ABSTRACT
In June of 1807 at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the captain of the Britishnaval vessel Leopard demanded the right to board the U.S. naval frigate Chesapeake and search the crew for British deserters.1 The captain of the Chesapeake refused. The guns of the Leopard broadsided the Chesapeake, killing three and wounding seventeen before the American captain surrendered. The British took four sailors, three of whom were native-born Americans. After the Chesapeake struggled back to port at Norfolk, Virginia, and word of the incident spread, angry mobs demanded war.
