Rude Awakening

Early on September 3, 1814, at Mitchell House, British raiders roused Joseph T. Mitchell and his wife from their bed, shot their horses, and abducted Mitchell because they believed he was commissary general for all of Maryland. He actually served in the lesser post of commissary agent for Kent County’s militia, yet he spent three years in England, allegedly as a prisoner of war. Nearby at Caulk’s Field on August 31, 1814, the popular young British officer Sir Peter Parker was killed. Legend holds that his body was wrapped in a blanket from Mitchell House, which lay on the route back to the British ships.

Tolchester, Maryland · United States