Guardsmen, Royal Marines Recall 1812 War Dead at Caulk’s Field

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1865″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500570832778{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500570302707{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Story and photos by Capt. Wayde Minami[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500571216164{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Overshadowed by the larger, more dramatic confrontations at Washington, Fort McHenry and New Orleans, the Battle of Caulk’s Field, near the Eastern Shore municipality of Chestertown, was little remembered – until today.

As part of the on-going state commemoration of the War of 1812, Maj. Gen. James A. Adkins, the adjutant general of Maryland, and British Lt. Col. Colby Corrin, Royal Marine liaison officer to the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command, laid wreaths at the site of the engagement Aug. 31, in memory of the British and American blood spilled there.

During the ceremony, both Adkins and Corrin attested to the closeness of American-British relations, with Adkins referring to the United Kingdom as “America’s closest ally,” while Corrin, two of whose children are American, likened the conflict to a family spat. Corrin, himself a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, noted that Americans and Britons have fought more wars together as allies than they ever did as enemies.

Maj. Gen. James A. Adkins and British Lt. Col. Colby Corrin bow their heads at the Caulk’s Field Monument near Chestertown, Md., as Chaplain (Col.) Sean Lee reads the benediction during a ceremony to honor casualties at the War of 1812 battle site, Aug. 31.

The atmosphere was markedly different from when British Marines and the Maryland militia last met in Caulk’s Field, 198 years ago.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 31, 1814, a force of 124 British sailors and Marines led by Capt. Sir Peter Parker, an English baronet, clashed with militiamen of Maryland’s 21st Regiment in the rolling Kent County farmland. Parker had landed the force with intention of surprising the militia in camp and capturing them before they could march to reinforce the defenses at Baltimore.

Fortunately for the Marylanders, pickets had warned them of the Parker’s approach, and Lt. Col. Philip Reed, commander of the 21st Regiment, was able to position his troops to meet the advancing force. Although his 174-man regiment outnumbered the British, they were critically short on ammunition.

Firing across a moon-lit cornfield, the men of the 21st Regiment soon exhausted their ammunition and were forced to withdraw, but not before inflicting some 25 casualties on the British – including Parker, who was mortally wounded and died within minutes. The militia had suffered only three wounded during the 30-minute engagement. The British, battered and bloody, broke off the attack and fell back to their ships. Local newspapers would soon crow over

Wreaths flank the Caulk’s Field Monument near Chestertown, Md., following a ceremony to honor casualties at the War of 1812 battle site, Aug. 31.

the lopsided outcome.

But as Adkins and Corrin placed their wreaths at the Caulk’s Field Monument, there was no hint of the rancor that had once marked American-British relations. Instead, both officers emphasized the shared values of loyalty and commitment to duty.

“The militia fought to defend their homes,” Adkins noted. “The British sailors and Marines did their duty for king and country. Both fulfilled their obligations bravely and honorably.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]