BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Dundalk -- North Point State Battlefield

MD -- Dundalk -- North Point State Battlefield:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NPTSBF_150904_012.JPG: Proud of Our Stand Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail In 1814 Baltimore's defenders watched about 4,500 British troops march from North Point toward the city. Roughly 3,200 Americans, led by Brigadier General John Stricker, were sent to impede the advance. He positioned his men across a road at a narrow neck of land midway between North Point and Baltimore. The Battle of North Point occurred on September 12. When the smoke cleared, the Americans had retreated but not before inflicting many British casualties, including the death of the Major General Robert Ross. Though technically a British victory, the stiff American defense surprised the British who failed to pursue, allowing the Americans to join the forces on Hampstead Hill, ready to repel an anticipated attack. "I feel pride in the belief that the stand made on Monday, in no small degree, tended to check the temerity of the foe, daring to invade a country like ours, and designing the destruction of our city..." -- Brigadier Gen. John Stricker (pictured here) to Major Gen. Samuel Smith, September 15, 1814. Places to explore the Battle for Baltimore: * Methodist Meeting House Site - A church here served as a hospital for both sides after Battle of North Point * Battle Acre Park - Monument honoring North Point "Old Defenders" * Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine - Exhibits and programs about the Star-Spangled Banner and defense of Baltimore * North Point State Park - Exhibits and programs about War of 1812; Todd's Inheritance Historic Site
2. NPTSBF_150904_022.JPG: The elite 5th Maryland Regiment fiercely defended the American right-center flank during the Battle of North Point.
3. NPTSBF_150904_031.JPG: To Honor the Heroes Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail -- War of 1812 -- Baltimore successfully resisted the British assault in September 1814, thanks to thousands of determined volunteer citizen-soldiers. The following year a grateful city laid the cornerstone for the Battle Monument in downtown Baltimore, the first War of 1812 memorial in the nation. Here on the North Point battlefield, the First Mechanical Volunteers dedicated a monument in 1817 to fallen comrade Aquila Randall. Nearby, Battle Acre was dedicated in 1839 for a monument to all the citizen-soldiers. "I can picture to myself the sensation of those who in far distant days will contemplate this monument…and the melancholy event which as caused our assemblage at this spot." -- Captain Benjamin C. Howard dedicating the Aquila Randall Monument, July 21, 1817. Who Fired the Shot? British commander Robert Ross was killed in a skirmish prior to the Battle of North Point. A monument in Baltimore honors Daniel Wells and Henry McComas, who some say fired the fatal shot; others credit Aquila Randall. The monument to Aquila Randall as it appeared in the 1850s was originally located where General Ross fell. The monument to local heroes Daniel Wells and Henry McComas is shown decorated for Baltimore's sesquicentennial in 1880.
4. NPTSBF_150904_038.JPG: War in the Chesapeake During the War of 1812 the young United States was embroiled in conflict with Great Britain. From 1812 to 1815 Americans fought to protect their rights and economic independence. They faced superior enemy forces on the homefront and the high seas. The strategically important Chesapeake Bay region felt the brunt of the war, choked by shipping blockades and ravaged by enemy raids. The evens in this region were crucial to the outcome of the war. Though there was no clear victor at the end of the war, the United States protected its democracy and emerged with heightened stature on the world stage.
5. NPTSBF_150904_043.JPG: The Final Stand at Bladensburg, MD. 24 August 1814 by Charles Waterhouse
6. NPTSBF_150904_050.JPG: Delay Tactic Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail In preparation for a probable British landing at North Point, defensive earthworks were partially dug at a narrows in the Patapsco Peninsula three miles south of here. Midway between North Point and the American defenses at Baltimore, British forces met American defenders on this battlefield at a strategic second narrowing of the peninsula, September 12, 1814. The action successfully delayed the British advance towards the city. "When little more than hundred paces divided the one line from the other, both parties made ready to bring matters in a personal struggle." -- British Lieutenant George Robert Gleig describing the Battle of North Point, September 12, 1814. Rear Guard: Maryland's 5th Regiment of militia bolstered by battle experience at Bladensburg anchored the American right flank during the Battle of North Point. The last unit to leave the battlefield, the 5th protected the rear as the Americans withdrew. Back River (foreground), Bread and Cheese Creek (right), and Bear Creek (far left) formed the narrow Patapsco Neck where the Battle of North Point occurred. Artist Thomas Ruckle, who painted scenes of the Battle of Baltimore, saw the action first-hand as part of the 5th Maryland Regiment.
7. NPTSBF_150904_060.JPG: Back River (foreground), Bread and Cheese Creek (right), and Bear Creek (far left) formed the narrow Patapsco Neck where the Battle of North Point occurred.
