HISTORY

September 12, 1814
Battle for Baltimore Begins

On September 10th, William Barney, the son of Commodore Barney, sent word to Baltimore that 50 British ships were on their way to Baltimore. William was part of an elaborate coast watchers group set up by his father. After the burning of Washington the whole region erupted into a panic.

By evening the ships could be seen from Baltimore. At 9:30PM, Maj. Armistead, commander of Ft. McHenry put the post on alert and had all the guns manned. Militia units like the Baltimore Fencibles . . . who had just been sent home . . . were ordered to gather at the corner of Howard and Market streets.

On the morning of the 11th, Maj. Gen. Smith ordered the firing of the alarm guns to muster the troops. Smith kept most of his 10,000 men in the entrenchments around Baltimore, but sent the 3rd Maryland Militia Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. John Stricker, to intercept the British and delay their advance. By 3PM the Brigade was on the march, the troops of the 5th Maryland Regiment anxious to reclaim their reputation after the debacle at Bladensburg. They reached North point at about 8PM, the narrowest part of the point that lead to Baltimore.

They spent the night sleeping without tents on the open ground. That night, British troops were told to place three days rations, a spare shirt and a blanket in their backpacks. Around 3AM the British began their landing.

Battle of North Point

The British advanced slowly, which infuriated Stricker. By noon he began to fear that the British planned to wait until nightfall and launch a bayonet charge what would rout his men. Stricker decided to force an engagement. His junior officers fell over themselves to lead a strike force of 250 men to harass the British. Sticker added 70 riflemen from Edward Aisquith's rifle company to accompany the strike team. The force was soon moving forward commanded by Maj. Richard Heath.

Ross too began to move his troops at about 12:30PM, setting up for the first part of the Battle of North Point. When the British ran into the America force, it was a complete surprise. Information that had been obtained from American deserters had made no suggestion of troops this far forward. The Americans opened fire with two volleys. While the riflemen took position in the tall grass and up trees. The British began to assemble to drive the Americans off the field. At that moment, a courier saw three riflemen shoot in the direction of the Ross party, shooting Ross off his horse. The Americans had little time to enjoy their achievement. Despite losing their general, British troops easily routed the militia strike force. Casualties included two of the three men who had fired on the Ross party. The British soon found the rest of the Stricker 's American force and launched an attack on it's flank.

The British got their men into position for the attack quickly, but Stricker 's forces were soon confused by his orders to reinforce his flank. The American army was soon in a state of confusion . . . right at the expected point of attack. As the British advanced around 2:50PM, American Artillery in the center opened up with grapeshot and scrap metal. American musket fire followed. Despite the carnage the British continued to advance. This was enough for the 51st Maryland Militia Regiment, who panicked and fled from the field. This time the 5th Maryland held and the British were forced to advance right up to the American line, but with the flank breached by the fleeing 51st, the American force had no choice but to fall back or be cut off.

Even so, Cockburn . . . a fierce critic of the American Army, was impressed by the American's stand. Yet it was all over by 3:45PM with Stricker's 1,400 men retreating to Baltimore.

Bombardment of Fort McHenry

The center piece for the defense of Baltimore was Ft. McHenry. The city had raised 1,000 men to defend it and 600 to service its 36 guns. 600 regulars manned the moat outside the fort to meet the British should they decide to land.

The HMS Volcano began a bombardment of the fort at 6:30AM. Maj. Armistead returned fire and forced the British to move out of the fort's range, but the bombardment continued . . . without the fort being able to respond. (Armistead had asked the War department for longer range guns earlier in the war, but had been turned down by Secretary of War Armstrong.)

The rate of fire approached one per minute, with one shot actually penetrating the magazine. Fortunately it failed to go off. After this, Armistead had the garrison move the gunpowder behind the rear walls of the fort. One writer described the affair for the defenders as being "like pigeons tied by the legs to be shot at."

British fire at this distance had no result. The HMS Volcano's commander requested permission to close in, but he was refused. The defenders suffered 24 wounded and 4 dead to one British sailor wounded.