Baltimore was menaced while Washington was assailed. Indeed, the whole coast of the Chesapeake Bay, from its mouth to the Patapsco, was continually harassed by the invaders during August and September, 1814. "Whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself," wrote a British officer who participated in the capture of Washington, "parties landed, plundered or destroyed the government stores, and brought off all the shipping which could be reached. In a word," he says, with great candor, "the hostilities carried on in the Chesapeake resembled the expeditions of the ancient Danes against Great Britain rather than a modern war between civilized nations." He added, "But these hasty excursions, though generally successful, were not always performed without loss to the invaders." 1 We will here record two events in proof of the truth of the last observation, in which the courage and spirit of the Maryland militia were very conspicuous.

Two companies from Easton, and two or three from the adjacent country, were called to the defense of St. Michael’s, numbering in the aggregate about three hundred souls. They were in readiness for some time, waiting for the invaders. They appeared early in August [1814.], in a small squadron, that entered Eastern Bay between the Talbot County main and Kent Island. Between midnight and the dawn of the 11th, while the darkness was intensified by thick clouds, they made their way in eleven barges (each armed with a 6-pound field-piece), with oars muffled, so secretly that the booming of their cannon was the first intimation the Americans received of their near presence. The Marylanders were a little surprised, yet they behaved most gallantly. They returned the fire with spirit from the lower battery. The 9-pounder was in charge of Captain William Dodson, of St. Michael’s, and did terrible execution. He had literally crammed it with grape and canister shot, and being well acquainted with every foot of the locality, he knew precisely, by sounds, where to fire most effectively in the gloom. The invaders, under cover of their heavy guns, had landed in a compact body for the purpose of storming the batteries, and when Dodson opened his great gun upon them, a wide swathe was cut through their line. Nineteen of the British were killed, and many were wounded. The Americans, finding themselves outnumbered, fled to the upper battery, whose guns, worked by Captains Vickers and Auld, kept up a continuous fire on the foe. The fight continued until daylight, when the British fled to their boats and abandoned the enterprise. They had spiked the guns in the lower battery, and this was the principal loss sustained by the Americans. 2 St. Michael’s and its ship-yards were saved by the gallantry of a few spirited militia, and no attempt to enter its harbor was ever afterward made by a British armed vessel. It is yet a flourishing town of about eight hundred people, surrounded by fertile land and deep estuaries of the Chesapeake.

Soon after the expulsion of the invaders from St. Michael’s, Sir Peter Parker, of the Royal Navy, appeared in the Upper Chesapeake for the purpose of patrolling its waters and blockading the harbor of Baltimore with two vessels under his command, while Cochrane, and Ross, and Cockburn were penetrating the country to Washington. His flag-ship was the frigate Menelaus, 38, and his deportment was so haughty, and his acts, under the direction of his superior, Cockburn, were so cruel, 3 that the Americans became greatly exasperated. He frequently sent parties ashore to plunder and destroy private as well as public property, and he swept domestic commerce from the bay. He boasted to his superiors that during the month of his blockading service not a single American boat crossed the waters of the Chesapeake.

On the fall of Washington Sir Peter was ordered to proceed down the bay. "I must first have a frolic with the Yankees," he said. 4 Accordingly, on the night of the 30th of August [1814.], after a jolly dinner with his officers, and indulgence in drinking and dancing, he proceeded to engage in the sport. He had been informed that a body of Maryland militia were encamped at Moorfields, near the Georgetown Cross Roads, on the eastern shore of Maryland (not far from Chestertown), and he prepared to surprise them. They were less than two hundred in number, under the vigilant Colonel Read, who was fully apprised of the movement.

The Menelaus ran into one of the numerous estuaries, and at eleven o’clock at night landed a force of seamen and marines, armed with muskets, pikes, and cutlasses. The moon was shining brightly. Stealthily they moved forward, and fell furiously upon the Marylanders, who were in battle order to receive them. A fierce conflict of an hour ensued, when the invaders, repulsed, fled back to their frigate, leaving thirteen dead and three wounded on the field. Among those mortally hurt was the gallant Sir Peter, a brave and generous Irishman, descended from Archbishop Parker and Admiral Byron, and then only twenty-eight years of age. He was at the head of his men, cheering them on, when a musket-ball cut the main artery in his thigh. "They have hit me, Pearce," he said to his first lieutenant, "but it is nothing; push on, my brave boys, and follow me!" He attempted to cheer, but his voice failed him. He fell in the arms of Pearce, and before he could be conveyed to the frigate or receive surgical aid he bled to death. 5 The invaders fled to their ship, and the Menelaus sailed down the bay. Sir Peter’s body was preserved in spirits and sent to England, and on the 14th of May, 1815, it was deposited in the family vault in St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster. 6

Intelligence of the capture of Washington created intense excitement in Baltimore. It was believed that the victorious Ross would fall upon it immediately, either by land or water; and the veteran soldier of the Revolution, General Samuel Smith, 7 renewed his exertions for the defense of the city, and Annapolis, the political capital of Maryland. That vigilant officer had been active ever since the first appearance of danger in the spring of 1813, when a British squadron appeared in the Chesapeake. It was well known that the enemy felt great exasperation toward the Baltimoreans because they had sent out so many swift "clipper-built" vessels and expert seamen to smite terribly the commerce of Great Britain on the high seas. "It is a doomed town," declared Vice-admiral Warren. "The American navy must be annihilated," said a London paper; his arsenals and dock-yards must be consumed, and the truculent inhabitants of Baltimore must be tamed with the weapons which shook the wooden turrets of Copenhagen."

