Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Chesapeake-Leopard Affair


caption=
partof=the events leading to the War of 1812
date=June 23, 1807
place=off Norfolk, Virginia
result=British victory
combatant1=flag|Great Britain
combatant2=flag|United States|1795
commander1=flagicon|Great Britain Salisbury Pryce Humphreys
commander2=flagicon|United States|1795 Commodore James Barron.
strength1=1 4th rate
strength2=1 frigate
casualties1= none
casualties2= 1 frigate damaged
3 KIA
18 WIA
4 arrestedIn the "Chesapeake-Leopard" Affair, also referred to as the "Chesapeake" Affair, which occurred on June 22, 1807, the British fourth-rate warship HMS|Leopard|1790|2 attacked and boarded the American frigate USS|Chesapeake|1799|2.

The Attack

The "Chesapeake" lay off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and was under the command of Commodore James Barron. The "Leopard", under the command of Salisbury Pryce Humphreys, hailed and requested to search the "Chesapeake" for suspected deserters from the Royal Navy; when the "Chesapeake" refused, the "Leopard" began to fire broadsides, killing three aboard the "Chesapeake" and injuring another 18 including Barron. The "Chesapeake", her decks cluttered with stores in preparation for a long cruise, managed to fire only a single gun in reply to the "Leopard", and Barron quickly struck his colors and surrendered his ship; however, Humphreys refused the surrender, and simply sent a boarding party to search for the deserters.

The boarding party found four Royal Navy deserters among the "Chesapeake" crew: David Martin, John Strachan, and William Ware, run from HMS|Melampus|1785|6; and Jenkin Ratford, run from HMS|Halifax. Of the four, only Ratford was British-born: Strachan was a white man born in the United States (though later serving in the Royal Navy), and Martin and Ware were black. "Leopard" carried the men to Halifax for trial: the British citizen, Ratford, was sentenced to death and hanged on the "Halifax"; the three Americans were sentenced to 500 lashes each, but the sentence was later commuted, and the British government eventually offered to return them to the U.S. and pay the reparations for damaging the "Chesapeake".

Aftermath

The American public was outraged with the incident, as President Thomas Jefferson noted: "Never since the battle of Lexington have I seen this country in such a state of exasperation." The President closed U.S. territorial waters to British warships, demanded payment for damages, and requested an end to British efforts to search United States ships for deserters.

This event served to raise tensions between the two countries and, while not a direct cause, can be seen as one of the events leading up to the War of 1812. Indeed, many demanded war following the incident, but President Thomas Jefferson initially turned to diplomacy and economic pressure in the form of the ill-fated Embargo Act of 1807.

The incident had significant repercussions for the U.S. Navy. The public was shocked that "Chesapeake" had put up little resistance and surrendered so quickly (even if the surrender was declined) to another frigate, calling into question the ability of the navy to defend the U.S. from a possible British invasion, despite its expensive and controversial frigate-building program. A court martial placed the blame on Barron, and suspended him from service for five years as punishment.

On 1 June 1813, during the War of 1812, the "Chesapeake" — then under the command of Captain James Lawrence — was defeated and captured by the British frigate HMS|Shannon|1806|6 in a ship-to-ship action near Boston, and taken into service in the Royal Navy. She was sold out of the service in 1820.

ee also

*Little Belt Affair
*Impressment of American Seamen

External links

* [http://jer.pennpress.org/PennPress/journals/jer/sampleArt3.pdf Journal of the Early Republic: "Remembering the USS" Chesapeake: "The Politics of Maritime Death and Impressment" by Robert E. Cray, Jr.] (PDF)
* [http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/30.html Norfolk Historical Society Account]