Combat· War of 1812
Defense of Baltimore
Three weeks after burning Washington, the British turned on Baltimore and were thrown back.
Commodore John Rodgers formed a brigade of about a thousand sailors and Marines to help hold the city's eastern defenses on Hampstead Hill, where the Marines served the heavy guns. The Marine contingent came together from several sources, the detachments of Captains Samuel Bacon and Alfred Grayson, and the Guerriere's Marines under Lieutenant John Harris, a future Commandant. While the army and militia stopped the British land advance at North Point, killing General Ross, the Marines and gunners on the lines stood ready behind strong works that convinced the British not to assault. Out in the harbor, the guns of Fort McHenry endured a 25-hour bombardment that Francis Scott Key watched through the night, the inspiration for "The Star-Spangled Banner." The British withdrew, and Baltimore held.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 92