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Description: |
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| An English Sailor's Woolie of H.M.S. Tribune,
The woolie depicts H.M.S. Tribune at anchor and fully dressed. Also with a Union Jack depicting that an Admiral is on board. The Tribune flies three large flags from its masts- those of Turkey, France and Naples, Britain's main allies in its war against Russia, the Crimea War.
A rope ladder has been dropped off the ship's side and a launch can be seen below with figures of sailors on board. A small ship has just past the Tribune. Below the ship is a banner with H.M.S. Tribune and a crown above.
Dimensions: 30 inches x 23 inches
Provenance: Hunnewell Collection
The Tribune was a Corvette classified as a Frigate. She was launched on the 21 January 1853. She had a wooden hull and was 192 feet in length with a screw propulsion with a crew of 300.
Builders measure 1570 tons
Displacement 2243 tons
Guns 31
Fate 1866 Last in commission 1866
Class Class (as screw) Tribune
Ships book ADM 135/479
Career
14 January 1853 Launched at Sheerness Dockyard.
14 May 1853-- 22 November 1854
Commanded (from commissioning at Woolwich) by Captain Swynfen Thomas Carnegie, Channel squadron, then the Baltic and then the Black Sea during the Russian War.
11 December 1854
Commanded by Captain James Robert Drummond, Mediterranean, and Black Sea during the Russian War
13 August 1855
Commanded by Captain Harry Edmond Edgell, Pacific (including 2nd Anglo-Chinese War)
18 August 1858- August 1860
Commanded (until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby, Pacific (where he diplomatically helped resolve the dispute - "Pig War" - with the United States over San Juan Island, off Vancover)
17 March 1862- 16 May 1866
Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Viscount Gilford, Pacific.
August 1866
Sold to C. Marshall for breaking up at Plymouth.
Pig War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War)
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between American and British authorities over the boundary between the United States and British North America. The specific area in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland. The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig, is also called the Pig Episode, the San Juan Boundary Dispute or the Northwestern Boundary Dispute. The pig was the only "casualty" of the war, making the conflict essentially bloodless.
The Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846 resolved the Oregon boundary dispute by dividing the Oregon Country/Columbia District between the United States and Britain "along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of [Juan de] Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean."
However, there are actually two straits which could be called the middle of the channel: Haro Strait, along the west side of the San Juan Islands; and Rosario Strait, along the east side.
In 1846 there was still some uncertainty about the geography of the region. The most commonly available maps were those of George Vancouver, published in 1798, and of Charles Wilkes, published in 1845. In both cases the maps are unclear in the vicinity of the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. As a result, Haro Strait is not fully clear either.
In 1856 the US and Britain set up a Boundary Commission to survey the international boundary. Since the boundary around the San Juans had not been resolved the commissioners made proposals and counter-proposals. There were three main proposals considered, Haro Strait, Rosario Strait, and a compromise line running through San Juan Channel. The extreme US proposal was "in accordance with the strict letter of the treaty", and ran between Vancouver Island and all islands off its coast, including the San Juans and Gulf Islands. This line was never seriously considered. The British commissioners made their case in part by referring to maps made by Americans that showed the boundary running through Rosario Strait. Among such maps was one by highly regarded American geographer John C. Frémont. Nevertheless, the commissioners could not reach an agreement.
Because of this ambiguity, both the United States and Britain claimed sovereignty over the San Juan Islands.[4] During this period of disputed sovereignty, Britain's Hudson's Bay Company established operations on San Juan and turned the island into a sheep ranch. Meanwhile by mid-1859, twenty-five to twenty-nine American settlers had arrived.
Exactly thirteen years after the Oregon Treaty, on June 15, 1859, the ambiguity led to direct conflict. Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who had moved onto the island claiming rights to live there under the United States' Donation Land Claim Act (1850), shot and killed a pig rooting in his garden.] He had found the giant black boar eating his tubers while a man stood next to the fence laughing. Cutlar was so upset that he took aim and shot the pig. The mysterious man then ran away into the woods. It turns out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company to run the sheep ranch. He also owned several pigs which he allowed to roam freely. The two had lived in peace until this incident. Cutlar offered $10 to Griffin to compensate for the pig, but Griffin was unsatisfied with this offer and demanded $100. Following this reply, Cutlar believed he shouldn't have to pay for the pig because the pig had been trespassing on his land. (A possibly apocryphal story claims Cutlar said to Griffin, "It was eating my potatoes." Griffin replied, "It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig." When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for military protection.
Military escalation
William S. Harney, commanding the Dept. of Oregon, initially dispatched 66 American soldiers of the 9th Infantry under the command of Captain George Pickett to San Juan Island with orders to prevent the British from landing. Concerned that a squatter population of Americans would begin to occupy San Juan Island if the Americans were not kept in check, the British sent three British warships under the command of Captain Geoffrey Hornby to counter the Americans. The situation continued to escalate. By August 10, 1859, 461 Americans with 14 cannons under Colonel Silas Casey were opposed by five British warships mounting 70 guns and carrying 2,140 men. During this time, no shots were fired.
The governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, James Douglas, ordered British Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes to land marines on San Juan Island and engage the American soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General William Selby Harney. (Harney's forces had occupied the island since July 27, 1859.) Baynes refused, deciding that "two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig" was foolish. Local commanding officers on both sides had been given essentially the same orders: defend yourselves, but absolutely do not fire the first shot. For several days, the British and U.S. soldiers exchanged insults, each side attempting to goad the others into firing the first shot, but discipline held on both sides, and thus no shots were fired.
Resolution
In September, U.S. President James Buchanan sent General Winfield Scott to negotiate with Governor Douglas to resolve the growing crisis. This was in the best interest of the United States, as sectional tensions within the country were increasing, culminating in the Civil War. As a result of the negotiations, both sides agreed to retain joint military occupation of the island, reducing their presence to a token force of no more than 100 men. The "British Camp" was established on the north end of San Juan Island along the shoreline, for ease of supply and access; and the "American Camp" was created on the south end on a high, windswept meadow, suitable for artillery barrages against shipping. (Today the Union Jack still flies above the "British Camp", being raised and lowered daily by park rangers, making it one of the very few places without diplomatic status where US government employees regularly hoist the flag of another country.)
During the years of joint military occupation, the small British and American units on San Juan Island had a very amicable mutual social life, visiting one another's camps to celebrate their respective national holidays and holding various athletic competitions. Park rangers tell visitors the biggest threat to peace on the island during these years was "the large amounts of alcohol available."
This state of affairs continued for the next 12 years, when the matter was referred to Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. On 21 October, 1872, a commission appointed by the Kaiser decided in favor of the United States claim to the San Juan Islands.
On 25 November, 1872, the British withdrew their Royal Marines from the British Camp. The Americans followed by July, 1874.
The Pig War is commemorated in San Juan Island National Historical Park. |
| Inventory Number: |
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Dealer |
Earle Vandekar of Knightsbridge Inc. |
| Contact |
Paul Vandekar |
Phone: 212-308-2022 |
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| Period: |
19th Century (1801-1900) |
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| Date: |
Circa 1860 |
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| Origin: |
British |
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| Condition: |
Good |
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| Measurements: |
30 inches x 23 inches |
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| Inventory |
Other Inventory by this Dealer |
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| Web-site: |
http://www.vandekar.com |
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| Price: |
$16,000.00 |
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| E-mail: |
Inquire
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