USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume II > Part 17
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member of the Council of Maryland, and now published for the first time, will serve to indicate the condition of affairs in the county at this juncture.
Easton, April 14th, 1813.
DEAR SIR :- Our citizens have been for several days past in a state of alarm by the reported approach of the enemy to our Bay Shore, and to- day we have received information from Colonel Auld by a letter to General Benson, dated 10 o'clock, that six British ships, at Nabbs' [Knapps'] narrows were actually sending men ashore in Barges, and that he was preparing to meet them with 140 men of his regiment. Upon this information the militia companies of this place were immediately ordered out, but a difficulty arose with respect to the delivery of more arms than those which had been specifically ordered. The General has taken upon himself the responsibility of sending arms and ammuni- tion to the point of attack, in addition to those which have been sent heretofore to the Bay Side, and if the emergency, which now presents itself, should continue Colonel Smyth proposes upon his own responsibil- ity to deal out as many arms as may be deemed advisable.
The order, of which I inclose a copy, has been delivered to the Armorer today, and although some of our citizens have expressed dissatisfaction at it, giving it a construction which cannot accord with the real views of the Council, some of us have undertaken to assert that the order is intended for the general accommodation of all the counties, now liable to attack, upon any emergency that might arise, when resort could not be had to the Executive, at Annapolis. We have supposed that the discretionary power of giving out arms and ammunition, occasion might require has been lodged with you, as a member of the Executive Council, near at hand, on the Eastern Shore. In this construction we are confident you will agree with us; and as you are at some distance from the Armory and the people here are extremely pressing upon the subject, it has been thought to suggest to you the propriety of your granting to the Brigadier General, or some other officer in or near Easton, a discretionary power to order out arms, &c., as necessity may require. This is a probability of a large portion of the militia being called out im- mediately, and you will gratify our people very much by a prompt an- swer upon this subject. Under present circumstances, you will see reason to excuse the liberty of this communication from a private citi- zen written upon slight consultation with a few friends.
The following article taken from the Republican Star of the 20th of April will also serve to represent the condition of affairs in this county, as well as give an account of one of those incidents of the war which excited some interest.
The Queenstown packet was captured on Friday last by two barges from the British squadron up the bay between North Point and the
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Fort. The captain and some of the passengers made their escape in a boat, the rest, among whom were some women and children, were de- tained all night near the Admiral's ship. In the morning they were put on board an old sloop and allowed to proceed home, detaining the packet and property to the amount of between three and five thousand dollars, principally belonging to Mr. Meredith and Bromwell of this town.12 The squadrons having during the last week literally spread out on our shores, while their small vessels have entered several rivers, but without effecting any landing on the main, being opposed at all points by infantry and cavalry, whose determined valor they seemed loth to test. Sharp's island has been invaded now about a week, and a partial supply of water and provisions have fallen into the hands of the captors. Tilghman's and Poplar islands are also in their power, and out of the protection of the militia. From those prisoners whom they have released, it is understood they intend to make their rendezvous on these islands, so long as they furnish supplies. The editor inti- mates that the cause for the barrenness of his columns of news is the absence of his workmen upon military duty in the lower part of the county. In his issue of the 27th of April, the editor states that during the past week Poplar island was visited by a marauding party and "plundered to a large amount. Upwards of forty head of cattle, some sheep, hogs, etc., were borne off by this visit," when the party "stood up the bay." "Had the islands in the bay," he continued, "been divested of succor for the enemy, which interest and patriotism certainly dictated, the bold and determined stand made by the defenders of the main would have rendered their visit up the bay both short and unprofit- able.
