THE CHESAPEAKE – LEOPARD AFFAIR

               In 1807, tensions were high between Great Britain and the US. One of the causes was impressment. Impressment was the kidnapping of sailors on American ships to force them into the Royal Navy. Some of the impressed seamen were deserters, but others were not. The issue came to bloodshed on June 22, 1807. On that day, the USS Chesapeake, a 40-gun frigate, left Hampton Roads, Virginia for a voyage to replace the USS Constitution in the Mediterranean Sea. The Chesapeake carried 329 sailors, 52 Marines, and a number of civilians. The frigate was commanded by Commodore James Barron. He expected an uneventful transatlantic crossing. The ship was far from being ready to fight. The gun deck was cluttered with empty casks, cases of liquor, furniture, and a variety of other items that made it very difficult to use the cannons. Plus the cannons had been tied down and much of the necessities for firing them were not readily available. There were even hammocks for a number of sick sailors. Clearly, Barron was not expecting a fight.

The ship sailed by two British warships without incident.  At 3 P.M., the HMS Leopard, a 50-gun ship commanded by Capt. Salisbury Humphreys, approached and pulled in 60 yards from the American ship. Although the British ship had its gunports open and the tampons (these blocked the muzzles of the cannons) off, Barron did not clear for action. Humphreys hailed Barron telling him he had a dispatch for him. A British officer came over with the message which read that Humphreys was under orders to search American ships for deserters. Barron respectfully declined. Oddly, he told the Brit that he did have four deserters, but they were not from one of the warships listed in the dispatch.

After the officer left, Barron called for general quarters, but he wanted it done quietly. Unfortunately, a drummer misunderstood and began the drum roll to alert the sailors and before Barron hit him with his sword, the crew was confused about what was happening and the Leopard was warned that the Americans were preparing to fight it out. Humphreys shot across Chesapeake’s bow and at 4:30 fired a broadside. Barron was wounded in the right leg and thigh by splinters. His guns were nowhere near firing and the Marines were not ordered to return fire. Barron offered to send an officer to discuss the situation, but Humphrey suspected Barron was stalling for time and fired a second broadside. A third broadside followed. The Chesapeake only managed to fire one cannon before Barron lowered his flag. The action had lasted less than 15 minutes. 3 Americans were dead and 8 were wounded.

The British sent over a boarding crew and four sailors were deemed to be have come from British ships and they were taken back to the Leopard. (One of them was a British civilian and was hanged as a deserter.) Humphrey offered his condolences and repeated that he was just following orders. Barron offered his ship as a prize since he had surrendered! Humphrey graciously declined. Barron called a meeting of his officers to discuss the action. Most of them felt that Barron had dishonored the ship with his quick surrender without a fight. The Chesapeake returned to port. Barron was court-martialed and relieved of command. The American public was outraged, but Pres. Jefferson ignored the cries for war. In 1820, Barron challenged Stephen Decatur (who had served on his court-martial) to a duel because of remarks Decatur had made about his actions in the incident. Decatur was killed (thus becoming the second most famous duel death in American History) and Barron was wounded.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1996/june/chesapeake-leopard-affair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake%E2%80%93Leopard_affair