Capture of H.B.M. Frigate Macedonian by U.S. Frigate United States, October 25, 1812
Thomas Chambers, born Whitby, England 1808-died Whitby, England 1869, active USA 1832-1865 · 1852
The rolling waves and swirls of smoke in this painting convey the noise and excitement of battle. To patriotic nineteenth-century Americans, the victory of the frigate United States over the British ship Macedonian in 1812 marked a triumph against British sea power. Off the Canary Islands, Stephen Decatur's ship damaged the Macedonian's hull, dismasted, and captured her. Decatur became an American hero who famously proclaimed "Our country-...may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
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