It was while the fleet was in the upper part of the bay, in the months of April and May, 1813, that the city of Baltimore was threatened with a visit from Admiral Cockburn, and the small towns of Havre-de-Grace, Georgetown and Frederickton were attacked, plundered and burned and many outrages perpetrated upon the inhabitants of the counties lying north of Talbot by his marauding parties. It would be going beyond the prescribed scope of this contribution to give any particular account of these expeditions, which were as disgraceful to their perpetra- tors as they were humiliating to those who undertook to repel them, for the inefficiency of the militia under fire was most conspicuously displayed. The reader is referred to works of the general history of the country or
12 In the Republican Star of the same date Messrs. Meredith and Bromwoll give a statement, over their own signatures, of the circumstances of their capture, but they add little to the account given by the editor. They state that Admiral Cockburn was in command of the fleet, and that he was on board the flagship Marlborough of seventy-four guns. The packet and merchandise were retained as lawful prize.
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of the State for details of these affairs. They are referred to here on account of their relation to matters in this county, and because of their effects upon the people of Talbot, which were to increase the alarm and to keep the militia forces in a constant readiness for the coming of the enemy. This event, it was very evident, could not long be postponed, and it was awaited with more and more solicitude as the reports of out- rages gained in atrocity. Cattle and other lone stock were driven from the exposed parts of the county. Valuables, such as would offer tempta- tion to unscrupulous sailors and marines, were transported to places of safety, women and children were sent in many cases into the interior, and slaves suspected of disaffection were also placed beyond reach. Every man liable to military service was enrolled in some company, and subjected to such periodical drills as those engaged in the active work of life could be expected or required to undergo. The few relics of the revolutionary era buckled on their swords or shouldered their muskets "to show how fields were won" or to give encouragement to their younger fellow-citizens. Notwithstanding the disheartening effects which the conduct of the militia elsewhere had induced, or was calculated to induce, there is no evidence that there was any reluctance shown by the men of Talbot to have their courage and firmness put to the test, nor that there was any other feeling than a determination to retrieve the honor of their brethren in arms which had been lost, or sadly obscured on other fields. Another effect of these outrages perpetrated along the bay shore of this and the neighboring counties was to unite the whole people, and, if not to extinguish all differences of opinion as to the policy of the war, at least to prevent any other expression with regard to it but a determination to repel the foe should he invade their homes. The Federalist, who had most violently condemned the declaration of war, stood side by side in the ranks with the Democrat who had been most reckless in his advocacy of such declaration; while, there is good ground for believing that more than one-half the commissioned officers of the Talbot militia were drawn from that party which was branded as an ally of the enemy by its opponents. All diversities of sentiment merged into one, the duty of every man in the community to defend his fireside from the intrusion of a rapacious enemy. If the vehemence of the parti- san was not added to the ardor of the patriot in every case, the conduct of no one betrayed any difference in the alacrity and willingness that were shown by all to join in the common defence.
The rolls of the several militia companies, and the rosters of the regiments, or battalions, formed within this county during the war of 1812-15 are not, to the writer, accessible, if indeed they be in existence:
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but from such imperfect memoranda as have been recorded, and from the recollections of persons participating in the military events of the time, the following account of the militia organizations had been com- piled. It is proper to say that it is necessarily imperfect, and doubtless in some instances incorrect. Of artillery, there seems to have been but one regularly organized company in the county. This was known as the Talbot Volunteer Artillerists, and was commanded by Captain Clement Vickars, though, it will be seen in the sequel, he had but the rank of lieutenant. This is the same company that in 1809 had for its captain Samuel Thomas, and this gentleman may have remained at the head of its roll during the war, though Vickars performed the duties of its chief officer. In the town of St. Michaels there were artillerists, but it does not appear they were organized as a distinct company. They were probably members of an infantry corps, and had assigned to them the charge of those cannon which were at that town. Captain William Dodson, who is recognized officially as Lieutenant Dodson, had command of the fort at St. Michaels, and Lieutenant John Graham was in command of another breast-work. Of these St. Michaels artillerists William Farlow, Wrightson Jones and John Thompson were subordinate officers, but their relative rank is not known.