8. NPTSBF_150904_061.JPG: Hitting Home Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail -- War of 1812 -- People living in the path of the British army as it marched toward Baltimore in September 1814 feared the worst. Some hurriedly hid valuables; others packed what they could and fled. Residents who remained faced the enemy with courage. The British occupied the Shaw's home, demanded food at the Gorsuch farm, and burned the Todd house. Yet many local residents aided wounded and dying British as well as American soldiers following the Battle of North Point. "Fearing that the outrages and atrocities perpetuated by Cockburn and his men might be repeated…the family coach and large farm wagon made their exit by the west road as the British entered by east." -– Louisa Stewart, recollections of September 12-13, 1814. A Bold Move: Legend claims that a British officer tried to kiss a young woman living at the Shaw house. Frightened, Eleanor jumped from a second-story window. General Ross reprimanded the officer and sent him back to his ship. (Inscription next to the image on the right) British troops stopped at the Shaw house, where a daughter allegedly jumped from a window to escape the advances of one of the men.
9. NPTSBF_150904_067.JPG: Some of the residences on this 1857 survey map still have the names of families who were there when the British invaded in 1814.
10. NPTSBF_150904_079.JPG: Witness to Battle Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail -- War of 1812 -- The Methodist Meeting House that stood near this site saw action September 11-12, 1814. Brigadier General John Stricker camped 3,200 troops here to await the enemy's advance. When the Americans withdrew, British soldiers camped on the same grounds. The church became a field hospital for both armies. American and British physicians worked side by side to treat soldiers wounded in the battle. Chosen Spot: Nearby Bread and Cheese Creek helped determine where General Stricker chose to make a stand against the British. Together with Bear Creek and Back River, it created one of the narrowest-and most defensible-parts of Patapsco Neck (highlighted on the map above). "The meeting-house, a place of worship...was converted into an [sic] temporary place of refuge for friends and foes. The temple of God...vibrated with the groans of the wounded and dying." -- British Captain James Scott, Recollections, 1834
11. NPTSBF_150904_087.JPG: This historic map, sketched in 1814 by James Kearney for the American army, shows the narrows of Patapsco Neck where the Methodist Meeting House stood at the time of the Battle of North Point.
12. NPTSBF_150904_095.JPG: Squeeze Tactic Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail -- War of 1812 -- After an impressive victory at Washington, the British targeted Baltimore, the third largest city in the nation with a population of more than 40,000. Troops landed at North Point September 12, 1814, and began marching north to attack the city from the east. Naval forces sailed up the Patapsco River to attack from the south. This combined pincer movement severely tested the American defenders. "I received information…that the enemy were debarking troops from under cover of their gun vessels which lay off the bluff of North Point…I immediately…moved forward the 5th and 27th regiments, and my artillery…" -- Brig. Gen. John Stricker to Maj. Gen. Samuel Smith, September 15, 1814. In Command: Major General Samuel Smith, an officer in the Revolutionary War, a businessman and politician, proved a popular and effective choice to command the defense of Baltimore. He led defenders in repelling the British attack. Major General Samuel Smith by Rembrandt Peale, 1817-18.
13. NPTSBF_150904_101.JPG: A representation of the military positions in the Battle of Baltimore, from Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks that Saved the Nation, by Steve Vogel. Image/Gene Thorpe, Cartongraphic Concepts.
Wikipedia Description: Battle of North Point
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of North Point was an engagement in the War of 1812, fought on September 12, 1814, between Brigadier General John Stricker's Third Brigade of the Maryland State Militia and a British landing force, composed of units from the British Army, Royal Navy seamen and Royal Marines, and led by Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn. The events and result of the engagement, a part of the larger Battle of Baltimore, are somewhat disputed. Several eyewitness reports of the engagement painted it as a straightforward British victory, with American forces routing in disorder in the face of the British assault. Most American narratives of the battle, many of them originating from Stricker himself, tend to claim US forces were able to retreat in good order having inflicted heavy casualties on the British.

One of the casualties was Ross, killed during the course of the battle by American sharpshooters. His death significantly demoralized the troops under his command and left some units confused and lost among the woods and marshes of Patapsco Neck. This prompted the British second-in-command, Colonel Arthur Brooke of the 44th Regiment of Foot, to have his troops remain on the battlefield for the evening and night, treating the wounded at the nearby Methodist meeting house, thus delaying his advance against Baltimore.

This delay gave the Americans more time to organize the defense of the city, under the command of Major General Samuel Smith, along an extensive network of trenches and fortifications, with a central strong point of "Rodgers' Bastion", commanded by U.S. Navy Commodore John Rodgers. Stricker slowly retreated back to the main defenses, cutting down trees across the roads to delay the British advance, and rejoined the existing regular, militia and civilian forces of approximately 15,000 men and 100 cannons. Along with the failure of the Royal Navy to neutralize Fort McHenry guarding Baltimore Harbor, the resulting vast numerical superiority over the British force of 4,000 men and 4 cannons led to the subsequent abandonment of the planned assault on Baltimore.
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