September 19: Talk like a Pirate Day

Everyone has a hobby....one of mine is "Living History". I have an 1812 uniform provided by the National Park Service at Fort McHenry. My job as a volunteer interpreter is to informally teach the public about Baltimore during the War of 1812, the Defense of Fort McHenry...and Privateering. A Privateer was a "legal" pirate who only preyed upon ships and crews belonging to countries at war with the United States. A Privateer Captain carried a "Letter of Marque and Reprisal" signed by the President of the United States that was a license to plunder the enemy. Privateers during the War of 1812 cost the British crown over $45 Million, or about the same amount of money it cost to wage war against the U.S for one year. The insurance rates for British ships crossing the Atlantic in 1814 rose eleven times the cost from the spring of 1812. By 1815 the British government was nearly as bankrupt as the American government...which is why they were willing to sign the Treaty of Ghent (not to mention the military setbacks at Baltimore, Lake Erie, and the British disaster at New Orleans). The Pride of Baltimore II is a very close replica of the Chasseur , one of the largest Privateer vessels built in Baltimore and owned by a cartel of investor-adventurers which included men of the Baltimore Fencibles, which I deptict in uniform. This past Friday I sailed with my unit into Baltimore harbor aboard the Pride II with uniform, sword, and because of my eye surgery...I got to wear an eye patch. Aaaaarrrrrrrghhhh! If i find any pictures from our "invasion of Baltimore Harbor' 2007, I will be sure to post them.