Other Service
After winning promotion to Lieutenant for his participation in the raid on the Philadelphia, Macdonough served aboard the 18-gun brig the USS Syren, the same vessel assisting the Intrepid at Tripoli. Assisting Isaac Hull, he then supervised the construction of several gunboats in Middletown, Connecticut. In January 1806, Macdonough was promoted to a commission of Lieutenant.
As commander of the 18-gun USS Wasp, Macdonough served patrolling waters near Great Britain and various points in the Mediterranean. He returned to America and enforced the Embargo Act, and the Atlantic blockade, from 1807 and 1808.
In 1809, he served with Captain Smith aboard the USS Essex, but later requested reassignment. Macdonough returned to Middletown, Connecticut, and was placed in charge of the several gunboats there. In Middletown Macdonough met his future wife, Ann Shaler.
With the repeal of the Embargo Act, the role of the navy became less active, with a fifth of its officers away on furlough at half pay. Macdonough remained in Middleton for only eight months before requesting a furlough in June 1810. From 1810 to 1812, Macdonough took a leave of absence for two years as the captain of a British merchantman that was en-route to India.
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