1814 Enlisted Men's Barracks, No 2

Completed in 1805, Enlisted Men's Barracks, No 2 at Fort McHenry contained rooms with a fireplace and a small garret above, and in 1829 all the buildings were raised to their present appearance. In the 1814 period, each room housed 16 soldiers; in Captain Frederick Evans' company of the U.S. Corps of Artillery, 16 of the 60 soldiers occupied this room, sleeping four to a bunk. Yellow, the color signifying artillery service, appeared on the wood trim and on the soldiers' uniforms to encourage esprit de corps, and the soldiers' names were inscribed on the bunks. These men served for five years or for the duration of the war and received $8 per month. Of the "reputable young men" who garrisoned Fort McHenry, only a third were born in America; some had been encouraged to enlist by land bounties, while others served from patriotism in defense of their new home. For meals, bread and soup were the basic items of a soldier's diet, and by the summer of 1814 Fort McHenry's soldiers wore this artillery uniform.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States