Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
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In the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, also referred to as the Chesapeake Affair, which occurred on June 22, 1807, the British frigate HMS Leopard attacked and boarded the American frigate USS Chesapeake.
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[edit] Attack
The Chesapeake lay off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and was under the command of Commodore James Barron. The Leopard, under the command of Salisbury Pryce Humphreys hailed and requested to search the Chesapeake for suspected deserters from the Royal Navy; when the Chesapeake refused, the Leopard began to fire broadsides, killing three aboard the Chesapeake and injuring another 18 (one of whom, Robert Macdonald, later died from his wounds ashore). The Chesapeake managed to fire only a single gun in reply to the Leopard, and Barron quickly struck his colours and surrendered his ship; however, Humphreys refused the surrender, and simply sent a boarding party to search for the deserters.
The boarding party found four Royal Navy deserters among the Chesapeake crew: David Martin, John Strachan, and William Ware, run from the HMS Melampus; and Jenkin Ratford, run from the HMS Halifax. Of the four, only Ratford was British-born: Strachan was a white man born in the United States (though later serving in the Royal Navy), and Martin and Ware were African Americans (place of birth uncertain). Leopard carried the men to Halifax for trial: the British citizen, Ratford, was sentenced to death and hanged on the Halifax; the three Americans were sentenced to 500 lashes each, but the sentence was later commuted, and the British government eventually offered to return them to the U.S. and pay reparations.
[edit] Aftermath
The American public was outraged with the incident, as President Thomas Jefferson noted: "Never since the battle of Lexington have I seen this country in such a state of exasperation." The President closed U.S. territorial waters to British warships, demanded payment for damages, and requested an end to British efforts to search United States ships for deserters.
This event served to raise tensions between the two countries and, while not a direct cause, can be seen as one of the events leading up to the War of 1812. Indeed, many demanded war following the incident, but President Thomas Jefferson initially turned to diplomacy and economic pressure in the form of the ill-fated Embargo Act of 1807.
The incident had significant repercussions for the U.S. Navy. The public was shocked that Chesapeake had put up so little resistance and surrendered so quickly (even if the surrender was declined) to another frigate, calling into question the ability of the navy to defend the U.S. from a possible British invasion, despite its expensive and controversial frigate-building program. A court martial placed the blame on Barron, and suspended him from service for eight years as punishment.
On May 20 1813, during the War of 1812, the Chesapeake — then under the command of Captain James Lawrence — was defeated and captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon in a ship-to-ship action near Boston, and taken into service in the Royal Navy. She was sold out of the service in 1820.
