Repulsing the POMS

Baltimore played a stirring role in the war of 1812-14 between the UK and the US. I bet most of you weren't even aware of this event! Well, the the former was incensed at American attacks on its shipping by local privateers and sent in the navy to teach them a lesson. Most of the action centred on Chesapeake Bay and the first casualty was Washington which was partly burned to the ground. Then the Brits took to Baltimore, then the 3rd largest US city with c. 40,000 inhabitants.

However, there was a strong point between the attacking forces and the city which needed softening up and it's only 3km from where we're staying. Fort McHenry lies at the entrance to the inner harbour region and it was pounded for about 26 hours by naval vessals standing offshore. It's a popular tourist attraction because much of the fort is still intact ... and for some historic reasons. First, the fort with-stood the onslaught well, to the extent that the Brits had to pack up their bat and ball and retreat to Nova Scotia. This 'victory' obviously helped the reputation of both the defenders and the young nation. And finally it created the US national anthem. A bloke named Key was so surprised to see the flag still flying in the morning that he penned the poem later known as the star spangled banner whose original is now in the Smithsonian. Admittedly, it took 117 years for the song to be adopted by Congress during the 1930s depression.

We took the water taxi to the Fort and attended a great AV presentation in the facility's visitor centre. It was a period re-enactement in which one of the participants, a local doctor, described the events. It finished with the theatre's cutains being drawn back to reveal a view over the fort and the broad river leading into Chesapeake Bay and, in the background, a slow crescendo of the 'Star Spangled Banner. It was rather moving as the audience rose and turned to look out over the water.

We clambered in and over the fort, stopping for an interesting presentation by one of the park rangers on the origins and evolution of the US flag. The site is a national historic monument. At the end, he produced a replica of the flag flown at the time - the original is also in the Smithsonian and a team of a dozen or more of us unfurled it to reveal a monster flag with 15 stars in the corner rather than the current 50. We were only allowed to roll it up again after giving correct answers to a series of questions about the event!

AS