Battle of the Severn
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Severn was a skirmish fought on March 25, 1655, on the Severn River
Severn River (Maryland)
The Severn River runs through Anne Arundel County in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located south of the Magothy River, and north of the South River.-Geography:...

 at Horn Point, across Spa Creek from Annapolis, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, in what at that time was referred to as "Providence", in what is now the neighborhood of Eastport. Following the battle, Providence changed its name to Annapolis in 1694. It was an extension of the conflicts that formed the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, pitting the forces of Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 settlers against forces aligned with Lord Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...

, Lord Proprietor of the colony of Maryland at the time. It has been suggested that this was the last battle of the English Civil War.

Background

The background surrounding the Battle of the Severn flows from the early days of Maryland as a colony, and acts as a mirror to the events simultaneously occurring in England. It pitted the forces allied with the royal proprietor, who was a Roman Catholic and perceived to be a royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...

, against forces allied with the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

 who were Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

s.

Royal proprietorship

Maryland was founded by the first Baron Baltimore
Baron Baltimore
Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates...

, who had previously been the principal secretary to James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. Baltimore resigned from his position after the death of James I following his conversion to Roman Catholicism. After a visit to what would be Maryland in 1628, Baltimore requested that Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 make a grant of land for a colony in which Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 could worship freely. Following Baltimore's death on June 20, 1632, the grant of land was made to Cecilius Calvert,m now the new Lord Baltimore.

The Charter of Maryland was unique in that it made Lord Baltimore and his heirs the "absolute Lords and Proprietaries" of the new colony. In effect, the grant created a county palatine
County palatine
A county palatine or palatinate is an area ruled by an hereditary nobleman possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom or empire. The name derives from the Latin adjective palatinus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palatium, "palace"...

, and, indeed, the name of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, a county palatine in its own right, is used in the charter. The effect of this document was to create a semi-independent colony, ruled by Lord Baltimore as Duke.

Sending his brother Leonard Calvert
Leonard Calvert
Leonard Calvert was the 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland. He was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, the first proprietary of the Province of Maryland...

, the first settlers, a party of Catholic gentry and Protestants, of the new colony landed in present-day St. Mary's City
St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...

 on March 27, 1634. Using his absolute powers bestowed by charter, Cecilius Calvert named his brother as Royal Governor of the new colony, a post he held from 1634–44, and again from 1646 until his death in 1647.

William Claiborne
William Claiborne
William Claiborne was an English pioneer, surveyor, and an early settler in Virginia and Maryland. Claiborne became a wealthy planter, a trader, and a major figure in the politics of the colony...

, however, had an earlier claim to Kent Island
Kent Island, Maryland
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is separated from Sandy Point, an area near Annapolis, by...

 arising from 1631 when he had landed and set up a fur trading post on behalf of the colony of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. Using the language of the charter that allowed him to take possession of land between the Delaware Bay and Potomac River "not cultivated or planted", Cecilius Calvert lay claim to Kent Island. Following the arrest of one of his agents for trading in Maryland waters without a license in 1635, Claiborne fitted out an armed ship, and there ensued a naval battle on April 23, 1635 by the mouth of the Pocomoke River
Pocomoke River
The Pocomoke River stretches approximately from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At its mouth, the river is essentially an arm of Chesapeake Bay, whereas the upper river flows through a series of relatively inaccessible wetlands called the Great Cypress Swamp,...

. Following this battle, Leonard Calvert captured Kent Island by force in February 1638.
The ensuing fallout from the capture of Kent Island, and the vengefulness of Claiborne, would resonate through Maryland for many years to follow.

The Plundering Time

The three part English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, starting in 1642 and ending in 1651, had a direct effect on Maryland. The war itself was fought between the supporters of Charles I and the supporters of the English Parliament. The civil war was followed by a period of time known as the English Interregnum
English Interregnum
The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...

. During this time the English monarchy was abolished, the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

 was proclaimed, and England was ruled by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, its Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

. The conflict did not finally resolve itself until 1661 with the coronation of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

, an act known as the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

.

In April 1643, aware of the problems besetting the home-country, Leonard Calvert departed Maryland to consult with his brother Cecilius Calvert, leaving Holmes Laughon as acting governor in his absence. During this time, St. Mary's City was visited by Captain Richard Ingle
Richard Ingle
Richard Ingle was an English colonial seaman and tobacco trader in the American colonies who took over the government of the colony of Maryland in 1645....

, an ardent supporter of the Parliamentary side of the conflict, who was placed under nominal arrest for making disloyal comments concerning the King, but who was allowed to escape following his arrest. Upon Leonard Calvert's return, he discovered that Ingle had joined forces with Claiborne and they were planning an invasion of the colony. In September 1644, Ingle captured St. Mary's City, and Claiborne recovered Kent Island, forcing Calvert to seek refuge in Virginia.

What followed became known as the Plundering Time
Plundering Time
The Plundering Time was a period of civil unrest in the Province of Maryland caused by the tensions of the English Civil War. Governor Leonard Calvert led colonial defenses against Parliamentary privateers such as Captain Richard Ingle and William Claiborne...

, a nearly two-year period when Ingle and his companions roamed the colony, robbing at will and taking Jesuits back to England as prisoners. This ended only in 1646 when Calvert returned from exile in Virginia, recaptured St. Mary's City, and restored order.

