On June 22, 1807, the British warship HMS Leopard stopped the American frigate USS Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia, claiming they were looking for deserters. The Americans refused to allow a search of their vessel, believing that by doing so would undermine American sovereignty and national pride. The British then attacked and illegally boarded the Chesapeake, forcibly removed the suspected deserters, killing three and wounding eighteen.
The issue involved in the Chesapeake incident was the sovereignty of the United States and the impressment of American sailors into the British navy. The British justified the attack on the Chesapeake by claiming that they had the right to search American vessels for deserters, as they were still British subjects. This issue had been a source of conflict between the two countries for years and was one of the main factors leading to the outbreak of the War of 1812.