Naval Warfare

Naval Warfare (HM1J8A)

Location: Saint Leonard, MD 20685 Calvert County
Buy Maryland State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 38° 23.896', W 76° 30.434'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 455 views
Inscription

Barges, Boats, & Frigates

— The Opposing Forces —

During the Battles of St. Leonard Creek, the United States Chesapeake Flotilla consisted of the sloop Scorpion armed with four cannon, 13 barges with two cannon each, the one-gun row galley Vigilant, and a lookout boat and two gunboats, each armed with a single cannon.
The American guns ranged in size from 12-pounders to 41-pounders with 18-and 24-pounders the most numerous. Barney was opposed by a British fleet that outgunned him by more than four-to-one, even without including the 74-gun ship-of-the patrolling at the mouth of the Patuxent River.
The British ships stationed off the mouth of St. Leonard Creek were the 38-gun frigate HMS Loire, the 18-gun frigate MHS St. Lawrence, and the 18-gun sloop HMS Jaseur.
Fortunately, these vessels were too large to sail very far into the creek.
To engage the United States Chesapeake Flotilla within the creek, the British relied on 21 barges and two small schooners, each carrying a single cannon.
In addition, the British had a small boat armed with their newest weapon—-the terrifying Congreve rocket.
Following the First Battle of St. Leonard Creek, the British were reinforced by the 32-gun frigate HMS Narcissus and several smaller boats. Despite the overwhelming strength of the forces aligned against him, Commodore Joshua Barney with the assistance of hastily erected shore batteries, was able to escape up the Patuxent in late June o 1814.
(Inscription beside the image in the lower center) British Rocket Boat, Illustration by Carl E. Franklin.
Rockets Red Glare
Ballistic Warfare-Congreve Rockets-Developed by William Congreve in 1804, these self-propelled projectiles carried an incendiary or explosive charge for a distance of up to two miles. A sheet iron tube containing the propellant charge was attached to a long wooden shaft which served as a stabilizer during flight.
The "rockets red glare" in the song "The Star-Spangled Banner" refers to these rockets, which were used both at the Battle of Baltimore and here at the Battles of St. Leonard Creek.
Because of the rockets' unpredictable flight, they terrorized both the military and civilians, but did relatively little damage to their intended targets.
(Inscription below the drawings on the right) Congreve 32-pr Carcase Rocket—circa 1813. Reconstructed after an example in the Smithsonian Institution, Catalog No. 77229M. Illustration by Carl E. Franklin.
Funding provided to the Friends of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Inc. by the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, National Park Service.
Details
HM NumberHM1J8A
Tags
Placed ByMaryland Department of Housing and Community Development
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, February 20th, 2015 at 1:01pm PST -08:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 368384 N 4251080
Decimal Degrees38.39826667, -76.50723333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 23.896', W 76° 30.434'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 23' 53.76" N, 76° 30' 26.04" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)410, 301
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Jefferson Patterson Park Entra Rd, Saint Leonard MD 20685, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. What year was the marker erected?
  9. This marker needs at least one picture.
  10. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  11. Is the marker in the median?