Battle of the Severn

Battle of the Severn
Part of the English Civil War and Protestant Revolution (Maryland)
Battle of the Severn, considered the last battle of the English Civil War and the first time, factions of, British colonists, in British North America, fought against one another
Date March 25, 1655 Location Annapolis, Province of Maryland Result Commonwealth victory
Belligerents
Puritan forces loyal to the Commonwealth of England	Catholic, Royalist forces loyal to Lord Baltimore
Commanders and leaders
Captain William Fuller	Governor William Stone
Strength
175	130
Casualties and losses
2 (2 killed)	49 (17 killed  32 wounded  4 executed after the battle)

The Battle of the Severn was a skirmish fought on March 25, 1655, on the Severn River at Horn Point, across Spa Creek from Annapolis, Maryland, in what at that time was referred to as the Puritan settlement of "Providence", and what is now the neighborhood of Eastport. The capital of Maryland was moved from St. Mary's, to Ann Arundel Town in 1694, and Ann Arundel Town name was changed to Annapolis in 1695. It was an extension of the conflicts that formed the English Civil War, pitting the forces of Puritan settlers against forces aligned with Lord Baltimore, then Lord Proprietor of the colony of Maryland. It has been suggested by Radmila May that this was the "last battle of the English Civil War."

The background surrounding the Battle of the Severn flows from the early days of Maryland as a colony, and acts as a mirror to the events simultaneously occurring in England. It pitted the forces allied with the royal proprietor, who was a Catholic and perceived to be a royalist, against forces allied with the Commonwealth of England, who were Puritans.

Maryland was founded by the first Baron Baltimore, who had previously been the principal secretary to James I. Baltimore resigned from his position after the death of James I following his conversion to Catholicism. After a visit to what would be Maryland in 1628, Baltimore requested that Charles I make a grant of land for a colony in which Catholics could worship freely. Following Baltimore's death on June 20, 1632, the grant of land was made to Cecil Calvert, now the new Lord Baltimore.

The Charter of Maryland was unique in that it made Lord Baltimore and his heirs the "absolute Lords and Proprietaries" of the new colony. In effect, the grant created a county palatine, and, indeed, the name of Durham, a county palatine in its own right, is used in the charter. The effect of this document was to create a semi-independent colony, ruled by Lord Baltimore as Duke.