George Armistead

Infobox Military Person
name=George Armistead
lived=10 April, 1780 – 25 April, 1818


caption=portrait of George Armistead
nickname=
placeofbirth=Newmarket, Caroline County, Virginia
placeofdeath=Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland
allegiance=United States of America
branch=
serviceyears=
rank=brevet lieutenant colonel
unit=
commands=
battles=Battle of Baltimore in War of 1812
awards=
relations=
laterwork=

George Armistead (April 10, 1780 – April 25, 1818) was an American military officer who served as the commander of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.

He was born in Newmarket, Caroline County, Virginia. The name Armistead is derived from Hesse Darmstadt.

ervice

George Armistead was one of five brothers who served in the War of 1812, either in the regular army or militia. He distinguished himself at the capture of Fort George from the British, near the mouth of Niagara River in Canada on May 27, 1813 while serving as an artillery officer at Fort Niagara. He would later carry the captured British flags to President James Madison. Upon his arrival in Washington, Armistead was ordered to "take command of Fort McHenry."citequote

Battle of Baltimore

When he arrived at Fort McHenry, located in the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, Armistead ordered "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance". [Davenport, Misha "A Nations History" "Chicago-Sun Times" 2002-06-02] That flag, known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag, measured 42' x 30', and was sewn by Baltimore resident Mary Pickersgill and would be later memorialized by Francis Scott Key in the song "The Star Spangled Banner".

During the nearly 25-hour bombardment, commencing before dawn on September 13 until the morning of September 14, 1814, Armistead alone knew the fort’s magazine was not bombproof. When a shell crashed through the roof of the magazine but failed to explode, Armistead ordered the powder barrels cleared out and placed under the rear walls of the fort. Remarkably, only two men were killed, when two shells smashed into the fort's southwest bastion. This despite a deadly rain of some 2,000 mortar shells that the British bombardment fleet had fired at the fort. Because the Royal Navy proved unable to capture or reduce the fort in order to enter Baltimore harbor to bombard the main American defense line east of the city, British commander-in-chief Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane wrote to new British Army commander Colonel Arthur Brooke that it was up to him whether to decide to attack or withdraw. Brooke, who had taken over from Major-General Robert Ross, who was mortally wounded just before the Battle of North Point on September 12, decided to withdraw.

After the battle

Following his successful defense of Fort McHenry and Baltimore, Armistead received a promotion to brevet lieutenant colonel from President Madison, effective September 12, 1814.

Armistead died on April 25, 1818, from pneumonia while still in command of Fort McHenry and is buried in Old Saint Paul's Cemetery in downtown Baltimore, next to his nephew, Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead.

References

* George, Christopher T., "Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay", Shippensburg, Pa., White Mane, 2001, ISBN 1-57249-276-7
* Pitch, Anthony S."The Burning of Washington", Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55750-425-3
* Whitehorne, Joseph A., "The Battle for Baltimore 1814", Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-877853-23-2

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4073 Profile page for George Armistead] on Find A Grave