NEAR MY HOUSE!!! Battle of St. Leonard Creek, Patuxent River
On this day in history the Battle of St. Leonard Creek began...
The war of 1812 is what some historians consider our second War of Independence. 210 years ago, the war would reach a turning point in the the waters of Southern Maryland.
After a clash off with a much larger British fleet at Cedar Point in the Patuxent River,
Commodore Joshua Barney’s Flotilla of small gun boats made a mad dash up the river, and eventually sought refuge in St. Leonard Creek. A series of skirmishes occurred between the Chesapeake Flotilla and the British fleet from June 8-10. During the fighting on June 8th , the Commodore’s son, William, doused a fire on one of the barges, saving it, much to the delight and astonishment of the crew and the rest of the flotilla.
A few weeks later, Barney’s fleet was aided by artillery and militia and managed to escape further up the river, eventually reaching Pig Point. After a long pursuit by the British, the flotilla was scuttled and destroyed on August 22, 1814, to prevent British capture. The battles of Cedar Point and St. Leonard Creek were the largest naval engagements in the Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. The war would eventually come to an end with the Treaty of Ghent, signed December 24, 1814.
“Seventeen Vessels...composed this formidable and So much Vaunted Flotilla, Sixteen were in quick Succession blown to atoms and the Seventeenth...was captured.”
– British Vice Admiral Cochrane, August 22, 1814
Picture: William Barney bails water onto the burning gun barge. (c) Gerry Embleton
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