By Mark St. John Erickson, firstname.lastname@example.org |
757-247-4783 February 10, 2013 No one could mistake the intent
of the British warships that appeared at the mouth of the
Chesapeake Bay early on the frosty morning of Feb. 4, 1813. Just
one of the immense 74-gun ships in this advance squadron boasted
more firepower than all the cannons defending the Elizabeth
River in Norfolk — and within weeks the number of tall masts and
Union Jacks commanding the waters between Lynnhaven Bay and Old
Point Comfort would multiply many times over. Not for several
days, however, did the nature of the threat become clear to
mariners, shopkeepers, farmers and militiamen sizing up His
Majesty's might from afar. About noon on Feb. 8, a lookout
aboard the HMS Maidstone spotted a sail approaching from the
northwest. An hour later, after eluding several smaller British
ships, the six-gun schooner Lottery out of Baltimore found
itself becalmed off Old Point and beset by a swarm of enemy
vessels. That's when the first cannon s