British Raid on Tappahannock

On 2 Dec. 1814, British naval forces commanded by Capt. Robert Barrie shelled and seized the town of Tappahannock during the War of 1812. Aiding the British were three companies of Colonial Marines composed of formerly enslaved African Americans. By 4 Dec., when the raiders departed and Essex County militia reentered the town, the British had ransacked private houses, blown up a tannery, and burned two jails, the customs warehouse, and the courthouse. They also desecrated the burial vault of the prominent Ritchie family. This was one of the last British raids before the Treaty of Ghent was signed on 24 Dec. 1814.