Havre de Grace in the War of 1812: Fire on the Chesapeake

In the early morning hours of May 3, 1813, British Rear Admiral George Cockburn launched a brutal attack on the city of Havre de Grace, Maryland. Without mercy for age or infirmity, the British troops plundered and torched much of the town. It was the beginning of the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812, and it would only end with the burning of the capital and the failed siege of Baltimore. Author Heidi Glatfelter traces the attack and the response of the residents of Havre de Grace—fro...