William Beanes - War of 1812

War of 1812

Beanes was in the limelight during the War of 1812, (1812-1815), in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. In the summer of 1814, the British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay, sailed up the Patuxent River, with ships and barges, landing several regiments of soldiers near Benedict, Maryland. They marched to the county seat of Upper Marlboro (or occasio0nally earlier called "Marlborough") which was about 16 miles northeast from Washington, D.C., the fourteen year old National Capital. The town was mostly deserted except for its most prominent citizen, Dr. Beanes. He offered British General Robert Ross, (1766-1814), and Vice Admiral, Sir George Cockburn, (1772-1853), the use of his house as his headquarters from August 22nd until the afternoon of August 23rd. Because of this, General Ross believed Beans was sympathetic to the British. There was no resistance to the British in town, which additionally confirmed the notion.

The British continued their march onto Washington and entered Bladensburg which was about eight miles east of Washington. There they encountered American resistance in the Battle of Bladensburg, northeast of the Capital along the upper Eastern Branch stream of the Anacostia River on August 24, 1814. After a decisive victory by the British they continued to Washington and burned most of the city's public buildings, including the White House, The Capitol, the Navy Yard, and various other Federal buildings and structures in retaliation for the earlier American Burning of York, the capital of Upper Canada (later called Toronto, capital of the Province of Ontario) the year before. On their return trip back to their ships they again stopped briefly at Upper Marlboro. Some British deserters plundered some of the small farms in the area. Robert Bowie, (1750-1818), who was a former (11th Governor of Maryland, 1803-1806, 1811-1812) and owned some farmland in the area, decided he was going to take matters into his own hands and do something about it. He was able to get the help of Beanes, who in turn was able to get Dr. William Hill and Philip Weems to participate. They then captured a few of the British Army deserters and took them to the Prince George's County Jail. One escaped and went straight away to General Ross further along down in southern Maryland on their trek back to their ships and told him about the captives.

Ross was furious to think that he had been misled by Beanes’ earlier hospitality and that it was perhaps just a ruse on Beanes’ part. It could have been that the marauders, lied accusing Beanes of undue vehemence, but in either case, General Ross immediately put out an arrest for Beanes, Bowie, and four others. British Cavalry soldiers seized Beanes, Bowie, Dr. Hill and Mr. Weems shortly after midnight, a day later. Upon receiving these men from their soldiers, Ross and Cockburn soon released Bowie and the others but took Beanes back to their ship, "H.M.S. Tonnant".

Brigadier general William H. Winder, (1775-1824), commander of the Ninth Military District in the area, appointed by fourth President James Madison in a letter dated August 31st protested to no avail.

Friends of Beanes went to Francis Scott Key, (1779-1843), a lawyer in Georgetown, (and later in Frederick) for help on the release of the elderly doctor. Key got the permission of President James Madison who also sent John Stuart Skinner, the U.S. Prisoner Exchange Agent for the region. Skinner and Key took one of Skinner's flag of truce vessels, a Chesapeake Bay cartel (the "Minden"), and set out to locate the British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay. Skinner and Key came across the British flagship of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. They then had a meeting with Ross who refused to release Beanes. Skinner knew Beanes and the high reputation he had. He had the foresight to collect from wounded British soldiers left behind after the Battle of Bladensburg letters of how well they had been treated by the Americans. Skinner then pulled his trump card and gave Ross the letters. The soldiers wrote about what excellent medical treatment they were receiving by the Americans. Ross then had a change of heart and released Beanes. Skinner and Key with Beanes were allowed to go back to their ship, however were not allowed to go back to Baltimore. They were held eight miles off shore from Fort McHenry until the outcome of the Battle of Baltimore. Skinner, Key and Beanes had learned too much about British forces and plans of the attack on Baltimore to allow them free at that time. They were tied up to a British ship in the Chesapeake Bay and guarded by British soldiers until after the battle that started the morning of September 13, 1814. The three men watched the battle from their ship as it went into the night. There was a large flag put up at Fort McHenry that they could see, however eventually the smoke of British gunfire, cannons, Congreve rockets and nightfall obscured the flag. They could only look and hope for the best.

When morning came on September 14, they saw the flag was still there. Fort McHenry had not been taken by the British. The British had broken off the attack in the night and were retreating. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were released to go back home on their ship. They arrived at Baltimore on September 16. Key was inspired to write a poem of the event on the back of a letter, which ultimately became the Star Spangled Banner. Beanes was the incidental cause for the reason why Key wrote the poem that led to the American national anthem.