Fan CastingDefender's Day

During the War of 1812 the British began their assault in the Chesapeake Bay. The White House went up in flames along with much of DC, then the British troops turned toward Baltimore which they wanted to conquer even more than the capital as they wanted to destroy the Fells Navy Yard and shipbuilding facilities. MG Samuel Smith had been preparing for this very day. As Commander of the Maryland Militia, he installed 56 long range cannons at Ft. McHenry as well as other fortifications and batteries. He even predicted the route the British would take to get to Baltimore and prepared defensive positions along North Point. At 0300 British Major General Robert Ross anchored off of North Point and began to offload troops accompanied by British Rear Admiral George Cockburn. The troops assembled into formation and the mile long column reached Todd's Inheritance as they began to march up Old North Point Road. Baltimore's 3,000 patriots commanded by Maryland Militia Brigadier General John Stricker were outnumbered 2 to 1. Two teenage sharpshooters in the first rifle battalion climbed a tree on the battlefield, took aim and fired; one of them mortally wounded British Major General Robert Ross stopping the British in their tracks. This allowed time for Ft. McHenry to bolster their defenses and for militia to arrive in Baltimore to defend the city and end the British invasion at Ft. McHenry the next day.