| Quasi-War | |||||||
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| Part of theFrench Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
 USSConstellation in combat with FrenchInsurgente | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  France | ||||||
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| Unknown | ||||||
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TheQuasi-War[a] was anundeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between theUnited States and theFrench First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in theCaribbean and off theEast Coast of the United States, with minor actions in theIndian Ocean andMediterranean Sea.
In 1793,Congress unilaterally suspended repayment of French loans from theAmerican Revolutionary War, and in 1794 signed theJay Treaty withGreat Britain. Then engaged in the 1792 to 1797War of the First Coalition, France retaliated by seizing U.S. ships trading with Great Britain. When diplomacy failed to resolve these issues, in October 1796 Frenchprivateers began attacking all merchant ships in U.S. waters, regardless of nationality.
Spending cuts following the end of theAmerican Revolutionary War left the U.S. unable to mount an effective response, and within a year over 316 American ships had been captured. In March 1798, Congress reconstituted theUnited States Navy, and in July authorized the use of force against France. By 1799, losses had been significantly reduced through informal cooperation with theRoyal Navy, whereby merchant ships from both nations were allowed to join each other's convoys.
The replacement of the French First Republic by theConsulate in November 1799 led to theConvention of 1800, which ended the war. The right ofCongress to authorize military action without a formaldeclaration of war was later confirmed by theSupreme Court. This ruling formed the basis of many similar actions since, including U.S. participation in theVietnam War and theGulf War in the 20th century.[2][b]
Under the 1778Treaty of Alliance, theUnited States had agreed to protect theFrench West Indies in return for French support in theAmerican Revolutionary War. Because the treaty had no termination date, France claimed this obligation included supporting them againstGreat Britain and theDutch Republic during the 1792-1797War of the First Coalition. Despite popular enthusiasm for theFrench Revolution, there was little support for this inCongress. Neutrality allowedNew England shipowners to earn huge profits evading the British blockade of French ports, while the Southernplanter class feared the example set by France'sabolition of slavery in 1794.[3]
In 1793, Congress suspended repayment of French loans incurred during the Revolutionary War, arguing theexecution of Louis XVI and establishment of theFrench First Republic rendered existing agreements void. They further argued American military obligations under the Treaty of Alliance applied only to a "defensive conflict" and thus did not apply, since France had declared war on Britain and the Dutch Republic. To ensure the U.S. did not become involved, Congress passed theNeutrality Act of 1794, while PresidentGeorge Washington issued anexecutive order forbidding Americanmerchant ships from arming themselves.[4]
France accepted these acts on the basis of "benevolent neutrality". They interpreted this as allowing Frenchprivateers to enter U.S. ports, and to sell captured British ships in Americanprize courts, but not vice versa. However, the U.S. viewed it as the right to provide the same privileges to both.[5] These differences were further exacerbated in November 1794 when the U.S. and Britain signed theJay Treaty. By resolving outstanding issues from the American Revolution, it led to a rapid expansion of trade between the two countries. Between 1794 and 1801, American exports to Britain nearly tripled in value, from US$33 million to $94 million.[6]
In late 1796, French privateers began seizing American ships trading with the British, helped by the almost complete lack of aUnited States Navy. Their last warship had been sold in 1785, leaving only a small flotilla belonging to theUnited States Revenue Cutter Service and a few neglected coastal forts. From October 1796 to June 1797, French vessels captured 316 ships, 6% of the entire American merchant fleet, causing losses of $12 to $15 million.[7] On 2 March 1797, theFrench Directory issued a decree permitting the seizure of any neutral shipping without arole d'equipage listing the nationalities of each crewman.[8] Since American ships rarely carried such documents, France had effectively initiated a commerce war.[9]
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict ended in the 1797 dispute known as theXYZ Affair.[10] However, the hostilities created support for establishing a limited naval force, and on 18 June, PresidentJohn Adams appointedBenjamin Stoddert the firstSecretary of the Navy.[11] On 7 July 1798, Congressapproved the use of force against French warships in American waters, but wanted to ensure conflict did not escalate beyond these limits.[12] As a result, it was called a "limited" or "Quasi-War", and led to political debate over whether it was constitutional. A series of rulings by theSupreme Court of the United States confirmed the ability of the U.S. to conductundeclared wars, or "police actions".[13]
Sinceships of the line were expensive to build and required highly specialised construction facilities, in 1794 Congress compromised by orderingsix large frigates. By 1798, the first three were nearly complete and on 16 July 1798, additional funding was approved for theUSS Congress,USS Chesapeake, andUSS President, plus the frigatesUSS General Greene andUSS Adams. The provision of naval stores and equipment by the British allowed these to be built relatively quickly, and all saw action during the war.[14]
