2026 Winner; Cher Sesma, President National, U.S. Daughters of 1812 (Photo credit:
ConventionPhotography.com)
WASHINGTON — President National Cher Sesma of the United States Daughters of 1812 presented the Spirit of 1812 Medal to author and maritime historian Donald G. Shomette of Dunkirk, Md., on Friday, April 3rd, during the 134th Associate Council national conference.
Mr. Shomette was recognized for his body of work relevant to the time period of 1784 to 1815, in particular that which focused on Commodore Joshua Barney and his Chesapeake Flotilla, which was critical in harassing British Royal Navy forces in the Chesapeake region during the War of 1812.
The National Society U.S. Daughters of 1812 is a non-profit, non-political, women’s service organization founded in 1892 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its members are dedicated to the objectives of promoting patriotism, increasing knowledge of American history by the preservation of documents and relics, marking historic spots, and educating about the roles and deeds of those in civil, military, and naval life who molded the young nation between the close of the American Revolution and the close of the War of 1812.
The Ella Virginia Houck Holloway Chapter of Southern Maryland nominated Mr. Shomette for the Spirit of 1812 Medal.
In commending him for the award, Dr. William Dudley, past Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, noted Mr. Shomette’s archeological projects and maritime history accounts have ranged from those in the Chesapeake region all the way to the North Sea, where he helped search for the remains of Commodore John Paul Jones’ flagship, Bon Homme Richard.
Grace Mary Brady of the Bayside History Museum in North Beach, Md., observed, “Mr. Shomette has dedicated more than 60 years of his life to underwater archaeology, extensive research on sunken ships in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere. He is a wonderful steward of history and gives generously of his time and knowledge to help others learn.”
In 1979, Mr. Shomette discovered the site of Commodore Barney’s flotilla during his underwater archaeological survey of the Patuxent River in Maryland. Tidewater Time Capsule: History Beneath the Patuxent is his first-person narrative about the investigation and systematic survey of the area, where the fleet was ultimately scuttled in 1814 to prevent its capture by the British as they advanced toward Washington, D.C.
Flotilla: The Patuxent Naval Campaign in the War of 1812, initially published in 1981 with a much-expanded and illustrated edition in 2009, is a broader look at Joshua Barney and his daring plan to build a flotilla of inexpensive, shallow-draft gunboats that could be deployed quickly to serve as a distraction to British Rear Admiral George Cockburn’s ships, which were burning and terrorizing small Maryland towns all around the Chesapeake Bay.
Mr. Shomette also includes accounts of this critical 1784-1815 time period of our nation’s history in several other books, such as Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake, and Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay, 1610-1807.
His research focuses not only on maritime issues, but on general history as well. In his book Lost Towns of Tidewater Maryland, Mr. Shomette examined the history of once bustling communities on river shorelines including Battle Town, St. Leonard’s Town, Lower Marlboro, and Nottingham – all burned by the British in 1814 – and other towns that eventually dried up as the rivers silted in and other transportation routes developed.
Mr. Shomette further keeps the Spirit of 1812 alive through regular outreach to the public as a speaker for libraries and historical societies, as guide for a 2024 Smithsonian Associates tour entitled “On American Soil: The 1814 British Invasion of the Chesapeake,” and as a noted authority on the subject for national and international TV documentaries and articles.
Visit https://usdaughters1812.org/ if you are interested in learning more about the Daughters of 1812 and how to join.
Books by Donald Grady Shomette:
- Anaconda’s Tail: The Civil War on the Potomac Frontier, 1861-1865
- Briar Patch: The Murder that Would Not Die
- * Flotilla: The Patuxent Naval Campaign in the War of 1812 (Johns Hopkins Books on the War of 1812)
- * Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay and Other Tales of the Lost Chesapeake
- London Town: A Brief History
- * Lost Towns of Tidewater Maryland
- Maritime Alexandria: The Rise and Fall of an American Entrepot
- Pax: An Anthology of Southern Maryland Poetry (contributor)
- * Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay,
1610-1807 - Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast, 1775-1783 (~ 2016)
- Raid on America: The Dutch Naval Campaign of 1672-1674
- Shipwrecks of the Civil War: the Encyclopedia of Union and Confederate Naval Losses
- * Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake: Maritime Disasters on Chesapeake Bay and Its Tributaries, 1608 – 1978
- * Shipwrecks, Sea Raiders, and Maritime Disasters along the Delmarva Coast, 1632–2004 (~ 2007)
- Siege: The Canadian Campaign in the American Revolution (2 Volumes)
- * The Hunt for HMS De Braak: Legend and Legacy (~1993)
- * The Patuxent River submerged cultural resource survey: Drum Point to Queen Anne’s Bridge, Maryland
- * Tidewater Time Capsule: History Beneath the Patuxent
- – indicates content from the War of 1812 time period
~ – Winner of John Lyman Book Award