ST. MICHAELS, Md. — On Aug. 10, 1813, the British attacked St. Michaels in the middle of the night. Taking place during the War of 1812, this battle was fought over the town’s prominence as an American shipbuilding community. Luckily, St. Michaels had been informed of the incoming attack beforehand, giving the town time to evacuate and prepare for the battle.
Reports indicate that the attackers may have managed to disable an American artillery battery. They then went back to their boats, but local militias didn’t give up.
St. Michaels fought back, forcing the British flotilla to retreat toward the Chesapeake Bay. A few houses were hit by the British, but the Americans managed to secure victory without any severe casualties.
According to local legend, the occupants of St. Michaels placed lanterns high in the air on rooftops and tree branches to trick the British, fooling the enemy soldiers into firing their weapons well above where the Americans were actually located.
If the lantern legend is true, then the strategy may have prevented countless injuries and deaths. The validity of this story is often debated by historians, but St. Michaels’ victory is irrefutable.
NPS.gov offers a short quote from a man present in St. Michaels on that fateful August day:
“We were fortunate enough not to have a man hurt, although the grapeshot flew like hail in the town, and their balls passed through a number of houses,” reads a letter from St. Michaels in Baltimore’s Niles’ Weekly Register.
Though injuries were minimal, it was reported that one cannonball bounced through a house and nearly hit a woman and her daughter, further highlighting how dangerous combat often was during the War of 1812.
As a celebration of their victory in 1813 and the local lantern legend, St. Michaels is now known far and wide as “The Town That Fooled the British.”
Can You Visit St. Michaels?
In 2026, the St. Michaels peninsula is a historic tourist destination on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Among other attractions, St. Michaels offers boutique hotels, restaurants, and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The town has even set up monuments to honor the men who fought to protect St. Michaels during the War of 1812.
To learn more about St. Michaels, visit stmichaelsmd.org.
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