Two Civil Wars, Two Centuries Apart Posted by Dick.Myers_Editor On 10/19/2011 Historic St. Mary’s City had on display this past weekend two civil wars, more than two centuries apart: the English Civil War and the American Civil War. The English Civil War was actually a series of three armed conflicts starting in 1642 and ending in 1651. Historic St. Mary’s City’s website describes the impact of the English Civil War on the young colony: “Maryland was a growing, prospering colony in the decade after its founding in 1634. But in early 1645, it was nearly destroyed by ripples from a conflict that was ravaging England. Since 1642 England had been embroiled in a vicious civil war between King Charles I and Parliament. The violence reached the shores of America in 1645 at St. Mary’s City. Captain Richard Ingle, commander of the ship Reformation, launched a sneak attack on the capital of the colony on 14 February. Ingle was operating under letters of marque from Parliament and saw Maryland as a legitimate target due to its royalist preferences and the fact that the colony was owned by a Catholic proprietor. Furthermore, Ingle had personal scores to settle with some of the colony’s leaders. The only military force to resist Ingle was the militia and since no attack was expected, there was not time to assemble troops. Ingle’s men captured Fort St. Inigoes and then the capital. They began looting the homes of Maryland’s leaders and Catholics and burned structures during a period that became known as “the Plundering Time.” For the most comprehensive account of the attack and the events of this “time of troubles”, see Riordan’s The Plundering Time: Maryland and the English Civil War, 1645-1646. “ Things returned to prosperity at St. Mary’s City, but that was to be short lived according to the website: “The second half of the century was St. Mary’s heyday, marked by a strong tobacco economy and growth in population that warranted construction of public buildings. For a time, the colony offered remarkable opportunities for economic and social advancement to those endowed with the ability to work hard and a bit of luck. But political and religious animosity again arose late in the century and a group of disgruntled Protestants led a revolution against Lord Baltimore in 1689. The crown appointed royal governors and they moved the capital from St. Mary’s City to Annapolis in 1695. The colonial statehouse was turned into a Protestant (Anglican) church in the same year; and in 1704 the principle of liberty of conscience was dramatically overturned when Catholic churches and schools were closed in accordance with “An Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery within this Province.” Abandoned for the most part, St. Mary’s City sank back into the soil from which it had arisen and by the time of the American Revolution, little of Lord Baltimore’s capital was left but memories of its former importance.” By the time of the American Civil War, 150 years ago, about all that was in St, Mary’s City was St. Mary’s Female Seminary (now St. Mary’s College). In 1840, the Maryland legislature authorized a lottery to finance the construction of a "female seminary" (girls' boarding school Copyright © 2021 thebaynet.com. All rights reserved. Page 1.