So early as the 13th of April, 1813, the City Councils of Baltimore appropriated twenty thousand dollars to be used for the defense of the city, under the direction of the mayor, Edward Johnson, and seven other citizens, who were named as a Committee of Supply. 8 The governor of the State (Levin Winder) also called an extraordinary session of the Legislature, to meet at Annapolis on the third Monday in May. Meanwhile a rumor reached the city that the enemy were approaching, and within a few hours at least five thousand armed men were found in their proper places, and several companies of militia from the country came pouring into Baltimore. Several persons were arrested as traitors and spies. These demonstrations of preparation and power undoubtedly saved the city from assault at that time. Very soon afterward, Stricker’s brigade, and other military bodies in the city, full five thousand strong, with forty pieces of artillery, were reviewed. At the beginning of June a battery was erected at Fort M‘Henry for the marine artillery of Baltimore one hundred and sixty in number, under Captain George Stiles, and composed of masters and master’s-mates of vessels there. It was armed with 42-pounders. 9

In September [1813.] the British fleet went to sea, and Baltimore enjoyed a season of repose. The blockaders, as we have observed, reappeared in the Chesapeake in the spring of 1814, and all the summer and early autumn infested its waters, during which time occurred the destructive invasion recorded in the preceding chapter, when every thing that could be done by vigilant men for the safety of Baltimore was accomplished. A Committee of Vigilance and Safety, of which Mayor Johnson was Chairman, and Theodore Bland was secretary, co-operated unceasingly with General Smith and the military. On the 27th of August, three days after the capture of Washington, that committee called upon the citizens to organize into working parties, and to contribute implements of labor for the purpose of increasing the strength of the city defenses. The city was divided into four sections, and the people of each labored alternately on the fortifications. The exempts from military service and free colored men were required to assemble for labor, with provisions for a day, at Hempstead Hill (equally well known as Loudenslager’s Hill), on Sunday, the 28th of September; at Myer Garden on Monday; at Washington Square on Tuesday; and at the intersection of Eutaw and Market Streets on Wednesday. Each portion, comprising a section, was under the command of appointed superintendents. The response of the citizens in men and money was quick, cordial, and ample; and volunteers to work on the fortifications came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. By the 10th of September General Winder was in Baltimore, with all the forces of the Tenth Military District at his command.

RODGERS’S BASTION. 10

The principal fortifications constructed by the people consisted of a long line on Hempstead, or Loudenslager’s Hill, now the site of Patterson Park. At proper distances several semicircular batteries were constructed, well mounted with cannon and ably manned, some of them by volunteer artillery companies of Baltimore, but chiefly by men-of-war’s men, about twelve hundred in number, under the general command of Commodore Rodgers. The spaces between these batteries were filled with militia. One of the larger of these bastions, known as Rodgers’s Bastion, may now (1867) be seen, well preserved, on the harbor side of Patterson Park, and overlooking Fort M‘Henry and the region about it. Four of the smaller batteries on this line were in charge of officers of the Guerriere and Erie, the former then lying in Baltimore Harbor. 11

A brigade of Virginia Volunteers and of regular troops, including a corps of cavalry under Captain Bird, were placed under the command of General Winder; the City Brigade of Baltimore was commanded by General Stricker; and the general management of the entire military force destined for the defense of the city was intrusted to General Smith. Fort M‘Henry was garrisoned by about one thousand men, volunteers and regulars, commanded by Major George Armistead. To the right of it, guarding the shores of the Patapsco, on the Ferry Branch, from the landing of troops who might endeavor to assail the city in the rear, were two redoubts, named respectively Fort Covington, and City, or Babcock Battery. The former was manned by a detachment of seamen under Lieutenant Newcomb, and the latter – a 6-gun battery – by another detachment from Barney’s flotilla under Sailing-master John A. Webster. In the rear of these, upon high ground, at the end of Light Street, near the present Fort Avenue, was an unfinished circular redoubt for seven guns, in charge of Lieutenant George Budd. On Lazaretto Point, across the entrance channel to Baltimore Harbor, opposite Fort M‘Henry, was also a small battery, in charge of Lieutenant Rutter, of the flotilla. To these several batteries, and to Fort M‘Henry, the citizens of Baltimore looked most confidently for defense. 12

When it was known that the British fleet was anchored off North Point, General Smith, who had about nine thousand troops under his command, sent General Stricker 13 with three thousand two hundred in that direction to watch the movements of the enemy and act as circumstances might warrant. He left the city toward evening, and just before sunset reached a meeting-house (yet standing) almost seven miles from the town, near the junction of the roads leading respectively to North Point and Bear Creek. Meanwhile Major Randall, of the Maryland militia, had been sent with a light corps from General Stansbury’s brigade, and the Pennsylvania Volunteers, to the mouth of Bear Creek, to co-operate with Stricker, and to check the debarkation of the enemy, should it be attempted at that point.

