WI: Fort McHenry Falls

Francis Scott Key writes a sad little poem entitled "Fall of Fort McHenry". It gains some popularity, but quietly fades away in time.
 
Just from glancing over a map, it looks like the Americans have enough forces in the region to hold Baltimore against any British attack. The British withdraw from Fort McHenry shortly after capturing it, and the Americans suffer a blow to morale, but the general course of the war probably remains largely unchanged.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
How, exactly?

MG Ross, the commanding officer of the expeditionary force had been shot dead at North Point; his sucessor, Brooke, was outnumbered three to one by the Americans under Smith and Stricker - who were on the defensive and well-entrenched - the attempted end run by the second British amphibious force up the Middle Branch had been turned back with something like 30 percent casualties, and Baltimore was protected by forts McHenry, Covington, and Babcock, and the Lazaretto Battery.

Cochrane's and Cockburn's squadron fired at McHenry for 25 hours straight and managed to inflict four KIA and 24 WIA on Armistead's garrison of 1,000 men and 24 guns.

There is a reason the British withdrew, after all - they'd lost.

Best,
 
MG Ross, the commanding officer of the expeditionary force had been shot dead at North Point; his sucessor, Brooke, was outnumbered three to one by the Americans under Smith and Stricker - who were on the defensive and well-entrenched - the attempted end run by the second British amphibious force up the Middle Branch had been turned back with something like 30 percent casualties, and Baltimore was protected by forts McHenry, Covington, and Babcock, and the Lazaretto Battery.

Cochrane's and Cockburn's squadron fired at McHenry for 25 hours straight and managed to inflict four KIA and 24 WIA on Armistead's garrison of 1,000 men and 24 guns.

There is a reason the British withdrew, after all - they'd lost.

Best,

A shell fired by the British landed on the powder magazine in the fort, but failed to ignite. Had that shell ignited, then the Americans would have lost the fort.
 
New Orleans becomes even bigger in the American psyche, and we have a new national anthem. Besides, it's not like Baltimore was going to fall to the limited forces there, barring another bladensburg
 

TFSmith121

Banned
So at best, the British "win" a damaged fortification and 20 guns?

A shell fired by the British landed on the powder magazine in the fort, but failed to ignite. Had that shell ignited, then the Americans would have lost the fort.

So the British "win" a damaged fortification and 20 guns? They still have to get past the other three fortifications, and then presumably fight their way into the city with a landing force of 900 or so, while Brooke's brigade is facing Smith's 12,000.

Don't really see that as a war winner for the British.

Best,
 
So the British "win" a damaged fortification and 20 guns? They still have to get past the other three fortifications, and then presumably fight their way into the city with a landing force of 900 or so, while Brooke's brigade is facing Smith's 12,000.

Don't really see that as a war winner for the British.
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America had no critical nerve point, nothing that wasn't expendable. The Brits had taken and burned the capitol city and it just didn't really matter as far as affecting the war.
 
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America had no critical nerve point, nothing that wasn't expendable. The Brits had taken and burned the capitol city and it just didn't really matter as far as affecting the war.

I'm not sure about that. OTL the war ended too soon to make a significant difference, but if it had continued? I don't think the US would have handled that particularly well. Especially in intangibles like morale.

But Fort McHenry on its own seems like it would be rather minor as far as the war goes - even if it wasn't on its way to ending.
 
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TFSmith121

Banned
The British lost in 1783

The odds were only longer in 1815.

Based on the historical record since (arguably) 1783, or (definitely) 1807, no European power could overcome the political, economic, military, and logistical challenges of trying to project and sustain power into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern.

Best,
 
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katchen

Banned
Somehow, the idea of "We fired our guns and the British went a running:
Straight down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico" dosen't have the ring of a national anthem. I think if Ft. McHenry fell, we'd stick with "Hail Columbia", our first national anthem.
Hail Columbia

"Hail, Columbia" is an American patriotic song. It was considered, with several other songs, one of the unofficial national anthems of the United States until 1931, when "The Star-Spangled Banner" was officially named the national anthem.

Hail Columbia, happy land!
Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band,
Who fought and bled in freedom's cause,
Who fought and bled in freedom's cause,
And when the storm of war was gone
Enjoy'd the peace your valor won.
Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;
Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies.

Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots, rise once more,
Defend your rights, defend your shore!
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Invade the shrine where sacred lies
Of toil and blood, the well-earned prize,
While offering peace, sincere and just,
In Heaven's we place a manly trust,
That truth and justice will prevail,
And every scheme of bondage fail.

Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Behold the chief who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands.
The rock on which the storm will break,
The rock on which the storm will break,
But armed in virtue, firm, and true,
His hopes are fixed on Heav'n and you.
When hope was sinking in dismay,
When glooms obscured Columbia's day,
His steady mind, from changes free,
Resolved on death or liberty.

Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Sound, sound the trump of fame,
Let Washington's great fameRing through the world with loud applause,
Ring through the world with loud applause,
Let every clime to freedom dear,
Listen with a joyful ear,
With equal skill, with God-like power
He governs in the fearful hour
Of horrid war, or guides with ease
The happier time of honest peace.

Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.
 
The odds were only longer in 1815.

Based on the historical record since (arguably) 1783, or (definitely) 1807, no European power could overcome the political, economic, military, and logistical challenges of trying to project and sustain power into the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern.

Best,

The historical record doesn't have a lot of examples of it. The AR was at a low ebb for the Royal Navy, and the War of 1812 was not exactly fought with all Britain's might.
 
... the War of 1812 was not exactly fought with all Britain's might.
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The Brits could raid about anywhere they pleased but they weren't willing to put in enough troops to hold the ground where they went. America was a sideshow, it wasn't a serious war for the UK.
 

katchen

Banned
The War of 1812 came at what was technologically a bad time for British attempting to project their might. What they had been attempting to prevent--continental settlement hundreds of miles from the coast and the Royal Navy --had already happened. And the steamboat, which would later enable the projection of Northern power over the South and British power over much of India and China--had just been invented--in the United States with what few existed in the hands of Cousin Jonathan:eek::mad:! No wonder the British gave up in disgust!
If the British had fostered the invention and development of steamboats in the late 18th Century, they might have won the War of 1812 hands down and the Napoleonic Wars much more easily. And if Napoleon had invested in Robert Fulton's steamboats in 1807, he might have overrun the UK. On such timing of technology, empires futures rest.
 
the steamboat, which would later enable the projection of Northern power over the South and British power over much of India and China--had just been invented--in the United States with what few existed in the hands of Cousin Jonathan:eek::mad:! No wonder the British gave up in disgust!
Except that Fulton got the idea for his steamboats from the British Charlotte Dundas. First sea-going steamboat, British; first iron steamship, British; first screw steamship, British; first all-steam fleet, Indian Navy. However, paddleboats don't make effective warships because their machinery is above the waterline and they can only carry a few guns. Wooden screw steamships are effective while they last, but tend to have short lives because of the strain that engines put them under, and unarmoured iron warships suffer too much from spalling. Only with the armoured iron warship does steam power really reach its true potential, and even the most generous funding couldn't have put all those inventions together in a package capable of the global reach the Royal Navy needed in time for 1812.
 
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