These vessels were enhanced by so-called "subscription ships", privately funded vessels provided by individual cities. They included five frigates, among them theUSS Philadelphia, commanded byStephen Decatur, and four merchantmen converted intosloops. Primarily intended to attack foreign shipping, they earned huge profits for their owners; theUSS Boston captured over 80 enemy vessels, including the French corvetteBerceau.[15]
With most of the French fleet confined to Europe by theRoyal Navy, Secretary Stoddert was able to focus resources on eliminating the few vessels that evaded the blockade and reached the Caribbean. The U.S. also needed convoy protection, and while there was no formal agreement with the British, considerable co-operation took place at a local level. The two navies shared a signal system, and allowed their merchantmen to join each other's convoys, most of which were provided by the British, who had four to five times more escorts available.[16]
This freed the U.S. Navy to concentrate on French privateers, most of which had very shallowdraft and were armed with a maximum of twenty guns. Operating from French and Spanish bases in the Caribbean, particularlyGuadeloupe, they made opportunistic attacks on passing ships, before escaping back into port. To counter those tactics, the U.S. used similarly-sized vessels from the Revenue Cutter Service, as well as commissioning their own privateers. The first American ship to see action was theUSS Ganges, a convertedEast Indiaman with 26 guns, but most were far smaller.[17]
Therevenue cutterUSS Pickering, commanded byEdward Preble, made two cruises to theWest Indies and captured ten prizes. Preble turned command ofPickering over to Benjamin Hillar, who captured the much larger and more heavily armed French privateerl'Egypte Conquise after a nine-hour battle. In September 1800, thePickering and her entire crew were lost at sea in a storm.[18] Preble next commanded the frigateUSS Essex, which he sailed aroundCape Horn into the Pacific to protect U.S. merchantmen in theEast Indies. He recaptured several U.S. ships that had been seized by French privateers.[19][20]
The first significant study of the war was written by U.S. naval historian Gardner W. Allen in 1909, and focused exclusively on ship-to-ship actions.[21] This is how the conflict is generally remembered in the U.S., but historian Michael Palmer argues American naval operations cannot be assessed in isolation. When operating in the Caribbean
...they entered a European theater where the war had been underway since 1793... British ships chased and fought the same French cruisers and privateers. Both navies escorted each other's merchantmen. American warships operated from British bases. And most importantly, British policies and shifts in deployment had dramatic effects on American operations.[22]
From the perspective of the U.S. Navy, the Quasi-War consisted of a series of ship-to-ship actions in U.S. coastal waters and the Caribbean; one of the first was theCapture ofLa Croyable on 7 July 1798 byDelaware outsideEgg Harbor, New Jersey.[23] On 20 November, a pair ofFrenchfrigates,Insurgente andVolontaire, captured the schoonerUSS Retaliation, commanded by LieutenantWilliam Bainbridge;Retaliation was recaptured on 28 June 1799.[24]
On 9 February 1799, the frigateConstellationcaptured the French Navy's frigateL'Insurgente. By 1 July, under the command of Decatur,USS United States had been refitted and repaired and embarked on her mission to patrol the South Atlantic coast and West Indies in search of French ships which were preying on American merchant vessels.[25]
In theaction of 1 January 1800, a American merchant convoy escorted byUSS Experiment fought off an attack by 14 French privateer barges in theGulf of Gonâve. On 1 February,Constellationseverely damaged the French frigateLa Vengeance off the coast ofSaint Kitts, while suffering serious damage itself.Silas Talbot led a naval expedition during theBattle of Puerto Plata Harbor in early May,capturing a Spanish army controlled coastal fort and a French corvette.[26] When French troopsoccupied Curaçao in July,USS Patapsco andUSS Merrimack bombarded French positions on the island and landed marines to support the local Dutch troops before the French withdrew. On 12 October, the frigateBostoncaptured the corvetteLe Berceau.[27]
On 25 October,USS Enterprisedefeated the FrenchbrigFlambeau nearDominica.Enterprise also captured eight privateers and freed eleven U.S. merchant ships from captivity, whileExperiment captured the French privateersDeux Amis andDiane and liberated numerous American merchant ships. Although U.S. military losses were light, the French had seized over 2,000 American merchant ships by the time the war ended.[28]
It has been suggested that since the war was primarily driven by domestic political considerations, neither side was able to identify what a successful resolution entailed. This was enhanced by the tendency of individual commanders to pursue their own objectives, and on the American side, focusing on ship to ship actions rather than overall strategy.[29]
In any event, by late 1800 U.S. and British naval operations, combined with a more conciliatory diplomatic stance by the new French government, had significantly reduced privateer activity. TheConvention of 1800, signed on 30 September, ended the Quasi-War. It affirmed the rights of Americans as neutrals upon the sea and abrogated the 1778 French alliance, but failed to provide compensation for the alleged $20 million in American economic losses. While the agreement ensured the U.S. remained neutral during theNapoleonic Wars, it failed to resolve the underlying tensions with warring European nations, which led to theWar of 1812.[30]
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| Preceded by Irish Rebellion of 1798 | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Quasi-War | Succeeded by Peasants' War (1798) |
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