Marines & Flotillamen

U.S. Marines under Captain Samuel Miller joined Commodore Joshua Barney’s flotillamen at the third line near here, where Colonel William Thornton of the British Light Brigade led a charge directly into the cannons under Barney’s command. A dangerous crossfire followed between Barney’s forces, backed with the smaller guns of Major Peter’s Georgetown Artillery, and the British forces; an American quartermaster under Miller recalled, “Whole companies were cut down to a man as they approached our lines..” Barney, a Maryland native, had already been an American war hero before making his stand at the Battle of Bladensburg. He was the youngest commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy during the Revolutionary War, and in the War of 1812 he commanded the Chesapeake Flotilla, a “mosquito fleet” of low-draft barges equipped with large guns for the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay. His flotillamen, a diverse group that included escaped slaves such as Charles Ball, were among the toughest and best-trained troops on the field at Bladensburg. Barney was described as having a gentle face with dark blue eyes, was taken prisoner three times and escaped prison once during the Revolutionary War, met Marie Antionette as a dashing naval officer, and according to legend inspired the song “Barney Leave the Girls Alone.”

Colmar Manor, Maryland · United States