Of cavalry, three companies are known to have been organized in the county. "The Independent Light Dragoons" was formed of citizens of Easton and its vicinity. Of this company Robert Henry Golds- borough was the captain; William Harrison, first lieutenant; Edward W. Hambleton, second lieutenant, and Philemon W. Hemsley, cornet, or third lieutenant. This is the same company of which, under the name of the "Talbot Patriot Troop," Edward Lloyd was captain, until promoted in 1812 to be lieutenant colonel of the Ninth Regiment of Horse. At the same time Mr. Goldsborough was offered the rank of Major to the same regiment, but declined the honor, preferring to remain Captain. This troop some years later was commanded by Mr. William Harrison, and then by Mr. Nicholas Thomas, as captains. The second troop of horse was formed at St. Michaels and its vicinity. The name which it assumed has escaped notice, but it was commanded by Robert Banning as Captain; Feddeman Rolle, and afterwards Richard Spencer, as First Lieutenant; William Roberts, as Second Lieutenant, and James Hambleton as Cornet, or Third Lieutenant. The third troop in the county, of which the name has not survived, was formed at Trappe, and composed of citizens of that village and the neighborhood. Of this company Daniel Martin was Captain, who was succeeded, in 1813, by the First Lieutenant, William Dickinson. The Second Lieutenant was
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Isaac Bowdle, who was promoted to be First Lieutenant in 1813, and the Cornet was James Clayland, who was promoted to be Second Lieu- tenant in the same year. Of these troops, the companies of Captains Banning and Martin belonged to the Ninth Regiment of Horse, and probably that of Captain Goldsborough belonged to the same. If there was a troop of horse in the upper part of the county, as is not unlikely, its name and the names of its officers have escaped mention.
Of infantry there were many companies in the county, either in skeleton or fully organized. The list following may be regarded as full and as accurate as can be compiled from such imperfect memoranda as have thus far been collected.13 In and near Easton were companies commanded by Captains George Wishart Smith (the "Light Infantry Blues"); John Leeds Kerr (the "Easton Fencibles"); and Amos Hale, (the "Mechanic Volunteers"). These were all uniformed companies, and the two first mentioned maintained their organization for years after the close of the war. Captain William Jordon commanded a company composed chiefly of residents of Miles River Neck, and Captain Jonathan Spencer and his company were from the neighborhood of Wye Landing. Captain Joseph Kemp, who afterwards became Colonel Kemp, drew his command from the town of St. Michaels and vicinity, which assumed the name of the "Saint Michaels Patriotic Blues." This company had been commanded by William Merchant before his death, and was uniformed. Captain Thomas Wayman drew his company (the "Hearts of Oak"), from the neighborhood of the Royal Oak. This company maintained its organization for many years after the war, and was com- manded by Alexander B. Harrison. If not uniformed at the date of the war, it became so afterwards. Below St. Michaels, in the Bayside and in Broad Creek Neck, companies were formed under Captains Oakley Haddaway, John Carroll and Daniel Feddeman. In the lower part of the county, within Trappe district, Captains Nicholas Golds- borough, Samuel Stevens, John Merrick and James Newnam enrolled companies. In the eastern and northern portion of the county, or chiefly in the Chapel district, were the companies commanded by Cap- tains Henrix (Thomas or Charles), Thomas Jones and George Parrott.14
13 It is proper to say, in this connection, that all the military records of the State of Maryland, relative to the war of 1812-15, were removed from Annapolis to Washington, and are now in the office of the 3rd auditor of the Treasury of the United States.
14 This list cannot be implicitly relied upon, as to the localities of the companies. In the main it is indubitably correct.
