid H. JarvisUSRC BearAleutian IslandsSpanish–American WarblockadeHavana HarborBattle of Manila BayHugh McCullochGeorge DeweyUSRC Hudsonmachine gunBattle of CárdenasCárdenastorpedo boatUSS WinslowgunboatFrank H. NewcombCongressional Gold MedalAdmiral of the NavyFleet AdmiralAdmiralVice admiralRear admiralCommodore