With August almost over, we’ve turned our attention to the fall and have lined up some great new heritage tours. On September 12, Civil War historian and Preservation Maryland director Nicholas Redding is kindly leading a car caravan tour of Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg. That same morning, we are also taking a walk around Mount Vernon Place and the collections of the Maryland Historical Society to explore “the cradle of American philanthropy.” On September 26, we are getting our bikes tuned up for the Baltimore Meets Florence bike tour to eat gelato and explore Italian architecture.
Finally, we are pleased to celebrate the continued stewardship of Patterson Park’s War of 1812 history with the Friends of Patterson Park. As we searched for buried fortifications during our archaeological dig in the park last spring, the Friends led an effort to restore Observatory Hill’s row of memorial cannons. It is a year later, the restoration is complete and the cannons are back in park! Join us on September 13 to celebrate Defender’s Day and the the rededication of this iconic memorial including a Battle of Baltimore tour up the Observatory led by Eli Pousson.
We hope you can join us on a tour next month!
Friends of Baltimore Heritage:
Thanks for your continuing and interesting newsletter. It is certainly a breath of fresh air into an old story.
The refurbished c. 1812 cannons look great on the defense works. The cannons caught my interest a few years ago once again and I did a search of letter sand news papers regarding how all the 1812 cannons in the city found their way to their present location mainly due to the great Baltimore Fire of 1904. I have finished my study on the defenses of Hampstead Hill with new information and a listing of all the known militia and federal companies that served here – some 25,000 confirmed so far with thousands more encamped in a ten mile radios around the city.
The Battle of Patapsco Neck and the Hampstead Hill story has for too long been overshadowed by the fireworks, flag and song over Fort McHenry this past century – especially during the recent bicentennial leaving the compelling stories of these two sites yet untold.
After 39 years of studying and collecting new materials from across the country and tracking down those who served at these two sites through the pension records its time to tell their story in print and illustrations- a project now coming to a finish for me.
Scott S. Sheads
Historian,
Fort McHenry NM & HS