Kitty Knight, Heroine of the War of 1812 on the Chesapeake Bay
One of the great heroines of the War of 1812 was a Maryland woman known as Kitty Knight, who fended off an attack by Royal Marines and sailors on her Eastern Shore village of Georgetown on the Sassafras River.
A force under Admiral Sir George Cockburn sailed up the Sassafras River on May 5, 1813.
The British left their larger warship behind in the open waters of Chesapeake Bay, safely out of reach of any American attack.
Accounts say the British had 500 men in five 30-foot barges, each with small cannons.
It was a formidable force of combat veterans compared to the untrained volunteers in the local militia.
Their target was Georgetown in Kent County, Maryland, and another village, Fredericktown, on the opposite bank of the river in Cecil County, Maryland.
On land, from the hillside near Kitty Knight's house in Georgetown and looking out over the river, a little imagination helps you travel back in time.
Watching the British flotilla approach must have felt unreal as the enemy fleet descended upon the peaceful village.
Cockburn sent two captured slaves to warn the Americans not to resist.
If no shots were fired, he would only burn the ships at anchor and the storehouses.
His request would not be met, as even Cockburn must have known.
The Americans were not about to give up without a fight.
American militia had built a makeshift fort overlooking the river.
In and around this earthworks, about 400 men and some cannon were under the command of Colonel T.
W.
Veasey, who lived on a nearby farm.
If for no other reason than to save face, Veasey ordered his men to open fire.
The Americans put up a hot resistance for about half an hour until the British threatened to overwhelm the fort.
The militia melted into the countryside, some men rushing to the villages to save what they could before the British arrived.
A witness to the attack described the scene in a letter the next day: "Admiral Cockburn's officers behaved in...
inhuman, indecent style.
" The British burned mechanic shops, granaries, store houses, twenty-three private homes in the villages, several area farmhouses, taverns, a large schooner at anchor and three smaller ships.
Smoke and flames filled the May sky.
Given this frightening scene of destruction, I think it makes Kitty Knight's actions even more brave.
Local legends have grown over the years that describe Kitty Knight waving the stars and stripes in the faces of the British or chasing off British marines with a broom.
In fact, these accounts have prompted comparisons between Kitty Knight and Barbara Fritchie, the patriotic Maryland heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier's Civil War poem.
Kitty Knight's personal account is more matter-of-fact.
She said she only wanted to stop the British from burning some of the houses because a neighbor of hers, an old woman, lay sick in one of the upstairs rooms.
She feared that the woman would not be able to escape the flames.
"I immediately called the attention of the Admiral to the fact that they were about to burn up a human being and that a woman," she wrote years after the attack.
When the British finally rowed away, the destruction of the town was complete.
Some accounts say the British left the smoking ruins of as many as 300 buildings.
I would think this number is almost certainly exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the devastation of the twin towns was substantial.
Families whose homes and storehouses burned were left destitute.
Miss Catharine "Kitty" Knight never married, though she was recognized as a great beauty in her youth and had even danced with George Washington at parties in Philadelphia.
From the local anecdotes and records I've seen, it appears that she suffered some sort of failed love affair, after which she never entered into another romantic relationship.
Also, Kitty appeared to possess enough inherited wealth that she did not need a husband to support her.
She had a reputation as being independent-minded and was much-celebrated all her life for standing up to the British that day.
Kitty Knight died on Nov.
22, 1855, at age 79 and is buried in a rather substantial marble tomb at St.
Francis Xavier Catholic Church near Warwick, Maryland.
A United States flag is regularly placed at her grave every Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Today, there is a restaurant and inn located at her former home, called The Kitty Knight House.
A force under Admiral Sir George Cockburn sailed up the Sassafras River on May 5, 1813.
The British left their larger warship behind in the open waters of Chesapeake Bay, safely out of reach of any American attack.
Accounts say the British had 500 men in five 30-foot barges, each with small cannons.
It was a formidable force of combat veterans compared to the untrained volunteers in the local militia.
Their target was Georgetown in Kent County, Maryland, and another village, Fredericktown, on the opposite bank of the river in Cecil County, Maryland.
On land, from the hillside near Kitty Knight's house in Georgetown and looking out over the river, a little imagination helps you travel back in time.
Watching the British flotilla approach must have felt unreal as the enemy fleet descended upon the peaceful village.
Cockburn sent two captured slaves to warn the Americans not to resist.
If no shots were fired, he would only burn the ships at anchor and the storehouses.
His request would not be met, as even Cockburn must have known.
The Americans were not about to give up without a fight.
American militia had built a makeshift fort overlooking the river.
In and around this earthworks, about 400 men and some cannon were under the command of Colonel T.
W.
Veasey, who lived on a nearby farm.
If for no other reason than to save face, Veasey ordered his men to open fire.
The Americans put up a hot resistance for about half an hour until the British threatened to overwhelm the fort.
The militia melted into the countryside, some men rushing to the villages to save what they could before the British arrived.
A witness to the attack described the scene in a letter the next day: "Admiral Cockburn's officers behaved in...
inhuman, indecent style.
" The British burned mechanic shops, granaries, store houses, twenty-three private homes in the villages, several area farmhouses, taverns, a large schooner at anchor and three smaller ships.
Smoke and flames filled the May sky.
Given this frightening scene of destruction, I think it makes Kitty Knight's actions even more brave.
Local legends have grown over the years that describe Kitty Knight waving the stars and stripes in the faces of the British or chasing off British marines with a broom.
In fact, these accounts have prompted comparisons between Kitty Knight and Barbara Fritchie, the patriotic Maryland heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier's Civil War poem.
Kitty Knight's personal account is more matter-of-fact.
She said she only wanted to stop the British from burning some of the houses because a neighbor of hers, an old woman, lay sick in one of the upstairs rooms.
She feared that the woman would not be able to escape the flames.
"I immediately called the attention of the Admiral to the fact that they were about to burn up a human being and that a woman," she wrote years after the attack.
When the British finally rowed away, the destruction of the town was complete.
Some accounts say the British left the smoking ruins of as many as 300 buildings.
I would think this number is almost certainly exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the devastation of the twin towns was substantial.
Families whose homes and storehouses burned were left destitute.
Miss Catharine "Kitty" Knight never married, though she was recognized as a great beauty in her youth and had even danced with George Washington at parties in Philadelphia.
From the local anecdotes and records I've seen, it appears that she suffered some sort of failed love affair, after which she never entered into another romantic relationship.
Also, Kitty appeared to possess enough inherited wealth that she did not need a husband to support her.
She had a reputation as being independent-minded and was much-celebrated all her life for standing up to the British that day.
Kitty Knight died on Nov.
22, 1855, at age 79 and is buried in a rather substantial marble tomb at St.
Francis Xavier Catholic Church near Warwick, Maryland.
A United States flag is regularly placed at her grave every Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Today, there is a restaurant and inn located at her former home, called The Kitty Knight House.
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