The last casualty of the War of 1812 was remembered at a ceremony at St Peter’s Church on Saturday — 210 years after his death.

Midshipman Richard Sutherland Dale was serving aboard the US frigate President in January 1815 when it encountered a squadron of Royal Navy ships.

During a 15-hour engagement, midshipman Dale, aged 20, was severely wounded, and his right leg had to be amputated.

President was captured by HMS Endymion and brought to St George’s Harbour. Although the young sailor was cared for by townspeople, he succumbed to his injuries on February 22, 1815 and was buried in St Peter’s graveyard.

Members of his family were grateful for the care midshipman Dale received in St George and erected a marble stone over his grave.

Part of the inscription reads: “This stone records the tribute of his parents’ gratitude to those inhabitants of St George’s, whose generous and tender sympathy prompted the kindest attentions to their son while living and honoured him while dead.”

The annual memorialisation of Midshipman Dale started in 1932 when US naval officer and island resident Scarritt Adams funded the placing of a wreath on the gravestone.

At the end of the Second World War, members of the US armed forces took part in the commemorative ceremony until the departure of the US Navy from Bermuda in 1995. The event resumed in 2006 thanks to the efforts of Captain Adams’s daughter Louise Hall Reider and the Friends of St Peter’s Church charity.

Dignitaries who attended the ceremony on Saturday included the Governor, Andrew Murdoch, St George mayor Quinell Francis, and acting US Consul Vanya Vukota.

The US navy was represented by retired captain John Rodgaard.

The event started on King’s Square with the inspection of TS Admiral Somers Sea Cadet Corps by Mr Murdoch, followed by a welcome from Gillian Outerbridge, the Friends of St Peter’s Church chairwoman.

Ms Vukota laid a wreath on behalf of The Daughters of 1812 at a plaque erected by the organisation in 2018 to mark the 15 prisoners of war, including midshipman Dale, who died and were buried in Bermuda during the War of 1812.

The dignitaries and guests were led by Pipe Major Emeritus David Frith and Drummer Peter Profit of the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band, and the Sea Cadet Corps, from King’s Square to St Peter’s Church graveyard.

The service was conducted by St Peter’s Church Priest in Charge the Reverend Marie Loewen and the Reverend Canon John Stow.

Wreaths were laid on midshipman Dale’s grave by Mr Murdoch, Captain Rodgaard and Judy Pearson on behalf of the Naval Order of the United States.

A minute’s silence was observed, and the service concluded with the British national anthem followed by the US national anthem.