Fort McHenry During the Civil War

Fort McHenry is best known for the role it played in the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. It is also famous as the birthplace of the National Anthem and is the only National Monument and Historic Shrine in the National Park Service. Few people, however, realize that Fort McHenry was also utilized during the Civil War to house political prisoners and subsequently Confederate Prisoners of War. The base hospital was also used to care for Confederate officers.

After the Baltimore riot on April 19, 1861, it appeared that there was a real possibility of Maryland seceding from the Union. This could have disastrous consequences for the country in that it would isolate the nation’s capital from loyal Northern states. Eight days later Lincoln issued the controversial General Order 100 imposing martial law and suspending the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland. This allowed the government to arrest private citizens and hold them without trial for any action deemed hostile to the United States government. John Merryman was arrested and confined in Fort McHenry on May 25th for the role he allegedly played in the Baltimore riot and subsequent destruction of telegraph wires. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, acting in his role as federal circuit court judge issued the Ex parte Merryman brief stating that only Congress and not the President had the right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Lincoln ignored Taney’s brief, the same man who in the Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision ruled that Scott had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect”. The case never reached the Supreme Court, however, because Congress in 1861 passed a law stating that all acts, proclamations and orders of the President with respect to the army and navy were approved as if they had been done under the previous express authority and direction of Congress.

On September 11th thirty-one members of the Maryland legislature were arrested and imprisoned in the fort to prevent them from voting on secession. Among the political prisoners also taken that day was the mayor of Baltimore George Brown. On the evening of September 13-14, Frank Key Howard, a newspaper editor, was also arrested and brought to Fort McHenry. Ironically, this occurred on the 47th anniversary of the night his grandfather, Francis Scott Key, watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry and was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner. The fort was nicknamed “the American Bastille” because of the political prisoners it housed.

**Bastion #1 is to the left of the flag above**

In July of 1861 General John Dix was placed in charge of the newly formed Middle Department of the United States Military and established his headquarters at Fort McHenry. Soon thereafter he invited several prominent Baltimore women with known Confederate sympathies to dine with him at the fort. During the evening he brought them to the top of bastion #1 and pointed out a large Columbiad cannon that was pointed in the direction of Monument Square, the political center of the city. There he told his guests “If there should be another uprising in Baltimore, I shall be compelled to put it down; and that gun is the first that I shall fire”.

**Monument Square- 39.2906732, -76.6124108**

After the Battle of Antietam Fort McHenry served as a transition site for POWs while awaiting transfer to larger facilities. As many as 6,597 prisoners were detained at the fort after the Battle of Gettysburg. The base hospital, which is no longer standing, was used to care for Confederate officers. The hospital is shown in the print and map below.