Fulton executed these as fast as possible, and among the number several
for boats for the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Early in 1814, the city of New York was seriously menaced with an attack
from the British fleet, and Fulton was called on by a committee of
citizens to furnish a plan for a means of defending the harbor. He
exhibited to the committee his plans for a vessel of war to be propelled
by steam, capable of carrying a strong battery, with furnaces for
red-hot shot, and which, he represented, would move at the rate of four
miles an hour. These plans were also submitted to a number of naval
officials, among whom were Commodore Decatur, Captain Jones, Captain
Evans, Captain Biddle, Commodore Perry, Captain Warrington, and Captain
Lewis, all of whom warmly united in urging the Government to undertake
the construction of the proposed steamer. The citizens of New York
offered, if the Government would employ and pay for her after she was
built, to advance the sum ($320,000) necessary for her construction. The
subject was vigorously pressed, and in March, 1814, Congress authorized
the building of one or more floating batteries after the plan presented
by Fulton.
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