On Aug. Thousands of people lined the shore looking toward the brig Henry at anchor as two barges were cast off bearing the black- draped coffins of Capt. James Lawrence and Lt. Augustus Ludlow. As the barges made their way to Crowninshield Wharf also known as India Wharf , cannon from the Henry and the USS Rattlesnake , a gun brig of war, exchanged minute salutes.
They fired a cannon every minute in homage to the officers. Sailors in blue jackets and blue trousers rowed to Crowninshield Wharf, their strokes slow and precise. Crowninshield India Wharf, where the procession began. At the end of the wharf, the two coffins were placed on carriages for a procession through the streets of Salem. The battle between the frigates Chesapeake and Shannon took place weeks before on June 1, Lawrence was newly appointed to the Chesapeake as was much of the crew.
But he was eager to take the fight to the enemy cruising in Boston Harbor with impunity. Both ships were roughly equal in tonnage and armaments. Eager crowds onshore watched the Chesapeake leave Boston, the ship flying the U. As the battle commenced, the Chesapeake suffered serious damage from the first British broadside, which wounded Captain Lawrence.
When the two ships came together, the British boarded the Chesapeake and in fierce combat overpowered the American crew, now almost leaderless with so many officers dead or wounded. There the crew were imprisoned and Captain Lawence given a burial with full naval honors.
The War of was politically divisive in New England. Salem was bitterly divided between the two parties. Several weeks after the battle, George Crowninshield, Jr.
