Derek G M Gardner, RSMA

The Action between United States and Macedonian in the mid Atlantic, 12th October 1812
Conclusion of the action

Signed
Oil on canvas
30 x 50 inches

(see Gardner's painting of the  Commencement of this battle, also showing on the Gardner web page)

The following account of the action taken from Derek Gardner's own notes:

When war with America broke out in June 1812, Great Britain's armies and navy had been locked in combat with the might of Napoleon's France for almost 20 years and few ships were detached to deal with the numerically small navy of the United States. What the Admiralty in London failed to realise was the extraordinary strength, size and gun-power of the larger American ships and their high state of efficiency under a small but dedicated corps of officers.

The defeat of three British frigates by the Americans during the latter months  of 1812 caused alarm and much anxiety in England where victory at sea by the Royal Navy had come to be regarded as almost a certainty in the wars with France.

One of these sensational defeats took place when the 38-gun frigate Macedonian was overwhelmed by the powerful United States under Commodore Steven Decatur. The encounter took place in rough weather, Decatur's ship holding the lee position and maintaining  the longer range over which his heavier guns outclassed the Macedonian's.

The painting shows a later stage of the two hour encounter with the heavily damaged British ship now virtually unmanageable. Decatur has thrown his main topsail aback to stand across the bows of the Macedonian and rake her; soon afterwards she surrendered. The United States lost her mizen topmast early in the action but otherwise had little damage and but a few casualties.