Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1911-08-03
BATTLE OF THE SEVERN
Another Event In The History OF
Annapolis Entitled To More
Than Passing Notice.
DEED DONE FOR FREEDOM.
Point OF View Taken By Our First
Settlers Justifies Their Conduct.
lMr. Handalls Paper Continued III Ol
Al

Serial
Another event in the histoMv of An
napolis, which is entitled to more con-
sideration than is usually ascribed to
it, is ''The Battle Of the Severn. -
which took place in 1866, on what is
now the site of the village of East
port, the peninsula known as Horn
Point, which forms the Southern side
of the inner harbor of Annapolis. 1t
has been customary among Maryland
historians to speak of the disagree
ment between Governor Stone and
those Puritan settlers, which culmina-
ted in that battle, in terms of bitter
denunciation of the Puritans. They
have been charged with base ingrati-
tude in their conduct Governor Stone
himself called their settlement at
Providence a NEST of ungrateful
serpents," But that contest. if
rightly considered, in the light of facts
now well known, and of contempora-
neous history, both in the Mother
Country and in this land, was really a
deed done for freedom" for, instead
of being the eliminating act of a
course of base ingratitude, it was in
the last analysis only the repetition on
this Continent of what their brethren
were then engaged in doing in England
-re-asserting the liberties of English
men, which had been overthrown and
down-trodden by the Tudor and Stew
art dynasties,
"Our country hath Gospel of her
own,
To preach and practice before all
the world
The freedom and divinity of man;
The glorious claims of human broth
erhood
The time will come, | firmly be-
lieve, when the anniversary of that
battle, which was the first between
men of the English race on this Con-
tinent, will be celebrated with en-
thusiasm, and monument will arise
in that little village of Eastport to
commemorate it as the occasion on
which Americans first baptized with
their blood the soil of this Continent
and dedicated it to Freedom.
1t is generally said by Maryland his
tOrians that if those Puritans did not
like the oath which Lord Baltimore's
Governor exacted of them, of absolute
fealty to Lord Baltimore, as their alb
solute and sovereign lord-they should
have stayed out of Maryland, instead
of accepting his hospitality to and
then rebelling against him. The an
swer is. that they did refuse to take
that oath; that Governor Stone modi-
fled it as an inducement for them to
come, that the modified oath which
they did take only eXacted from them
the rents coming to Lord Baltimore
as the owner of the soil; that it was
promised and stipulated also that they
should enjoy Liberty in Religion"
and the privileges of English subjects.
That later on Lord Baltimore rejected
this modified form of allegiance on
their part and ordered his Governor to
drive those Puritan settlers out of the
Province, unless they submitted to his
kingly claims and took the obnoxious
oath in question.
Now, ii is to be remembered, that
at that very time, during the Com
monwealthlKingship andKingly claims
and Kingly oaths of allegiance and the
House of Lords had been abolished
in England. Being informed of this
ultimatum of Lord Baltimore, the
Puritans at Annapolis then appealed
to the Home Government and so
notified Governor Stone; but, without
waiting for the decision, and refusing
all attempts at a parley, and demand
ing of them absolute submission, Stone
organized little army and, with the
assistance of fotilla of boats upon
the Bay, marched against the Puritans
at Providence, with the avowed pur-
pose of driving them away from the
homes which they had occupied for six
years-purchased under their express
agreement with him, made before
they came into the Province from Vir-
ginia.
How they looked at the matter may
be seen from their reply to Governor
Stones ultimatum. They protested
in writing that, il it were so, by the
help of God they were resolved to com
nit themselves into the hand of God
and rather die like men than live like
slaves.
(Continued)
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