The featured image is from the 2007 War of 1812 Reenactment event at the Susquehanna Museum at the Lockhouse.
Honoring Veterans Memorial Day 2023
During the week before and after Memorial Day 2023, our ‘casual historian’ would love to share some of the military history he has in his Havre de Grace MuZeum at Bahoukas Antique Mall. We do hope you’ll drop by and chat or have a look!
In the muZeum you’ll find a 1963 newspaper highlighting the War of 1812, when Havre de Grace was ransacked by the British, which actually occurred May 3, 1813.
The Raid on Havre de Grace was a seaborne military operation that took place on 3 May 1813 during the broader War of 1812. A squadron of the British Royal Navy under Rear Admiral George Cockburn attacked the town of Havre de Grace, Maryland, at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.
from Wikipedia
Mr. Bob Magee, who was for many years the Executive Director of the Susquehanna Museum at the Lockhouse, is a dedicated historian. For many years, the museum had a Reenactment of the War of 1812 on their property. Our ‘casual historian’ thanks him for sharing his notes and collections related to Havre de Grace, the War of 1812, the canal, and more. Yes, it’ll take some long winter nights to sort through it all and be able to share it with you, but we’re looking forward to it! Thank you, Bob.
(Apologies for the quality)
The British, under Rear Admiral Cockburn, destroyed nearly two-thirds of the homes and businesses in Havre de Grace. The Havre de Grace Visitors Center, 450 Pennington Avenue, has a scale model of Havre de Grace before the War of 1812 with the story of the destruction of the city in 1813 by the British Naval Fleet.
A group of volunteers has been working for nearly a year on a scale model of Havre de Grace as it existed the day before the British raided the village in May 1813. This afternoon, R. Madison Mitchell (Mitch), one of the modelers, took time out from shaping the exhibit to discuss the handiwork of his team with a group of visitors. They’ve worked from old maps, land records, tax assessments, newspapers and more to accurately recreate the place as it peacefully existed the day before the enemy attacked.
by Mike Dixon for the Havre de Grace 1812 Project
Painstakingly, the group has built, in miniature, the port at the top of the Chesapeake. It was a small place with about 250 residents and 50 homes when the British savagely stormed into the fishing village on the morning of May 3, 1813, the enemy almost completely destroying it. After taking possession of the place and “plundering the stores of all worth taking they set fire to the two taverns,” 19 dwelling houses, and 21 stables and outhouses, besides all the craft and stages near the town, one newspaper reported. “The British have laid in ashes the beautiful village of Havre-de Grace! The war has now come to our own doors,” another declared.
Despite the rampage and the devastation from the flames, it recovered. Fortunately, few American communities have had to rebuild from such devastation at the hands of an invading foreign force, according to the National Register Nomination.
before the destruction during the War of 1812.
This cannonball, an artifact of the War of 1812 in Havre de Grace, is a 4″ 9-lb cannonball. It most certainly could do some damage!
John Marche owned this and the other houses through the War of 1812. When the British attacked Havre de Grace in May 1813, a cannonball flew into the top left corner of the front wall of the house, no doubt terrifying the occupants but they and the house survived. A black wrought iron ring on the exterior wall over the ball marks its location now. And a cedar shake roof is thought to have burned also, replaced by the present slate roof.
from Historic Havre de Grace
War of 1812 Cannonball landed in the front facade.
LINKS of INTEREST:
You may also be interested in the book, Havre de Grace in the War of 1812: Fire on the Chesapeake by Heidi Glatfelter
Remember, don’t throw the Havre de Grace ‘stuff’ out when you’re cleaning out a home, settling an estate, or just ‘downsizing,’ without checking in with George. Don’t give him cause to cry!!!
Our ‘casual historian’ is always waiting for your stories and any memorabilia you may want to share.
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