Delaware-2013-SJR2-Draft

WHEREAS, the nation is now observing the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812, often referred to as our "forgotten war," and also as our second war for independence; and

WHEREAS, while the American Revolution served to secure political independence for the new United States of America, the War of 1812 secured America's commercial independence and solidified our claims to the area then known as "the Northwest Territory," comprising present-day Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and adjacent areas; and

WHEREAS, among the members of the U. S. delegation that traveled to Europe to negotiate the 1814 peace treaty ending the war, known as the Treaty of Ghent, was former Congressman and United States Senator James Asheton Bayard, II of Delaware (July 28, 1767 – August 6, 1815), who, becoming ill on his homeward journey, passed away in Wilmington five days after his return to the First State in August, 1815; and

WHEREAS, histories of the War of 1812 often associate it with well-known battles on the Great Lakes, such as the Battle of Lake Erie during which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry coined the slogan, "Don't Give Up the Ship," and the victory of American troops under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, which was actually fought after the peace treaty had been signed; and

WHEREAS, the Middle Atlantic region was an important theater of operations during the war and the Delmarva Peninsula was at the epicenter of events along the Atlantic coast, since the Chesapeake side of the peninsula afforded easy access to Washington, D. C. and Baltimore and coastal Delaware served as the entrance to the Delaware Bay and River and the City of Philadelphia, then the most populous and economically important city in America; and

WHEREAS, the vital economic activity of Philadelphia and its environs and the then-newly established du Pont gunpowder mills on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, added to Delaware's strategic importance; and

WHEREAS, with its commanding strategic position just inside the mouth of the Delaware Bay at Cape Henlopen, the old town of Lewes was destined to play an important role in the defense of the Delaware Bay and River during the conflict; and

WHEREAS, in March, 1813, nearly a year after the start of the war, a small flotilla of British naval vessels under the command of Commodore John P. Beresford, sailed from the Chesapeake to the mouth of the Delaware, hoping to cut off access to the Delaware River ports and choke the U. S. economy to the point where the Americans might give in to pressure to surrender; and

WHEREAS, arriving in the waters off Cape Henlopen, the British found a small battery at the foot of Pilottown Road, just west of Lewes near the present-day location of the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment campus, which had earlier seen duty during the Revolution; and

WHEREAS, in addition to that battery, there was a hastily-constructed fort near the center of town, consisting of "rough logs and brush, filled in with earth, sand and gravel" with each side having "a log watch house" and running along the south side of what was then known as Lewes Creek; and

WHEREAS, while the British forces were at anchor off the cape, a small party was sent ashore to seek fresh provisions for the ships, their movements being hampered by elements of the volunteer and Delaware state militia that had begun to gather at Lewes in response to the British threat, as well as some federal troops whose presence at Lewes was a welcome sight for local inhabitants; and

WHEREAS, after several thwarted attempts by his forces, Commodore Beresford sent a letter to "the first magistrate at Lewistown" reading in part, "As soon as you read this, I must request you will send twenty live bullocks, with a proportionate quantity of vegetables and hay, to the Poitiers [one of the British ships comprising the blockade] for the use of His British Majesty's squadron..." and concluding ominously, "If you refuse this request, I shall be under the necessity of destroying your town;" and

WHEREAS, this letter passed quickly into the hands of former Delaware Governor—and onetime commander of the Delaware Regiment in the Continental Army—David Hall of Lewes, who immediately contacted then Governor Joseph Haslet, who made his way from Dover to Lewes, formally refusing the British demands upon his arrival there; and

WHEREAS, on April 6, 1813, Beresford finally lost his patience and an initial firing of 32-pounders rained down upon Lewes; and

WHEREAS, in the midst of the bombardment, Beresford dispatched another letter to the town, noting his grief "for the distress the women and children are reduced to by your conduct [i.e., the town's refusal to give in to the British demands], and earnestly desire they be instantly removed"; and

WHEREAS, Beresford's letter fell into the hands of Colonel Samuel Boyer Davis, a Lewes native whose father had died aboard a British prison ship during the Revolution, who, upon hearing of the imminent British threat to the town, had returned home to assist in the town's defense, and who now responded to Beresford that he had already taken care of the ladies; and

WHEREAS, the bombardment ultimately lasted some 22 hours over April 6 and 7, 1813, resulting in damage to several buildings in the town, including the famous "Cannonball House," which now serves as a Lewes historic museum; and

WHEREAS, the American defenders were able to gather enemy cannonballs and fire them back at the British squadron, causing a fire aboard at least one gunboat, thus causing the British to make a strategic retreat "to the Jersey Cape;" and

WHEREAS, following the bombardment, the forts at Lewes continued to serve in the defense of the town and the lower bay until news came of the U. S. victory at New Orleans and the cessation of hostilities; and

WHEREAS, among the American doggerel made popular after the bombardment was this verse, "the Commander and all his men/Shot a dog and killed a hen"; and

WHEREAS, in the two hundred years since the bombardment of Lewes, those events have continued to resonate among the people of Delaware and visitors to the area and all the ensuing generations down to the present day have paid tribute to those brave defenders of Lewes knowing that through their actions, in the words of Colonel Samuel Boyer Davis, "the honor of the State has not been tarnished;"

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 147th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the governor, that we do hereby commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Bombardment of Lewes and honor the memory of all those brave defenders who fought to protect their town and state from attack.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State of Delaware does hereby extend to the citizens of Lewes all best wishes for a successful commemoration event on the weekend of April 6 and 7, 2013.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that suitable copies of this Senate Concurrent Resolution be presented to the Lewes Historical Society and the Town of Lewes during the official commemoration of the 1813 Bombardment of Lewes.