The Fort McHenry Guard

Some of the duties of Flotilla members include proficiency in operating heavy naval guns; utilizing boarding pikes, cutlasses, pistols, and muskets; understanding the development and wearing of sailors clothing up to 1814; basic sailors arts, such as knot work and sewing; and periodic maintenance of all items on the gun deck, including painting, woodworking and gun maintenance.

As the duties of the Flotilla include heavy lifting and vigorous activity in the hot summer sun, prospective members should be in reasonable physical condition to fully participate. Also, due to the wide variety of skills needed to be an effective sailor, applicants must be willing to learn extra material particular to sailor arts beyond the basics required in the Guard.

Joshua Barney, Revolutionary War naval hero and 1812 privateer captain, submitted a plan for the defense of the Chesapeake Bay to Secretary of the Navy William Jones on July 4, 1813. He estimated that the force consist of gunboats and barges that could be sailed or rowed. It was thought that a force of this composition, manned by sailors and those in the shipbuilding industries, could engage British landing parties in the shallow waters of the Bay.

Barney’s plan was approved and construction on the Flotilla began in 1813. On May 24, 1814, Barney was given the rank of Commodore and the Chesapeake Flotilla became an auxiliary unit of the United States Navy. The Flotilla sailed from Baltimore with the intent of harassing the British Fleet and possibly attacking the British naval base that had been established on Tangier Island. On June 1, 1814, the Flotilla engaged several British warships in what was called the Battle of Cedar Point. The Flotilla was forced to retreat and sailed into the Patuxent River near St. Leonard’s Creek.

For several days, the British Fleet bombarded the Flotilla with cannon and Congreve rockets in an attempt to destroy it. On August 19, 1814, the Flotilla left St. Leonard’s Creek and sailed north up the Patuxent River. A plan had been discussed to transport the entire Flotilla overland from the port of Queen Anne to the South River and return it to the Bay. Barney ultimately received orders to sail as far north as possible to Pig Point and to scuttle the entire fleet if the British approached. On August 22, 1814, the British Army and Navy approached the Flotilla, and Barney ordered the fleet destroyed. He then force marched his flotilla men and their cannons to Washington D.C.

On August 24, 1814 Barney and the flotilla participated in the Battle of Bladensburg. The Flotilla stood their ground and the British suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Barney’s cannoneers. Barney received a serious wound to his thigh from a musket ball and, since they were about to be overwhelmed by British regulars, ordered the Flotilla to retreat. The Flotilla, along with the United States Marines from the Marine Corps Barracks at 8 th and I Streets in Washington, D.C., commanded by Lt. Miller, were the last two American units to leave the battlefield.

Approximately 500 of the flotilla men then marched to Baltimore, joining others there, and were assigned to the U.S. Naval Command Second Regiment. They manned the following posts in the defense of Baltimore:

The Flotilla manned these positions throughout the Battle of Baltimore, pitting sailor against sailor in fighting the British Fleet. The Flotilla inflicted numerous casualties on the attacking British ships, especially during the attempted night assault on Battery Babcock by a Royal Marine landing party. In the report, written by Lt. Col. David Harris, Charles Messenger is listed as being killed in action at the Water Battery and three other flotilla men wounded.

After the Battle of Baltimore, the Flotilla did not participate in any further engagements and on February 15, 1815, the short lived Flotilla Act was repealed by Congress and the Flotilla was disbanded.

This short narrative is based on the flowing sources :
The Chesapeake Flotilla Project; the Maryland Historic Trust; the Baltimore County Public Library; “Flotilla” by Donald Shomette; “The Naval War of 1812”, Volume 2 & 3, by William Dudley; “The Maritime Defense of Baltimore” by Scott Sheads; “The British Invasion of Maryland” by William Marine.