That commander died in the arms of his favorite aid, the now (1867) venerable Sir Duncan M’Dougall, of London, 14 before his bearers reached the boats at North Point. "He lived only long enough," says Gleig," to name his wife, and to commend his family to the protection of his country." In this skirmish Heath’s horse was shot under him, and several Americans were killed or wounded. Among the slain were the two young men whose bullets brought Ross to the earth. 15 The advancing British far out numbered Heath’s detachment, and he ordered them to fall back. Finding the companies of Levering and Howard too fatigued to engage efficiently in the impending battle, Stricker ordered them to the rear to attach themselves to the reserve.

BATTLE-FLAG OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT. 16

While these movements were in operation on the land, the British fleet was preparing to perform a conspicuous part in the drama. Frigates, schooners, sloops, and bomb-ketches had entered the Patapsco early in the morning of the 12th, while Ross was moving from North Point, and anchored off Fort M‘Henry (then about one half its present dimensions), beyond the reach of its guns, near the present Fort Carroll. During the day and evening the bomb and rocket vessels were so posted as to act upon the fortifications on the hill, commanded by Rodgers, as well as on Fort M‘Henry, while the frigates were stationed farther outward, the water being so shallow that they could not approach nearer the city than four or five miles, nor the fort within two and a half miles. The Americans had already sunk some vessels, as we have observed, in the narrow channel at Fort M‘Henry, which prevented any passage by the ships of the enemy. 17 During the night of the 12th the fleet made full preparations for an attack on the fort and hill intrenchments on the morning of the 13th, when Brooke was to move on Baltimore with the British land force from the battlefield of the day before. The fleet prepared for action consisted of sixteen heavy vessels, five of them bomb-ships.

The bombardment from the vessels was continued until seven o’clock on the morning of the 14th, when it ceased entirely. 18 The night had been passed in the greatest anxiety by the inhabitants of Baltimore, for in the maintenance of Fort M‘Henry was their chief hope for the safety of the city.

An incident which occurred at that time gave birth to one of the most popular of our national songs, the Star-spangled Banner, 19 in which that anxiety is graphically expressed. It was written by Francis S. Key, who was a resident of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and then a volunteer in the light artillery commanded by Major Peter. 20

Simultaneously with the movement of the fleet toward Fort M’Henry, on the morning of the 13th, was that of the land forces of the British from their smouldering camp-fires on the battle-field, until they arrived at the brow of the slope on which lay Surrey Farm (now the valuable estate of Mrs. Jane Dungan), then the fine residence of Colonel Sterett, 21 of the Fifth Maryland Regiment, who was busily engaged in casting up intrenchments on Loudenslager’s Hill, about two miles distant, between them and Baltimore. There they halted to reconnoitre, and Colonel Brooke made his head-quarters at the old farm-house of Mr. Ernest, farther in the rear. They were in sight of the American intrenchments, behind which were the brigades of Stansbury and Foreman; the Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonels Cobeau and Findlay; the marines, under Rodgers; the Baltimore Artillery, under Colonel Harris; and the Marine Artillery, under Captain Stiles, who had spent the night under arms, expecting a vigorous pursuit and attack by the British.

This programme, so delightsome to British arrogance and British commercial greed, was not carried out. On the very day when Ross and his army anchored off North Point [September 11, 1814.], Sir George Prevost, the Governor General of Canada, and his army, making their way toward the Susquehanna, were so smitten at the very beginning of their march – within the sound of cannon-booming of the Canada line – that they fled back toward the St. Lawrence in wild disorder. 22 Instead of mourning as captives, the Americans were jubilant as victors.

