Hitting Home

As the British army marched toward Baltimore in September 1814, people living in its path feared the worst. Some hid valuables, others packed what they could and fled, and those who remained faced the enemy with courage. The British occupied the Shaw home, demanded food at the Gorsuch farm, and burned the Todd house. After the Battle of North Point, many local residents aided wounded and dying British as well as American soldiers. Louisa Stewart later recalled that, fearing the outrages and atrocities associated with Cockburn and his men might be repeated, her family coach and large farm wagon left by the west road as the British entered by the east. Legend also holds that at the Shaw house a British officer tried to kiss a young woman, Eleanor, who in fright jumped from a second-story window, after which General Ross reprimanded the officer and sent him back to his ship.

Dundalk, Maryland · United States