USRC ''Eagle'' was one of the first ten cutters operated by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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(later to become the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

). The ''Eagle'' has been often misidentified as the cutter ''Pickering'', which was in fact not launched until 1798 (and so was not among the first ten cutters). ''Eagle'' was built in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

for service in that state's waters. Savannah remained her homeport throughout her career as a revenue cutter.

Description

The only surviving documentation regarding the cutter ''Eagle'' construction, dimensions, or her

rig Rig may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn carriage ...

is a description written when she was sold in 1799:

... that the said ship or vessel has one deck and two masts, and that her length is fifty five feet ten inches, her breadth seventeen feet six inches, her depth six feet eight inches and that she measures fifty five 66/95 tons; that she is square sterned long quarter has Quarter Deck Badges and no Galleries and an Eagle head.

Operational service

Some documentation does survive that provides a glimpse at her duties. Cutters typically were assigned to duty by the local collector of

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

and as such they carried out a myriad of tasks and ''Eagle'' was no exception. She was assigned to enforce the quarantine restrictions imposed during the outbreak of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1793. For that task she lay off

Cockspur Island Cockspur Island is an island in the south channel of the Savannah River near Lazaretto Creek, northwest of Tybee Island, Georgia, United States. Most of the island is within the boundaries of Fort Pulaski National Monument. The island was so n ...

and prevented any vessel carrying infected persons from entering Savannah Harbor. There are glimpses in the records of some of her adventures as a revenue cutter. She had a small hand in the establishment of 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 ...

when, in 1794, ''Eagle'' delivered woodcutting supplies to contractors on St. Simons Island. The contractors were to supply wood for the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s recently authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, an authorization that marks the birth of the nation's second oldest sea-going service.

Lynx incident

In 1795, the cutter was on an "unofficial" mission; Senator

Pierce Butler Pierce or Piers Butler may refer to: *Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond (c. 1467 – 26 August 1539), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland *Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye (1652–1740), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland *Pi ...

, from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, needed to transport a cargo of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

to his

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

on St. Simons Island and somehow convinced either Hendrick Fisher, the acting commanding officer of ''Eagle'' as Master John Howell was not available – or the local customs collector – that ''Eagle'' should carry out this task. (According to some documentation discovered by Florence Kern, ''Eagle'' commanding officer "did not feel obliged to be at the helm of ''Eagle'' at all times," and therefore left her in the care of her first mate, Hendrick Fisher, on many occasions.) Trouble appeared off

Jekyll Island Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, s ...

, when the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

ship sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

, under the command of Captain John Poo Beresford, fired a shot across the cutter's bow. Fisher attempted to

heave-to In sailing, heaving to (to heave to and to be hove to) is a way of slowing a sailing vessel's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the vessel does not have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this ...

, but the Senator ordered him to sail on. ''Lynx'' then began to fire continuously as ''Eagle'' sailed towards the

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

waters on the north point of Jekyll Island. As ''Lynx'' drew too much water to continue the chase, Beresford sent his

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth ...

and cutter, under Lieutenant Alex Skene, in pursuit. They quickly overtook the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

and came on board, demanding to know why ''Eagle'' had not come about when fired upon by a vessel of His Majesty's navy. After learning the schooner was in fact a revenue vessel of the U.S. government, the Royal Navy lieutenant returned with his men to their boats and hence to their sloop. In the ensuing international furor that this clash engendered, Beresford stated that ''Lynx'' was outside the 12 mile limit and noted that the schooner was not flying any flag. The

national ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be differ ...

was in fact not displayed on board ''Eagle'' for unexplained reasons but was instead stored in the captain's cabin. ''Eagle'' did apparently display some sort of small pennant, but it was not visible to ''Lynx''.

Fate

She was sold on 14 September 1799 for $595 ()

Crew

John Howell, Master; 1793–1799. Hendrick Fisher, First Mate, 1793–1798 (?)
John Wood, Second Mate, 1793–1794.
James Christian, Second Mate, 1794–1795.
Benjamin Forsyth, Second Mate, 1795–1798; promoted to First Mate in 1798 (?)
William Duncan (died while a seaman on Eagle in 1797).

References

''Eagle'', 1793
US Coast Guard website. *Canney, Donald, 1995: ''U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790–1935''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. *Stephen H. Evans, 1949: ''The United States Coast Guard, 1790–1915: A Definitive History'' (With a Postscript: 1915–1950). Annapolis: The United States Naval Institute. *Kern, Florence, 1978: ''John Howell's U.S. Revenue Cutter Eagle, Georgia, 1793–1799'', Washington, DC: Alised Enterprises. *U.S. Coast Guard, 1934: ''Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 – December 31, 1933'', Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office (reprinted 1989). {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle First ten Revenue Service cutters 1793 ships United Kingdom–United States military relations Political scandals in South Carolina Maritime incidents in 1795