HMS Albion Stamp from Turks and Caicos

Turks and Caicos are British Islands in the Bahamas Chain, northeast of Cuba.

They have put out a stamp honoring both Admiral Alexander Cochrane and the HMS Albion.

The Albion was stationed  off Chesapeake Bay, part of a force that  harried the coastline of that bay during the War of 1812.

The Albion operated all the way up the Potomac and Patuxent rivers destroying large amounts of American shipping as well as U.S. government property.

This operation ended when peace was declared in 1815.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Washington-- Part 1: Defender of Washington, D.C.

From the December 30, 2016, Atlas Obscura.

Built on the Potomac River downriver from Washington, D.C. to guard the southern approaches to the U.S. capital city.  At one time, it was the only defensive fort for that city.

In the War of 1812, 4,000 British soldiers (so-called Waterloo Men for their recent service against Napoleon) landed on the Patuxent River and marched in a wide arc around Fort Washington.

Three days later, British warships bombarded the fort.  Its commander, Captain Dyson and his small garrison retreated and blew up the fort's magazine thus destroying the fort.  He later received a court martial for this action.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago Today: June 26-27, 1814: Barney's Fleet Breaks Blockade

JUNE 26TH, 1814:  Captain Joshua Barney's flotilla breaks through the British naval blockade on St. Leonard's Creek and moves into the Patuxent River, Maryland.

JUNE 27TH, 1814:  A raiding force under American naval Lieutenant Francis Gregory burn a nearly completed schooner at Newcastle, Upper Canada.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Timeline: 200 Years Ago Today-- British Raids in Maryland

JUNE 8-10TH, 1814:  British raids up St. Leonard's Creek, Maryland.  More action took place between the American and British fleets.  The Americans fled seven miles up the Patuxent River to St. Leonard's Creek.  The Americans were bottled up there.

The British continued raids along the Patuxent River June 12-16th.

The American fleet fought its way out of St. Leonard's Creek on June 26th.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Timeline: June 1814.

JUNE 1, 1814:   British raids on Cedar Point and St. Jerome's Point, Maryland.  This was an indecisive encounter near the mouth of the Patuxent River between American and British ships.  Both sides maneuvered and fired at each other at long range, but no damage was done.  The Americans broke off the fight.

JUNE 2-5, 1814:  Americans take possession of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Territory, and start construction of Fort Shelby.   This was a preemptive move by the Americans to occupy this fur trading settlement at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers.  They feared that the British might use it to launch an offensive operation down the Mississippi River.

--Brock-Perry

Southern Maryland's Role in War of 1812-- Part 2

On July 19, 1812, the British occupied St. Clements and St. George islands and landed just north of Point Lookout in St. Mary's County and raided along the shores of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. They already had a blockade along the Atlantic Coast as well as a major presence in the Chesapeake Bay.

Commodore Joshua Barney, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was the commander of a privateer ship in 1812. He proposed the construction of a small defensive flotilla in 1813 to harass the Royal Navy and protect American property.

His small fleet skirmished with a small British fleet off Cedar Point on June 1, 1814. His fleet was blocked from the Potomac River so entered the Patuxent River whereupon the British blockaded that river's mouth. The British then pursued Barney's ships into St. Leonard Creek and the fleets exchanged gunfire. Outgunned, the Americans retreated into shallower water where the British couldn't follow.

The British then raided along the Patuxent River's shore to draw Barney out. There was a skirmish at Benedict in Charles County on June 21, 1814, between the English sailors and marines and American militia who drove them back to their ships.

It's Not Over Yet. --Brock-Perry

Southern Maryland's Role in the War of 1812-- Part 1

From the September 9, 2012, Washington Post "Recalling Southern Maryland's role in the War of 1812" by Justin Babcock.

How's this for some action during the war: The largest naval battle fought on the Chesapeake Bay was fought at St. Looner's Creek, Calver County's Courthouse was burned, Benedict was the landing point of 4500 British troops and farms and homes in St. Mary's County were raided.

The British did not terrorize the Chesapeake Bay area until 1813 and 1814. In August 1814, 45 British warships sailed up the Patuxent River as part of the operation against Washington, DC. They burned plantations along the way.

On April 7, 1813, British ships began probing the Potomac River. The April 22, 1813, Maryland Gazette reported five British ships were anchored in the harbor of Annapolis and state records were moved from the capital.

And, It Gets Hotter. --Brock-Perry