Existing comment:
Allegiance by Force
"if there should be an uprising in Baltimore, I shall be compelled to try to put it down; and that gun is the first I shall fire."
-- Major General John Dix, U.S. Army,1861
At the beginning of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln directed the U.S. Army to prevent Maryland from joining the Southern Confederacy "even if necessary" he ordered, "to the bombardment of the cities." As a result the Army quickly mounted heavy seacoast mortars, and two large 10-inch Columbiad cannons at Fort McHenry. In July 1861, a delegation of women visited the fort to complain about the federal occupation of Baltimore. On this spot General Dix made it clear he would not hesitate to fire if he felt it necessary to hold Baltimore. Capable of firing exploding shells, the guns of Fort McHenry threatened the city with "bursting bombs" similar to those the fort had persevered the city from in 1814. |