Battle of Baltimore Begins at North Point (12 SEP 1814)

Photo By Erin Thompson | The Battle of North Point (lithograph painting by Thomas Ruckle, c. 1814)  

UNITED STATES

09.08.2023

Story by Erin Thompson 

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian

12 SEPTEMBER 1814
On 12 September 1814, the opening engagement of the War of 1812’s Battle of Baltimore occurred along North Point Road in Maryland. The use of intelligence to prepare to attack and inflict heavy casualties on the advancing British column bought American forces in Baltimore enough time to assemble defenses against the British invasion.

In 1814, Baltimore, Maryland, was the third largest city in the United States and overlooked one of the nation’s busiest harbors on Chesapeake Bay. The city was inhabited by large numbers of American privateers and hosted a major shipbuilding enterprise, making it a desirable target for a military invasion. The British set their sights on Baltimore in late August, after the burning of Washington, D.C., forty miles away. With military attention focused on the Capital, a brigade of the Royal Army commanded by Maj. Gen. Robert Ross sailed for North Point on the east side of Patapsco River, while a Royal Navy convoy commanded by V.Adm. Alexander Cochrane sailed for Fort McHenry on the west.

On 24 August 1814, Baltimore organized a Committee of Vigilance and Safety and drafted every white male aged sixteen to fifty into a city force commanded by Maj. Gen. Samuel Smith of the Maryland militia. On 5 September, about three thousand men of the city’s 3d Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. John Stricker headed toward North Point (renamed Fort Howard in 1902) to establish a defensive line against enemy advance parties. The brigade stopped along Bread-and-Cheese Creek on the evening of 11 September and set up camp inside a Methodist church.

General Stricker sent out a small cavalry unit led by Col. James Biays to watch for any landing parties during the night. As dusk fell, they witnessed the British coming ashore at North Point, and by 0200 on 12 September 1814, the entirety of General Ross’ army began moving inland. The scouts closely observed their approach and took a count of the men, guns, and ammunition heading for Baltimore. Colonel Biays brought this intelligence back to General Stricker, and by 0900, the small militia was positioned for a fight along the narrow North Point Road that led directly to the city. Scouts sent constant reports of the British movement throughout the morning, and although Stricker knew he was undermanned and outgunned by the British, he endeavored to “give the British advance guard a bloody nose” before they reached the city.

General Stricker launched a surprise attack on General Ross’ men as they halted a short distance from where 3d Brigade was amassed. Biays’ intelligence had given Stricker time to position the militia to appear much larger than it was; the British believed Stricker’s force to be double its actual size. The Americans were slowly outflanked and forced to retreat, but not before General Ross was killed, causing significant disorder within the British ranks. Despite the militia’s loss, Stricker’s scouts had provided him with enough information to significantly delay the British, now commanded by Col. Arthur Brooke, long enough to warn Baltimore of the pending assault.

That evening, the British began to bombard Fort McHenry, but the effort was unsuccessful. The delay of the British Army meant the fort was heavily defended by the Americans. During the bombardment, poet Francis Scott Key penned the words to America’s National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." With the Royal Army demoralized and delayed by the loss of their commander at North Point, the city of Baltimore succeeded in fortifying and securing the city against the largest foreign invasion in U.S. history.

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• Date Taken: 09.08.2023
• Date Posted: 09.08.2023 16:58
• Story ID: 453015
• Location: US