Myths & Legends: The Poplar Tree under which Major General Robert Ross breathed his last.

“Such was the veneration in which it was held that many individuals secured pieces as relics.”

This story is believed to have it’s origins in an article entitled “A Relic Gone” published in The Sun, (Baltimore) March 22, 1844. It was further retold in the “Battle of North Point in Legend and Tradition,” by Reverend Lewis B. Browne, of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Sparrow’s Point for The Sun, September 8, 1907.  Near the intersection of present day Weis Avenue and North Point Road, near the Gorsuch farm, once stood on a high roadside earthen bank a large poplar tree whose branches hung over the road, where earlier the British army had marched under.

After General Ross had been shot, the story is told he was placed “on a stretcher made of two fence rails from the spot where he was [mortally] wounded and taken to Poplar Heights about a mile and a half to the rear; but when the cart arrived he was already dead. The bearers laid their burden under a poplar tree by the wayside opposite Gorsuch’s farm.” From here they procured a cart from the nearby Stansbury farm and conveyed the body of General Ross to their North Point landing onboard HMS Royal Oak.

Thirty years later in 1844, the land owner Vincent Green, ordered his overseer to cut the tree down, it being a hazard to passersby.

 “We doubt whether there is to be found in the country, a tree, under which “confusion to the enemies of liberty,” has been quaffed in full bumpers, more frequently than under the “Ross’ Tree.” as it has always been familiarly called.”

Sources: The Sun, March 22, 1844; The Sun, September 8, 1907.

Published in: on April 4, 2011 at 9:40 pm  Comments Off on Myths & Legends: The Poplar Tree under which Major General Robert Ross breathed his last.  

British Prisoners at North Point, Sept. 1814

In the early hours of September 14, 1814, the British began their withdraw from Baltimore down the North Point Road towards their awaqiting transports at North Point.  Captain James Bird’s U.S. Light Dragoons engaged the rear guard and captured the following prisoners.

William Corndoff……Corporal…..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

Hugh Brown………….Private……..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

Michael Boyle……….private……..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

George Hood………..private……..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

William Armor……..private……..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

Archibald Cotz……..private……..21st Royal Scots Fusileers

Charles Scoffin……..private………21st Royal Scots Fusileers

Joseph Davenport..private……….44th Regiment

William Matthews…private…………4th Regiment

William Riley……….private…………4th Regiment

William Hochreday.private…………4th Regiment

Edward Allison…….private………….4th Regiment

These British prisoners were taken under guard by Ensign Presley Cordell, 57th Virginia Militia to Frederick Town, Maryland arriving September 17 where District Marshall & Agent for Prisoners Capt. Morris Jones took charge of them. Thier final deposition is unknown.

Source: William H. Winder Papers, Maryland Historical Society.

Published in: on April 1, 2011 at 7:50 pm  Comments Off on British Prisoners at North Point, Sept. 1814  

Brigadier General John Stricker (1759-1825): Defender of the Battle of North Point, Sept. 12, 1814

“…Every praise was due to him; the city being threatened, it became the duty of the citizens to be foremost in its defense. He claims the honor, and its brave officers and men under his command hailed with delight the opportunity of meeting the enemy’s attack…” Division Orders, September 19, 1814.

He was the son Colonel George Stricker (1832-1810) a Revolutionary War officer born on February 15, 1759 in Frederick, Maryland. During the revolution he served in General William Smallwood’s’ First Maryland Regiment at the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, and Princeton.

On August 28, 1807, he was commissioned a brigadier general of the Maryland Militia and commanded the Third Brigade of Baltimore City of the Third Division of the Maryland Militia. On September 11, 1814, Stricker led the Third Brigade and other militia from Pennsylvania and western Maryland to meet the British on what would be the Battle of North Point the following afternoon. He commanded 3,200 militia to confront the 4500 British veterans troops approaching Baltimore. In a two hour battle the Americans, under heavy fire and a flanking movement by the British withdrew steadily to Baltimore. On September 15th General Stricker wrote his official account of the battle.

General Stricker resigned his militia commission on November 10, 1814 and resumed his merchant career and became president of the Bank of Baltimore in 1824 until his death on June 23, 1825. He was buried in Westminister Burying Grounds in downtown Baltimore.

Source: Easton Republican Star, April 20, 1814 and January 25, 1825; “General John Stricker,” by John Stricker, Jr.” Maryland Historical Magazine, September 1914, vol. 9, No. 3), 209-218.

