had been sent to the vicinity; and upon the Cockburn was informed of this state of things at Havre de Grace, and prepared to fall upon the unsuspecting villagers on the night of the 1st of May. A deserter carried intelligence of his intentions to the town, and the entire neighborhood was speedily aroused. The women and children were carried to places of safety, and about two hundred and fifty militia were soon again at their posts. But Cockburn did not come. He purposely lulled them into repose by a postponement of the attack. The deserter's story was disbelieved. It was thought to be a false alarm. What is there to call the British here? common sagacity queried. The militia again became disorganized, and many of them returned home. tia, opened upon them. These were returned by grape-shot from the enemy's vessels. The drums in the village beat to arms. The affrighted inhabitants, half dressed, rushed to the streets, the non-combatants flying in terror to places of safety. The confusion was cruel. It was increased by a flight of hissing rockets, which set houses in flames. These were followed by more destructive bomb-shells; and while the panic and the fire were raging in the town the enemy landed. A strong party debarked in the cove by the present light-house on Concord Point, captured the small battery there, and pressed forward to seize the larger one on the high bank. All but eight or ten of the militia had fled from the village; and John O'Neil, a brave Irish nail-maker, and Philip Albert alone remained at the battery. Albert was hurt, and O'Neil attempted to manage the heaviest gun alone. He loaded and discharged it, when, by its recoil, his thigh was injured, and he was disabled. They both hurried toward the town and used their muskets until compelled to fly toward the open common, near the Episcopal church, pursued by a British horseman. There O'Neil On the night of the 2d of May there was per- was captured, but Albert escaped. fect quiet in Havre de Grace. The inhabitants The brave Irishman was carried went to sleep more peacefully than they had on board the frigate Maidstone, done for a month. They were suddenly awak- and in the course of a few days ened at dawn by the din of arms. It was a was set at liberty. For his galbeautiful, serene lant behavior the nail-maker of morning-not a Havre de Grace received a sword, cloud in the sky with a handsomely ornamented nor a ripple on gilt scabbard, inscribed with the the water. Fif-words-"PRESENTED TO THE teen to twenty GALLANT JOHN O'NEIL FOR HIS barges, crowd- VALOR AT HAVRE DE GRACE, BY ed with armed PHILADELPHIA-1813." His son men, were seen is the keeper of the light-house approaching, in where the British landed, and is the gray morn- the custodian of this sword. ing twilight, the shore of Concord Point. The guns on higher Point Comfort, manned by a few The guns of the captured battery were turned upon the town, and added to the destruction and alarm. A greater portion of the enemy (almost four hundred in number) went up to the site of the present railway ferry landing and lingering mili- debarked there. They rushed up to the open LANDING-PLACE OF THE BRITISH AT HAVRE DE GRACE. THE PRINGLE MANSION-HOUSE, HAVRE DE GRACE. cannon foundry. A number of vessels that had escaped to that point from the Bay were saved from the flames by being sunk. A little further down they burned a large warehouse. Finally, when all possible mischief had been achieved along the river bank; when farm-houses had been plundered and burned a long distance on the Baltimore road; when, after the lapse of four hours, forty of the sixty houses in the village had been destroyed, and nearly all the remainder of the edifices, excepting the Episcopal Church, were more or less injured, the marauders assembled in their vessels in the stream, and at sunset sailed out into the Bay to pay a sim common, separated into squads, and commenced | ilar visit to villages on the Sassafras River, some plundering and destroying systematically, offi- miles further southward. Havre de Grace was cers and men entering into the business with at least sixty thousand dollars poorer when equal alacrity. The sailors, not content with Cockburn left than when he came twelve hours plundering, wantonly destroyed many things. before. Elegant looking-glasses were dashed in pieces, and feather-beds were ripped open for the sport of scattering the feathers on the wind. Some of the officers indulged in plunder. They selected tables and bureaus for their private use, and after writing their names on them sent them on board the barges. Admiral Cockburn was pleased with an elegant coach which fell in his way, and ordered it to be put on board a boat and taken to his ship. "It belonged to a poor coach-maker," wrote Dr. Sparks, the historian (who was an eye-witness), "whose family must suffer by its loss." Finally, when at least one half of the village had been destroyed, Cockburn, the instigator of the crime, went on shore, and was met on the Common by several ladies who had taken refuge in the elegant brick mansion, some distance from the village, belonging to Mark Pringle, and now the residence of the Honorable Elisha Lewis, who calls the beautiful estate "Bloomsbury." Among those who took shelter there was the wife of Commodore Rodgers, Mrs. William Pinkney, Mrs. Goldsborough, and the aged mother of the latter. They entreated Cockburn to spare the remainder of the village, and especially the roof that sheltered them, for the owner had taken no part in the war. He yielded with reluctance, and at length gave an order for a stay of the plundering and burning. In the mean time a large detachment of the enemy went up the Susquehanna about six miles, to the head of tide-water, and there destroyed extensive iron-works and It was on Thursday the 6th of May, a warm and beautiful morning, when Cockburn and his marauders, six hundred strong, in eighteen barges, went up the Sassafras River that separates Cecil and Kent counties in Maryland, and