Escape Plan and Capture
The organizers intended for the ship to sail 100 miles down the Potomac River, then 125 miles north up the Chesapeake Bay to freedom in New Jersey, a free state. But, the wind was against the schooner, so the ship had to anchor for the night. The next morning, numerous slaveholders realized their slaves were missing and sent out an armed posse of 35 men by one slaveholder's steamboat.
Drayton described the capture in his later memoir:
"A Mr. Dodge, of Georgetown, a wealthy old gentleman, originally from New England, missed three or four slaves from his family, and a small steamboat, of which he was the proprietor, was readily obtained. Thirty-five men, including a son or two of old Dodge, and several of those whose slaves were missing, volunteered to man her; and they set out about Sunday noon."
The party on The Salem found The Pearl on Monday morning near Point Lookout in Maryland; they took the slaves and ship back to Washington.
Read more about this topic: Pearl Incident
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