Fort McHenry is located at the mouth of Baltimore Harbor in Baltimore, MD. A pentagonal coastal defense fort, it is known for its defense of Baltimore on 13-14 September 1814 during the War of 1812, when the fortress sustained a 25 hour attack by a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Cochrane with rockets and mortars. The fleet was trying to get into Baltimore harbor, the only port in the then-US which had not (to date) been occupied or attacked by the British in the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.
At the end of 25 hours, the British fleet retreated, having been unsuccessful at breaking the fort. To celebrate the event, the commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead, broke out the garrison flag, 30' by 42', with the then-current 17 stars and 17 stripes, to indicate the American victory. A young lawyer detained by the British after a prisoner negotiation, Francis Scott Key, was onboard during the entire bombardment. After the battle, he composed a poem - and the rest, as they say, is history.
By national decree, the fort is a National Shrine (the only national shrine in the United States) and as such, the flag has been decreed to fly above the fort every day of the year, 24 hours a day.
Thanks for increasing my knowledge base about Fort McHenry. Wondering about the range of those cannons TB.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, the larger black cannons are actually from the Civil War. The smaller ones were more 1812 specific; I believe the range was about 1,000 yards. That is why the British had to use the more inaccurate rockets and cannons instead of the mortars.
DeleteIt was probably 30 years ago when I first heard the audio recording of the below linked video playing on the radio.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA
I was so moved that I had to pull over until it had finished. For many years/decade plus after, I used to publish a transcript of it that I typed out on my blog post for the 4th of July. I somehow got out of the habit and forgot about it until reading this post and I did a quick google search. Where before it wasn't generally available on the internet back then, it is all over it now and easy to find. I know now that it does have some inaccuracies but I still get chills listening to it.
Thank you for the link Ed! I will give it a listen.
DeleteWhen I was going through Wood Badge, I found out that every American flag that was adopted is still an official American flag. So the McHenery flag, the Grand Union, etc is still to be respected like the current one. I used to hang every flag from the Betsy Ross to the current one around the porch on flag day and the Fourth. I have a large burial flag that I'd fly in the middle. It's been really difficult to get that done the last two years...
ReplyDeleteThat is super cool STxAR!
DeleteYes, I can imagine the last two years has put a crimp in that.
Thank for this, TB. All great reading.
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe and God bless.
You are welcome Linda. It is a great joy to be able to share these.
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