The World Needs More Kevin

In 1814 the War of 1812 was not going well for the Americans. The only reason that the war was not over was that the British army was dealing with Napoleon in France and could not spare much manpower. While there were a few reasons to cheer like the defeat of the Royal Navy on Lake Erie and Andrew Jackson’s defeat of the Native tribes in the south, things were about to get worse. Napoleon was defeated and exiled in 1814 freeing up the army to deal with the Americans.

Suggestions were made as to what to do now for the British with new manpower becoming available. The seizure of the Chesapeake Bay seemed to be the logical first step. British soldiers under Robert Ross landed in Virginia and quickly marched north. They defeated a larger American army at Bladensburg and marched into Washington DC. James Madison and his government fled and the British burned Washington and looted local towns.

Now it was time for Baltimore, the third largest city in the United States. Baltimore was a busy port and numerous privateers were based out of it. Considering the danger those ships posed to British commerce it was the next logical target. A combined operation was planned, Ross would land at North Point and Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane would lay siege to Fort McHenry on the Patapsco River.

William Winder was in overall command with Samuel Smith of the Maryland Militia in command of the Baltimore defenses. George Armistead of the US Army was in command at Fort McHenry. Streets and roads were barricaded and defenses built.

Ross landed with 5,000 soldiers at North Point on September 12, 1814, about 5 miles from Baltimore. 3,000 Maryland Militiamen were sent with orders to stall Ross as long as they could. They managed to hold Ross at bay for some time giving the rest of the army time to assemble. Ross himself was killed by a sharpshooter. As the British approached the defenses they found a ring of fortifications with 100 cannon and over 10,000 defenders. While many of the defenders had only a limited understanding of how to fire a gun their mere sight in numbers far exceeding what the British expected put a halt to the campaign. The decision was made to bombard Fort McHenry and try to force the city’s capitulation that way.

What remains of the battlefield is the North Point State Battlefield.

About 1,000 men were in Fort McHenry. A line of ships had been sunk in the harbor to create obstructions. This would not be easy. On September 13 19 ships opened fire on the fort. This continued for 27 hours and over 1,500 cannonballs were fired but did little damage. A landing was attempted to draw defenders away from Smith and make a land assault easier but it was turned back.

On the morning of September 14 as ammunition ran out the guns fell silent. The smoke of battle and the morning fog lifted away. On board a British ship was a Baltimore lawyer named Francis Scott Key. He had come to secure the release of a friend who had been taken prisoner but had not been allowed to leave for fear he had overhead the British plans. As he looked out through the smoke he wondered if his city had fallen.

Armistead in Fort McHenry wanted there to be no doubt that he was still in control of the fort. The storm flag which had flown during the bombardment was taken down and he raised the oversized flag that had been made a year prior and conducted revile. There could be no doubt that McHenry had withstood the pounding. Key took out a pencil and a piece of paper and jotted down a few lines that have now become our National Anthem.

The British regrouped and sailed off, heading for New Orleans and a date with Andrew Jackson. Some of the Battle of North Point is preserved as a small park. Fort McHenry is preserved as a unit of the National Park Service, the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.