In 1807, four sailors who had been pressed into service by the Royal Navy and escaped to Portsmouth, Virginia in order to enlist aboard the Chesapeake and escape British service. This event came to garner national attention. Commodore James Barron conducted an investigation of the accused deserters and found that William Ware, Daniel Martin, and John Strachan were Americans who were previously impressed by the British Navy and had since escaped. The fourth, Jenkins Ratford, was a legitimate British sailor deserting the Royal Navy. However, he enlisted under an alias and was not identified by Barron during his investigation. The British Vice Admiral responded by ordering that if the Chesapeake was found at sea, it was to be detained and the deserters recovered. On 22 June 1807, the British ship Leopard fired on and seized the United States frigate Chesapeake. Governor William H. Cabell ordered the militia in eastern Virginia into service to defend the state against and anticipated invasion. The cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk passed resolutions critical of the British fleet and refused to resupply or repair Royal Navy ships in port. The militia were discharged shortly thereafter, on 15 July. Although the crisis was over in less than a month, many citizens still were trying to settle their accounts as late as 1812. In October 1807, George III issued an order to continue the impressment of British sailors, specifically aboard American ships. President Thomas Jefferson, seeing limited military solutions, responded by enacting the Embargo Act in December of 1807.