Maryland in the War of 1812

Leonard Covington

Leonard Covington, the son of Levin and Susannah (Maguder) Covington was born in Aquasco, Prince George’s County, Md., on October 30, 1768. At 24 years of age he entered the U. S. Army as a cavalry cornet (Mar. 14, 1792); a lieutenant of U.S. Dragoons in 1793, joining the army under General Wayne during the Battle of Fallen Timbersand subsequently promoted to a captaincy. On Sept. 12, 1795 he resigned and returned to Maryland engaging in agricultural pursuits; a Maryland Delegate (1802, 1807-09): U.S. House of Representatives (1805-1807). In January 1809 he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Light Dragoons; colonel February 1809 serving at various stations (Baton Rouge, West Florida, 1810) and Fort Adams on the Mississippi (1810) until he was ordered to the Canadian frontier and appointed brigadier general on August 1, 1813.

In 1796 he married his second wife Rebecca Mackall of Calvert County and issued five children. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chryslers Field, Upper Canada on November 11, 1813, while animating his men forward in a charge, his last words being “Independence Forever.” He died at French’s Mills, N.Y., on November 14, 1813; his remains were removed to Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County, N.Y., August 13, 1820; place of burial now known as Mount Covington.

In early 1814, Fort Patapsco located to the west of Fort McHenry was renamed in his honor taking an active role in the Battle for Baltimore in Sept. 1814.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; ‘Memoir of Leonard Covington’ by Benjamin Leonard Covington Wailes (Natchez Printing and Stationary Co., 1928): Marylanders Who Served the Nation, byGerson G. Eisenburg (Annapolis: Maryland State Archives, 1992).