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These forces were under the chief command of Brigadier General Perry Benson, under whom were Colonels Edward Lloyd, Hugh Auld, William B. Smyth, William Hayward and Perry Spencer, the last two of whom were too old for active service, yet they performed military duty in emergency. The Majors were, John Meredith, William Caulk, John Dawson, Thomas Jones, William Lambdin, and later, John Leeds Kerr as Brigade Inspector, and Daniel Martin.15
If the efficiency of this large body of enrolled militia had been pro- portionate to its numbers or to the bravery of its component parts, the people of the county would have had little to apprehend from any force the enemy was likely to send against them; but experience had shown how little dependence could be placed upon the firmness of men whose natural courage was not supported by that confidence that comes only from military discipline. What training in tactics they received was of the most effectual kind, such only as could be given by officers them- selves ignorant of military science and art, at such periodical musters irregularly attended by men who could not be withdrawn from their usual avocations. The insufficiency of arms was such that all who were enrolled could not be properly equipped, so that muskets that were used by companies stationed near threatened positions were given up as soon as the immediate danger had passed, and transferred to other companies when the enemy approached the section from which they were recruited.16 But under all these circumstances, there was an evident determination vigorously to defend their homes from the devastating foe, should he make a landing upon the main.
On the sixth of May 1813, a pleasing incident worthy of commemora- tion occurred at the town of Saint Michaels. An account of this may be given in the words of one who witnessed the affair.
The ladies of Saint Michaels delivered to General Benson a hand- some flag, for the use of the Fort [erected upon Parrott's Point, for the defence of the town,] with the following address by Miss Dodson:
15 This list is not wholly trustworthy, but as there is substantial ground for what it states, it must stand until better information furnishes correction and completion.
16 In June 1813 an effort was made to form a more regular body of soldiers, which should be kept constantly under arms for the defence of the country. It was then proposed to raise a company or companies of mounted Infantry, to be called the Volunteer Rangers, which should be officered and paid by the State and which should serve during the continuance of the war, but should not be required to go beyond the limits of the State. There is no certain evidence that this company was ever formed.
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"The ladies of Saint Michaels and its vicinity wishing to express the high sense of gratitude they feel to the gentlemen, for their prompt exertions in erecting a fort for the common defence; and also in some degree to testify their zeal for the liberty and honor of their beloved country, have prepared a flag, at their own expense, made it with their own hands, and do most respectfully present the same to you, and through you to them, for the use of the said fort-having entire confi- dence the same will not be disgraced for want of that patriotic zeal and persevering bravery which always inspires the breast of a people enlightened and free. The General received it with feelings of grati- tude and delivered an appropriate answer, by calling to their minds what the Grecian, Roman and Carthagenian ladies had done when their country was invaded by a foreign foe: and he beheld with pleasure that his countrywomen he believed, were not behind them, or the women of any nation in patriotism. The flag was raised under the fire of a gun and music, the soldiers promising to defend it with their lives.
(Signed) A Bystander.17
The lady presenting the flag was the sister of the Captain of the Artil- lery company, Capt. William Dodson, who was in command of the Fort at the entrance of the harbor of the town. Upon this flag was embroid- ered the names of the officers of this company, and was displayed over the Fort when the attack presently to be mentioned was made, but was borne away when the Fort was evacuated.
Early in the month of June the number of ships in the Chesapeake had been considerably increased by new arrivals from Bermuda and the West India station. Upon these there were three or four thousand troops "including a regiment made up of foreign refugees and prisoners, many of whom were worthless desperadoes." Foiled in an attack upon Craney Island, that commanded the harbor of Norfolk, Virginia, the village of Hampton on the north side of James River was on the 25th of the same month, seized and those infamous outrages perpetrated upon its inhabitants which added new horrors to the alarm the marauding expeditions of Cockburn had excited among the people seated along the bay and its tributaries. Brutality to women now, it was apprehended would be united with the burning of farm houses and villages, and with the pillaging of plantations and stores of these "water Winnebagoes," as they were called. As a consequence of this new terror, the wives and daughters of the residents in exposed situations were sent off to the interior or as far as this was possible; but of course the larger part of the inhabitants were not able to avail themselves of this expedient for
