West River Skirmish of 1781: Difference between revisions
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On the night of March 31, 1781, Anne Arundel County's only battle in the American Revolution was fought at Chalk Point, on the West River <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref> <ref name = "lymanHall10">Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 180.</ref>, when a party from the British ships <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i> <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref> <ref name = "marylandGazette>The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis, Maryland). Thursday, April 5, 1781, Pages 1-2, Accessed 20 July 2023.</ref> sailed up the West River to destroy the property of shipbuilder Stephen Steward <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "marylandGazette>The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis, Maryland). Thursday, April 5, 1781, Pages 1-2, Accessed 20 July 2023.</ref> (Unknown-1794)<ref name = "lymanHall5>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 90.</ref>, as well as the shipyard he owned and operated <ref name = "chesapeakeBayInTheAmericanRevolution">Eller, Ernest M.. Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution. United States, Tidewater Publishers, 1981.</ref>.
==Background==
===Chalk Point===
On March 21, 1781, the Maryland Council received a warning from Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia of British warships advancing up the Chesapeake Bay <ref name = "correspondenceJournal">Browne, William Hand, et al., editors. “Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, Volume XIV, 1780-1781." Google Books, 1927, https://books.google.com/books?id=EgMPAQAAIAAJ.</ref>. Shortly thereafter, Annapolis was blockaded by <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i><ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref><ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. <i>Monk</i> had been originally named the <i>USS George Washington</i> before she had been captured by the British and renamed the <i>HMS General Monk</i> <ref name = "monk">Naval History and Heritage Command. “NH 56478 HMS GENERAL MONK.” Naval History and Heritage Command, Accessed 4 July 2023, ▼
Chalk Point was named so because the British supposedly used it as a dumping ground for ballast chalk from ships <ref name = "tobaccoCoast1">Middleton, Arthur Pierce. "Tobacco Coast." The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1984, p. 99</ref>.
===Blockade of Annapolis by <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i>===
▲On March 21, 1781, the Maryland Council received a warning from Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia of British warships advancing up the Chesapeake Bay <ref name = "correspondenceJournal">Browne, William Hand, et al., editors. “Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, Volume XIV, 1780-1781." Google Books, 1927, https://books.google.com/books?id=EgMPAQAAIAAJ.</ref>. Shortly thereafter, Annapolis was blockaded by <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i> <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. <i>Monk</i> had been originally named the <i>USS George Washington</i> before she had been captured by the British and renamed the <i>HMS General Monk</i> in 1780 <ref name = "monk">Naval History and Heritage Command. “NH 56478 HMS GENERAL MONK.” Naval History and Heritage Command, Accessed 4 July 2023,
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-56000/NH-56478.html. </ref> <ref name = "threeDecks">ThreeDecks. “British sloop 'General Monk' (1780).” ThreeDecks, Accessed 4 July 2023, https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=4428.</ref>. <i>Hope</i> had originally been an American privateer named <i>Lady Washington</i> until she was captured by the British <ref name = "sailsOfGlory">Sails Of Glory Anchorage. “Depictions of the ships behind the SoG-miniatures.” Sails of Glory Anchorage, Accessed 5 July 2023, https://www.sailsofglory.org/entry.php?37-Depictions-of-the-ships-behind-the-SoG-miniatures.</ref>.
===Stephen Steward And His Shipyard===
Stephen Steward had a family history of defiance of British imperialism, as his family was exiled to the Colonies from Scotland by Oliver Cromwell for their participation in the English Civil Wars <ref name = "lymanHall8">Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 12</ref>.
A common myth about Stephen Steward's shipyard is that he co-owned it with Samuel Galloway <ref name = "lymanHall2>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 78-81. Hall is disproving claims that Steward and Galloway co-owned the shipyard.</ref> (1720-1785)<ref name = "lymanHall6>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 84.</ref>. While Samuel Galloway and Stephen Steward did have a business partnership and co-owned ships together<ref name = "lymanHall4>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 82.</ref>, Samuel Galloway was a merchant and a customer of Stephen Steward's, not a shipbuilder himself<ref name = "lymanHall2>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 78-81. Hall is disproving claims that Steward and Galloway co-owned the shipyard.</ref>. Another is that Stephen Steward inherited the shipyard from his father, John Steward. Stephen Steward, in fact, built the shipyard in 1751<ref name = "lymanHall3>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 80. </ref>.
