Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: February 16, 2015
Caption: USS frigate Constitution with Commander Isaac Hull
Additional Description: This 1813 engraving by Cornelius Tiebout hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“This engraving of a crucial event in the War of 1812 pictures not one hero but two: the USS Constitution—nicknamed ‘Old Ironsides’ because of her strength in deflecting the cannonballs of the British and the ship's commander, Isaac Hull (1773-1843), in the pendant portrait below. First commissioned as a naval lieutenant in 1798, Hull was an experienced officer by the start of the war. Spotting the British frigate Guerriere in the North Atlantic on August 19, 1812, Hull maneuvered his ship alongside it and ordered every starboard gun to fire. His agile and fearless leadership paid off: the Guerriere was destroyed. It was the first American victory over a British frigate and the first good news of the war.

Hull's portrait along with a detailed narration of the battle and the majestic depiction of the Constitution memorializes the significance of the navy in America's ‘second’ war for independence.” — National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: September 1, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p326300
File Size: 2.029 Megabytes

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