The Revenue Cutter Service in the War of 1812
The Revenue Cutter Service in the War of 1812 by Ed Doench In 1790, a small fleet of revenue cutters was established at the request of Alexander Hamilton in order to enforce the legislation regarding trade and tariffs. Until the US Navy, which had been disbanded following the American Revolution, was reconstituted in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the fledgling United States’ only armed maritime service. At the onset of the War of 1812, the US Navy still constituted only six vessels, all of them frigates or smaller, with which to oppose the much larger and more powerful British Royal Navy. The Navy was thus augmented by the cutters of the Revenue Cutter Service, which was charged primarily with the defense of their local home ports and the protection of American merchant ships; this freed the frantically-expanding Navy to fight the Royal Navy further away from the American coast. The War of 1812 provided a number of instances of bravery and resourcefulness among the Revenue Mar
