As we approached the mouth of the Potomac, the wind hauled to the north, and blew with such stiffness as to make it impossible for us to go up the bay, according to our original plan. Under these circumstances, apprehending the pursuit from Washington, I urged Sayres to go to sea, with the intention of reaching the Delaware by the outside passage. But he objected that the vessel was not fit to go outside (which was true enough), and that the bargain was to go to Frenchtown. Having reached Point Lookout, at the mouth of the river, and not being able to persuade Sayres to go to sea, and the wind being dead in our teeth, and too strong to allow any attempt to ascent the bay, we came to anchor in Cornfield Harbor, just under Point Lookout, a shelter usually sought by bay-craft encountering contrary winds when in that neighborhood.[4]
During the delay The Pearl was overtaken by the pursuers. Had the original plan succeeded, the seventy-seven freedom seekers would have disembarked at Frenchtown, Maryland, where their friends would have likely transported them on the New Castle – Frenchtown Turnpike to New Castle, where they would have boarded a ship on the Delaware River and sailed for Philadelphia. After the passengers departed The Pearl, Sayres could sail the short distance to the canal, and sail through the canal without apprehension that the ship would be searched and the plot exposed.
[1] Daniel Drayton, Personal Memoir of Daniel Drayton … including the Narrative of the Voyage and Capture of the Schooner Pearl [Boston, New York: B. Marsh, 1854], Making of America Digital Library, University of Michigan, 24.
[2] Drayton, 24-25.
[3] Drayton, 25.
[4] Drayton, 31.