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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 37
BY REPRESENTATIVE ARNOLD
A RESOLUTION
To commend the United States Coast Guard for its American War of 1812 Revenue Cutter
Service.
WHEREAS, in 1790, congress established the United States Revenue Cutter Service
and commissioned armed ocean-going vessels to enforce tariff and maritime law; the
Revenue Cutter Service was the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard, the oldest
continuous federal authority engaged in service on the seas; and
WHEREAS, on June 18, 1804, the United States Treasury Department authorized
the Baltimore customs collector to build a cutter for the newly acquired port of New Orleans
and the cutter, known as revenue cutter Louisiana, set sail for New Orleans on December
16, 1804, and served out of New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, President James Madison declared war on Great Britain on June 18,
1812, and the "Second War of American Independence" was fought between the United
States and Great Britain from June 18, 1812, through February 18, 1815, in Virginia and
Maryland, and along the Canadian border, the western frontier, the Gulf Coast, and through
naval engagements on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and
WHEREAS, on August 11, 1812, the Louisiana capsized in its home port of New
Orleans during a severe hurricane and with the Louisiana, half of the vessels in the harbor,
including flatboats, barges, and trading canoes were all destroyed along with their cargo; and
WHEREAS, commanding an armed party and small boat on Saturday, October 10,
1812, Angus O. Frazer (formerly master of Louisiana) apprehended armed smugglers and
their delivery boat near Barataria Bay. The smugglers managed to escape only to return the
next day to capture Frazer, his men, and the boat. Frazer and his men escaped the
smugglers; and ENROLLEDHR NO. 37
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WHEREAS, on October 2, 1813, New Orleans District vessel certificates indicate
that former revenue cutter Louisiana was salvaged and converted into a merchant vessel; and
WHEREAS, the American War of 1812, ended with the signing of the Treaty of
Ghent on December 24, 1814, although word of the treaty did not reach the United States
until after the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, where Americans defeated a British
army in the last major land engagement of the war; and
WHEREAS, the American War of 1812 helped forge a national identity among the
American states and laid the groundwork for a national system of homeland defense and a
professional military within the United States; and
WHEREAS, the observance of the bicentennial of this important war provides an
opportunity for all Americans to remember the sacrifices and contributions of the revenue
cutters and to appreciate and celebrate the independence for which valiant soldiers and
sailors courageously fought; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate to also commemorate the revenue cutter
Louisiana, a vessel of the Revenue Cutter Service and its soldiers and sailors for bravery
during the American War of 1812, and specifically for their defense against the smugglers
in the Barataria Bay area.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the United States Coast Guard for its
American War of 1812 Revenue Cutter Service and especially those soldiers and sailors who
served on the revenue cutter Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to Rear Admiral Roy Nash, Eighth District Commandant of the United States Coast Guard.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES