Battle of the Severn
Battle of the Severn | |||||||
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Part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms | |||||||
An illustration of the battle | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commonwealth supporters (primarily Puritan settlers) | Lord Baltimore's supporters (Royalist and Catholic settlers) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Fuller | William Stone | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
175[1] | 130[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed |
17 killed 32 wounded |
The Battle of the Severn was a
Background
The background surrounding the Battle of the Severn flows from the early days of Maryland as a colony, and acts as a mirror to the events simultaneously occurring in England. It pitted the forces allied with the royal proprietor, who was a Catholic and Royalist, against forces allied with the Commonwealth of England, who were Puritans.
Using the language of the charter that allowed him to take possession of land between the Delaware Bay and Potomac River "not cultivated or planted," Cecil Calvert lay claim to Kent Island.[4]
Royal proprietorship
Maryland was founded by the first
The
Led by Cecil Calvert’s brother, Leonard Calvert, the first settlers of the new colony, a party of Catholic gentry and Church of England Protestants, landed in present-day St. Mary's City on March 27, 1634.[3][6] Using his absolute powers bestowed by charter, Cecil Calvert named his brother as royal governor of the new colony, a post he held from 1634 to 1644 and again from 1646 until his death in 1647.[7]
The ensuing fallout from the capture of Kent Island would resonate through Maryland for many years to follow.
The Plundering Time
The three part
In April 1643, aware of the problems besetting the home-country, Leonard Calvert departed Maryland to consult with his brother Cecil Calvert, leaving Giles Brent as acting governor in his absence. During this time, St. Mary's City was visited by Captain Richard Ingle, an ardent supporter of the Parliamentary side of the conflict, who was placed under nominal arrest for making disloyal comments concerning the King, but who was allowed to escape. Upon Leonard Calvert's return, he discovered that Ingle had joined forces with Claiborne and they were planning an invasion of the colony. In September 1644, Ingle captured St. Mary's City, and Claiborne recovered Kent Island, forcing Calvert to seek refuge in Virginia.[1]
What followed became known as the Plundering Time, a nearly two-year period when Ingle and his companions roamed the colony, robbing at will and taking Jesuits (Royalists) back to England as prisoners.[10] This ended only in 1646 when Calvert returned from exile in Virginia, recaptured St. Mary's City, and restored the rule of loyalists to the English crown.[1]
The settling of Providence
Following the death of Leonard Calvert in 1647, Cecil Calvert named William Stone as governor in 1649.[7] Stone's appointment was carefully made, as he was a Protestant – as were the majority of the members of his council – and a friend of Parliament. By choosing Stone, Calvert could avoid criticism of Maryland as a seat of Popery, where Protestants were allegedly oppressed. Stone and his council, however, were required to agree not to interfere with freedom of worship.[1] In 1649, the colonial Assembly passed the "Act Concerning Religion" (or the Toleration Act as it is more commonly known), ensuring freedom of religion within Maryland.[11]
During the period of Parliamentary rule, Virginia remained faithful to then King Charles II, though Parliament, which had declared England a Commonwealth under their rule, had decreed that support for Charles II was treason.[3] Baltimore and Stone stayed mute on the subject, but almost immediately after taking office, Stone allowed a group of persecuted Virginian Puritans into the colony, who then settled at Providence, present-day Annapolis. The issue of which side Maryland stood was finally settled, at least in appearance, when Thomas Greene, deputy to Stone and a Catholic, declared on November 15, 1649 that Charles II was the "undoubted rightfull heire to all his father's dominions". All acts taken by the Maryland Assembly would further require an oath of fidelity to Baltimore as "Lord Proprietor".[3]
The new Assembly
In 1651 there began a set of rumors indicating that Lord Baltimore would lose his charter. Parliament had appointed two Commissioners, one of whom was none other than Claiborne, to force Virginia to submit to Parliamentary authority. The other was Richard Bennett, who became Governor of Virginia. They interpreted Maryland to fall under this commission. In March 1652 they removed Stone as governor, only to reinstate him in June 1652.[12] On March 2, 1654, Stone decreed that although he was faithful to the Commonwealth, all writs should "run in the Proprietary's name as heretofore".[3] On January 3, 1654, the Puritans who had settled at Stone's invitation in Providence communicated to the commissioners that they objected to the oath of fidelity to Baltimore as a Catholic. On July 20, 1654, Stone resigned as governor under duress.[3] The Commissioners became de facto governors of the colony, and the first general assembly under their authority was held on October 20, 1654. Catholics and any other individuals who had borne arms against the Parliament could not be members (effectively limiting the membership to Puritans), and among the 44 Acts passed by this group was a repeal of the Toleration Act, and another that forbade Catholics from practicing their faith.[1]