The prowess of Colonel Armistead and his little band in defending Fort M‘Henry was a theme for praise upon every lip. The grateful citizens of Baltimore presented him with a costly and appropriate testimonial of their appreciation of his services in the shape of an elegant silver vase, in the form and of the size of the largest bomb-shell thrown into the fort by the British; also goblets and salver of the same material. 23 These are in the possession of his son, who, as we have observed, has the old "Star-spangled Banner," and also a sword voted to him by time State of Virginia. 24

After his death a fine marble monument was erected to his memory, on which the following words were written with a pen of steel: "Colonel GEORGE ARMISTEAD, in honor of whom this monument is erected, was the gallant defender of Fort M‘Henry during the bombardment of the British fleet, 13th September, 1814. He died, universally esteemed and regretted, on the 25th of April, 1818, aged thirty-nine years." 25

BATTLE MONUMENT. 26

The grateful citizens were not contented with bestowing praises upon their defenders, so they devised a memorial as perpetual and enduring as marble could make it. In the now great city of Baltimore, containing (1867) full two hundred and forty thousand souls, may be seen a noble monument designed by Maximilian Godefroy, and wrought in white marble. It was erected in 1815, at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, in commemoration of those who, on the 13th and 14th of September, 1814, fell on the field and in the fort. The engraving depicts it as it appeared, with its surroundings, in the autumn of 1861, when the writer sketched it from the steps of Barnum’s Hotel.

I visited the theatre of scenes described in the few preceding pages in November, 1861, on my return homeward from Washington, mentioned on page 943. On arriving at the Eutaw House, Baltimore, in the evening, I had the good fortune to meet an esteemed friend, Brantz Mayer, Esq., a resident of that city, and perfectly familiar with the men, events, and localities we have just been considering. To his kind courtesy I am indebted for much valuable information, and for facilities for acquiring more. His introduction was a key to the treasures of the Maryland Historical Society. He accompanied me to many places of interest in the city and its vicinity, among others Patterson Park and Rodgers’s Battery. There we met the venerable John M‘Lean, the keeper of the park, who was then seventy-eight years of age. He was a member of Captain Benjamin Ringgold’s company in the battle of North Point. After listening with pleasure to his reminiscences, we returned to the city, where I was introduced to General John Spear Smith, a son of the chief commander in the defense of Baltimore, and his volunteer aid on that occasion. General Smith subsequently placed in my hands his father’s military papers of that period, which I freely used in the preparation of the foregoing narrative.

THE CITY SPRING AND ARMISTEAD’S MONUMENT. 27

We went to the pleasant inclosure of the City Spring, to see the monument erected there to the memory of Colonel Armistead (delineated on page 960), but found it removed, and the embattled edifice around it, seen beyond the figures in the above picture, nearly demolished. Nor could we find any clew to it. On leaving that shaded spot, where so many Baltimoreans have promenaded during the heats of summer, I was introduced to Captain John Lester, a veteran soldier, seventy-one years of age, who (then an ensign) was the color-bearer of the gallant Twenty-seventh Maryland Regiment in the battle of North Point. He seemed quite too young to claim the patriarchal honors of threescore and ten years. I found in his possession the tattered flag of the Twenty-seventh (delineated on page 954), whose wounds were received while it was borne in his hands forty-seven years before. Twenty-seven years afterward [1841.] he bore the same flag at the head of about thirty survivors of the Twenty-seventh, who were in the funeral procession at the burial of President Harrison, the distinguished soldier of the Second War for independence.

Captain Lester accompanied my traveling companion and myself to the North Point battle-ground on the morning of the 20th [November, 1861 {original text has "1860".}.]. The air was very chilling, but in a covered carriage, with fleet horses and a good postillion, we made the journey comfortably and quickly to the battle-ground, seven miles from the city. On our way, as we approached Long Log Lane, I sketched the Methodist meeting-house, which was used for a hospital after the battle, and where General Stricker bivouacked on the night of the 11th [September, 1814.]. A short distance from it, on the corner, where a road leads to Hancock’s Pavilion, on Bear Creek, was a place of refreshment called the Battle-ground House. In a field adjoining it we saw a rough-hewn block of granite, with a square hollow in it, which was pointed out as the corner-stone of a monument which it is proposed to erect on the field of strife. This was on the right of Long Log Lane going out.

NORTH POINT BATTLE-GROUND. 28

On the opposite side of the lane (which is now the highway to North Point) was the scene of the heaviest of the battle, which was then an open oak wood, as delineated in the accompanying picture of the battle-ground, drawn a few days after the conflict by Thomas Buckle, who was in the fight. The view is from the site of the Battle-ground House. The stately oaks which then shaded the ground have disappeared, and it is covered by a new and smaller growth, and in some places by a tangled undergrowth.

We rode on to the house of Richard Brady (occupied at the time of our visit by Samuel Cole), in front of which General Ross received his death-wound, as related on page 951. Near that spot, by the side of the road, the soldiers, commanded by Captain Benjamin C Howard on that occasion, and known as the First Mechanical Volunteers, erected a monument, about eight feet in height, partly in commemoration of the action, but specifically, as the inscription declares, 29 "as a tribute of respect for the memory of their gallant brother" in arms, Aquila Randall, who fell there. The view in the engraving was sketched from Mr. Cole’s house, in which is seen, toward the left, the venerable oak-tree under which Ross was laid for a few minutes by Captain M‘Dougall, and in the centre, over the horseman, a part of Bear Creek. Ross was shot on the gentle rise of ground in the road a few rods eastward of the monument.

