Fort McHenry

Because we had to be in Baltimore anyway with the boys, to put in our tax, we decided to make a day of it, and visit Fort McHenry on Baltimore Harbour. Fort McHenry is where a famous battle between the British Navy and the Americans in 1812. The British had just burnt Washington DC and were moving in to do the same to Baltimore. The defenders at Fort McHenry, which is on a peninsular that sort of sticks out and guards the entrance to the harbour that Baltimore was built on, helped by earthworks to the East of the town and various Militias holding back the British troops on the ground, had a huge night of exchanging canon fire with the British Navy. In the morning, a huge American flag was raised by the defenders to show their defiance. 

Which would be a lovely story in itself but what made it remarkable is that Francis Scott Key (of Annapolis) happened to be unwillingly watching the whole thing from a British Navy ship, having gone out to negotiate the release of a friend of his. He wrote a poem - "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which later became the words to the song "The Star Spangled Banner" - and the American National Anthem.

A while ago I wondered about the attachment to the flag here, and really, you can't blame them. To have a flag that is closely associated with such an important historical event, and have a poem/song written in with the full force of the relief of seeing that flag rise up that pole. Part of American pride seems to be in their self-determination, and their struggles to become a nation, and that is bound up in their flag, their national anthem, and so many other aspects of their culture. (Says I. Just thinking!)

In terms of visiting: very lovely for children, except possibly the video showing the historical re-enactment of the battle. We have had to answer a lot of questions about canons from our 5 year old, who couldn't finish watching the video. Fort McHenry was used by the military as recently as WWII (?), so it has a very interesting history, displays about which are set up in various buildings that you wander around to look in.