The Chesapeake Campaigns 1813–15: Middle ground of the War of 1812

ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN

The Chesapeake, the grandest and safest estuary belonging to this or to any other nation including its numerous and extensive rivers, affords, perhaps, a greater extent of inland navigation, and facilities intercourse ever a finer territory than any other bay of the whole world.

The American Farmer, October 27, 1826

A very Goodly Bay, were the journal words of Captain John Smith when he sailed up the Chesapeake in 1607. Along the shores he found Native Americans who inhabited the bay and named it "Chesepiooc," which has various meanings including: the great river in which fish with hard shell covering abound; Big River; or Great Shell Bay. It would be this estuary, the largest in North America, which would be the middle ground in the struggle between the Canadian frontier and the southern coasts during the War of 1812.

Beginning at the Susquehanna River to the north the bay stretches for 200 miles to the Atlantic with a width varying from 3 to 30 miles and an average depth 46ft with a maximum of 208ft. More than 150 rivers and streams feed into the bay, and these resources fed the region and supplied timber, fresh water and bountiful game for both Maryland and Virginia as well as the Royal Navy who would occupy the bay from 1813 to 1815. These many rivers also allowed passage for the barges of Royal Marines, sailors and soldiers during lengthy Chesapeake campaigns.

The War of 1812 was the culmination of the struggle for the North American continent that had begun during the French and Indian War (1754–63), continued in the American Revolution (1775–83) and now the War of 1812, a vast regional struggle to preserve the sovereignty of the young nation on the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake and the southern coasts to New Orleans.

Europe’s Napoleonic Wars had brought conflict to the seas, and America’s maritime interests began to suffer. The trade restrictions of 1807–11 were a series of acts of both the Jefferson and then Madison administrations that restricted US trade to foreign ports. The acts were enacted in response to the British Orders Council and French decrees restricting neutral trade with Europe. Both administrations hoped the acts would force the European belligerents to reduce or end their restrictions on US trade. They failed to achieve this end. Although intended to punish England for her violations of American maritime rights, the US restrictions also caused extensive protests in New England and the Chesapeake region.

Adding further insult to injury was the threat to national sovereignty caused by the Royal Navy’s policy of impressments of sailors to man her ships, stopping American ships and seizing sailors on the high seas – often British citizens and deserters, but by no means exclusively. This issue came to the fore on June 22, 1807 in the attack upon the USS Chesapeake (38) by HMS Leopard (38) when the latter was attempting to search the former for British deserters. This breach of neutrality against a US warship nearly brought America to open war with Great Britain before 1812. Maryland and Virginia both summoned volunteers while the federal government authorized new coastal fortifications at Norfolk (forts Nelson and Norfolk), Annapolis (forts Madison and Severn), the Potomac River (Fort Washington) and Baltimore (Fort McHenry).

On June 16, 1812 Great Britain finally suspended the controversial Orders, with the understanding that the US would repeal its Non-Importation Act of 1811. It was too late, with the fledgling United States declaring war two days later unaware of the change in British stance. War preparations were already well underway and the Madison administration was looking onward to Canada.

The early American campaigns of the War of 1812 had ended in failure, notably the invasion of Canada in 1812. The American strategy during this campaign consisted of a three-pronged invasion. The first assault in the east was led by General Henry Dearborn; the second in the center at the Niagara in New York by General Stephen Van Rensselaer; and the third to the west at Detroit by General William Hull. The campaigns ended in disaster, caused primarily by poor leadership, compounded in the east by the refusal of the Massachusetts and Connecticut militia to cross the border – a considerable frustration for the Madison administration.

However, despite these setbacks a series of naval victories over the mighty Royal Navy both gave the fledgling US Navy its first heroes and bolstered the Madison administration politically. On October 18 the sloop of war USS Wasp defeated HMS Frolic (22 guns), though the Wasp was captured the same day by the ship of the line HMS Poictiers. This unfortunate affair was recovered by the frigate USS United States’ defeat of HMS Macedonian on October 25 and that of the frigate USS Constitution over the frigate HMS Java on December 29. These victories enabled Madison to win a second term of office and prepare him for the coming invasions of 1813–14.

A Front View of the State House. Etc., at Annapolis the Capital of Maryland, from the Columbian Magazine, February 1789. From here Governor Winder’s Military Council directed the war effort. (Maryland State Archives, Special Collections (Thomas Bon Collection) Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827), MSA SC 194-01-0003)

The Chesapeake region avoided any severe impact from the war in 1812, but the naval blockade imposed by the Royal Navy, coupled with the arrival of increasing numbers of reinforcements in 1813 and especially following the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the bay provided the setting for an escalating number of battles, skirmishes, raids and naval engagements. For two years the Chesapeake, then the political and geographic heartland of America, was held hostage by overwhelming British naval and military superiority. Like the rest of the nation, Maryland and Virginia were politically and militarily unprepared for the war. They had no means of effectively meeting a powerful foe – no adequate defense policy and an inexperienced militia, while the internal politics reflected both the federal lack of readiness to face a foreign invasion and the internal conflict over the very decision to go to war itself.

Nowhere was this more obvious than in the region’s principal centre, the city of Baltimore. Already in the 1790s Baltimore was a thriving seaport with European trade exports and imports rivaling those of New England and the south. It was incorporated in 1797 and by 1810 had a population of 45,000. In June 1812 the political wrangling over the conflict exploded into a popular outburst in the city, aimed squarely at Alexander C. Hanson (1786–1819), publisher of the Federal Republican. The newspaper was a federalist paper that voiced distain for the Madison administration and Hanson’s editorials soon incurred the wrath of Madison’s Democratic-Republicans. On June 22, an angry mob smashed Hanson’s presses and razed his building, forcing him to flee to Georgetown outside Washington. When Hanson returned to Baltimore and printed a further diatribe against the war on June 27 the mob returned and tried to break into the new premises. The militia that attended to the scene refused to enforce order and, instead, the besieged printer and his friends were taken to the Baltimore City Jail in protective custody. However, the mob broke in and savagely beat, tarred and feathered Hanson and his followers resulting in the death of a veteran of the Revolution James McCubbin Lingan (1751–1812), while the renowned Revolutionary War general Henry Light Horse Lee (1756–1818), father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, was another victim.

Despite his personal opposition to the war policies of the Madison administration, Maryland Governor Levin Winder was well aware of the potential threat to his State’s security and made repeated requests for federal assistance. Realizing Maryland must rely on its own resources, Winder reluctantly expressed, the means of defense reserved in the State government are very limited … the law of self preservation, which belongs to communities as well as individuals … as our resources are very limited to afford complete protection.

Conspiracy Against Baltimore – The War Dance at Montgomery Courthouse. A satirical political cartoon illustrating the point of the federalist activities at Baltimore were planned at Montgomery County, Maryland, the seat of Alexander C. Hanson, editor of the Federal Republican. (Maryland Historical Society)

CHRONOLOGY

During the Chesapeake campaigns 200 documented naval and military actions occurred at hundreds of sites associated with the war. Listed here are selected primary skirmishes, battles and events and by no means reflect the full inventory. For a complete listing see The War on the Chesapeake: A Reference Guide to Historic Sites in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.