Fort McHenry and Baltimore's Harbor Defenses

[Wentworth]

Book Title:

Fort McHenry and Baltimore's Harbor Defenses

Author:

Merle T. Cole and Scott S. Sheads

ISBN:

978-0-7385-1350-8

Category:

History

Format:

Paperback

Summary:

A compact book containing several hundred photographs of Fort McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame) and the outer forts built later (Forts Howard, Armistead, Smallwood, and Carroll. The text is sparse but each photo has adequate descriptions beneath the entry. There is a chapter on the War of 1812 operations against Baltimore by the Royal Navy and British army including photos of key points on the Battle of North Point battlefield where the British land forces were turned back by American forces, as well as photos of maps and plans of Fort McHenry and key coastal defenses. My favorite photo in this chapter is an 1873 picture of 12 U.S. veterans of the defense of Baltimore in 1814 -- it is just fascinating to look into their faces and know they lived at the same time as Jefferson, Bonaparte, Wellington, Nelson, etc.

Other chapters include the fortifications as they developed for the American Civil War as well as both World Wars (some very interesting photos here). The last part of the book deals with the modern fortifications (an interesting aside here is that U.S. Special Forces used the terrain in the area for training for operations in Viet Nam), other chapters include the fort construction and weaponry. I found it to be a very interesting book and one that anyone who has interest in 19th century fortifications against naval attack would enjoy this photographic history.