Royal Marines attacking Havre de Grace. Courtesy the Lock House Museum.
Up at the top of Chesapeake Bay, the town of Havre de Grace is hosting an 1812 event this weekend, May 1. In the past, this has been a worthwhile event and kid friendly for all those young history buffs! You can read the article at the local community blog, The Cecil Observer:
On a sunny May afternoon nearly 200 years to the day since it was sacked and burned by the British, the town of Havre de Grace will be captured all over again this weekend.
The Lock House Museum on the Susquehanna River plans to host its annual War of 1812 reenactment event this Saturday, May 1, with a living history encampment, historical programs — and a battle or two.
With a little imagination, visitors can envision what the attack early on the morning of May 4, 1813, was like as the British landed to ransack and burn the town.
The town was put to the torch in 1813 with a substantial property loss. The attack was surprisingly bloodless, probably because most of the fifty or sixty American militia soldiers ran after a few shots were exchanged. The British lost three killed and two wounded. One American was killed when he was beheaded by a Congreve rocket.
The attack gave rise to one of the town’s most enduring legends. A monument at the base of the Concord Point lighthouse features a badly weathered cannon set into a chunk of Port Deposit granite. A bronze plaque honors John O’Neill for his defense of the city. It adds that his daughter, Matilda, obtained her father’s release from Cockburn’s ship after he was captured. Cockburn supposedly gave her a gold snuffbox. The plaque also mentions that the citizens of Philadelphia later presented O’Neill with a sword for his heroism. Another historical marker at the water’s edge notes that O’Neill manned a gun battery on high ground nearby.
The attack early on May 3 caught the townspeople by surprise. According to an account published in the Baltimore Sun in 1959 and written by Catherine O’Neill Gunther – great-granddaughter of the man who became the hero of the battle – the British launched their attack with a fifteen-minute bombardment by nineteen barges. Rockets exploded and shells burst overhead. That terrifying show of firepower was enough to discourage any serious resistance from the local militia.
Come and watch American and British forces drill and train throughout the day in preparation for the attack on Havre de Grace later that afternoon. Listen to historical lectures on the event and interact with the re-enactors in a variety of activities. The event culminates with a Star Spangled Banner presentation by the Fort McHenry Guard — the unfurling of a full-sized replica of the flag that flew over the fort during the War of 1812
Schedule
10:00 AM Morning Gun – Event Begins
10:30 AM Militia and US Marine Drill
11:30 AM Cannon firing
12:00 Noon Troops stand down for Lunch
1:00 PM Discussion of Background of War of 1812
1:30 PM “The John O’Neill Perspective”
2:00 PM Militia Pre-Attack Activities
2:30 PM Attack on Havre De Grace
3:30 PM Star Spangled Banner Presentation
4:00 PM Event ends
