Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Tours of Fort McHenry are self-guided, though park Rangers are on hand to answer any questions you might have. Rangers also give talks throughout the day at the fort. For a schedule of activities, see the National Park Service’s Ranger Programs web page for Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Inside the walls of Fort McHenry are four barracks and a gunpowder magazine that now house exhibits about the fort and its history. Outside the walls are a reconstructed segment of the fort’s original water battery featuring French cannon from the early 1800s, and an artillery battery built after the War of 1812 with various cannon from the Civil War era on display.

Barracks and gunpowder magazine inside Fort McHenry

One of the enlisted men’s barracks has been restored and furnished as it would have been in 1814. Information panels detail the uniforms worn at the time and discuss the diverse backgrounds of the enlisted men who served at Fort McHenry. Though the fort was operational from 1803 through 1912, the focus of the exhibit is fort life during the War of 1812.

Enlisted men’s barracks at Fort McHenry

The Commanding Officer’s Quarters and Guardhouse at Fort McHenry were originally two separate, single-story buildings. Between 1829 and 1836, many renovations were done at the fort to modernize it. One such improvement was to join the two buildings together and add a second story. In fact, all barracks in the fort had a second story added to them during this time.

Commanding Officer’s Quarters and Guardhouse at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

There are a number of exhibit rooms inside the Commanding Officer’s Quarters and Guardhouse, one of which is dedicated to George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. A statue of him leans over his desk as he reviews his plans. The desk is actually a video screen, and when visitors approach, a short presentation begins to play about Armistead’s preparations for the British attack.

George Armistead exhibit inside the Commanding Officer’s Quarters and Guardhouse at Fort McHenry

Video table at the Armistead exhibit inside the Commanding Officer’s Quarters and Guardhouse at Fort McHenry

Another room in the building features a 4-minute video on the flags that were flown at the fort during the attack. It is sometimes hard to hear because the room is connected to other rooms in the building, and people file through on their way to other destinations.

Visitors watching a video on the Fort McHenry flags of 1814 inside the barracks at Fort McHenry

The guardhouse portion of the building is also open to visitors. Unlike the other exhibits at Fort McHenry that focus on the War of 1812, the guardhouse exhibit reflects its use during the Civil War when it was used as a holding facility for southern sympathizers, including twenty-three members of the Maryland state legislature. As the war progressed, Fort McHenry was used to house Confederate prisoners of war. A popular attraction at the guardhouse is the actual prison cells. Visitors can enter and experience what it was like to be held in one.

Jail cells in the Guard House at Fort McHenry

One exhibit not to be missed covers the Battle of Baltimore. People are familiar with the naval bombardment of Fort McHenry, but the British also launched a land attack. Known as the Battle of Northpoint, British troops and Maryland militiamen fought a two-hour battle on September 12, 1814, about six miles east of Baltimore. While the Americans eventually retreated, they regrouped just outside the city at Hampstead Hill and later held off the British, forcing them to abandon their assault on Baltimore. A five-minute film that begins with the press of a button is shown on an HD TV. If you have ever seen an animated battle map that uses lights, this is a video version of a light map that really explains the battle. Unlike the noisy room where the flag video is shown, the Battle of Baltimore exhibit room is a single, enclosed room, so people aren’t constantly walking through it.

Battle of Baltimore exhibit room inside the barracks of Fort McHenry

There is another exhibit room dedicated to the archaeology of Fort McHenry. Here you will find artifacts found during 1958, 1978, and 1988 excavations of the fort. Included in the exhibits are bottle and dish fragments from a tavern located just outside the fort entrance, uniform buttons and other clothing relics, and original building materials such as the cross brace of the flagpole used in 1814. To keep the flag pole from falling over, a large hole was dug into the ground into which the cross brace was placed. The flag pole was then fitted into a hole in the center of the brace, which was then covered with earth so that it could not move, thus keeping the pole in place. Its discovery allowed the National Park Service to pinpoint the exact location of the original flag pole, which is where the current pole is located. Like the original, today’s flag pole is made of wood, not steel.

Original flag pole cross brace from Fort McHenry

While many of the exhibit rooms focus on Fort McHenry in 1814, there is one room that covers its entire history from construction in 1797 to its inclusion in the National Park system in 1925. The fort never saw action other than during the British naval attack, though it continued to be manned for defensive purposes until the end of the Civil War. By that point the development of rifled artillery shells made all brick forts obsolete as far as defense goes. From that time on, coastal forts were either outfitted with concrete bunkers that could withstand modern artillery shells, used as offices and training centers, or were closed. Fort McHenry continued on as a training and command center for most of its years after the Civil War. The last active garrison of troops left in 1912. Two years later the fort was turned into a Baltimore city park and used for the Star-Spangled Banner’s 100^th anniversary celebration. However, the park status only lasted until World War I broke out. In 1917, the army reacquired the fort and converted it into one of the largest military hospitals in the country.

