Memorial Day Weekend rolls along with another topical post from Balladeer’s Blog. This one covers some naval actions from America’s undeclared, neither fish nor fowl, quasi-Naval War with France. Often called Stoddert’s War in reference to Benjamin Stoddert, America’s first Secretary of the Navy, this conflict was waged largely in the West Indies.
John Adams
President John Adams wanted the infant United States Navy to protect American shipping in the West Indies from French vessels seizing our ships and sailors. The French Revolutionary government had adopted this policy to (in their view) “punish” the U.S. for not declaring war on France’s side in the Wars of the French Revolution.
Thus far America had remained neutral due to divided public opinion on the matter. Some voters felt the U.S. should join the war on the side of France but others felt that the current French Revolutionary government had overthrown, imprisoned and slain virtually all of the French figures who had aided America during our war against England, therefore negating any obligation on our part. (The paranoid French government had even jailed Thomas Paine when he visited the country.)
President John Adams later took great pride in keeping America out of an all-out land war. (Sentiment against France grew so strong that 80,000 men volunteered to serve against her. And don’t forget the rallying cry of “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute!” following the X, Y and Z Affair.) Adams chose instead to act largely on defense by protecting our coastline, safeguarding U.S. shipping and expanding our Navy from three whole vessels (WOW!) to FIFTEEN.
Here are a few of the battles from this virtually unclassifiable conflict:
U.S. Naval hero Stephen Decatur
JULY 7th, 1798: Off the New Jersey Coast, Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr led his 20-cannon Delaware against the 10-cannon French privateer craft La Croyable. The French vessel had just plundered the American merchant ship Alexander Hamilton. After a long chase and running fight La Croyable was seized by the Delaware. The French ship was renamed Retaliation and joined the growing U.S. Navy.
NOVEMBER 20th, 1798: Off Guadeloupe, the Retaliation (commanded now by William Bainbridge) ran afoul of two French vessels: the 40-cannon L’Insurgente and the 44-cannon Volontaire. The French opened fire and soon captured Retaliation, then imprisoned the crew in the hellish Basseterre Prison on St Kitts.
FEBRUARY 9th, 1799: Nearly fifteen miles off the coast of the island of Nevis, American Captain Thomas “Terrible Tom” Truxton took his kickass nickname and his 36-cannon ship the Constellation into battle with the 40-cannon French vessel L’Insurgente. The battle began shortly after Noon and roughly two and a half hours later the French surrendered. Continue reading
President Trump stands virtually alone – the outsider shaking up all the career criminals called Democrats and Republicans, who grow ever more frantic and irrational in their attempts to bring him down. EVERY DAY IS FUN WATCHING TRUMP INFURIATE ALL THE RIGHT CROOKS TO INFURIATE!
The late Mary Harris Jones aka Mother Jones once again weighed in despite having been dead since 1930: “President Trump is an undeniable hero helping the working class and the poor of ALL colors every way he can while being attacked daily by America’s corrupt politicians and the bloated rich pigs who OWN those politicians.” 
FRANK C HIGH 
GEORGE W MATHEWS 
It’s the time of year for graduation ceremonies and commencement addresses, two more formerly pleasant and reasonably nonpartisan milestones in life that have now been transformed by Democrat intolerance into ugly partisan exercises. 
AND DON’T WASTE MY TIME TELLING ME IT’S UNDER ONE HUNDRED DOING IT NOW. As we have seen there is NO independent thought among the Democrats who run these churches of intolerance and irrational thought. This will spread like all the other political bigotry pushed by Democrats. ALL of the fascism now imposed upon “educational” institutions by Democrats started out being dismissed as “limited to a hundred or so far-left colleges and universities.” And look where it has led. 
PART TWENTY: I need to interrupt my look at the 1910-1917 and 1919-1922 Fool Killer items for this time around. In a surprising development Balladeer’s Blog was contacted by THE actual Fool Killer. Using Jimmy Neutron-level science I determined that this correspondent was indeed the actual supernatural figure who had been at large in America since the 1830s. 
Coming to you as I wander in search of fools to kill, as usual a murder of crows following in my wake to feast upon the ample corpses I leave behind me in my travels.
They are responsible for bringing families together, rescuing Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers and making their creators millions or in some cases nothing at all. No, we’re not talking about 
At the 38th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on Capitol Hill, President Trump was thanked and praised by law enforcement personnel and their loved ones for his support of their profession. Among those giving de facto Third Party President Trump thanks was Anamika Singh, widow of Ronil Singh who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant (and his “Sanctuary City” Democrat accomplices before the fact.) 
PART NINETEEN: James Larkin Pearson, creator of this new Fool Killer, featured a complaint that I can relate to, since I go through the same thing here at Balladeer’s Blog – “Democrats write and ask me to lambaste the Republicans and Republicans write and suggest that I cuss out the Democrats. All right, boys, I am going to comply with both requests, and then you will both be mad.” 
*** Equally sleazy, money-hungry “spiritualists” – nicknamed “Boogers” in the slang of the time. Arthur Conan Doyle was still alive in 1919 and, as usual, that otherwise rational man willingly served as a public cheerleader for those con artists who claimed to be able to contact one’s dead loved ones. 
Democrats still adhere to their slogan “Illegal immigrants: Right or Wrong!” 
Journalist and strong female role model Kelli Ballard courageously continues to compile as comprehensive as possible a breakdown of the additional crimes committed by people in the country illegally. 
Balladeer's Blog 