Flotilla

With the Royal Navy's blockade of the Chesapeake Bay in the War of 1812 came devastating raids that wreaked havoc on the small villages along its shores and the very economy of the region. American naval forces were incapable of wresting control of the Tidewater from the superior forces of the enemy. But Captain Joshua Barney, a rare American hero during the struggle, stubbornly led his Chesapeake Flotilla against the invaders, determined to drive them from the region and ultimately contest their advance on the nation's capital.Donald G Shomette, director of the archaeological excavation of the flotilla's flagship, substantially revises the first edition of this captivating history with new information about Barney, his crew, and the mosquito fleet of gunboats and war barges that so valiantly fought the British. He sheds new light on the efforts of the U.S. Flotilla Service to build a viable coastal defense force. Shomette details the construction and manning of the famed Chesapeake Flotilla and recounts the terrifying details of British attacks on the towns, plantations, and farms throughout the bay region. The flotilla, doomed from its conception by sparse funds and the natural limitations of the bay's coastline, was ultimately defeated by the Royal Navy. Yet its efforts were not completely in vain. Turning back wave after wave of British onslaught, the fleet earned an impossible victory at St. Leonard's Creek and its men made heroic stands at the battles of Bladensburg and Fort McHenry in 1814.The thoroughly updated and enlarged edition of Flotilla is the result of impressive research on a forgotten chapter in the development of the young nation's naval and maritime tradition.''Not simply a day-to-day history of the inception, fielding, fighting, and ultimate destruction of the Chesapeake Flotilla, but also a comprehensive view of the complex nature and incredible impact of the naval war of 1812 as it was played out on the turbid waters of the Patuxent River.''—from the foreword by Fred W. Hopkins, Jr.''All scholars of the War of 1812 will be happy to have an updated version of this valuable tome available. Shomette is the leading authority on the subject, and his book is indispensable for understanding the war in the Chesapeake.''—Donald R. Hickey, Wayne State College