Ten Things You Didn't Know About the War of 1812-- Part 2

3.  THE ROCKETS REALLY DID HAVE A RED GLARE AND THE BOMBS DID BURST IN THE AIR

The Congreve Rockets looked like giant bottle rockets.  They were canisters loaded with gunpowder, tar and shrapnel that spun in the air when fired, putting out a red glare.  They were essentially very inaccurate, but intimidating, kind of an 1814 version of "shock and awe."

The bombs bursting in air were 200 pound cannonballs designed to explode over a target and rain shrapnel down on the defenders

The British fired about 1500 rockets and bombs at Fort McHenry, but only four Americans died from the bombardment.

Of course, I have often heard the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner," but had not known what the rockets were called.


4.  UNCLE SAM CAME FROM THE WAR EFFORT

In Troy, New York, a military supplier named Sam Wilson packed meat rations into barrels marked U.S..  According to local lore, a soldier inquiring as to what the initials stood for was told "Uncle Sam" Wilson who was feeding the American Army.

However, images of the white-bearded recruiter and symbol of the country did not appear until over a century later, during World War I.

I'd heard this story before.

Six More to Come.  --Brock-Perry