1811 James Madison - The first shot fired by an American vessel in the War of 1812

In the spring of 1811, the British frigate Guerriere stopped an American vessel, the Spitfire just off the coast of New York and attempted to impress a young American sailor.   The captain protested, stating that he knew the boy was born in Maine.  The British Captain ignored the protest, and responded "but what can you do about it - he has no protection".   The event was reported to Washington authorities, but no action was taken - it was just more of the same.   But, then by chance the War Department gave orders to Captain John Rodgers to command the frigate President to cruise on the Atlantic off Chesapeake Bay in search of the Guerriere.   Rodgers set sail and came upon a strange ship in the night and pursued it to ascertain what flag it flew.  As Rodgers approached the ship, he yelled out with all his might,  "What ship is that?".   Instead of a reply, the strange ship responded with a cannon-shot.   At this, one of the gunner's on the President anticipated his leader's instructions, and returned the first shot fired by an American vessel in the War of 1812.   The two ships fought on through the night, and in the light of day Commodore Rodgers was able to ascertain the name of the ship that had been shattered by the President.  It was the Little Belt, a consort of the Guerriere.  

When the news of this defeat reached the American public, it was greeted with great enthusiasm and Captain Rodgers was treated as a hero.  But this was short-lived.  British courts claimed that the President had fired the first shot, and American diplomats quickly turned away from treating Rodgers as a hero.   Yet, the American people continued to believe in Commodore Rodgers prompting Rodgers to boldly state, "I may be censured, but I was determined not to be the aggressor, nor would I suffer the flag of my country to be insulted with impunity.  And that is why I gave a general order to fire, and we have taught England a lesson".

In Madison's 1811 state of the union address, he also spoke out boldly of the events.  In this address, he seems to side with the people in treating Captain Rodgers as a hero. He spoke of an unavoidable encounter between a British ship of war and the American Frigate commanded by Captain Rodgers. If I got my pronouns correct, it seems that Madison stated that the British ship fired first and "is alone chargeable with the blood unfortunately shed in maintaining the honor of the American flag."  

"Among the occurrences produced by the conduct of British ships of war hovering on our coasts was an encounter between 1 of them and the American frigate commanded by Captain Rodgers, rendered unavoidable on the part of the latter by a fire commenced without cause by the former, whose commander is therefore alone chargeable with the blood unfortunately shed in maintaining the honor of the American flag. The proceedings of a court of inquiry requested by Captain Rodgers are communicated, together with the correspondence relating to the occurrence, between the Secretary of State and His Britannic Majesty's envoy."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29453
New York Times,   May 14, 1911 100 YEARS AGO TUESDAY---FIRST SHOT OF 1812 WAR; A Year Before War Was Formally Declared Commodore Rodgers Defeated the Little Belt in a Hot Fight Off the South Atlantic Coast. By Prof. B.J. Cigrand. of the University of Chicago.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DE6DC1E3EE033A25757C1A9639C946096D6CF&legacy=true
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/James_Madison.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Little_belt_affair.jpg