Tomorrow, August 10, marks a major historical milestone for the Town of St. Michaels on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It will be the 211th anniversary of when its townspeople notoriously “fooled the British” during the War of 1812. And the account of the event in all its cunningness is nothing short of shrewd and legendary, to say the least.
For this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m honoring the grand occasion by recounting the details surrounding the elaborate plot and how it was all orchestrated and carried out according to plan. Here it is, the full story of how St. Michaels fooled the British.
St. Michaels and Its Boating Background
St. Michaels in Talbot County, Maryland, has a long history dating back to at least the mid-1600s. In those days the area was primarily used as a trading post for early tobacco farmers and trappers. Additionally, you’ll find plenty of precolonial Native American history surrounding the land. Uncovered artifacts and relics also tell of active fishing throughout the boundaries of what is now St. Michaels.
In 1672 the area grew to be known by the “St. Michaels” name we are all familiar with today. This naming came about as a result of the establishment of the Christ Episcopal Church of St Michael Archangel parish on the site of where the present town now stands.
The official development of St. Michaels into a community, however, didn’t come about until the late 1770s. In 1778, a British land agent by the name of James Braddock purchased 20 acres and deeded 58 lots. This led to the formation of St. Mary’s Square at the heart of the budding new community with homes and businesses surrounding it.
As far as businesses went, St. Michaels earned a reputation early on for leading an active shipbuilding industry. In fact, by the time the War of 1812 came about, there were as many as six shipbuilding operations based within the community of St. Michaels alone.
Maryland and the War of 1812
Let it be known that there were many places throughout the State of Maryland and all along the Eastern Shore deemed particularly appealing to the invading British forces. Remember, it was the infamous Battle of Baltimore after all that resulted in the penning of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” which would go on to become the National Anthem.
It may at first seem surprising that a quaint, rather unassuming small coastal community like St. Michaels would garner fixation from the British. Just consider all those nearby major cities and ports for the taking. But it was the renown of St. Michaels as a reputable shipbuilding town, its position as part of a main shipping route to Baltimore and D.C., and the reported presence of a militia battery that pegged them as a coveted target.
A Cleverly Concocted Concept
It wasn’t long before locals detected that an attack on St. Michaels would be imminent. Fortunately, this realization came well in advance. It allowed them time enough to devise a clever plan to be carried out. The goal was to not only be ready to attack against unwelcome invaders but to directionally misguide them in their employed battle tactics when firing on the town. If successful, the British would largely miss their intended target.
How the Plan Played Out
As legend recounts, under the cover of night, the British rowed along the Miles River with a dozen or so barges. But St. Michaels residents were prepared and waiting for the attack. They had two cannons ready when the British were finally spotted at Parrots Point around 4 a.m.
To foil British land attacks on community homes, residents were instructed to keep their houses dark and unlighted through the night. As a confusing ploy, a nearby tree was adorned with several lanterns to give the illusion that the tree was the town. According to plan the lantern light was misconstrued by the attacking British forces from their offshore locations. The weather’s less-than-ideal conditions also helped by creating additional obscurity and confusion that night.
Under the direction of William Dodson, the American militiamen on St. Michaels took aim as 300 British men ventured onto the land where they wound up neutralizing the battery onsite. Fighting ensued. Once the Americans, having an advantage of familiar terrain, disappeared into the mist, the British retreated to their ships, ready to open cannon fire on the Town of St. Michaels. But they ended up largely missing their target of the town since they had aimed too high, mistaking the lantern-adorned branches for lighted homes on a distant hill.
Failure, on their part, was undeniable. The American residents of St. Michaels suffered no casualties, whereas the British not only lost men but also experienced significant damage to at least one barge. So, they really had no other recourse but to withdraw from the battle scene and retreat to Kent Island, the location of their base at the time.
A Short-Lived Second Attack
The August 10 Battle of St. Michaels is hailed today as the main attack by the British on the small seaside community. But it should be noted that it wasn’t the only one. Shortly after the events of that fateful triumph, the British got a lackluster second wind of sorts. It happened on the morning of August 26, 1813. British forces arrived on location at Auld’s Point where they broke into two separate groups, one consisting of 300 men and the other of 1,800. The smaller of the two was destined for Tilghman Island and the militia company. The larger group was bound for St. Michaels.
Once again, the British were unsuccessful, being forced to withdraw from the fighting yet again. But the story of the British inhabiting local coastal regions throughout the Chesapeake doesn’t end there. Following their loss in the War of 1812, several former British fighters eventually ended up settling here permanently. Some even made their way to the more remote island communities of Tangier and Smith Island. In some ways, particularly in the preservation of the still often-heard inflections of the lingering Cornwall accents in such regions, we can make the bold claim that the British presence on the Eastern Shore has never entirely disappeared from the scene.
A Couple of Concluding Remarks
The account of events surrounding the August 10 Battle of St. Michaels is largely believed to be accurate and true, for the most part anyway. Yet, the reality is nobody telling the story today was around back then. That’s why historians often give full disclosure about at least some of the legendary tidbits featured in the retelling being embellished and romanticized.
For example, discrepancies have been found in the accounts of weather conditions that night and how they really factored into the visibility or lack thereof. The damage inflicted on the community is also largely underplayed. This was probably done in favor of highlighting how successful St. Michaels was in comparison to how unsuccessful the British forces were.
Either way, the end result remains the same. By all accounts, St. Michaels is forever immortalized as being the Town that fooled the British.