Gregory Bartles, Ret., MD Natural Resources Policeġ884: The Leila is retired, and the cannon is probably moved to another vessel named the Governor McLane for use in further enforcement actions. It is used to enforce Maryland’s newly enacted oyster harvesting laws.Ĭourtesy of Lt. He acquires the cannon and places the weapon on a Baltimore built tugboat, a steam vessel named Leila. It is one of a line of production cannons invented by Admiral John Dahlgren, who created it as an artillery piece to mount on a field carriage or a boat.ġ868: The Maryland legislature creates the State Oyster Police Force, and Hunter Davidson, a Naval Academy graduate and veteran officer of the Confederate navy, is hired as the force’s first commander. The cannon is a 1,450-pound Dahlgren boat howitzer gun that fires twelve pound cannon balls. Severe depletion of the Bay’s oyster beds continues because the laws are very difficult to enforce.ġ868 or before: The Oyster Wars Cannon is manufactured at the Tredegar ironworks in Virginia. The Oyster War Cannon’s Timelineįollow the Oyster Wars Cannon’s timeline here:ġ820: The Maryland legislature enacts its first law restricting Chesapeake Bay oyster harvesting to Maryland residents in an effort to keep out increasing numbers of Virginia and New England watermen.ġ865: The Maryland legislature enacts more laws, including one requiring State licenses for oyster harvesters. Thus, in 1868, Maryland created its State Oyster Police Force and gave its officers the authority to enforce the new laws and protect the oyster resource from poachers and out-of-state pirates. Local authorities had little power to enforce these regulatory laws on the open waters of the Chesapeake with their limited vessels and guns. Maryland enacted more oyster harvesting legislation in 1865, requiring Maryland watermen to purchase annual licenses to harvest the precious oysters. Gregory Bartles, Ret., MD Natural Resources Police 'The Maryland police steamers chasing the pirate fleet.' Courtesy of Lt. Some were never seen again after being purposely knocked overboard so the captain could avoid paying wages owed, a fate referred to as being “payed off by the boom.”

Maryland also limited catches by oyster tongers, who used extended large metal tongs to pick up oysters from the Bay bottom.Īround the Bay, many men were shanghaied by oyster dredge boat captains and held hostage while being forced to work on the vessel. Virginia continued to allow dredging, and Virginia watermen came to Maryland with their boats and dredges. Maryland outlawed dredging, a method of harvesting oysters that scrapes the bottom and destroys vital oyster shell reefs. Fierce gun battles made the headlines of major newspapers in New York and beyond.” The bodies of unfortunate watermen who ran afoul of the outlaws were found floating offshore. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources refers to the Oyster Wars as a time on the Chesapeake Bay when, “Lawlessness was rampant. Greed and money brought about violence, bloodshed, shoot-outs, kidnappings, and even murders involving Maryland watermen, poachers from other states, and State enforcement agents. The Maryland legislature reacted by limiting oyster harvesting to state residents in 1820, and the Oyster Wars began. The result was intense competition and a disastrous depletion of the oyster population. The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland offered plentiful oysters, and Virginians and New Englanders arrived in the 1800s to pirate the Bay’s bounty and pursue the oyster harvest alongside Maryland watermen.

Oysters were the biggest business in Maryland, paralleling the California Gold Rush, and hence oysters came to be called “white gold.”Ĭourtesy of Ann Powell. There was a lot of money in harvesting oysters, packing and shipping them, and serving them in northern restaurants. The Maryland Oyster Wars on the Chesapeake Bay were the sometimes violent engagements that occurred between 18 when officers of the Maryland government sought to enforce State oyster harvesting laws.Īfter the Civil War, people were infatuated with oysters. Gregory Bartles (Ret., MD Natural Resources Police), Dave Fisher (volunteer at AMM), Bill Bethke (volunteer at AMM ). The actual cannon is now on display at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. It is a 150-year old cannon that was used by Maryland State officers to fight oyster poaching in Maryland waters in the late 1800s. A relic of the Maryland Oyster Wars, the Oyster Wars Cannon is a true treasure of Maryland’s history.

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