1838 – President Martin Van Buren issues a neutrality proclamation forbidding US citizens from taking part in the Canadian insurrection. The privately owned US steamship Caroline, leased by Canadian revolutionaries, has been destroyed by Canadian militiamen on 29 December. President Van Buren orders General Winfield Scott to post militamen along the Canadian frontier.
1846 – Boldly reversing its long-standing policy of “free and open” occupation in the disputed Oregon Territory, the U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution calling for an end to British-American sharing of the region. The United States, one congressman asserted, had “the right of our manifest destiny to spread over our whole continent.” In different circumstances, such aggressive posturing might have led to war. The British, through their Hudson Bay Company at the mouth of the Columbia River, had a reasonable claim to the disputed territory of modern-day Washington. In contrast, the only part of the Oregon Territory the U.S. could legitimately claim by settlement was the area below the Columbia River. Above the river, there were only eight recently arrived Americans in 1845. Nonetheless, the aggressively expansionistic President James Polk coveted Oregon Territory up to the 49th parallel (the modern-day border with Canada). Yet Polk was also on the verge of war with Mexico in his drive to take that nation’s northern provinces, and he had no desire to fight the British and Mexicans at the same time. Consequently, Polk had to move cautiously. Some of his fellow Democrats in the Congress pushed him to be even more aggressive, demanding that Americans control the territory all the way up to the 54th parallel, approximately where Edmonton, Alberta, is today. For five months, debate raged in Congress over the “Oregon controversy,” but the House resolution in January made it clear that the U.S. was determined to end the joint occupation with Great Britain. Luckily, the British agreed to abandon their claim to the area north of the Columbia and accept the 49th parallel as a border. The Hudson Bay Company already had decided to relocate its principal trading post from the Columbia River area to Vancouver Island, leaving the British with little interest in maintaining their claim to area. Despite the cries of betrayal from the advocates of the 54th parallel, Polk wisely accepted the British offer to place the border on the 49th parallel. The new boundary not only gave the U.S. more territory than it had any legitimate claim to, but it also left Polk free to pursue his next objective: a war with Mexico for control of the Southwest.
1855 – USS Plymouth crew skirmish with Chinese troops.
1861 – The “Star of the West,” a Union merchant vessel, leaves New York with supplies and 250 troops to relieve the beleaguered Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina. This incident came during the sensitive days following the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860. The primary cause for secession was the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency the month before, but it was President James Buchanan, a Democrat, who had to deal with the first crisis after South Carolina’s departure. Inside of Fort Sumter were Major Robert Anderson and 80 Federal soldiers who were surrounded by hostile South Carolinians, who were demanding evacuation by the Yankees. Anderson informed officials in Washington that he needed supplies within a few weeks. Buchanan was reluctant to make any provocative moves but felt that some attempt to save Sumter should be made. The “Star of the West” was chosen because a civilian vessel was less likely to agitate South Carolinians. It left New York on January 5, but it did not complete its mission. Arriving on January 9, the “Star of the West” encountered an alert South Carolina militia. Word of the mission had leaked to everyone, it seemed, except Anderson. He had received no notification of the mission and was surprised when cannon from the shore opened fire on the approaching ship. One shot hit the “Star of the West,” and the ship turned around before taking any more damage. Anderson withheld his fire on the hostile shore batteries, and the standoff in Charleston Harbor continued until April. Then, the South Carolinians opened the massive bombardment that started the Civil War.
1861 – Alabama state troops take possession of Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance to Mobile Bay.
1861 – Secretary of the Navy Toucey ordered Fort Washington-on the Maryland side of the Potomac– garrisoned “to protect public property.” Forty Marines from Washington Navy Yard under Captain Algernon S. Taylor, USMC, were sent to the Fort-a vital link in the defense of the Nation’s Capital by land or water.
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