4 - Challenges to a Young Nation

(Part 1)

Early French Enterprises

Little detailed information is available on French vessels of the period that carried the name l'Entreprise. However, according to one authoritative source,13 through 1807 there were seven such vessels, excluding the 1705 6th rate already mentioned in Chapter 2. These ships included:

• A frigate which served in 1759.
  

• An "aviso" (a small, fast ship used to transport official messages or dispatches) which served from 1792 to 1794.
  

• A "chasse-maree" (a vessel with 4-sided sails mounted on yardarms hung from the masts at an oblique angle) which was stationed at Saint Jean-de-Luz and was scuttled by her crew on August 3, 1796 to prevent her capture by the British.
  

  The 1796 French vessel l'Entreprise was a "chasse-maree" stationed at Saint Jean-de-Luz.

• A corsair ship which sailed the Mediterranean during 1797.
  

• A "felucca" (a narrow ship which generally had 3 masts with triangular sails and provision for the use of oars) which sailed in 1798.
  

  In 1798 the French Nacy had a "felucca" in service under the name l'Entreprise.

• A corsair captured from the British in 1798 and recaptured by the HMS George in December of the same year.
  

• A transport sloop stationed at Brest from 1800 to 1807.
  

It is likely that at least some of these French Enterprises took part in the pirate and commerce-raiding activities which led to armed confrontations between France and the United States.

The Quasi-War with France

After the United States Congress disbanded the Continental Navy in 1784, American merchant ships were unprotected. France was in the middle of its own revolution, and the French revolutionaries soon began seizing American ships. This matter escalated to the level of an undeclared war, which later became known as the "Quasi-War." In response, Congress established the Department of the Navy in April 1798, and two months later the United States Marine Corps. The first ship named Enterprise to serve with the newly-formed United States Navy was a 12-gun schooner affectionately known as the "Lucky Little Enterprise."

This first USS Enterprise sailed on December 17, 1799, to the Caribbean under command of Lt. John Shaw. She was based at Basseterre, St. Kitts and saw much action against the French, capturing eight French privateer ships and recapturing 11 American merchantmen. A recounting of some of these prizes attests to the success of the Enterprise and her crew.

The Enterprise first recaptured the American brig Polly on January 10, 1800, near Martinique. On January 23, she recaptured the schooner Victory and on the very next day, recaptured the brig Androscoggin. The Enterprise captured a French privateer off St. Croix on May 5, the privateer Le Cygne on June 17, l'Eagle on July 9, La Flambeau on July 23, and the heavily-armed Guadeloupean on September 7. The ailing Lt. Shaw was replaced by Lt. Andrew Sterrett on October 27, 1800, and under Sterrett's command, the Enterprise captured the French privateers La Amour De La Patrie and Le Citoyen.

In February 1801, Congress ratified the treaty ending the Quasi-War between the United States and France. Peace did not last long, however. For some time, the regencies of the North African Barbary Coast had demanded payment of tribute for the safe passage of American ships through the Mediterranean. When President Thomas Jefferson refused to accept a substantial increase in the amount of tribute demanded by Bashaw Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, the Bashaw declared war on the United States. This pleased at least one American naval officer. Captain William Bainbridge is said to have commented that he did not want to sail again to the Mediterranean "with tribute except it be from the mouth of a cannon."14

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003