War in the Chesapeake: The British Campaigns to Control the Bay, 1813-14

[Matrim]

 

War in the Chesapeake: The British Campaigns to Control the Bay, 1813-14

 

By Charles Patrick Neimeyer

Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2015

6-1/4” x 9-1/4”, hardcover, x + 244 pages

Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $44.95

ISBN: 9781612518657

 

 

Charles P. Neimeyer, Director of Marines Corps History and Gray Research

Center at Marines Corps University, has researched and written one of the finest

studies available of British campaigns in the Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812.

His synthesis of numerous primary and secondary sources provides the vehicle for an

excellent narrative that addresses the prelude to war, the stalemate on the northern

frontier, and unsettled conditions around the Bay (popular unrest, a scramble for the

spoils of privateering, and weakly prepared military defenses) before plunging into the

nitty-gritty details of the British campaigns of 1813 and 1814. Within these campaigns

hide marvelous stories of vessels large and small, heroic individuals, valiant resistance,

lives sliced short, and a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that faded in the light of a

dawn breaking on the waters and fields of Baltimore.

 

Neimeyer focuses his efforts on several key areas: the defense of Craney Island

and Norfolk, British raids ashore in 1813, American naval resistance around the Bay,

and the assaults on Washington, Alexandria, and Baltimore in 1814. His treatment of

the British handling of American slaves is interesting; and the author does not neglect

actions outside the Bay (for example, Cockburn’s raid on the Outer Banks of North

Carolina). In several instances, he illustrates the interconnectivity of the Chesapeake

campaigns with other events of the war. Notably, Neimeyer ties the cruelties (by both

sides) along the Canadian Frontier to the burning of civilian homes and government

buildings in the Chesapeake region. War invariably grows crueler over time–the War of

1812 was no exception.

 

As with all works, there is room for improvement. More maps would be welcome.

Some additional analysis of the place of prize money and the drive for promotion among

the Royal Navy’s officer corps (especially with the war in Europe winding to an end)

would not be amiss. Similarly, the effects on the war as a whole of these massive

concentrations of available British resources could have used a few more words.

That noted, this is an extraordinary study that combines readability,

 

entertainment, and the scholarly touch. It is a history for the general reader as well as

the professional historian. As the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 cruises to its

inevitable close, Neimeyer’s study of the Chesapeake Campaigns is highly

recommended and deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

 

Wade G. Dudley

East Carolina University