The settling of Providence

Following the death of Leonard Calvert in 1647, Cecilius Calvert named William Stone as governor in 1649. Stone's appointment was carefully made, as he was a Protestant – as were the majority of the members of his council – and a friend of Parliament. By choosing Stone, Calvert could avoid criticism of Maryland as a seat of Popery, where Protestants were allegedly oppressed. Stone and his council, however, were required to agree not to interfere with freedom of worship. In 1649, the colonial Assembly passed the "Act Concerning Religion" (or the Toleration Act
Maryland Toleration Act
The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, was a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. Passed on April 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the second law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies and...

 as it is more commonly known), ensuring freedom of religion within Maryland.

During the period of Parliamentary rule, Virginia remained faithful to then King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

, though Parliament, which had declared England a Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

 under their rule, had decreed that support for Charles II was treason. Baltimore and Stone stayed mute on the subject, but almost immediately after taking office, Stone allowed a group of persecuted Virginian Puritans into the colony, who then settled at Providence, present-day Annapolis. The issue of which side Maryland stood was finally settled, at least in appearance, when Thomas Greene, deputy to Stone and a Roman Catholic, declared on November 15, 1649 that Charles II was the "undoubted rightfull heire to all his father's dominions". All acts taken by the Maryland Assembly would further require an oath of fidelity to Baltimore as "Lord Proprietor".

The new Assembly

In 1651 there began a set of rumors indicating that Lord Baltimore would lose his charter. Parliament had appointed two Commissioners, one of whom was none other than Claiborne, to force Maryland to submit to Parliamentary authority. In March 1652 they removed Stone as Governor, only to reinstate him in June 1652. On March 2, 1654, Stone decreed that although he was faithful to the Commonwealth, all writs should "run in the Proprietary's name as heretofore".
On January 3, 1654, the Puritans who had settled at Stone's invitation in Providence communicated to the commissioners that they objected to the oath of fidelity to Baltimore as a Roman Catholic. On July 20, 1654, Stone resigned as Governor under duress.
The Commissioners became de facto governors of the colony, and the first general assembly under their authority was held on October 20, 1654. Roman Catholics and any other individuals who had borne arms against the Parliament could not be members (effectively limiting the membership to Puritans), and among the 44 Acts passed by this group was a repeal of the Toleration Act, and another that forbade Roman Catholics from practicing their faith.

Stone's return to power

On January 31, 1655, The Golden Lyon, a merchant ship commanded by Captain Roger Heamans, arrived in Maryland, and Stone reported to the Captain that he was no longer Governor of Maryland. At about that time, another ship, The Golden Fortune arrived in the colony with a letter from Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, by this time Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

, addressed to Captain Stone, Governor of Maryland.

Using this as a form of recognition, Stone challenged the authority of the commissioners, seized back the records of the colony, and mustered his troops to deal with the Puritan settlers allied with them. Recruiting from St. Mary's County, Stone recaptured the Assembly records located on the Patuxent River
Patuxent River
The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast passing through Baltimore, and the Patuxent River between...

, and sailed with a small fleet up the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 north towards Providence.

The Battle of the Severn

Heamans was informed of an alleged plot to kill the inhabitants of Providence, as well as to burn his ship and kill his crew and officers. Following the removal of the women and children of Providence to The Golden Lyon, a war council was convened, and appointed William Fuller of the Puritan settlers of Providence as its leader. On March 23, 1655, the council issued a warrant to Heamans to serve as a counselor, with Heamans relating to Stone that he was bound to do so, ignoring his contrary orders.

On March 24, 1655, Heamans fired on sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

s and boats heading toward his ship, forcing their retreat. Heamans then ordered an armed sloop to bar their escape by blocking Spa Creek, the inlet of the Severn to which Stone's forces had retreated. On March 25, after Fuller retrieved the only Commonwealth flag in the colony for use as his colors in battle, the forces met on Horn Point, with Fuller's forces driving Stone's small force to the end of the peninsula. In less than one half hour, the battle was over, with 17 of Stone's forces being killed, including Thomas Hatton, secretary of the colony, and 32 wounded, including Stone. Only two of Fuller's force were killed.

Stone surrendered after he was promised mercy. Following hostilities, however, the war council issued death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...

s for Stone and nine others. Four of the prisoners were executed, but the remainder were saved when the women of Providence begged that their lives be spared.

Aftermath

The primarily Puritan assembly retained powers until April 27, 1658, when proprietorship was restored to Lord Baltimore, religious freedom was ensured, and an agreement of general amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...

 was entered into. Thus, in the end, Lord Baltimore not only retained his lands and powers, but was able to avoid the grisly fate of many of his contemporaries in England during this time. The proprietor appointed Josias Fendall
Josias Fendall
Lieutenant-General Josias Fendall, Esq. , was the 4th Proprietary Governor of Maryland. He was born in England, and came to the Province of Maryland. He was the progenitor of the Fendall family in America....

 to succeed Stone as governor for his loyalty during the battle.

The issue of the ongoing Claiborne grievance was finally settled by an agreement reached in 1657. Lord Baltimore provided Claiborne amnesty for all of his offenses, Virginia laid aside any claim it had to Maryland territory, and Claiborne was indemnified with extensive land grants in Virginia for his loss of Kent Island.

Governor Fendall soon had a falling out with Lord Baltimore and led a bloodless revolution in 1659 whereby he and Fuller reorganized Maryland's government to resemble the Commonwealth's. However, the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 in 1660 forced Fendall into exile and restored the proprietorship. Fendall was replaced as governor by Phillip Calvert
Phillip Calvert (governor)
Phillip Calvert was the 5th Proprietary Governor of Maryland during a brief period in 1660 or 1661.He was appointed by the royally chartered proprietor of Maryland, Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, as a caretaker to replace Josias Fendall.-Life:He came to Maryland on the first expedition...

. In addition, Fuller's estate was confiscated and Claiborne never recovered his former holding of Kent Island.
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