==Battle==
===British Assault===
The British forces from <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i> were led to the shipyard Mr. Steward owned with his business partner, Samuel Galloway, by an escaped man (formerly enslaved by Mr. Steward) <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. Local militia were taken by surprise as the British rounded the point instead of approaching from the front of the point as predicted <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref>. When the Patriots challenged the British, the British attempted to pose as allies by replying that they were "Friends to Congress from Annapolis" <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. This attempt at deception was unsuccessful, as twenty of the Patriots opened fire with their small arms immediately thereafter, and the others ran away due to being outnumbered <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. The British fired a large volley in response <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. To the disadvantage of the Patriots who fired upon the British, the Patriots who fled took the remaining ammunition with them <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. ▼
▲The British forces from <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i> were led to the shipyard
===Retreat To "Mr. Harrison's"===
The retreating Patriots fled to the house of a "Mr. Harrison" nearby and regrouped, preparing to stave off a secondary assault by the party from <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i>, but the attack never came <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. There are three Harrisons in the Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot database who are located in the West River Hundred <ref name = "dar">Daughters of the American Revolution. “Patriot Records Index.” Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogy Research, https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_revwar/?Rows=25&action=search&SearchSource=Form&MySurname=Harrison&MyFirst_Name=&Doc_ID=22&SubmitForm=Search, Accessed 20 July 2023.</ref>, so the identity of the "Mr. Harrison" to whose house the retreating Patriots fled is unknown. However, Stephen Steward's letter to the Maryland Public Safety Council on April 1, 1781, mentions a Mr. Richard Harrison who could have been the Patriot sympathizer in question <ref name = "msaSteward17810401">Steward, Stephen. “April I Red Book No. 27 Letter 50.” Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1781, Volume 47, Page 156, https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000047/html/am47--119.html</ref>.
==Aftermath==
===Damages===▼
Mr. Steward's dwelling house, multiple store houses with shipbuilding materials, and a recently-completed 20-gun ship were reportedly destroyed in the clash <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>. All records pertaining to Stephen Steward's partnership with Samuel Galloway were also destroyed <ref name = "chesapeakeBayInTheAmericanRevolution">Eller, Ernest M.. Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution. United States, Tidewater Publishers, 1981.</ref>. However, the day after the battle, Mr. Steward sent a letter to the Maryland Council that he was ready to build one or two galleys with guns for them <ref name = "lymanHall">Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 300. Hall hypothesizes that the report of destruction was manufactured by Mr. Steward in an effort to protect himself, his family, and his shipyard from further attacks.</ref> <ref name = "msaSteward17810401">Steward, Stephen. “April I Red Book No. 27 Letter 50.” Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1781, Volume 47, Page 156, https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000047/html/am47--119.html</ref>.▼
▲==Damages==
===<i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i>===
▲Mr. Steward's dwelling house, multiple store houses with shipbuilding materials, and a recently-completed 20-gun ship were destroyed in the clash <ref name = "historyOfAACounty">A History of Anne Arundel County in Maryland. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Anne_Arundel_County_in_Mary/5wZJvgAACAAJ?hl=en</ref> <ref name = "tulipHill">Kelly, J. Reaney. “’Tulip Hill,’ Its History and Its People.” Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1965, pp. 349-403. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000240/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_240.pdf</ref>.
After the burning of the Stephen Steward shipyard, <i>Monk</i> and <i>Hope</i> returned to Annapolis to carry out a second blockade <ref name = "lymanHall9>Hall, Lyman. "The Stewards of West River." BookBaby, 24 May 2021, p. 175.</ref>.
==Citations==
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