THE REDHEAD AND THE ADMIRAL

BY CAPTAIN MICHAEL DODD

The legend begins with a tall, attractive redhead named Kitty Knight from Cecil County, Maryland. She grew up in a well-to-do family and enjoyed horseback riding through the verdant hills along with, swimming, rowing, and fishing in the beautiful Sassafras River. Her father had political connections and the 25-year-old Kitty appeared at a ball in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 as the Continental Congress was meeting to discuss a Constitution for the new country. General George Washington himself chose her from a group of women to join him in a waltz. The good General was known for his dancing talents. No doubt she was a winsome figure circumventing the floor with the tall General.

Like the new nation, Kitty Knight had developed a reputation for independence and for speaking her mind.

During the War of 1812, these traits served her well. During that destructive War, the British, who met little resistance from the inadequate American navy, sailed unimpeded around the Chesapeake Bay, pillaging, and burning towns and destroying private property. Kitty was living in the small hamlet of Georgetown near the headwaters of the Sassafras River. Admiral George Cockburn (who insisted his name be pronounced CO-BURN) was the commanding officer of the British raids and his typical modus operandi was to announce to the villagers that he would pay for food and provisions and leave the villages intact if the residents did not offer armed resistance. But with any show of force, he warned, he would steal livestock and supplies and burn the towns. The village of Georgetown had a sufficient number of patriots and independent thinking citizens that shots were fired on the Admiral’s ships as they approached on May 5, 1813. Nearby Fredericktown also participated in the ineffective resistance. True to his word, the Admiral returned cannon and musket fire and scattered the miscreants. His men then landed and set about their destructive errands, carting off any animals they could capture, and igniting fires in the wooden homes.

 First, they burned Fredericktown. Then, across the creek, they landed at nearby Georgetown and initiated their destruction in that hamlet. This time, however, the troops had to contend with the fiery local redhead who was well known to all the denizens. Kitty Knight appeared in front of a brick home occupied by an elderly woman. She requested the soldiers not burn the woman’s home. They pushed her aside and threw burning coals on the wooden floor. As they departed, she was able to scatter the coals and put out the small blaze. The men were about to repeat the process in the adjacent brick home, but she blocked the entrance and told them they would have to burn her alive in the home. But they were more interested in following their orders, so again they broke inside and threw burning coals on the floor. As they departed, she doused the nascent flames once more. By this time, word had gotten to the Admiral that a young lady was making a commotion among his troops. Legend says that Admiral Cockburn politely approached her on the front porch of one of the homes, and she was able, with her wit and charms, to convince the Admiral that he should direct his rath elsewhere.