In 1925 the fort was declared a National Park by the government, but it had to be restored to its mid-1800s appearance before it could be open to the public. The restoration, which lasted until 1933, was done by the United States Army. Once completed, the fort was turned over to the National Park Service. The grounds outside the fort were used as a Coast Guard training center during World War II, but the fort remained open to visitors. The designation of Historic Shrine was added in 1939. Fort McHenry is the only National Park with this designation.

History of Fort McHenry exhibit inside on of the barrack rooms, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

The original gunpowder magazine is also open to the public. The interior wooden walls have been reconstructed, and kegs of gunpowder fill the room once again (not real gunpowder). The walls were made of wood instead of brick or metal so that sparks could not be produced if a soldier dropped something in the room. Even the nails were made of wood. If you take the Sea Wall Trail around the perimeter of the park, you will see another powder magazine by the main entrance gate. This was built in 1864 because the original was too small.

Fort McHenry gunpowder magazine

Display inside the powder magazine at Fort McHenry

Once done at the exhibit rooms, you can take a short walk along the fort walls, called the ramparts. The configuration of Fort McHenry is a five-point star, and a brick path runs along the top wall of three of the points that face the water. You can pick up the path between the fort’s entrance and the enlisted men’s barracks (those opposite the powder magazine).

Path that leads up to the ramparts of Fort McHenry

There is more to see outside the fort. As soon as you exit through the sally port (the main fort entrance) you will be facing the ravelin. This is a fortified structure of triangular shape that served as an obstacle to enemy troops trying to enter the fort. Instead of a direct assault on the sally port, enemy troops would be split as they went around the ravelin, all the while being fired upon by cannon mounted at the front of the structure. The ravelin also prevented enemy artillery from firing directly into the sally port.

Entrance to the ravelin of Fort McHenry

After the Civil War, the ravelin was modified to store gunpowder so the cannon mounted on it would have easy access to ammunition. An angled stairway was built so that enemy artillery shells could not directly hit the powder magazine.

Inside the ravelin of Fort McHenry

Gunpowder magazine inside Fort McHenry’s ravelin

Once done at the ravelin, take a right along another brick path to begin a stroll through an artillery battery that was built after the War of 1812. All of the guns are from the Civil War era, though they were not installed at the fort until shortly after the war ended. Like the path along the fort wall, this path does not go all the way around the fort.

Brick path through a battery of Civil War-era cannon on display at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Civil War-era cannon at Fort McHenry

Rodman gun, the largest of the Civil War-era cannon at Fort McHenry

Gun emplacements at Fort McHenry

You can also check out a reconstructed segment of the fort’s original water battery. When following the brick path in front of the ravelin, instead of keeping straight to the Civil War-era battery, take a left on the asphalt path that leads down to the Patapsco River. You can’t miss the display of War of 1812-era cannon: French 18- and 36-pounders (pounder refers to the weight of the cannonball that could be fired). These are cannon that were used during the War of 1812, but not necessarily at Fort McHenry. Original guns from that time period were replaced in later years, and back then nobody was thinking about keeping track of them just in case the fort was turned into a historical park 100+ years in the future.

Early 1800s French cannon at Fort McHenry’s water battery

The guns at the water battery were the main guns used to defend the fort. Their range was limited to about a mile, and because the British ships had guns that could cover a greater distance, they were able to bombard the fort from farther downriver and remain out of the range of the American artillery. However, the shots were highly inaccurate from this distance, which is why after pounding Fort McHenry with over 1,500 rounds of 200-pound exploding shells that the fort wasn’t pummeled into the ground and only four men were killed (24 injured). Without the cannon at the water battery, the British ships could have sailed closer to the fort and blasted away at point-blank range.

Notice the 18- and 36-pound cannonballs in the bottom corner of the first photo below and compare them to the 200-pound ball fired from a British ship (second photo). This is an actual cannonball that did not explode. The Americans were shooting solid shot balls—these did not explode, but simply knocked holes in ships. The British fired exploding balls that rained shrapnel onto the enemy below. By using fuses of different duration, the bombs could be set to explode at various distances. Since it was raining the night of the attack on Fort McHenry, it is possible that the fuse of this cannonball was put out by the rain. It was also common for fuses to fall out while in flight.

Reproduction of the original water battery at Fort McHenry

200-pound cannon ball on display at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

I spent 2.5 hours at the fort. This included attending the flag changing ceremony (30 minutes), reading all of the information and watching the videos inside the exhibit rooms (1.5 hours), and walking around the outside of the fort (30 minutes). Of course most people have no interest in reading every word in the exhibit rooms, but there’s not much you can do to shorten the flag changing ceremony or walking around the fort grounds. Thus, plan to spend at least 1.5 hours for your trip to the fort, and up to 2.5 hours if you are really interested in Fort McHenry or the War of 1812.

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