Stone's return to power
On January 31, 1655, The Golden Lyon, a merchant ship commanded by Captain Roger Heamans, arrived in Maryland, and William Stone reported to the Captain that he was no longer Governor of Maryland. At about that time, another ship, The Golden Fortune arrived in the colony with a letter from Oliver Cromwell, by this time Lord Protector, addressed to Captain Stone, Governor of Maryland.[3]
Using this as a form of recognition, William Stone challenged the authority of the commissioners, seized back the records of the colony, and mustered his troops to deal with the Puritan settlers allied with them.[3] Recruiting from St. Mary's County, newly restored Governor Stone recaptured the Assembly records, located on the Patuxent River, and sailed with a small fleet up the Chesapeake Bay towards Providence.[13]
The Battle of the Severn
Heamans was informed of an alleged plot to kill the inhabitants of Providence, as well as to burn his ship and kill his crew and officers. Following the removal of the women and children of Providence to The Golden Lyon, a war council was convened and appointed William Fuller, later known as "Captain Fuller" in the coming conflict, the military leader of the Puritan settlers at Providence. On March 23, 1655, the council issued a warrant to Heamans to serve as a counselor, with Heamans relating to Stone that he was bound to do so, ignoring his contrary orders.[3]
On March 24, 1655, Heamans fired on sloops and boats heading toward his ship, forcing their retreat. Heamans then ordered an armed sloop to bar their escape by blocking Spa Creek,[1] the inlet of the Severn to which Stone's forces had retreated. On March 25, after Captain Fuller retrieved the only Commonwealth flag in the colony for use as his colors in battle, the forces met on Horn Point, with Fuller's forces driving Stone's small force to the end of the peninsula. In less than one half-hour, the battle was over, with 17 of Stone's forces being killed, and four executed, including Thomas Hatton, secretary of the colony. Thirty-two were wounded, including Stone. Only two of Fuller's force were killed.[3]
Governor Stone surrendered after he was promised mercy.
Aftermath
The primarily Puritan assembly retained powers until April 27, 1658, when proprietorship was restored to Lord Baltimore,
The issue of the ongoing Claiborne grievance was finally settled by an agreement reached in 1657. Lord Baltimore provided Claiborne amnesty for all of his offenses, Virginia laid aside any claim it had to Maryland territory, and Claiborne was indemnified with extensive land grants in Virginia for his loss of Kent Island.[12]
Governor Fendall soon had a falling out with Lord Baltimore and led a bloodless revolution in 1659 whereby he and Fuller reorganized Maryland's government to resemble the Commonwealth's. However, the
See also
- Plundering Time
- Toleration Act of 1649
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gambrill, J. Montgomery (1904). Leading Events of Maryland History. Boston etc.: Ginn & Company. pp. 44, 45.
- ^ Cook, Sue (presenter) (July 6, 2004), The Battle of Great Severn – Colonial America and the English Civil War, Making History (programme 12), BBC Radio 4
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m May, Radmila (March 1999), "The Battle of Great Severn", Contemporary Review, 274 (1598) (subscription required), Also available at "The Battle of Great Severn". Retrieved March 28, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-8078-4343-1. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
- ^ Hall, Clayton Colman (1910). Narratives of Early Maryland, 1633–1684. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 67, 214.
- ^ White, Father Andrew (1984). A Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland. Maryland Archives. Vol. 552. Annapolis, Maryland: Maryland State Archives. pp. 5–24. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
- ^ a b "Maryland Historical Chronology". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ Browne, William Hand (1890). George Calvert and Cecil Calvert. Dodd, Mead. pp. 63–67.
- ISBN 0-521-04544-4. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 0-674-01502-9. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ "An Act Concerning Religion". Maryland State Archives. April 21, 1649. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ a b Fiske, John (1900). Old Virginia and Her Neighbours. Houghton, Mifflin and company. p. 294. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ a b c Glenn, Thomas Allen (1900). Some Colonial Mansions and Those who Lived in Them. H. T. Coates & company. p. 360. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ Gambrill gives the total number of death sentences as 10 (Gambrill 1904, p. 45), but Nay states that there were 12 (May 1999).
Sources
- Andrews, Matthew Page (1929). History of Maryland: Province and State. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 718.