"The enemy robbed every house of everything valuable that could be carried away...and what they could not take conveniently they destroyed..."
- Eyewitness account in Baltimore Niles' Weekly Register, May 22, 1813
Cannon and rocket fire shook residents of Havre de Grace from their sleep as the British attacked at dawn May 3, 1813. The invading forces used Congreve rockets, which made horrible whizzing and popping sounds, to create chaos and terror.
An eyewitness reported: "Distressed people, women and children half naked" ran from their homes. The local militia--numbering about 20 people-- fled, too, overwhelmed by 19 barges carrying 400 enemy troops.
The British confiscated belongings, destroying anything they did not take, and set fire to the buildings in town. Although initial reports said that every building in Havre de Grace was burned except one, later reports stated that 20 to 40 of the approximate 60 dwellings were lost.
First-person accounts of the devastation at Havre de Grace fueled newspaper reports of “wanton barbarity among civilized people.” British Rear Admiral George Cockburn, portrayed as a villainous “violator of all laws, human [and] divine,” struck terror as he made an example of Havre de Grace for other towns.
Hometown Hero
“…an English officer on horseback followed by the marines, rode up and took me with two muskets in my hand.”
– John O’Neill, Baltimore Niles’ Weekly Register, May 15, 1813
During the attack, the town's gun battery was manned single-handedly by John O’Neill for a short time. He was later caught with two muskets and imprisoned on a British ship for several days. O’Neill’s 15-year-old daughter, Matilda, reportedly helped negotiate her father’s release.
O’Neill's courage earned him several honors. In 1813, he was presented a sword inscribed “to the Gallant O’Neill for his valor at Havre de Grace." He also received a presidential appointment as first keeper of Concord Point Lighthouse and served there from 1827 until his death in 1838. And a century later, the town dedicated the John O’Neill Cannon Memorial to him.
