new acquisition REMEMBERING THE WAR OF 1812

Remembering The War Of 1812

Old Fort Stokes may be the only earthen fort from that conflict on Maryland’s eastern shore.

The War of 1812, in which America fought Great Britain from 1812 to 1815, is sometimes referred to as America’s second war of independence. Despite the importance of this conflict, some of the sites associated with it are largely forgotten. Old Fort Stokes, located in Easton, Maryland, is one such site. Consisting of a series of earthworks with placements for large canons, it has been noted in a few newspaper articles and in one local history book, but nothing more.

The fort was constructed to defend the Town of Easton, and it may be the only remaining earthen fort on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Though locals have discovered cannonballs at the site, one of which is now in the custody of the Talbot County Historical Society, no professional excavations have taken place there. The catalyst for the construction of the fort appears to have been a rumor that spread on March 28, 1813, that vessels from the British fleet were approaching Easton by way of the Tred Avon River. The residents of Easton panicked and a large number of them, joined by the Easton Light Infantry Blues, gathered to defend the town. It turned out that the rumors of a pending British attack were false.

Unsettled by the possibility of such an attack, James Stokes, a local Methodist minister and owner of a shipbuilding firm, called together his employees and friends and erected breastworks for the defense of Easton along the river. These fortifications became known as Fort Stokes. The fort was reportedly armed with six cannons under the command of a Capt. Clement Vickers of the Talbot Volunteer Artillery Company and was kept in a state of readiness for the remainder of the war. When the British attacked nearby St. Michaels in 1813, troops from Fort Stokes were sent to defend the town.

Historical accounts claim that Fort Stokes contained one building, which was used as a garrison house, and that, except for times when rumors of British attacks were circulating, it was sparsely manned. The fort was also reportedly used as a communications outpost during the war, and small boats were launched from it to report on the movement of the British fleet. When the British held nearby Sharp, Tilghman, and Kent islands, local

These cannons at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, which also played a role in the War of 1812, resemble those used at Old Fort Stokes.

resident were told to send women, children, valuables, and livestock to the fort for protection.

Old Fort Stokes (over the years it’s become known as this) was purchased by Elm Street Development, a privately owned real estate development firm with communities throughout the Washington, Baltimore, and Eastern Shore regions, who in turn donated the site to the Conservancy. —Andy Stout