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The United States Frigate "President" Engaging the British Squadron, 1815 by Lane, Fitz Henry

Lane, Fitz Henry · 1850

A frigate flies the American flag through cannon smoke, engaged in battle. It's Fitz Henry Lane's The United States Frigate "President" Engaging the British Squadron, 1815, painted in 1850 and now in a private collection. At first glance, it reads as a heroic portrait of American naval power during the War of 1812, the Stars and Stripes flying high, the ship cutting through the swells, all under a luminous, dramatic sky.

But the history the title claims and what actually happened are two different things. The real battle, fought on January 15, 1815 off the coast of New York, ended in disaster for the Americans. The USS President, commanded by the celebrated Stephen Decatur, was crippled by grounding before the fight even began, then surrounded by four British warships. Decatur surrendered, and the ship was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS President.

Lane made this painting 35 years after the defeat. It's a memory smoothed into myth. The British squadron he titles in the painting was real, but the outcome he implies, a valiant, equal engagement, is a patriotic reimagining. In the mid-19th century, Americans were building a collective national identity, and a story of defiance sold better than one of capture.

Every painting has a version of the truth it's willing to tell. What do you think Lane's buyers wanted to see?

Details

The title says it's the USS President, engaging the British, in 1815.
The title says it's the USS President, engaging the British, in 1815.
An American painter, Fitz Henry Lane, made this in 1850.
An American painter, Fitz Henry Lane, made this in 1850.
Thirty-five years after the battle, it's a picture of pure patriotic pride.
Thirty-five years after the battle, it's a picture of pure patriotic pride.
But this moment never happened like this.
But this moment never happened like this.
The real USS President was crippled, surrounded, and surrendered that day.
The real USS President was crippled, surrounded, and surrendered that day.
Transcript

A frigate flies the American flag, guns blazing. The title says it's the USS President, engaging the British, in 1815. An American painter, Fitz Henry Lane, made this in 1850. Thirty-five years after the battle, it's a picture of pure patriotic pride. But this moment never happened like this. The real USS President was crippled, surrounded, and surrendered that day. Its captain, Stephen Decatur, was captured. The ship became HMS President. Lane painted a defeat, and sold it as a triumph.