USS Constitution’s Cloth from Sail and Wood from her Hull

USS Constitution’s Cloth from Sail and Wood from her Hull

At the outset of the War of 1812, USS CONSTITUTION had already won all of her engagements in two wars: the Quasi War with France (1798-1801) and the Barbary Wars (1801-1805). During the War of 1812, to the surprise of both the Americans and the British, she defeated four English warships, earning each of her three captains a congressional gold medal. Upon returning to Boston from each victory at sea, the ship and her sailors were honored with parades and public adoration, and her legend grew into the national icon that “Old Ironsides” remains to this day. During the War of 1812, what the USS Constitution  accomplish was to uplift American morale, spectacularly, and, in the process, ended the myth that the British Royal Navy was invincible.

Provenance: USS Constitution Museum; Gordon Barlow, Swoope, Virginia