What is Chesapeake–Leopard Affair?
{{Infobox military conflict |conflict=''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' Affair |image=leopardchesapeake.jpg |caption={{HMS|Leopard|1790|6}} (right) fires upon the {{USS|Chesapeake|1799|6}} |partof=the [[Origins of the War of 1812|events]] leading to the [[War of 1812]] |date=June 22, 1807 |place=off [[Norfolk, Virginia]] |result=British victory |combatant1={{flag|United Kingdom}} |combatant2={{flag|United States}} |commander1={{flagicon|UK}} [[Salusbury Pryce Humphreys]] |commander2={{flagicon|United States|1795}} [[James Barron]] |strength1=1 [[4th rate]] |strength2=1 [[frigate]] |casualties1= none |casualties2= 1 frigate damaged<br>4 killed<br>17 wounded<br>4 captured }} The '''Chesapeake–Leopard Affair''' was a [[Navy|naval]] battle that took place off the [[coast]] of [[Norfolk, Virginia]] on June 22, 1807. The [[England|English]] [[warship]] {{HMS|Leopard|1790|6}} attacked and boarded the [[United States|American]] {{USS|Chesapeake|1799|6}}. The [[Great Britain|British]] were looking for people who had deserted the [[Royal Navy]]. The commander of the American ship surrendered his vessel to the British. When he returned home, he was [[court|tried]], and had to leave the [[Military of the United States|military]]. The ''Chesapeake–Leopard Affair'' made many Americans angry. Some of them wanted to go to [[war]] with Great Britain, but most people did not. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] tried to use the anger to [[diplomacy|diplomatically]] threaten the British [[government]] into settling the matter. The [[United States Congress]] backed away from armed conflict when British diplomats showed that they felt they did nothing wrong in the matter. The diplomats also said that [[impressment]] would continue. Jefferson's [[politics|political]] failure to solve the problem with Great Britain led him towards [[economics|economic]] warfare: the [[Embargo of 1807]].<ref>Perkins,1968, p. 317–318</ref> ==Further reading== *Perkins, Bradford. 1968. ''Embargo: Alternative to W''ar (Chapter 8 f