the British Invasions of 1813 - 1814, Part I
To the front, March directly to ... Summer, 1814
In the early 19th-century, the city of Baltimore, Maryland was a thriving seaport on the East Coast of the United States. Situated at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, it enjoyed a good harbor and shipping channels navigable to the Atlantic. Its geographic position was much closer to the interior regions than was Philadelphia. This provided a closer shipping outlet for agricultural crops and forestry products from areas north and west of the city. By the early 1800s, Baltimore had a growing population of merchants and shopkeepers.
In this period of early American history, most free men aged 18-45 were subject to being called into active militia duty. State militias were under direct control of Governors, but subject to Federal quotas for furnishing troops when requested by the President. In an age before metropolitan police forces, militia troops might be called out locally on short notice to quell riots or other civil disorders. A month or two of active militia service could be a hardship for yeoman farmers and shopkeepers. So calls for volunteers were often used to fill quotas. Citizens were also free to assemble into independent, uniformed volunteer companies. Some of these companies in Baltimore and elsewhere traced their roots back to the Revolutionary War. Other companies were raised later, in response to events occurring in Europe, and acts against American ships on the high seas. The Anglo-French conflicts of the late 18th- and early 19th century with the ascendancy of Napoleon, frequently spilled over onto the neutral young United States.
It was an era in which the legacy of George Washington led many Americans to oppose a large standing Government army. The militia law of 1792 formally established a militia system. The small United States military forces would be augmented in time of emergency by State militias. The United States was growing in population and expanding westward. At the start of the War of 1812, Federal military forces were small. Most U.S. infantry and artillery units were assigned to guarding forts along the seaboard and the lengthening borders.
From earliest colonial times, militia service in America was accepted as necessary for self-protection. Early on, militia companies were raised and exercised along census enumeration district lines. In the larger cities, they seem to have traced their roots to firefighting companies. Hence, the men usually knew each other. In many areas, company-grade officers were elected by the members of the company, rather than being appointed. Company-grade officers were commonly from landed or influential families.
Since a threat to seacoast cities would more than likely come by sea, there were only two foreign powers were possible threats in the early 19th century. And they were both waging war on each other, until Napoleon's defeat. Great Britain's large fleet was sufficient to keep the much smaller U.S. Navy bottled up. By 1813 and 1814, British ships were taking depth soundings in much of the Chesapeake Bay. It was certain they were testing the waters for a future attack somewhere in the Bay region. To the Maryland and Virginia militia patrols keeping watch on fleet movements and foraging British landing parties, it was more a question of when and where an invasion would come. The U.S. Government's military forces were heavily concentrated on the northern frontier with Canada. The inescapable fact was that cities in the East would likely have to rely on their own militias and resources in case of an emergency.
It's been said that militia musters during the early 19th century were often little more than picnics, not given to much in the way of drill. The formation of men's clubs and groups was common enough in the cities. Whether or not they started out as social or civic clubs, during the early 19th century Baltimore society raised and equipped a number of independent volunteer companies of infantry, artillery and cavalry. Until 1811, there were scarcely any regulations governing the style and colors of militia uniforms in Maryland. Styles tended to follow any new developments in England and Europe. The Napoleonic era saw dramatic changes in uniform designs and colors, in contrast to the slower pace of the 18th century.
In the absence of much regulation until 1812, a number of Baltimore's independent companies designed and purchased their own elaborate uniforms. One company reportedly based their uniform on that worn by marines serving on a French-flagged vessel in the harbor. As Baltimore was a busy seaport before the war, cloth of all types and colors apparently was in good supply. Sparing no expense, one company's shoulder belt breastplate was of engraved sterling silver!
By the time Congress declared war in what we now call the "War of 1812", there were enough of these independent companies in the city of Baltimore to organize several regiments. These regiments comprised the 3rd (City) Brigade of the 3rd Division of Maryland Militia. One of these regiments were so splendidly-uniformed they had acquired the moniker of the "Dandy 5th".
The Baltimore Yagers Company was one such uniformed company. At the outbreak of hostilities in this "Second British War", it was commanded by Philip B. Sadtler, a wealthy Baltimore silversmith. Herr Sadtler had immigrated to Baltimore from Hesse, in 1798. Like himself, many in the company were of German origin. In 1814, during a wave of xenophobic concern, several members had to resign from the Company, as they were not native-born and had not been naturalized as American citizens. But this also applied to British- and French-born residents as well. They were willing to defend their adopted country, but a war-time hysteria meant they were under suspicion of being spies -- or worse.
The Chesapeake region experienced a number of British incursions in 1813. The bayside town of Havre de Grace, located at the upper end of the Bay, was attacked and much of it burned by the British. Apparently the Washington-Philadelphia mail coach was not aware of the attack when they pulled into town on a routine stop. British General Ross decided the coach would serve him well back home. So he had it put onto a barge, to be transhipped for England. Farmers near the Bay began to reel from losses in livestock, produce, and tobacco to marauding British landing parties. Sometimes it was paid for, more often than not in script. One Maryland farmer asked how could he travel to the Court of King George, in order to exchange it for specie?!
Baltimore City was only briefly threatened in 1813, and its militia were not called out 'en masse' for more than brief periods. By the Summer of 1814 though, the upper Chesapeake was in crisis. Everyone knew the British fleet carried invasion forces. Though their targets were not known, it was certain they could threaten Washington, Annapolis and Baltimore.
Company assignments to Regiments, and Regimental assignments to Brigades, showed a lot of movement on paper from 1813 to 1814. Companies were reassigned even in the short time between the Battles of Bladensburg and North Point. In 1813, the Baltimore Yagers were in the 39th Regiment's organization. By August 1814, they were assigned to the Fifth Regiment, of Baltimore's 3rd Brigade. Although British incursions were happening throughout the Chesapeake Bay region, it was not until the crisis of 1814 that the Baltimore Yagers were to go in harms way.
Document Last Updated: 12/26/2006
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Web Published: 03 September 2005