Chesapeake Bay Flotilla

Chesapeake Bay Flotilla
Charles Ball wearing the uniform of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla.
Active1813-1815
Country United States
Allegiance United States
Branch U.S. Navy
Roleartillery
Size4,370 men (with an additional 700 U.S. marines attached to naval force)
Part ofU.S. Department of the Navy
EngagementsWar of 1812
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Commodore Joshua Barney
Chesapeake campaign
Part of War of 1812
DateApril, 1814 - February 15, 1815
Location
Result American strategic victory
Belligerents

 United States

U.S. Navy
U.S. Army
 Maryland Militia
 Virginia Militia
District of Columbia Militia
 Pennsylvania Militia
 British Empire
Royal Navy
British Army
Royal Marines
Colonial Marines
Commanders and leaders
Joshua Barney Sir George Cockburn
Sir John Warren
Alexander Cochrane
Robert Ross
Strength

4,370 sailors
700 marines
Army regulars
militia

Ships:
Seven 75-foot (23 m) barges
Six 50-foot (15 m) barges
Two gunboats
One row-galley
One lookout boat and his flagship
One 49-foot (15 m) sloop-rigged
One self-propelled floating battery USS Scorpion,

mounting two long guns and two carronades

Large:
sailors
marines
Army regulars

96 Ships:
11 ships of the line
34 frigates

52 other vessels
Casualties and losses

Artillery

Scuttling and burning of Flotilla vessels
minimal

The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla was a motley collection of barges and gunboats that the United States assembled under the command of Joshua Barney, an 1812 privateer captain, to stall British attacks in the Chesapeake Bay which came to be known as the "Chesapeake campaign" during the War of 1812. The Flotilla engaged the Royal Navy in several inconclusive battles before Barney was forced to scuttle the vessels themselves on August 22, 1814. The men of the Flotilla then served onshore in the defense of Washington, DC and Baltimore. It was disbanded on February 15, 1815, after the end of the war.