We returned to Baltimore at a little past noon, turning off from the direct road to visit the homestead of Colonel Sterett, mentioned on page 958. The mansion was upon a beautiful terraced slope along the old Philadelphia Road. We did not stop in the city, but riding through it to Fort Avenue, which traverses the length of Fell’s Point to Fort M‘Henry, we passed along that fine stone road a full mile, to the entrance-gate to the outer grounds of the fort. A pass from General Duryee, then in command at Baltimore, opened the portals. We were kindly received by the courteous Colonel (afterward General) W. Morris, the commandant (since dead), and were allowed to visit every part of the venerated fortification. After making the sketch on page 954, we returned, stopping on the way to make a drawing of the circular seven-gun battery mentioned on page 949, and to find the sites of Fort Covington and the City Battery, which was commanded by the gallant Webster. These were situated on the river bank, below the circular battery, and nearly half a mile distant. Webster’s battery was on a line with it, in the direction of the river, and Fort Covington was about five hundred yards farther up the stream. The circular battery was at the end of Light Street, that skirts Federal Hill, on which, at the time of my visit, were heavy earth-works, in charge of Duryèe’s Zouaves, thrown up as a protection to Fort M‘Henry against land attacks by insurgents.

The mounds of the old circular battery were six or eight feet high in some places. It was in a commanding position. Our view, taken from within it, comprises the entire theatre of the operations of the British boat expedition on that eventful night. We are looking toward Chesapeake Bay. On the left is seen Fort M‘Henry, and in the extreme distance, appearing like a speck near the mouth of the Patapsco, is Fort Carroll.

On the following morning [November 21, 1861.] I made a careful drawing of the Battle Monument, delineated on page 960. We afterward spent several hours in the rooms of the Historical Society, and in the afternoon called on Mr. Armistead, where we were kindly shown the old garrison flag, tattered and faded – the identical Star-spangled Banner on which Key and his companions so anxiously gazed "at the twilight’s last gleaming." On the same evening we left Baltimore for Havre de Grace, where, as we have observed on page 673 {original text has "943".}, we passed the night and the following day.

When, as we have already observed, the depredations of Cockburn on the shores of the Delaware, in the spring of 1813, were made known at Philadelphia, an intense martial spirit was aroused in that city, and along the shores of the Delaware River and Bay. At the beginning of the war that spirit was almost dormant. The fine corps known as the M‘Pherson Blues 30 had been disbanded twelve years before the declaration of war, and another, called Shee’s Legion, was no more. Only three or four volunteer companies of any note then existed in Philadelphia, the oldest of which, a company of cavalry, was called the First, or old City Troop, Captain Charles Ross, which was formed in the autumn of 1774, and did good service in the Revolution under Captain Morris. They formed a body-guard for General Washington when he traveled from Philadelphia to New York in 1775 to take command of the army at Cambridge. These, with Captain Rush’s old Philadelphia Blues, and Captain Fottevall’s Independent Volunteers, both large companies, composed the most of the uniformed militia of that vicinity.

During the summer of 1812 a new uniform company was formed, called the State Fencibles, which, like the City Troop, is still an organized corps, and until a few years ago was led by Captain James Page, who was elected its commander in June, 1818. 31 The original manuscript, containing the call for the formation of this company, is before me, having been kindly placed in my hands by the veteran Captain Page, of Philadelphia, who was a private in that company during the War of 1812. The first name on the list is that of one of Philadelphia’s most honored sons, Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, and the third is that of the late Colonel Clement C. Biddle. The latter, who was the originator of the company, was chosen captain, and the former first lieutenant. Captain Page is yet (1867) a vigorous man, nearly eighty years of age, and to him I am indebted for much valuable information concerning military affairs in and around Philadelphia during the war. 32

On the receipt of the requisition for troops from the War Department early in July, 1814, Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania, caused a general order to be issued for the mustering of the militia and the raising of volunteers, in which several military companies of Philadelphia, and elsewhere in the state, who had offered their services to the government in the summer of 1812, were named as accepted volunteers, and as forming a part of the quota of the state. 33 Recruiting went briskly on, and it was greatly promoted by intelligence of the capture of Washington toward the close of August. Volunteers flocked to the standard of General Bloomfield in great numbers. 34 Kennet Square, in Chester County, thirty-six miles southwest from Philadelphia, was the designated place of rendezvous, and there, at the close of August, a camp was formed, under the direction of Captain C. W. Hunter, and named Camp Bloomfield. On the 7th of September, Lieutenant Colonel Clemson, of the United States Army, assumed the command, and on the 14th he was succeeded by Brigadier General Thomas Cadwalader. The troops were brigaded, and the corps was called The Advanced Light Guard. 35 Captain Ross, with his First City Troop, took post on Mount Bull, a height overlooking the Chesapeake, thirteen miles below Elkton, to watch the approach of the enemy, and held communication with the camp and Philadelphia by a line of vedettes.

