Chesapeake incident:
- English sailors eager to escape the harsh naval life by desertion.
- Four men from these ships took their chance at freedom. Three of them--William Ware, Daniel Martin, and John Strachan--were Americans who had been impressed earlier. The fourth was a British sailor, Jenkins Ratford.
- Impressment, or “press gang” as it was more commonly known, was recruitment by force. It was a practice that directly affected the U.S.)
- In June 1807, he issued an order to his fleet that, should the Chesapeake be found at sea, any ship of his squadron must stop her and recover the deserters.
- Humphreys responded by firing seven broadsides into the Chesapeake at extremely close range. The Chesapeake was unprepared for battle, and in her state of panic and confusion, little was done to resist. Barron had little choice but to strike his colors and allow the British to board his vessel. In short order, the British arrested the four deserters and sailed for Halifax, where the sailors would be tried. With his ship in shambles and his crew badly demoralized, Barron sailed the Chesapeake back to Norfolk. There, the news of yet another violation of American sovereignty at the hands of the British was met with shock and outrage.