Samuel Smith of Baltimore-- Part 4: Victory At Hampstead Hill and Fort McHenry

The British, led by Major General Robert Ross until his death landed on North Point by Baltimore on September 12, 1814,  with 4,000 soldiers and encountered a delaying force led by Brigadier General John Stricker.

The delaying tactic worked and Smith was able to fortify Hampstead Hill, a fortified position  east of Baltimore.  He congregated thousands of militia men and whatever guns he had.  British attempts to flank the position were foiled by Smith.  He also positioned his troops so that a frontal assault would get caught in a crossfire.

The British retreated September 14 and boarded their ships.

The British also assaulted Baltimore with their Navy warships but Fort McHenry and its covering forts (Covington and Babcock) successfully withstood the famous bombardment. and they also withdrew.

--Brock-Perry

Fort (Battery) Babcock, Defense of Baltimore

From WikiFort.

(1813-1815)  Abandoned 1815.  Also known as Six Gun battery or Sailor's Battery.

Designed by Captain Samuel Babcock.  Built as an earthen battery with six 18-pdr. French naval guns on the shore of the Patapsco Ferry Branch about 1.5 miles west of Fort McHenry.

At the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, it mounted six 18-pdr. cannons and was commanded by Sailing master John Adams Webster and 75 sailors from the U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla.

This fort, along with others repulsed the British fleet.

There are no remains of it, but its site is under the I-95 southern approach to the Fort McHenry Tunnel near the intersection of Gould Street and East McComas Street.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Covington, Baltimore

From WikiFort.

Constructed 1813-1816.  Established 1813.  Named after Leonard W. Covington.  Abandoned 1834.  Also known as Fort Patapsco or Fort Wadsworth (named after Col. Decius Wadsworth, Chief of U.S. Ordnance Department).

Fort Covington was a pie-slice-shaped, semi-circular fortress constructed 1.5 miles due west of Fort McHenry defending Baltimore, Maryland.  It was designed by Captain Samuel Babcock, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It had a surrounding ten-foot high brick wall and 16 foot deep ditch in front of a parapet designed to mount ten to twelve 18-pdr. guns.  There was a barracks and magazine inside it.

At the 1814 Battle of Baltimore it had seven 18-pdrs. mounted en-barbette and was manned by a naval company.  On the evening 13 September 1814, Fort Covington and nearby Fort Babcock and Fort Look-Out repulsed the British fleet.

Nothing remains of the fort.

--Brock-Perry