Barney's Chesapeake Flotilla
The Flying Squadron
In July of 1813, Joshua Barney, who had been an officer in both the Continental and Pennsylvania State Navies, drafted a comprehensive defense scheme for the Chesapeake Bay area and submitted it to the Secretary of the Navy, William Jones. He proposed a plan to defend the Chesapeake Bay against an anticipated British invasion and offered to create and command a flotilla of barges and gunboats that would serve as the core of that defense.
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After nine months overseeing the construction, purchase, manning, and outfitting of a squadron of barges, Barney's eighteen vessel Chesapeake Flotilla was ready in April of 1814 to face the British forces in the Chesapeake. Commodore Joshua Barney was given a new commission as a "Captain in the Flotilla Service of the United States," signed by President James Madison on April 25, 1814 and, so, the "flying squadron" took to the Bay effectively creating a coastal defense force against British incursions.
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Admiral Cockburn, British Royal Navy, was mortified to find his "campaign of spoliation" interrupted by the attacks of a "mosquito fleet of armed scows and barges". The bravery of the 500 flotilla men and marines was proven time and again as they turned back wave after wave of the numerically superior foe seeking to destroy it. While this flotilla’s engagements did not stop the invading forces, their battles did divert British resources and bought extra time for Washington and Baltimore to bolster their defenses.
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When 5000 British invading forces landed at Benedict, Maryland on August 19-20, 1814 preparing to march on Washington following the Patuxent River by land and water, Secretary Jones sent orders to Barney to avoid capture. Barney retreated upriver about five miles north of Pig Point. There he landed with about four hundred men, leaving another hundred men to scuttle the flotilla. On the morning of August 22nd, the British were surprised to find an orderly line of American row galleys and merchant ships extending before them upriver, blown up in quick succession. More than sixteen ships of the Chesapeake Flotilla sank in the Patuxent within a few minutes.
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Commodore Barney's little force of five hundred flotilla men then proceeded to march to Bladensburg. In the ensuing Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, Barney directed a battery of five guns and his men fought gallantly. He and his Flotilla men and marines were virtually the only men to gain credit during this battle. "Their heroic resistance saved the combat at Bladensburg from being an unqualified disgrace to American arms. 'It was a magnificent stand; the slightest follow-up of Barney's counterattack might have produced an American victory. As it was, the road to Washington now lay open'. But while they were sustaining the credit of their country, the other troops had disappeared and, in the confusion of their retreat, the wagons containing the ammunition for the cannon and small arms had been carried off.
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The lack of ammunition for Barney's artillery ended the only effective resistance to the British advance. When it became evident that a reinforcing column of Virginia militia could not arrive in time to aid the gallant flotilla men, who were obstinately maintaining their position against fearful odds, and that further resistance would be useless, General Winder ordered a general retreat. The retreat order was never passed to Barney's command, but with no ammunition, flanked on the right and deserted on the left, the Commodore knew that the end had come. He ordered the guns spiked and the men to retreat."
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Upon retreat from the Battle of Bladensburg, Barney’s Chesapeake Flotilla men came north to defend Baltimore along with the regular Army and militia. They were assigned duties manning artillery defense protecting the city. Some elements of Barney’s Chesapeake Flotilla who were not with Barney at Bladensburg were already attached to the Baltimore station.
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Commodore John Rogers’ sailors and marines from Philadelphia arrived in Baltimore on August 25, 1814 where they were informed of the American defeat at Bladensburg and the British occupation of Washington. Rogers immediately began to organize naval forces for the defense of the city. Rogers deployed the bulk of his sailors and marines along Hampstead Hill, the highest promontory just east of the City. From this position, they covered both the Philadelphia and Sparrows Point Road. Artillery bastions manned by sailors stretched from the Philadelphia road to the Northwest Branch. Included in Roger’s overall command were Barney’s Flotilla men who had survived the Battle of Bladensburg.
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Additionally, 80 flotilla men and one officer manned a battery of three long 18-pounders at the Lazaretto, a point of land across from Fort McHenry at the entrance to the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. And, an additional 50 flotilla men manned Fort McHenry’s water battery. West of Fort McHenry, flotilla men manned two batteries that protected the south side of Baltimore. Flotilla men were also manning Forts Babcock and Covington.
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The great bravery of these few Americans led by Commodore Barney is undeniable and is carved into history as well as in the words inscribed on the blade of a sword presented by the City of Washington to Barney, "as a testimonial of his distinguished gallantry and good conduct in the Battle of Bladensburg." The inscription reads, "In testimony of the intrepidity and valor of Commodore Joshua Barney, and the handful of men under his immediate command in the defense of the City of Washington on the twenty-fourth of August, 1814."
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