Existing comment:
#9 The Naval War of 1812 in Annapolis:
Maryland State House:
The seat of Maryland government, the State House was at the center of the state's planning for the War of 1812, both locally and in coordination with President Madison's administration in Washington, D.C. Near constant fear of invasion by the British led Governor Levin Winder (1757-1819) to direct the removal of the state's historical records from the State House for relocation to various sites from 1813 to 1815. Throughout the period of the war, the State House dome was used as a lookout by Major William Barney (son of Commodore Joshua Barney) to monitor the movement of British ships coming up the Chesapeake Bay.
The war, and the effect it had on public officials, British sailors in the Bay, and the free and enslaved residents of Annapolis, is explored in the exhibit "'The enemy nearly all `round us': Annapolis and the War of 1812" that will be on display in the State House throughout 2013. |