the New Londoners resented Decatur’s interference with their lucrative smuggling operations.
The Royal Navy had kept Decatur’s fleet bottled up. On the moonless, overcast night of Dec. 12, 1813, he decided to try to run the blockade. Decatur was sailing in complete darkness, without any running lights, when he spotted some strange blue lights on shore. They were obviously a signal to the British that Decatur was making a run for it. He aborted the attempt.
Decatur demanded an investigation of the “blue light incident,” but not much was done about it. Most local people were sure Elizabeth Stewart was behind the plot to warn the British, but no one could prove it. She claimed she was too preoccupied with pregnancy and the care of her children. After the war, Elizabeth and James eventually returned to England. Like the wives of officers and common soldiers, Elizabeth Stewart was a woman of the War of 1812, and quite possibly a spy.
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