Melancthon Taylor Woolsey

Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey (1782 – 18 May 1838) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 and battles on the Great Lakes. He supervised warship construction at Navy Point in Sackets Harbor, New York, and later had a full career in the Navy.

Woolsey was born near Plattsburgh, New York and was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam, and Thomas Cornell (settler). After studying law for a time, he entered the Navy as a midshipman on April 9, 1800. His first assignment was the frigate Adams, on which he made a cruise to the West Indies in 1800 and 1801. He served briefly in the First Barbary War just before its end in 1805. In 1807, the newly promoted Lt. Woolsey received orders to Washington, D.C., where he developed a code of signals for the Navy.

From there, he was ordered to the shores of Lake Ontario in 1808 to supervise the construction of Oneida. Given the buildup of tensions with Great Britain, the US Navy established a shipyard for warships and rapidly built eleven ships at the facility, employing 3,000 men at the yard, many recruited from New York City. At the same time, Woolsey received a concurrent assignment as the commanding officer of the shore facilities located there. When the United States went to war with Great Britain in 1812, he was still in command of Oneida and the shore station at Sackett's Harbor. On July 19, 1812, a British squadron of five ships appeared. Woolsey attempted to escape to open water with Oneida, but the enemy squadron sealed off that avenue. Instead, he returned to Sackett's Harbor, landed half his battery, and repelled the British convincingly after a sharp two-hour exchange.

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