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British Advance
Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
This house from the days when Bladensburg was a busy port town where George Washington stopped as he traveled the Old Post Road. On August 24, 1814, the British established an artillery position nearby and fired cannon and rockets at American defenders. Local tradition claims that walls of the house were scarred by cannonballs, but no evidence exists.
Rockets Flying
Three weeks before Francis Scott Key immortalized the "rockets red glare" over Fort McHenry in the "Star Spangled Banner," British rockets screamed over the battlefield here. Congreve rockets reached targets a mile or more away. British artillery also included one 6 pounder and two 3 pounders -- named for the weight of their cannonballs. |