Combat· War of 1812
Loss of Tigress and Scorpion
After the failure at Mackinac, the Americans left the schooners Tigress and Scorpion to blockade the island and starve the British garrison.
The British struck first. On the night of 3 September, boats full of British seamen, soldiers, and Native allies rowed silently up to the anchored Tigress and boarded her in a rush, overwhelming the small crew after a sharp fight in which her commander was wounded. Two days later, with the captured Tigress flying American colors as a decoy, the British lured the unsuspecting Scorpion alongside and took her too. Marines serving aboard the schooners were among those carried off into captivity. The loss of both vessels handed the British undisputed control of the upper Great Lakes and ended the American naval presence on Lake Huron for the rest of the war.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 236