The brigade changed its position several times, but was continually in the vicinity of Wilmington. The last one that it occupied was called Camp Dupont, about three miles west of Wilmington, where it remained until the 30th of November, when, all danger seeming to be distant, the troops were marched back to Philadelphia, and there disbanded on the 3d of January, 1815. 36

In the mean time a body of almost ten thousand men was assembled near Marcus’s Hook, on the Delaware, twenty miles below Philadelphia, which was at first organized by Adjutant General William Duane, under the command of Major General Isaac Worrall. It was composed of Pennsylvania militia and volunteers. Its rendezvous was called Camp Gaines, in honor of General E. P. Gaines, who succeeded Bloomfield in the command of the Department, in September. This camp was broken up on the 5th of December, 1814. Besides these, several companies were organized in the city and county of Philadelphia who did not take the field. 37 When Gaines left for New Orleans in December, General Cadwalader 38 succeeded him as chief of the Fourth Military Department.

While the volunteers were hastening to the camps to be enrolled as soldiers, the inhabitants of Philadelphia were vigorously making preparations for the defense of the city. When intelligence of the capture of Washington reached them, a public meeting was held, and a committee of defense was appointed, with ample powers to adopt such measures as the exigency seemed to require. 39 "They determined," says Mr. Wescott, 40 "that, for the safety of the city, field fortifications should be thrown up in the most eligible situations on the western side of the town, and where an attack might be expected. A fort was planned near Gray’s Ferry, on the west side of the Schuylkill River, at the junction of the Gray’s Ferry and Darby Roads; also a redoubt opposite Hamilton’s Grove, another upon the Lancaster Road, and a third upon the site of an old British redoubt on the southern side of the hill at Fairmount, which would command the bridge at Market Street and the roads leading to it.

In response to the mayor’s appeal, a large meeting of citizens was held in the City Hall Park, on Tuesday, the 9th of August, 41 when a Committee of Defense, chosen from the Common Council, was appointed, 42 clothed with ample powers to direct the efforts of the inhabitants in the business of protection. On the same morning the officers of General Mapes’s brigade, to the number of two hundred, gave the first practical response to the mayor’s appeal by crossing the East River from Beekman’s Slip, and, with Captain Andrew Bremmer’s artillery, marching to the lines traced out for the fortifications on the heights around Brooklyn by General Swift, and taking pick-axes, and shovels, and every other appropriate implement at hand, breaking ground at eight o’clock, and working lustily all day. They were followed the next morning by as many carpenters and cabinet-makers; and only four days after the meeting in the Park, the Committee of Defense announced [August 13.] that three thousand persons were at work on the fortifications. They also reported the receipt of large sums of money; and on the same day it was announced that "two hundred journeymen printers, one thousand Sons of Erin, thirty pilots, seventy men from the Asbury (African) Church, with one hundred and fifty other colored men, two hundred weavers, and many heads of manufacturing establishments," were at work on the lines. Two days afterward the city newspapers were suspended, that all hands might work on the fortifications; and on the 20th of August five hundred men "left on the Jersey steam-boat for Harlem Heights," to work on intrenchments there; and, at the same time, fifteen hundred "patriotic Sons of Erin" crossed the ferry to Brooklyn for the same purpose. Two days afterward nearly one thousand colored people crossed the Catharine Ferry to work on the fortifications between Fort Greene and Gowanus Creek; and on the 25th the Washington Benevolent Society, an organization opposed to the war, inspired with zeal for the common cause, went over in a body, with their banner bearing the portrait of Washington – the largest number belonging to one society that had crossed over at one time. On the same day the butchers went to the lines to labor, bearing the flag, on which was the figure of an ox prepared for slaughter, which had been used by them in the great "Federal Procession" in honor of the ratification of the National Constitution in 1789. Masonic and other societies went in bodies to the patriotic task; and school-teachers and pupils went together to give their aid. Little boys, too small to handle a spade or pickaxe, carried earth on shingles, and so added their mites in rearing the breastworks. It was a scene like that of cairn-building in the olden time. The infection spread, and every day citizens from neighboring towns on Long Island, 43 on the Hudson, and from New Jersey, proffered their services. Nor were the nights undisturbed by the sound of the patriotic toil. On that of the 31st of August it is recorded that full six hundred men went over to Brooklyn, and worked "by the light of the moon."

