US Marines in the American Revolution — Ohio River Row Galley

Summer 1782

As Rogers Clark was faced with the monumental task of maintaining military control over the Ohio River valley. With few men at his disposal, he decided to construct an armed row galley for use in securing the navigation of the Ohio, particularly at the mouths of the Miami River and Licking Creek. By early May 1782, Clark was able to report that the galley would be completed with 20 days. She had a 73-foot keel, carried 46 oars, and would mount eight cannon. The Miami, as she was later called, had gunwales four feet high and thick enough to. stop both arrow and bullet while traversing narrow parts of the river. It was no easy task to assemble the 110-man complement required, for few men had the nautical skills needed. Among the first steps taken by Clark was to authorize the recruitment of a company of Virginia State Marines. Placed under the command of Captain Jacob Pyeatt, the Marines constituted the vessel’s gun crew and were expected to guard the ship’s magazine. The services performed by the Miami galley and the Marines on board her are vague but impressive. Her summer patrol of the Ohio adjacent to Shawnee Territory caused alarm among the Indians who thought General Clark was preparing for an incursion. Although they had planned to strike at Wheeling, the Indians instead broke off the march in order to defend their own territory. The Miami had a rather short career. According to the report of a private who served on board her, she was sunk at Bear Grass not far from the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville, Kentucky) in Sep­tember 1782. The remaining men of Pyeatt’s Marine company were then transferred to the Illinois Regiment where they served until the end of the war.