"Light-Horse Harry" Lee-- Part 4: The Baltimore Riots of 1812

Lee retired from public service in 1801 and lived at Stratford Plantation, but did a poor job managing it.  Financial misfortunes followed him until in 1809 he was bankrupt and served one year in debtors prison.  After his release he moved his family to Alexandria, Virginia.

During the Baltimore Riots of 1812 he received grave injuries while resisting an attack on his old friend, Alexander Contee Hanson, editor of the Baltimore newspaper, the Federal Republican, a strongly anti-Madison and War of 1812 paper.

On July 27, 1812, a Baltimore Democrat-Republican mob attacked and Lee and Hanson and two dozen other Federalists had taken refuge in the newspaper offices.  They surrendered to Baltimore city officials the next day and were jailed for their safety.

Laborer George Woolslager led a mob that forced its way into the jail.  They removed Hanson, Lee and the other Federalists and beat and tortured them over the next three hours.  All were severely injured and one of them, James Lingan, and American Revolution hero, died.

--Brock-Perry