Raid on Alexandria

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
conflict=Raid on Alexandria
partof=the War of 1812
date=August 20 – September 9, 1814
place=Alexandria, Virginia
result=British victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=James Alexander Gordon
commander2=John Rodgers
strength1=6 warships
strength2=unknown
casualties1=7 killed
35 wounded
casualties2=unknown

The Raid on Alexandria was a British victory during the War of 1812, which gained much plunder at little cost but may have contributed to the later British repulse at Baltimore by imposing delay on their main forces.

Background

As part of the British expedition to Chesapeake Bay in the middle of 1814, a naval force under Commodore James Alexander Gordon was ordered to sail up the Potomac River, to attack Fort Washington. The raid was supposed to be a demonstration, to distract American troops from the main British attack on Washington under General Robert Ross.

Gordon's force consisted of the frigates HMS "Seahorse", of 38 guns, and "Euryalus", of 36 guns; the bomb vessels "Devastation", "Aetna" and "Meteor", each mounting two large mortars, and the rocket vessel "Erebus".

Starting on August 20, Gordon's ships spent ten days working over the Kettle Bottom Shoals. Gordon later claimed all his ships grounded twenty times. On August 31, his bomb vessels opened fire on Fort Washington. The commander of the fort promptly spiked his own guns, blew up the fort and retreated. (He was later dismissed).

Occupation

Before the fort was abandoned, a British naval officer proceeded to Alexandria under a flag of truce and negotiated the town's capitulation. To avoid the destruction of the town, the Council agreed to hand over all the merchant ships, even those which had been sunk to avoid capture, and merchandise. The British thus acquired twenty-two merchant ships.

After the British had occupied Alexandria for three days, the sloop HMS "Fairy" reached Gordon with orders to rejoin the main British fleet under Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane. The retreat was more strongly opposed than the original advance. Commodore John Rodgers, with the crews of two frigates under construction (USS "Guerriere" and "Java"), twice tried to send fireships against Gordon's ships, but both attempts were foiled by British seamen in the squadron's launches and cutters. On September 5, an American field artillery battery caused some loss but was silenced, and the British escaped to Chesapeake Bay.

Aftermath

Gordon rejoined Cochrane on September 9. Although the raid had been very successful, Cochrane had been forced to wait for Gordon for several days in case he required rescue, and this had given the defenders of Baltimore time to reinforce their defences and spurred them to resist rather than risk financial ruin.

References and further reading

* C. S. Forester, "The Age of Fighting Sail", New English Library
* George, Christopher T., "Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay", Shippensburg, Pa., White Mane, 2001, ISBN 1-57249-276-7
* Pitch, Anthony S."The Burning of Washington", Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55750-425-3
* Theodore Roosevelt, "The Naval War of 1812", Random House, New York, ISBN 0-375-75419-9
* Whitehorne, Joseph A., "The Battle for Baltimore 1814", Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-877853-23-2