Shrewd Decision

Militiamen were often assigned elsewhere, leaving hometown defense to those exempted from service because of age or infirmity, and when communities were outnumbered and had limited artillery and ammunition, even brave defenders rarely turned back an attack. Charlestown residents knew of British raids on Havre de Grace and neighboring towns at the head of the Bay, and although their own town had not yet been directly threatened, local officials made a difficult decision. Promising no resistance and no harboring of military supplies, the commissioners surrendered Charlestown to Admiral Cockburn on May 6, 1813, a move reflected in British Rear Admiral George Cockburn’s report to Admiral John B. Warren that Charlestown was at his mercy and that neither guns nor militiamen would be allowed there.

Charlestown, Maryland · United States