It was a war that should have never happened, a war we could have very well lost and in that loss, our national sovereignty.

Yet, despite a nation bitterly divided over the idea, 200 years ago President Madison and our Congress declared war on England. England and France were saddle deep in their Napoleonic Wars, and the United States was neutral in the affair. Well, sort of, our merchants were making good money selling goods to both sides. Kind of upset the Brits that we were selling to the French and being short of sailors, they tended to board our merchant ships and take some of ours.

The 1812 war, much like the prior one begun in 1775, started in the North (we had the bright idea of invading Canada) yet was decided in the South. We had a terrible Secretary of War in one John Armstrong, and our armies largely composed of untrained militia would suffer defeat after defeat.

While we would see Washington burned we would also see the birth of our nation's anthem, and for the very first time sit down at an international table of peace as a nation, not someone's colony as the "Treaty of Ghent" was hashed out.

And Leesburg, while not involved directly in the fighting, was involved in its preservation. A senior clerk at the State Department, one Stephen Pleasonton, spirited our founding documents (the Declaration of Independence and others) here, stored them in an empty house, locked them up and gave the keys to our Sheriff Rev. John Littlejohn for safekeeping.

Leesburg author Carey Roberts tells part of this three-year story in her novel "Star-Spangled Sailors".

Many writers about the War of 1812 tell the stories of the Lake Champlain naval battles, or the burning of Washington, the attack on Baltimore and our National Anthem, or the Battle of New Orleans. Roberts though focuses her story on a rag-tag band of sailors, put together by one Captain (later Commodore) Barney, to man a flotilla of gunboats on the Chesapeake Bay during 1813-14.

The decision to deploy this Chesapeake squadron required crewing by locals, men and boys from Maryland and Virginia, watermen and farmers, escaped slaves and freedmen, few of whom knew war.

And while those of us here in Leesburg are much more familiar with Virginia clay than Tidewater sand, Roberts' story is very, very close to home.

She tells this story many through the eyes of one Mingo Jones, an escaped slave who enlists with Barney while he's mustering crews in Baltimore, and of Sailing Master Jack Webster. Mingo Jones is fictional while Webster, a very, very real hero of the war (and a bit of romantic interest for you lady readers).

Roberts chronicles the flotilla's exploits from their Patuxent river escape from the British squadron send to destroy them, through their scuttling of the flotilla on the west side of the bay and their conversion to a land force. You can feel their pain as they drag cannon to the August 24, 1814 Battle of Bladensburg where historically they were critical in holding the line, though the field would fall to the British.

The British would go on to burn Washington, DC. that same day.

But action was far from over for the men of Barney's flotilla. As the British turned their sights on the capture of Baltimore, a loss from which the young United States might not recover, Barney's men are moved to man Babcock Battery, an earthworks which guarded the rear approaches to Fort McHenry.

Two critical actions occurred during the battle for Baltimore which prevented it loss, and perhaps the loss of our entire country.

A large Britsh land force was sent to take the town on September 12, 1812 commanded by the very capable Major General Robert Ross, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. He was felled by a sniper on their approach to city, defended by some 100 guns and 10,000 men. The attack was called off.

Secondly, was the action at Babcock Battery whers a British landing party was sent to help defeat Fort McHenry, by attacking it from the rear, by land. It was here that Barney's men defeated this secondary attempt on the Fort, probably saving it.

And it is here that Roberts closes out her story of the "Star-Spangled Sailors". A wonderful read of fascinating fiction woven into historical fact. An exciting way to learn how men and boys from our region impacted our journey as a nation.