#technically Stephen Decatur ranked second if you take out Johnston Blakeley

[preblesboys]

My ranking of Preble’s Boys based off personality, performance during career and overall abilities. Pt 1

Isaac Hull: I’ve been warning he’d be in the top slot for ages now! Can’t sing his praises enough of how well rounded (lol) of a guy he was. Modest but not timid, Isaac Hull had his share of failures early in his seafaring career as a merchant but persevered! Yeah his fame is solely based on his victory over the Guerriere during the War of 1812 but there’s so much more to him than that! He genuinely loved people whether people cared to loved him back or not but, a good example is the response from his men when he left the Constitution. I can not express enough the kindness of his character always vouching for and doing all he can to care for young officers as if they were his own family! The purity in his heart matched his hard earned skill level as a sailor. The only flaw I can think of of Isaac Hull was at times he was too naive with colleagues and acquaintances he mistaken as friends; that’s the corruption of human nature to take advantage of the goodness other people display.

2. (Disclaimer note: Technically Johnston Blakeley can NOT be counted as a “Preble’s Boy” for the reason he did not serve under the commodore in the Mediterranean or any other time. I’m including him because I didn’t know until I read his biography so he’s basically grandfathered in based all the past memes I’ve made that included him.) I know it’s difficult to rank someone based off “what ifs” and “potential”; especially in a position this high but I have good reason to put Blakeley here. Blakeley’s intelligence was no doubt impressive even for a naval officer. The difference between arrogance and wisdom is the desire humble oneself and keep on learning. Blakeley was definitely overconfident with his book smarts early in his naval career but he earned the respect of fellow crew mates by getting down from his high horse and living in the reality of his situation. From being on the President under Thomas Truxtun through the first Barbary War and beginning of War of 1812, Blakeley saw little to no action. He practically had nonexistent combat experience and yet he managed to take 12 English merchant prizes and fought 2 sloops of war; one of them at night. Most of his men had no sea faring experience; were even sea sick the first week out and yet within 3 months turn them into a fighting force not to be reckoned with. Under the supervision of William Bainbridge, the Wasp got the leftover materials and supplies from the Frolic so Blakeley was set up for failure but that was not an option for him. With this small window of his career, I believe Johnston Blakeley would have definitely been a huge inspiration and influence on the navy and who knows what improvements he would have done had he made it back home after the war.

3. The one, the only man we’ve all been waiting for *drum roll plz* STEPHEN DECATUR!!!! With a reputation he has, man has to be in the top five at least! Yeah both Barbary Wars had made him immensely popular by being the youngest American captain ever made during the first and subduing the Barbary powers so quickly during the second. Both pissed off Bainbridge for the next five years. Then of course the victories ( and failures) during the War of 1812, Stephen Decatur was a household name because he always kept himself busy to stay on people’s minds. Knew how to rub elbows with influential people too like Robert Fulton, James Monroe (smart move making his home among the first of DC society in the otherwise backwater Capitol.

4. Look man, you better be glad the early years of your career saved you Charles Stewart. The brighter the star, the faster it burns. Blah, blah blah, he did great during the first Barbary War because he had his two childhood besties Decatur and Somers with him and hooray for teamwork! 🙃 Became a merchant before the War of 1812 and slowly began building wealth-which isn’t a bad thing mind you. It’s when you marry wrong in the middle of a war because you only knew your betrothed for a month! Cool feat capturing two British ships at once and woo hoo! Another naval win! Second Barbary War, he knew the American Constitution and law because he had an entire court with Thomas Macdonough (his second in command and he himself was busy at the moment) as president trying a marine court marshaled. It was hot on the ship where the court was being held and Macdonough thought it a good idea to have it at a hotel which wasn’t American ground so therefore the sentencing of the marine was illegal. Sent the whole court home for inquiry. The faults he had were he did. Not. Discipline. His. Young. Officers! It was hard to tell who was actually running his ships! This was a problem both in the Mediterranean and the Pacific squadrons! Make matters worse was bringing his financially irresponsible wife with him on the Pacific squadron who smuggled a Spanish Royal spy really for the thrill of it! He leaned towards the Royalists anyway by how he handled the blockade but his wife made his position blatantly obvious during the Chilean fight for independence. He was acquitted eventually but that was a definitive stain on his career. Outliving all the other PBs meant he had a lot more time to do things like having a presidential bid (which ultimately went to James Polk) and living through the American Civil War. Age comes with wisdom so he did advocate for a naval Academy after the USS Somers affair; that was a 180. Overall, I don’t like Charles Stewart but again, the beginnings of his career were too great to ignore. Just a shame what happened as he got older. I truly think Decatur’s death took a huge toll on him and there may have been slight jealousy towards the old friend too. There was no one there to keep him in check so he just let himself go.

5. Hot head David Porter made it to no. 5 because good or bad, he did have an impressive career and was incredibly outspoken throughout to be impactful. Starting from the quasi war and gaining distinction by really his audacity to cause near mutiny because his captain considered yielding to pirates, while in the Tripoli prison educated the younger officers (which D.T. Patterson claimed he received the bulk of his seafaring education during this time), and during the War of 1812 sailing into the Pacific and taking the initiative to start creating American friendly ports, Porter was no doubt a man of action. I’ve mentioned before that he was also a fiercely loyal friend being Isaac Hull’s strongest ally during a time when the apolitical captain was unjustly crucified by jealous officers. It was quite a feat considering Porter was also sympathetic to William Bainbridge the true bane to Hull’s existence. (Bainbridge’s letters to Porter were pretty much victimizing himself so he must have known how to play him.) Now to the cons of my dear husband’s career…….buddy you need to understand sometimes you got to meet people half way. Or at least try to be more diplomatic or-. I’m referring to when Porter was head of the West Indies Squadron and the controversial sentencing of 6 month’s suspension because the Spanish government disrespected the Americans and bro wasn’t having it. My beloved, YOU BROKE INTERNATIONAL LAW NO MATTER HOW NOBLE YOUR REASONINGS WERE! The US government believed Porter was out of line for acting the way he did yet gave him an actually light sentence but to Porter, no matter how much lipstick you put on it, it’s still a pig. In this case an unfair guilty verdict is still a guilty verdict. So he switched over to the Mexican navy because he had a family to support. Then he went back to the States because there were assassination attempts on him. This ended his naval career and turned to diplomacy in Constantinople. Am I the only one seeing the irony here?