17 This communication is given as it was printed, without any attempt to correct its phraseology.
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protection from a licentious soldiery. The enemy's fleet advancing up the bay continued to send parties into the rivers and creeks where they committed their usual depredations. On Tuesday, August 10th, according to one of the newspapers of Easton, there were twenty-five or thirty sail up the bay, off Tilghman's Point, in the Eastern Bay and around Kent Island; which they took possession of, on Thursday last, [the 6th] and landed about two thousand troops, erected a battery at the Narrows and occasionally crossed to the main. They made no attempt to land on the main of Talbot, though they have had possession of Poplar Island, the past week. Kent Island became a kind of ren- dezvous, from which expeditions were sent out from time to time. The land forces were under the command of General Sir Sidney Beck- with, who made his headquarters at Belleview, the seat of Mr. Jonathan Harrison, near the bay shore. That gentleman, a native of Talbot, had sent the female members of his family to Easton, but remained himself upon the plantation, to prevent, as far as possible, the destruc- tion of his property.18
It was not doubted, from the time when the enemy had taken pos- session of Kent Island, that he would soon visit the mainland of Talbot or Queen Anne county. There was much to invite his attention in these counties and especially in the former. Talbot contained the largest town upon the Eastern Shore and one that could be approached by boats and small vessels to within three miles, by way of Saint Michaels river. This town offered materials for pillage, being a place of no inconsiderable wealth, containing a bank and well furnished stores. Here too was the armory for the whole of this section of the state, which the imagination of the enemy, doubtless, filled with the munitions of war, but which was
18 From this gentleman, the grandfather of the writer of this contribution, it was learned that while General Beckwith and his officers made very free use of everything in the house and upon the farm, they treated Mr. Harrison and his wife with marked courtesy, and even proffered some inadequate payment for the injury they had done. Mr. Harrison was a professed Democrat and supporter of the war, and used to relate that one day at dinner, Captain Powell, an Aide to General Beckwith, said to him "we will ship the Democrats for being enemies to the British government, and we will drub the Federalists for being enemies to their own." The National Intelligencer of Washington, at that time an intense war journal, seriously claimed that the Americans had acquired new allies while the British were upon Kent Island, from whose attacks more important results were anticipated than from those of the neighborhood militia. These allies were the musquitoes, whose bloodthirsty numbers it was thought would soon drive the enemy to take refuge on board his ships. These were Trojans that no Ajax could withstand.
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indeed very empty when the militia had been armed, as they were upon occasions of alarm. Besides Easton, the town of Saint Michaels upon a river of the same name was an important point for attack- important as an outport of Easton, as it were, and as being a village of two or three hundred inhabitants and containing much plunder; but more important as being a place of shipbuilding where at the date of these events there were six or more vessels upon the stocks, of which one was a barge for naval defence. There were also larger craft, some of which were probably intended for the privateer service; for this county was then noted for the construction of that class of fast sailing vessels, which were used in this private warfare, and for which Baltimore has acquired the whole credit, and to which that city gave the name of Balti- more Clippers. The destruction of these vessels then in the course of building at the shipyards19 of the town and vicinity was alone of sufficient importance to invite a visit from the enemy now stationed almost within sight of the workmen engaged in their construction.
For some weeks the militia of the county at large had been in expec- tation of being called in to service, and as has been shown, those in the Bayside had been for some time upon the alert. Videttes had been sta- tioned at different points of observation and every movement of the fleet and its boats had been noted and reported to Colonel Auld, at St. Michaels or to General Benson, at Easton. When it was announced that the enemy had taken possession of Kent Island, and that his ships were in the Eastern Bay, the companies of Captains Smith, Kerr and Vickars of Easton were ordered to Saint Michaels where they met with the company of Captain Kemp and the artillery men under Captain Dod- son, of that town. These were soon followed by other companies from more distant parts of the county and before their services were actually required there were assembled at the point of attack about five hundred men.20 These belonged to the following companies in addition to those just mentioned: Captain Wayman's company, Captain Carroll's com- pany, Captain Jordon's company, Captain Jonathan Spencer's company, Captain Robert H. Goldsborough's company, Captain Robert Banning's
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