Scott S. Sheads

In the summer of 1814, enemy naval and ground forces made a coordinated assault on Washington, DC, capital of the new republic, and then set their sights on Baltimore, home port to some of the most rapacious American privateers on the high seas. In "The Dawn's Early Light", Walter Lord captures these events during the War of 1812. A native Baltimorean, Lord wrote with great force and feeling of the subsequent defense of Fort McHenry, the circumstances of Francis Scott Key's writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the rebirth of a young country. Students consider this book to be one of the best short narratives of the Chesapeake campaign. This reissue of "The Dawn's Early Light" celebrates the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore. Scott S. Sheads, a National Park Service ranger and specialist on the event, introduces the book, which will remain a popular favorite for years to come.

A slim, yet detailed volume on The Chesapeake Campaign of 1813–14, which saw the British burn the White House, while the bombardment of Fort McHenry inspired the writing of the “Star-Spangled Banner”. The War of 1812 was never the most popular of conflicts on both sides of the Atlantic. Bogged down by their involvement in the Napoleonic conflict in Europe, the British largely relied on the power of the Royal Navy in the early years of the war. Part of this naval strategy was to blockade the American coastline in order to strangle American commerce and bring the new nation to its knees. Nowhere was this blockade more important than in the Chesapeake. Partly in response to the sacking of York (modern Toronto), the British decided to strike at the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, and a force of Peninsular War veterans under General Robert Ross landed, defeated the Americans at the battle of Bladensburg and took Washington on August 24, 1814. Buoyed by this success, the British pressed on towards Baltimore. However, they were forced to withdraw at the battle of North Point, and a naval bombardment of Fort McHenry failed to reduce the fort and Baltimore was spared. With his intimate knowledge of the events in this theatre of war, Scott Sheads of Fort McHenry NPS brings these dramatic events of American history to life.

In the two hundred years following the War of 1812, the Chesapeake Campaign became romanticized in tall tales and local legends. St. Michael's on the Eastern Shore of Maryland was famously cast as the town that fooled the British, and in Baltimore, the defenders of Fort McHenry were reputably rallied by a remarkably patriotic pet rooster. In Virginia, the only casualty in a raid on Cape Henry was reportedly the lighthouse keeper's smokehouse larder, while Admiral Cockburn was said to have supped by the light of the burning Federal buildings in Washington, D. C. Newspaper stories, ordinary citizens and even military personnel embellished events, and two hundred years later, those embellishments have become regional lore. Join historians Ralph E. Eshelman and Scott S. Sheads as they search for the history behind the legends of the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake.

The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain was fought throughout nearly all of the country, from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the vast frontier between the U. S. and Canada. No theater of war suffered more than the Chesapeake Bay region, where 11 battles-including Craney Island, Hampton, Bladensburg, and Baltimore-63 skirmishes, and 86 raids took place. Featuring a comprehensive list of more than 800 of the war's historical sites in the region, this book is an indispensable reference to the second great war for independence. One chapter each covers Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D. C. The authors draw on both American and British accounts in describing battlefields and the locations of skirmishes. The book includes historic maps and drawings, descriptive overview essays, the most complete chronology of the War in the Chesapeake ever assembled, and a thorough bibliographic essay. Supported by such primary documents as diaries, journals, and newspaper articles, the material compiled in this encyclopedia surpasses any collection thus far brought together on the subject. Local librarians, historians, tour guides, history buffs, school teachers, and genealogists will find this guide to be informative and enlightening.