Combat· Quasi-War with France
Boston vs Rigaud's barges, Bight of Léogâne
Early in March 1800 the frigate USS Boston, under Captain George Little, lay becalmed in the Bight of Léogâne off Saint-Domingue and faced a large number of Rigaud's barges.
Little kept his guns housed to decoy the barges within effective range, and when they closed, the Marines under First Lieutenant Jonathan Church gave considerable assistance in destroying them. The fight was one of many small actions American warships fought against the picaroon and barge forces operating out of Haitian ports during the height of the Quasi-War. There were no American casualties.
Podcast episodes on Quasi-War with France
Record no. 180