View source for George Little (naval officer)

{{Short description|US Navy officer (1754–1809)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = George Little
| birth_date    = {{Birth date |1754|4|10 }}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age |1809|7|22 |1754|4|10 }}
| birth_place   = [[Marshfield, Massachusetts]]
| death_place   = [[Weymouth, Massachusetts]]
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_label = Place of burial
| image         =
| caption       =
| nickname      =
| allegiance    = United States
| serviceyears  = 1779–1801
| rank          = [[Captain (U.S. Navy)|Captain]]
| branch        = [[Massachusetts Naval Militia]]<br />[[United States Navy]]
| commands      = (Mass) ''Winthrop'', ''Meriam'',<br/>[[USS Boston (1799)|USS ''Boston'']]
| unit          =
| battles       = [[American Revolutionary War]]<br />[[Quasi-War]]
| awards        =
| laterwork     =
}}
'''George Little''' (10 April 1754 – 22 July 1809) was a [[United States Navy]] officer. He served in the [[Massachusetts State Navy]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and in the United States Navy during the [[Quasi-War]] with France.
==Military career==
At age 25, Little was appointed [[first lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] of Massachusetts ship ''[[Protector (1779 frigate)|Protector]]'' in 1779, and was aboard in 1781 when she fought a running battle with the British ship ''Thames''. In a later engagement, he was captured, imprisoned, but later escaped.
He was given command of Massachusetts ship ''Winthrop'' which captured two British [[privateer]]s, armed [[brig]] ''Meriam'', and a number of other vessels. Commissioned captain, USN, 4 March 1799, Little was given command of the [[frigate]] [[USS Boston (1799)|''Boston'']], which was still under construction. At the end of June, Capt. Little served as member of the first U.S. Navy [[Court-Martial|court martial]], that of [[John Blake Cordis]], second lieutenant of the [[USS Constitution|''Constitution'']] and brother-in-law of Little's first lieutenant, [[Robert Haswell]]. The ''Boston'' sailed 24 July, on the first of two cruises down the American coast to the [[West Indies]]. The next year saw a second cruise, which culminated with the [[Boston-Berceau Action|capture]] of the French [[corvette]] ''Le&nbsp;Berceau'' and seven other ships.
On their return, Little found himself in the middle of a political firestorm, the capture of ''Le&nbsp;Berceau'' having taken place two weeks after the signing of the [[Convention of 1800 (Treaty of Mortefontaine)|Treaty of Mortefontaine]] had ended the Quasi-War. He and his fellow officers faced a court martial for the alleged looting of the personal possessions of the French officers, of which they would be acquitted but not without Little being dismissed by the Navy in 1801. This was not his only legal fight, as a challenge to the legitimacy of the taking of the Danish trader, the ''Flying&nbsp;Fish'', would result in a legal case which, as ''[[Little v. Barreme]]'', was heard by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in 1804, the ruling going against Little. Little also fought in court over an agreement with [[Silas Talbot]] to split the [[prize money]] for ''Les&nbsp;Deux Anges'', taken by the ''Boston'' in January 1800. This case, ''Talbot v. Little'', also reached the Supreme Court, but was eventually dismissed without hearing, leaving Little and his crew the victors.
==Namesakes==
Two [[destroyer]]s have been named [[USS Little|USS ''Little'']] in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Little I (Destroyer No. 79)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/little-i.html|access-date=2021-07-22|website=NHHC|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Destroyer Photo Index DD-803 USS LITTLE|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/803.htm|access-date=2021-07-22|website=www.navsource.org}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Leiner, Frederick C., "Anatomy of a Prize Case: Dollars, Side-Deals, and ''Les Deux Anges''", ''American Journal of Legal History'', vol.&nbsp;39, pp.&nbsp;215–234.
*[[George H. Preble|Preble, George Henry]], "Ships of the Nineteenth Century, Part I", ''The United Service'', vol.&nbsp;10 (1884), pp.&nbsp;517–518.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, George (Naval Officer)}}
[[Category:1754 births]]
[[Category:1809 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the American Revolution]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel who were court-martialed]]
[[Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:People from Marshfield, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Weymouth, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Quasi-War]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]