Cadwallader D. Colden was appointed to the command of all the uniformed militia companies of the city and county, and every thing pertaining to the military was put upon the war footing of actual service. The citizens continued their zealous labors on the military works all through September and in October, and made the lines of fortifications around New York truly formidable. 44

Earlier than the movements of the public authorities and inhabitants of New York and Philadelphia for the defense of their cities, recorded in the preceding pages, the subject of harbor defenses had occupied much of the public attention in sea-coast towns, especially in the fast-growing commercial city of New York. Among the scientific men of that day, John Stevens and Robert Fulton appear most conspicuous in proposing plans for that purpose. Earlier than this (in 1807), Abraham Bloodgood, of Albany, suggested the construction of a floating revolving battery, not unlike, in its essential character, the turret of Captain Ericsson’s Monitor of 1862. 45 In March, 1814, Thomas Gregg, of Pennsylvania, obtained a patent for a proposed iron-clad steam vessel of war, resembling in figure vessels used during our late great Civil War. Drawings of it may be seen in the Patent-office, with full specifications. 46 Our little sketch below was copied from one of these drawings.

At about the same time a committee of citizens examined a plan of a floating battery submitted by Robert Fulton, and approved by such tried naval officers as Captains Decatur, Jones, Evans, Biddle, Perry, Warrington, and Lewis. It was to be in the form of a steam-ship of peculiar construction, that might move at the rate of four miles an hour, and furnished, in addition to its regular armament, with submarine guns. The committee memorialized Congress on the subject, and asked the Secretary of the Navy to give it his official favor. It was objected that a discussion in Congress would reveal the matter to the enemy, and also that the President was not authorized to make an appropriation without the special authority of law. To meet these objections, the committee agreed to have the vessel constructed at their own expense and risk, provided assurances should be given that the government, which alone could employ her, would receive and pay for her when her utility should be demonstrated. It was estimated that she would cost nearly as much as a first-class frigate, or about three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The liberal offer was accepted, and Congress authorized the President [March, 1814.] to have one or more floating batteries built, under the supervision of the Coast and Harbor Defense Committee. 47

They appointed Mr. Fulton the engineer, and Adam and Noah Brown the architects. The keel was laid at the ship-yard at Corlear’s Hook, in the city of New York, on the 20th of June, 1814, and she was launched at 9 o’clock in the morning of the 29th of October following, in the presence of a vast assemblage of people. The scene was described as very exciting. It was a bright autumnal day. Fleets of vessels and crowds of spectators might be seen on every hand; and she went into the water amid the roar of cannon and the shouts of a multitude full twenty thousand in number, 48 Her engines were put on board, and her machinery tested, in the month of May following [1815.], when Fulton was no more, he having died in February. 49 She made a trial trip to the ocean and back, fifty-three miles, on the 4th of July, at the rate of about six miles an hour by her engines alone. In September she made another voyage to the sea, with her whole armament on board, at the rate of five and a half miles an hour against wind and tide. The vessel was named FULTON THE FIRST.

1 Campaigns of Washington and New Orleans, by the Rev. G. R. Gleig. See page 937.

3 A British officer, who served with Cockburn and Parker, published some spicy sketches of his experience in marauding expeditions along the shores of the Chesapeake. He relates one, commanded by Cockburn in person, with Parker and General Ross as "amateurs," as he expresses it. The object was, he says, "to destroy a factory village, which was not only the abode of innocent labor, but likewise the resort of some few militiamen guilty of the unnatural sin of defending their own county." Their approach being known, all but women and children had fled from the town. "We therefore," he says, "most valiantly set fire to the unprotected property, notwithstanding the tears of the women, and, like a parcel of savages, as we were, we danced round the wreck of ruin." The excuse was the necessity of retaliation for the destruction of Newark, in Canada. See pages 634 and 932. "Every house," he continues, "which we could by ingenuity vote into the residence of a military man, was burned." He then gives an account of scenes at a dwelling-house near the beach which they surrounded. "Like midnight murderers," he says, "we cautiously approached the house. The door was open, and we unceremoniously intruded ourselves upon three young ladies sitting quietly at tea. Sir George Cockburn, Sir Peter Parker, and myself entered the room rather suddenly, and a simultaneous scream was our welcome." Sir George, he said, was austere, but Sir Peter "was the handsomest man in the navy," and to the latter the ladies appealed. Cockburn told them that he knew their father to be an American officer – a colonel of militia, and that his duty being to burn their house, he gave them ten minutes for removing what they most desired to save. The young women, on their knees, begged the admiral to spare their house. "The youngest, a girl of sixteen, and lovely beyond the general beauty of those parts, threw herself at Sir Peter’s feet, and prayed him to interfere. The tears started from his eyes in a moment, and I was so bewildered at the afflicting scene that I appeared to see through a thick mist." Cockburn was unmoved, with his watch on the table, measuring the fleeting minutes. The other girls were in tears, and asking for mercy. Sir Peter had opened his lips to plead for them, when the brutal Cockburn stopped him, and ordered men to bring the fire-balls. "Never shall I forget the despair of that moment. Poor Sir Peter wept like a child, while the girl clung to his knees and impeded his retreat. The admiral walked out with his usual haughty stride, followed by the two elder girls, who vainly implored him to countermand the order. In a moment the house was in flames. "We retreated from the scene of ruin, leaving the three daughters gazing at the work of destruction, which made the innocent homeless and the affluent beggars. . . . . By the light of that house we embarked and returned on board. It was a scene which impressed itself upon my heart, and which my memory and my hand unwillingly recall and publish."

