After burning much of Havre de Grace on May 3, 1813, British raiders crossed the Susquehanna into Cecil County and struck Principio Iron Works, where they captured a five-gun battery, destroyed the foundry complex and the bridge across Principio Creek, and inflicted the loss of more than 40 finished cannon to the American war effort that day. Principio had begun operation in 1725 and by 1727 had Maryland's first blast furnace and refinery forge. By 1796 it supplied cannon for the U.S. Navy and privateers, making it a strategic target during the raid.