attacked the villages of Fredericktown and Georgetown, lying an opposite banks of that stream, about eleven miles from its mouth. The former is in Cecil County; the latter in Kent County. Both of them at that time (and especially Georgetown) had a flourishing trade with Baltimore. They contained from forty to fifty houses each; and at Fredericktown several small vessels, that had run up from the Bay for shelter, were moored. EPISCOPAL CHURCH, HAVRE DE GRACE. ers. Fredericktown was first visited by the invad- | other under Lieutenant Robert G. Henly. FitLess than one hundred militia-men, under teen sharp-shooters from Craney Island volunColonel Veazy, were there, with a little breast-teered for the service, and were added to the work and a small cannon, to defend it. Of crews of the boats. Because of head-winds the these all but thirty-five fled when the enemy flotilla did not approach the nearest vessel until opened the fire of his great guns. After making half past three o'clock in the morning. She lay stout resistance with his courageous men, Veazy about three miles from the others; and under was compelled to retire. The British landed; cover of the darkness just before daylight, and and the entreaties of the women to spare the a heavy fog, the Americans approached within town, especially the more humble dwellings of easy range of the vessel without being discovthe poor, were answered by oaths and obscene ered. At four o'clock Tarbell opened fire upon jests and the application of the torch. The her. She was taken by surprise; and her restore-house, the vessels, and the beautiful vil-sponse was so feeble and irregular that a panic lage were set in flames after the invaders were on board was indicated. The wind was too light glutted with plunder. Georgetown then suffered the same fate at the same hands. So delighted was Cockburn with his success in plundering and destroying unprotected towns that, with characteristic swagger, he declared that he should not be satisfied until he had burned every building in Baltimore. After having despoiled these quiet, unoffending villages of wealth to the amount of at least seventy thousand dollars, Cockburn and his followers returned to their ships. This kind of warfare, so disgraceful to a civilized government, created the most intense hatred of the enemy, and aroused a war-spirit throughout the land that for a time appalled the cowardly "Peace party," and nearly silenced the newspapers in their interest. to fill her sails, while the gun-boats, managed He was On the 26th of May (1813) a British Order in Council extended the blockade to New York and all the Southern ports; and on the first of June Admiral Warren entered the Chesapeake with a considerable naval reinforcement for Cockburn and Beresford, bearing a large number of land troops and marines under the command of Sir Sidney Beckwith. The British force now collected within the Capes of Virginia consisted of eight ships of the line, twelve frigates, and a considerable number of smaller vessels; and it was evident that some more important point than defenseless villages would be the next object for an attack. The citizens of Baltimore, Annapo- The attack on the Junon brought matters in lis, and Norfolk, were equally menaced; but Hampton Roads and vicinity to a crisis. Efwhen, at the middle of June, three British frig- forts for the capture of Norfolk, with its fortifiates entered Hampton Roads and sent their cations, the armed vessels there, and the Navyboats up the James River to destroy some small yard, were immediately made by the British American vessels there and to plunder the in- admiral. The cannonade had been distinctly habitants, it was evident that Norfolk would be heard, and with the very next tide after the the first point of attack. The Constellation, 38, conflict on that foggy Sunday morning, fourand a flotilla of twenty gun-boats, as well as teen of the enemy's vessels entered the Roads, Forts Norfolk and Nelson (one on each side of ascended to the mouth of the James River, and the Elizabeth River), Forts Tar and Barbour, took position between the point called Newportand the fortifications on Craney Island, were all Newce and Pig Point, at the mouth of the put in the best possible state of defense. At the Nansemond. These vessels had on board a same time Captain Tarbell of the Constellation, large body of land troops; among them two by order of Commodore Cassin, commander of companies composed of French volunteer pristhe station, organized an expedition for the cap-oners, already referred to, who, in compliment ture of the British frigate that lay at anchor at the nearest distance from Norfolk. Toward midnight on Saturday the 19th of June, Captain Tarbell, with fifteen gun-boats, descended the Elizabeth River in two divisions, one under Lieutenant J. M. Gardner, and the to their language, were called Chasseurs Britanniques. Sir Sidney Beckwith was in chief command of these land troops, assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles James Napier, afterward a distinguished General in the British army, and who was knighted for his services in the East Indies, where he became Commanderin-Chief of the British forces. The whole number of the enemy, including the seamen, was about five thousand. This hostile demonstration aroused the Virginians. James Barbour was then Governor of that State. He was patriotic and active, and by untiring energy he had already assembled several thousand militia. A large portion of them, with some United States regulars, under Captain Pollard, were at old Fort Norfolk and vicinity. They had been drawn chiefly from the coast districts most immediately menaced by the enemy. The Richmond press and leading provincial journals had zealously seconded the Governor's efforts, and, as usual, appealed successfully to State pride. Gallant men flocked to the standard of their common country. Craney Island, five miles below Norfolk, which has played a conspicuous part in the Great