On June 22, 1807, the HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake just outside Chesapeake Bay, forcefully removing four men that the British claimed were deserters. This confrontation led to a major diplomatic crisis and contributed to the growing animosity between the United States and Great Britain that finally broke into the War of 1812 (1812-15).
The British harbored some legitimate concerns in manning their navy during their long struggle with France. They relied on their naval supremacy to prevent an invasion of Great Britain and to check the expansionist aims of the French. But they needed hundreds of thousands of seamen to do so. At the same time, because the United States remained neutral, the nation’s shipping expanded rapidly while France and Great Britain were at war. Although many residents of the United States went to sea in this era, merchants also recruited British and other foreign seamen. The British claimed that, during this period, as many as 10,000 men, disenchanted by the poor pay, harsh conditions, and dangers of His Majesty’s Navy, deserted in favor of sailing under the flag of the United States.
Aware of these problems, the senior British officer on the North American station in 1807 ordered his captains to remove any deserters whom they knew were aboard U. S. warships. At the time, a squadron of British ships was stationed in the Chesapeake Bay, hoping to capture two French vessels that had sought the safety of Norfolk as a neutral port. Officers from this squadron visited Norfolk and actually met British deserters in the streets, discovering that they were now in the U. S. Navy. This knowledge compelled the British to act when the Chesapeake put to sea. Not to intercept the frigate would have been a violation of a direct order. The Leopard was dispatched to search the Chesapeake as soon as it entered international waters. The Chesapeake was not prepared for battle and had a new, untrained crew aboard. The Chesapeake did not clear for action, a standard naval practice whenever a foreign warship approached. The British captain demanded to be allowed to search the frigate for deserters. Commodore James Barron refused. Detecting the intent of the British, he ordered his men to quietly clear for action, but it was too little too late. The British were at close range and opened fire. There was nothing but confusion aboard the Chesapeake. Many of the cannons could not even be readied for fire. After one shot to save face, Barron surrendered to the British, who found four deserters aboard the vessel.
A tremendous public outcry arose against this attack. War was threatened, but President Thomas Jefferson instead instituted the embargo of 1807, with devastating effects for the economy. Ironically, the British issued an apology for the attack. However, U. S. diplomats insisted on tying a discussion of the incident to the larger issues of impressment and neutral trade, two subjects on which the British were not prepared to make many concessions. Increased tension between the two nations resulted, which helped lead to the War of 1812.
The fate of the four deserters is often lost in discussion of the diplomatic haggling over the attack on the Chesapeake. Three turned out to be U. S. citizens who had been either impressed or volunteered for the British navy. One of these died while being held by the British. The two others were turned over to the United States after the opening of hostilities in the War of 1812. The fourth was clearly a British subject, and he was hanged for desertion.
See also foreign affairs.
Further reading: Spencer C. Tucker and Frank T. Reuter, Injured Honor: The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, June 22, 1807 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1996).
World History
