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74 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
He immediately landed with nearly all his officers and four hundred
men, leaving the flotilla under the command of his second-lieutenant,
Frazier, with five men in each boat, a little above Pig Point, with
positive orders, should the enemy appear near him in force, to set fire
to every boat aud see them in full conflagration, and then join him
with the rest of the men. Commodore Barney marched to Upper
Marlborough that evening; on the following morning, hearing from General
Winder that he was with his army at the Wood Yard, he continued his march
to that place which he reached about mid-day. Here he was gratified tofincl
Captain Miller of the marines, with eighty men and five pieces of artillery,
who had been directed by the secretary of the navy to report to him and place
himself under his orders.1
During the night of the 21st of August, the enemy remained at Nottingham, surrounding themselves with unusual precaution against the attack
they supposed could not be long deferred. The boats and tenders which had
up to this time moved parallel with the land forces were anchored off
the town. So far the invaders had advanced leisurely without a show of
hindrance, fifteen miles from the place of debarkation, and had rested
quietly each night. On the following day, (22d), soon after daybreak, the
whole army moved forward again. Cockburn, with his naval forces,
proceeded up the river in pursuit of Barney's flotilla, which was then
stationed near Mount Pleasant, about nine miles from Nottingham. On his
route he landed a few marines at Pig Point and captured a large quantity of
tobacco. In this report of his expedition, Admiral Cockburn says :
" On approaching Pig Point (where the enemy's flotilla was said to be,) I landed the
marines under Captain Robyns on. the left bank of the river, and directed him to march
round and attack, on the land side, the town situated on the point, to draw from us the
attention of such troops as might be there for its defence, and the defence of the flotilla; I
then proceeded on with the boats, and as we opened the reach above Pig Point, I plainly
discovered Commodore Barney's broad pendant in the headmost vessel, a large sloop, and
the remainder of the flotilla extending in a long line astern of her. Our boats now
advanced towards them as rapidly as possible; but, on nearing them, we observed the
sloop bearing the broad pendant to be on fire, and she very soon afterwards blew up. I
now saw clearly that they were all abandoned, and on fire, with trains to their magazines;
and out of the seventeen vessels which composed this formidable and so much vaunted
flotilla, sixteen were in quick succession blown to atoms, and the seventeenth (in which
the fire had not taken) we captured. The commodore's sloop was a large armed vessel;
the others were gunboats, all having a long gun in the bow, and a carronade in the stern;
the calibre of the guns and number of the crew of each differed in proportion to the size
of the boat, varying from 32 pounders and sixty men to 18 pounders and forty men.2 I
found here lying above the flotilla, under its protection, thirteen merchant schooners, some
of which not being worth bringing away, I caused to be burnt; such as were in good
condition, I directed to be moved to Pig Point. Whilst employed in taking these vessels,
1 Memoir of Barney, p. 263. one 24 lb. long gun, and the barges had each a
2 The commodore's cutter carried one long 18 long 12 or 18 pounder bow-gun and a carronade
pounder on a pivot, one 18 lb. grenade, and four of 18 to 32 in the stern.
short 9 lb. carronades. One of the gunboats had
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000099 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 74 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. He immediately landed with nearly all his officers and four hundred men, leaving the flotilla under the command of his second-lieutenant, Frazier, with five men in each boat, a little above Pig Point, with positive orders, should the enemy appear near him in force, to set fire to every boat aud see them in full conflagration, and then join him with the rest of the men. Commodore Barney marched to Upper Marlborough that evening; on the following morning, hearing from General Winder that he was with his army at the Wood Yard, he continued his march to that place which he reached about mid-day. Here he was gratified tofincl Captain Miller of the marines, with eighty men and five pieces of artillery, who had been directed by the secretary of the navy to report to him and place himself under his orders.1 During the night of the 21st of August, the enemy remained at Nottingham, surrounding themselves with unusual precaution against the attack they supposed could not be long deferred. The boats and tenders which had up to this time moved parallel with the land forces were anchored off the town. So far the invaders had advanced leisurely without a show of hindrance, fifteen miles from the place of debarkation, and had rested quietly each night. On the following day, (22d), soon after daybreak, the whole army moved forward again. Cockburn, with his naval forces, proceeded up the river in pursuit of Barney's flotilla, which was then stationed near Mount Pleasant, about nine miles from Nottingham. On his route he landed a few marines at Pig Point and captured a large quantity of tobacco. In this report of his expedition, Admiral Cockburn says : " On approaching Pig Point (where the enemy's flotilla was said to be,) I landed the marines under Captain Robyns on. the left bank of the river, and directed him to march round and attack, on the land side, the town situated on the point, to draw from us the attention of such troops as might be there for its defence, and the defence of the flotilla; I then proceeded on with the boats, and as we opened the reach above Pig Point, I plainly discovered Commodore Barney's broad pendant in the headmost vessel, a large sloop, and the remainder of the flotilla extending in a long line astern of her. Our boats now advanced towards them as rapidly as possible; but, on nearing them, we observed the sloop bearing the broad pendant to be on fire, and she very soon afterwards blew up. I now saw clearly that they were all abandoned, and on fire, with trains to their magazines; and out of the seventeen vessels which composed this formidable and so much vaunted flotilla, sixteen were in quick succession blown to atoms, and the seventeenth (in which the fire had not taken) we captured. The commodore's sloop was a large armed vessel; the others were gunboats, all having a long gun in the bow, and a carronade in the stern; the calibre of the guns and number of the crew of each differed in proportion to the size of the boat, varying from 32 pounders and sixty men to 18 pounders and forty men.2 I found here lying above the flotilla, under its protection, thirteen merchant schooners, some of which not being worth bringing away, I caused to be burnt; such as were in good condition, I directed to be moved to Pig Point. Whilst employed in taking these vessels, 1 Memoir of Barney, p. 263. one 24 lb. long gun, and the barges had each a 2 The commodore's cutter carried one long 18 long 12 or 18 pounder bow-gun and a carronade pounder on a pivot, one 18 lb. grenade, and four of 18 to 32 in the stern. short 9 lb. carronades. One of the gunboats had |
