Existing comment:
The Battle for Baltimore
All Hands are Called:
with smoke visible on the skyline, reports of Washington, DC's capture flooded into Baltimore in late August 1814. This was not the first threat of attack, but Baltimoreans felt certain that the British would make America's third largest city their next target, burning their shipyards, pilfering their warehouses.
Preparations, under Major General Sam Smith, reached a feverish pitch. Shore gun batteries were fortified and breastworks built east of town. Fort McHenry was reinforced, and vessels sunk across the harbor mouth. Militiamen from Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Maryland countryside poured into town.
On September 11, 1814 -- 17 days after burning America's capital -- the Royal Navy, with 5,000 troops aboard, sailed into the Patapsco River. The time had come.
For four days in September 1814, Baltimore's fate hung in the balance. The British fleet arrived on the Patapsco on September 11. Early on the 12th, troops disembarked and began marching toward Baltimore. That afternoon, during the Battle of North Point, Maryland militia slowed the enemy advance -- and killed their beloved leader, Major General Robert Ross.
On a cold and rainy September 13, a demoralized British army moved within sight of Baltimore's three-mile-long earthwork defense along Hampstead Hill. Looking up at 100 cannon and more than 10,000 troops, the British chose to wait out the Royal Navy's assault on Fort McHenry. At dawn on September 14, the British ended their 25-hour bombardment, having failed to disable the fort. Baltimore's defenders rejoiced, cautiously watching the British departure by land and sea. |