Capture+of+H.B.M.+Frigate+Macedonian+by+U.S.+Frigate+United+States,+October+25,+1812

Date: 1852
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1992/1992.18_1a.jpg?itok=fCFSdbgt width="375" height="261" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/capture-of-hbm-frigate-macedonian-by-us-frigate-united-states-october-32726"]] || Title: **Capture of H.B.M. Frigate Macedonian by U.S. Frigate United States, October 25, 1812**

Artist: **Thomas Chambers** Born: Whitby, England 1808 Died: Whitby, England 1869

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 34 7/8 x 50 1/4 in. (88.6 x 127.5 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Sheldon and Caroline Keck in honor of Elizabeth Broun

Accession: 1992.18 || The rolling waves and swirls of smoke in this painting convey the noise and excitement of battle. To patriotic nineteenth-century Americans, the victory of the frigate United States over the British ship //Macedonian// in 1812 marked a triumph against British sea power. Off the Canary Islands, Stephen Decatur's ship damaged the //Macedonian's// hull, dismasted, and captured her. Decatur became an American hero who famously proclaimed "Our country-...may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."
 * Exhibition Label: **

Stephen was the American captain at the helm of USS //United States//. Captain John Carden led the Macedonian. Most predicted that the //Macedonian// would win a battle between the two, but Decatur and his men managed to keep the guns firing at such speed that the smoke covered the British ship and it's crew thought they had caught fire. In the confusion, the //United States// managed to completely demast it's rival. Decatur took the //Macedonian// as a prize after the victory and reoutfitted it as an American ship.


 * Suggested Questions: **
 * Which ship is winning this battle? How can you tell?
 * What evidence is there in the painting that tells you how naval battles were fought? What do you think it was like for the men on deck?


 * Resources: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Artist Biography <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">SAAM Collections Page
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Links: **