Elisha Small (died December 1, 1842) was an American

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who was sailing with the rank of Seaman. He had served on several kinds of ships, including a slaver, before joining the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. In November 1842, while serving aboard the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

USS ''Somers'', during the return home from a voyage to

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, suspicion arose that Philip Spencer had formed a plan to seize the ''Somers'' and sail her as a pirate ship or slaver. His friendship with crew members

Samuel Cromwell Samuel Cromwell (died December 1, 1842) was a sailor and petty officer (boatswain's mate) aboard the brig USS ''Somers''. Cromwell was feared by the young apprentices who made up the majority of the ship's crew, and was rumored to have served on ...

and Elisha Small was cited as evidence. On November 27, 1842, Small and Cromwell were formally accused of being part of Spencer's supposed plot to

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

. After a council of officers decided that the threat of mutiny was real, all three men were hanged without

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

on December 1 and were

buried at sea Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries. Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many different location ...

."''Somers'' Deck Log 26 Nov 01 Dec 1842."
www.history.navy.mil. April 27, 2001. Accessed February 1, 2007) A court of inquiry was convened when the brig returned to New York. After a month of testimony, the commander was exonerated, but he requested that he be charged and tried by a court martial. The court martial acquitted him on a split vote. The government accepted the court's decision, but the acquittal did not satisfy public concerns with the case. Many commentators, including

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

, denounced the hangings as murder and criticized the Navy's handling of the matter as an example of what today could be called a "whitewash."

References

1842 crimes in North America 1842 deaths 19th-century executions by the United States 19th-century executions of American people Burials at sea Extrajudicial killings People executed by the United States military by hanging People executed for mutiny People who died at sea United States Navy sailors Year of birth missing 1842 crimes in the United States {{US-navy-bio-stub

See also

References