Battle of St. Michaels 1813
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 10 August 1813 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1813 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of 1812 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.7878, -76.2186 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of St. Michaels was an engagement contested on August 10, 1813, during the War of 1812. British soldiers attacked Maryland militia at St. Michaels, which is located on Eastern Shore of Maryland with access to the Chesapeake Bay. At the time, this small town was on the main shipping route to important cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Although St. Michaels had little importance compared to Washington and Baltimore, it was a target for the British because of its ship building and its connection with the town of Easton, which was the largest community in the Maryland Eastern Shore region. St. Michaels is located on the St. Michaels (later named Miles) River, which could be used with smaller boats to get within three miles (4.8 km) of Easton.
St. Michaels was attacked early in the morning before sunrise, when British forces arrived on the shore near the town. They quickly disabled an artillery battery, and returned to their boats. As they maneuvered their flotilla closer to the town, two other batteries manned by local militia opened fire. A boom placed across the mouth of the town's harbor successfully prevented the British from getting closer. Although the British returned fire, they eventually retreated to their base at Maryland's Kent Island.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of St. Michaels (revision 1370274665), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Second Battle of St. Michaels 1813 · 1 km
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- Battle of North Point 1814 · 50 km
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All 59 battles of the War of 1812 →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles