Silas Talbot

Silas Talbot (11 January 1751 - 30 June 1813) was an officer in the Continental Army and in the Continental Navy. Talbot is most famous for commanding the USS "Constitution" from 1798 to 1801.

Talbot was born in Dighton, Massachusetts. He was commissioned a captain in the Continental Army on 1 July 1775. After participating in the siege of Boston and aiding in the transportation of troops to New York, he obtained command of a fire ship and attempted to use it to set fire to the British warship "HMS Asia (1764)". The attempt failed, but the daring it displayed won him a promotion to major on 10 October 1777.

After suffering a severe wound while fighting to defend Philadelphia, Talbot returned to active service in the summer of 1778 and fought in Rhode Island. As commander of "Pigot", and later "Argo", both under the Army, he cruised against Loyalist vessels that were harassing American trade between Long Island and Nantucket and made prisoners of many of them. Because of his success fighting afloat for the Army, Congress made him a captain in the Continental Navy on 17 September 1779. However, since Congress had no suitable warship to entrust to him, Talbot put to sea in command of the privateer "General Washington". In it, he took one prize, but soon thereafter ran into the British fleet off New York. After a chase, he struck his colors to "Culloden", a 74-gun ship-of-the-line and remained a prisoner until exchanged for a British officer in December 1781. [Mystic Seaport]

After the war, Talbot settled in Johnstown, New York, the county seat of Fulton County, where he purchased the former manor house and estate of Sir William Johnson, founder of Johnstown. [Decker, p. 31] He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1792 and 1793 and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1793 to 1795. On 5 June 1794, President Washington chose him third in a list of six captains of the newly established United States Navy. Before the end of his term in Congress, he was ordered to superintend the construction of the frigate USS President at New York. In 1797, Talbot supervised the building of the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as commander of the vessel from 1799 until his retirement from the Navy in 1801, sailing it to the West Indies where he protected American commerce from French privateers during the Quasi-War. He commanded the Santo Domingo Station in 1799 and 1800 and was commended by the Secretary of the Navy for protecting American commerce and for laying the foundation of a permanent trade with that country. It is said that Talbot was wounded 13 times and carried 5 bullets in his body. [Mystic Seaport]

Captain Talbot resigned from the Navy on 23 September 1801 and died at New York City on 30 June 1813.

References and external links

* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000019 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website]
* [http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/manuscripts/coll/coll018/coll018.cfm#head63744416 Mystic Seaport: biography of Silas Talbot]
* [http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/collection/pres_1790jan31.html Letter from Silas Talbot to George Washington]
* Decker, Lewis G. "Images of America: Johnstown". Arcadia Publishing (an imprint of Tempus Publishing, Inc.); Charlestown, SC. 1999. ISBN 0-7385-0174-3.

Additional sources

Fowler, William M. "Silas Talbot: Captain of Old Ironsides". Mystic, Conn.: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1995. ISBN 0-91337-273-0.

Footnotes

USS "Talbot"

The first USS "Talbot" (Torpedo Boat No. 15) was named for Lt. John Gunnell Talbot; the second and third Talbots ("Talbot" (DD-114) and "Talbot" (FFG-4), respectively) were named for Captain Silas Talbot.