Rebellion, was soon made the theatre of stirring events. It was in shape like that of a painter's pallet, contained then about thirty acres of land, which rose only a few feet above high-water mark, and was separated from the main land by a shallow strait fordable at lowwater, but over which a foot-bridge had been erected. On the southeastern portion of the island intrenchments had been thrown up, on which were two 24, one 18, and one 6 pound cannon, that commanded the ship channel. These formed the most remote military outpost of Norfolk, and were the key to the harbor. The defense of Craney Island was demanded by stern necessity, and to that end the efforts of the leaders in that vicinity were directed. The chief of these was Brigadier-General Robert B. Taylor, the commanding officer of the district. The whole available force on the island when the British entered Hampton Roads consisted of two companies of artillery from Portsmouth, under the command of Major James Faulkner, father of the late United States Minister at the French court, a company of riflemen, under Captain Roberts; and four hundred and sixteen militia infantry of the line, under LieutenantColonel Beatty. These were so situated that if attacked and overpowered they had no means for escape; and yet, as one of the newspapers of the day said, they were "all cool and collected, rather wishing the attack." General Taylor, perceiving the necessity of reinforcing the troops on Craney Island, on whom the first blow of the invaders must necessarily fall, sent down Captain Pollard with thirty regulars, accompanied by thirty volunteers, most of them riflemen. These were followed by about one hundred and fifty seamen, under Lieutenants Neale, Shubrick, and Sanders; and fifty marines, under Lieut. Breckinridge, who were sent by Captain Tarbell, at the request of General Taylor, to work the heavy guns. At midnight the camp was alarmed by the crack of the sentinel's musket, who supposed that a bush in the strait was a lurking spy in a boat. The troops, called to arms, stood watching until dawn, when the real character of the object was discovered. The soldiers were at once dismissed; but they had scarcely broken ranks when a horseman came dashing across the shallow strait and reported that the enemy were landing in force near Major Hoffleur's, a little more than two miles distant, in the direction of Pig Point. The long roll was immediately beaten, and as the daylight increased the British were seen passing in a continual stream from the ships to the shore, and making the wood all aglow with scarlet. Faulkner at once ordered the heavy guns on the southeastern portion of the island | was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Beatty. to be transferred to the northwestern shore, and A long pole was procured, the national flag was placed in battery with four 6-pounders already nailed to it, and then it was planted firmly in in position there. These seven pieces presented the redoubt. The gun-boats were anchored in a formidable defense. A short distance in the the form of a segment of a circle, extending rear of them the infantry, riflemen, and some from Craney Island to Lambert's Point; while artillery acting as infantry were formed in line, the Constellation lay nearer the city. Thus preso as to face the strait at the mouth of Wise's pared, the Americans calmly awaited the apCreek. Lieutenant Neale took command of the proach of the foe. 18-pounder, assisted by Lieutenants Shubrick and Sanders, and about one hundred sailors and marines, chiefly from the Constellation. The two 24's and four 6's were under the charge of Captain Emerson and his company of artillery, aided by active subordinate officers. One of them was Captain Thomas Rooke, of the merchantman Manhattan, then in the harbor of Norfolk, who volunteered, and was of great service in the transfer of the heavy guns from one end of Craney Island to the other. These guns were worked chiefly by men of the navy. The entire battery was under the supreme command of Major Faulkner, who was a cool and skillful artillerist; the entire force on the island The British landed about twenty-five hundred men, infantry and marines, at Hoffleur's Creek. The morning sky was cloudless; and for more than two hours the flashing of their burnished arms might be seen by the Americans as they manoeuvred on the beach and in the edge of an intervening wood. Stealthily they crept through the thick undergrowth of the forest, and appeared suddenly on the point at the confluence of Wise's Creek and the strait. They immcdiately opened a cannonade from a field-piece and a howitzer, and sent a bevy of Congreve rockets upon the island, to cover the movement of a detachment sent to cross Wise's Creek and gain the rear of the American flank in position on the main land. They were partially sheltered by Wise's house and a thick woodSome of the heavy guns of the battery on the island were opened upon them with great precision and rapidity, and a shower of grape and canister shot soon drove the enemy out of reach of the artillery. Almost simultaneously with this advance of the British land-force, fifty large barges, filled with full fifteen hundred sailors and marines, were seen approaching from the enemy's ships. They hugged the main shore to keep out of range of the gunboat artillery, and moved in column order in two distinct. lines, in the direction of the strait, led by Admiral Warren's beautiful barge, calledin consequence of its length and the great number of oars on each side, like legs-The Centipede. In her bow was a brass 3-pounder, called a "grasshopper," and she was commanded by Captain Hanchett, of the flag-ship Diadem, a natural son of George the Third, and half-brother of the Prince Regent, then holding the reins of government in the British realm. As the first division of the fleet of barges approached. the eager Emerson could hardly be restrained by the more prudent Faulkner. At PLAN OF OPERATIONS AT CRANEY ISLAND. |