6 Sir Peter Parker was a son of Admiral Christopher Parker, and first cousin of the eminent poet, Lord Byron. He inherited from his father a love of the naval service, and from his mother much personal beauty. He was educated at Westminster School, and entered the navy at the age of thirteen years, with his grandfather, Sir Peter Parker, who commanded the British fleet at Charleston in the summer of 1776. He rose rapidly in his profession under Lord Nelson, Earl St. Vincent, and others, and in 1810 he was made commander of the Menelaus, a new ship, in which he performed gallant service. He accompanied Admiral Malcolm to Bermuda in the spring of 1814, and with him went with his frigate to the Chesapeake, where, as the text relates, he lost his life. His body was first conveyed to Bermuda, and there received the honors of a public funeral. It was afterward conveyed in the same vessel (the Hebrus) to England, and was again buried with a public funeral. Lord Byron wrote a poetic eulogy of Sir Peter. His friend, and one of the chief mourners at his funeral, wrote a touching Biographical Memoir of him, dedicated to his wife, from which the above portrait, from a painting by Hoppner, of the Royal Academy, was copied.

At that period he was spending much of his time at his elegant country-seat of Montebello, north of Baltimore, which is yet (1867) standing. During a riot in Baltimore in 1836, when the civil power was inadequate to quell the violence of the mob, the aged general, then eighty-four years old, appeared in the streets with the United States flag, placed himself at the head of peaceful citizens, and very soon restored order and tranquillity. In the autumn of that year he was elected mayor of the city, which office he held until his death on the 22d of April, 1839, at the age of eighty-seven years. General Smith was elected a representative in Congress in 1793, and served until 1803. He was again elected in 1816, and served six years longer. He was also a member of the United States Senate for a period of twenty-three years. The portrait on the preceding page is from a painting in possession of his son, General John Spear Smith, who was his volunteer aid-de-camp during the defense of Baltimore in 1814. It was painted by Gilbert Stuart when the general was about forty-five years of age. He is in the uniform of a major general of that day (1797), and shows the Order of the Cincinnati suspended from a button-hole.

9 This corps was celebrated for its gallantry. Dr. Martin (see note 1, page 925) says, in his MS. Reminiscences before me, that when he was at Bladensburg, the British officers, who were expecting re-enforcements for Winder from Baltimore, "were particularly anxious about the marine artillery – the material of which it was composed, the weight of metal, number of men, etc. I exaggerated the condition of its ability to do effective service," he said, "and I confidently believe that, had they been part of our force at Bladensburg, we would have succeeded in driving back the enemy, if not in capturing the whole force, for I never saw men so completely exhausted as were the foe."

10 This view is from one side of the bastion, looking toward the harbor. On the point on the right is seen Fort M‘Henry. The point opposite is Lazaretto Point.

13 The above portrait of General Stricker is from a painting in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society. General Stricker died in Baltimore on the 23d of June, 1825.

14 Sir Duncan M‘Dougall, K. C. F., son of Patrick M‘Dougall, Esq., of Argyleshire, Scotland, was born in 1789. He entered the army in 1804, and served in several regiments, and on the staff in Portugal, Spain, France, America, Cape of Good Hope, and West Indies. He has the distinction of having received into his arms two eminent British generals when they fell in battle, namely, General Ross, killed near Baltimore, and General Pakenham, slain near New Orleans. He commanded the Seventy-ninth Highlanders for several years. His son and heir, Colonel Patrick Leonard M‘Dougall, is commandant of the Royal Staff {Original text has "Stall".} College. The family is descended, in a direct line, from Somerled, the Prince of the western coast of Argyleshire, and famous "Lord of the Isles." The above portrait of the gallant soldier is from a carte de visite likeness, sent to me at my request by Sir Duncan in the summer of 1861.

16 This little picture represents the tattered battle-flag of the Jefferson Blues, Twenty-seventh Regiment of the Maryland Militia, who fought gallantly on the 12th of September, 1814. It was in the possession of Captain John Lester, of Baltimore, when I made a sketch of it in 1862. He has presented it to the Maryland Historical Society. It is blue silk, with the designs in gold. Its width is four feet six inches. It is quite tattered. The black spots represent the forms of cannon-ball holes made during the battle. On scrolls are the words Jefferson Blues and Non sibi sed patria.

19 The fac-simile of the original manuscript of the first stanza of the "Star-spangled Banner," given on the opposite page, was first published, by permission of its owner (Mrs. Howard), daughter of the author, in "Autograph Leaves of our Country’s Authors," a volume edited by John P. Kennedy and Alexander Bliss for the Baltimore Sanitary Fair, 1864.