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Named after James McHenry, a Scotch-Irish immigrant and surgeon-soldier who became Secretary of War under President Washington, Fort McHenry was built to defend the important port of Baltimore from future enemy attacks, after America won its independence. It was positioned on a peninsula which juts into the opening of Baltimore Harbor, and was constructed in the form of a five-pointed star surrounded by a dry moat. The moat would serve as a shelter from which musketmen might defend the fort from a land attack. In case such a siege penetrated this first line of defense, each point, or bastion, was fortified, so that the invading army would be caught in a pincer of cannon and musket fire.
The only attack the fort ever received came in the naval portion of the Battle of Baltimore. Beginning at dawn on September 13, 1814, British warships continuously bombarded the fort for 25 hours. The American defenders had 18, 24, and 38 pound (8, 11 and 17 kg) cannons with a range of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The British mortars had a range of 2 miles (3 km), and their rockets had a 1.75 mile (2.8 km) range; however they were not very accurate. The British ships were unable to pass Fort McHenry and penetrate Baltimore Harbor because of the American cannon, but they were able to stay out of range of the American guns and lob rockets and mortars at the fort. Due to the poor accuracy of the British weapons and the limited range of the American guns, little damage was done on either side, but the British ceased their attack on the morning of September 14, 1814, and the naval part of the British invasion of Baltimore had been repulsed.
Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer who had come to Baltimore to negotiate the release of civilian prisoners of war, witnessed the bombardment from a nearby truce ship. An oversized American flag had been sewn in anticipation of the British attack on the fort. When Key saw the flag emerge intact in the dawn of September 14, he was so moved that he began that very morning to compose the poem which would become America's national anthem.During the American Civil War, Fort McHenry served as a military prison, confining both Confederate soldiers as well as a large number of Maryland political figures who were suspected of being Confederate sympathizers. Ironically, Francis Scott Key's grandson was one of these political detainees. In an earlier coincidence, James McHenry's son had served in the defense of the fort during the Battle of Baltimore.
During World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of, an additional hundred-odd buildings were built on the land surrounding the fort in order to convert the entire facility into an enormous hospital for the treatment of troops returning from the European conflict. Virtually none of these buildings remain, while the original fort has been preserved and restored to essentially its condition during the War of 1812.
The fort was made a national parkThis article is about national parks. For the articles about the towns of National Park, see National Park, New Jersey and National Park, New Zealand. National parks are reserves of land, usually owned by national governments, that are protected from most in 1925Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 See also 1925 in aviation 1925 in film 1925 in literature 1925 in mu; fourteen years later it was re-designated a national monument and historic shrine , the only such doubly designated place in the United States. The first official 49 and 50 star American flags were flown over the fort and are still located on the premises.