British Bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore

Context

By the summer of 1814 the War of 1812 had entered a new phase. With Napoleon’s defeat freeing British resources, Royal Navy squadrons intensified operations along the American coast. The Chesapeake Bay became a focal point because Baltimore privateers had harassed British merchant shipping for years, and the city’s capture would punish that activity while threatening the young republic’s morale after earlier setbacks on land and sea.

What Happened

On September 12 British troops under Major General Robert Ross landed at North Point and advanced toward Baltimore, only to be checked by American militia in a sharp engagement that cost Ross his life. The next morning Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane’s fleet moved into position in the Patapsco River. Five bomb vessels and the rocket ship HMS Erebus opened fire on Fort McHenry at roughly 6:30 a.m., lobbing mortar shells and Congreve rockets from beyond the range of the fort’s guns. Major George Armistead’s garrison of about one thousand men answered when possible, but the British maintained a steady barrage through driving rain for the next twenty-five hours.

Aftermath

An attempted nighttime passage by British boats past the fort was driven back by accurate American fire. At first light on September 14 the large garrison flag—sewn earlier by Mary Pickersgill—still flew over the ramparts. Seeing it from a nearby truce vessel, Francis Scott Key knew the fort had held. The British commanders concluded that further attacks would be futile and withdrew their forces down the Chesapeake.

Legacy

Key’s verses, written aboard the truce ship and later titled “Defence of Fort McHenry,” were published within days and soon paired with the tune of a British drinking song. The song gained popularity through the nineteenth century and was officially designated the national anthem by Congress in 1931. The successful stand at Fort McHenry helped restore American confidence after the loss of Washington and contributed to the diplomatic climate that produced the Treaty of Ghent later that year.