Existing comment:
Commanding Officer's Quarters:
The rooms on the left end of this building stood as a separate structure during the 1814 period. This was the residence of Major George Armistead, commanding officer and "Hero of Fort McHenry."
It was Armistead who directed the successful defense of Fort McHenry in 1814. He also ordered the making of a large flag to defy the attacking British -- the same flag that inspired Francis Scott Key.
Armistead's wife Louisa and their two-year-old daughter probably did not stay here often. There was little privacy, and the attic bedrooms were too hot to use in summer. We know that at the time of the British bombardment, the family was evacuated to Gettysburg, where Louisa gave birth to a daughter one day after the American victory here.
Armistead's tireless efforts at Fort McHenry left him exhausted and unable to regain his health; he died in 1818. |