Published in: on March 30, 2011 at 12:50 pm  Comments Off on Brigadier General John Stricker (1759-1825): Defender of the Battle of North Point, Sept. 12, 1814  

Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory (1801-1856)

“Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory.The proprietors have commenced manufacturing and offer for sale Gunpowder of a superior quality, and refined Saltpetre.  LEVERING.” Federal Gazette, December 5, 1801.

The Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory was Maryland’s most extensive powder works established seven miles north of Baltimore along the Jones Falls west of Towson, Baltimore County receiving its name from the Roman Goddess of War – Bellona. It was one of four known Baltimore powder mills, all competing with the famous Eleuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours & Company along the Brandywine River in Delaware. All delivered gunpowder to Maryland during the War of 1812.

The manufactory in 1810 was capable of making thirty-two quarter casks per day. It was governed by several leading citizens, one of whom was James Beatty, U.S. Naval Agent in Baltimore who later had the company incorporated by an act of the General Assembly on April 16, 1815.  The company’s agent, Aaron R. Levering (1784-1852) served during the war as captain of the Baltimore Independent Blues, 6th Maryland Regiment that was held in reserve during the Battle of North Point, Sept. 12, 1814. By 1816 the company was able to enter into contracts for 100,000 lbs of different descriptions of powder.

Subsequent explosions in 1812, 1820-21, and 1833 did not diminish its production until 1856 when the site was sold to the City of Baltimore as a water works and soon found itself submerged below the waters of Lake Roland, Baltimore County.

Sources: “An Act to Incorporate the Bellona Gunpowder Company of Maryland,” Archives of Maryland, Vol. 192, pp. 1625-1626, Maryland State Archives; Maryland Gazette, June 13, 1810; Baltimore Patriot, June 6, 1816.

Published in: on March 29, 2011 at 10:33 pm  Comments Off on Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory (1801-1856)  

Baltimore Hibernian Corps of Union Greens

“Fostered under thy wing, we die in thy defense…It is a pleasing spectacle to view those foreigners who have made this country their home, embodying themselves for the defense of the Republic.”

Union Greens Button

In June 1807  following the naval encounter between HM frigate Leopard and the US frigate Chesapeake that nearly brought a declaration of war. Among the Baltimore Irish militia companies raised were the United Republican Greens, the Baltimore Republican Greens and the Baltimore Union Greens. Company funding appears to have come from the Baltimore Hibernian Society whose organization fostered charitable assistance, immigrant advice and Maryland settlement. Their color standard was green, and like the button they wore was depicted “with a spread Eagle, and a Harp fostered under the wing. Upon the flag were these words proceeding from the Eagle’s mouth:  “Fostered under thy wing, we die in thy defense.” Among their duty assignments in 1813 was upon Camp Look-Out Hill (today Riverside Park in South Baltimore).

During the Battle of North Point, Sept. 12, 1814, the company was commanded by Captain John M. Kane and assigned to the 27th Maryland Regiment and served on the front lines of formation to the left of the Old North Point Road.

Sources: Republican Star, Aug. 11, 1807; Hibernian Chronicle, June 22, 1811; American & Commercial Daily Adv.., August 10, 1808 and October 27, 1813.

Published in: on March 29, 2011 at 10:31 pm  Comments Off on Baltimore Hibernian Corps of Union Greens  

Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory (1801-1856)

“Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory. The proprietors have commenced manufacturing and offer for sale Gunpowder of a superior quality, and refined Saltpetre. NATHAN LEVERING.” Federal Gazette, December 5, 1801.

The Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory was Maryland’s most extensive powder works established seven miles north of Baltimore along the Jones Falls west of Towson, Baltimore County, Maryland, receiving its name from the Roman Goddess of War – Bellona. It was one of four known Baltimore powder mills, all competing with the famous Eleuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours & Company along the Brandywine River in Delaware. All delivered gunpowder to Maryland during the War of 1812. The manufactory in 1810 was capable of making thirty-two quarter casks per day. It was governed by several leading citizens, one of whom was James Beatty, U.S. Naval Agent in Baltimore who later had the company incorporated by an act of the General Assembly on April 16, 1815.

 The company’s agent, Aaron Righter Levering (1784-1852) of German descent, served during the war as captain of the Baltimore Independent Blues, 5th Maryland Regiment at the Battle of North Point, Sept. 12, 1814. Subsequent explosions at the mill in 1812, 1820-21, and 1833 did not diminish its production until 1856 when the site was sold to the City of Baltimore as a water works and soon found itself submerged below the waters of Lake Roland, Baltimore County.

 Sources: “An Act to Incorporate the Bellona Gunpowder Company of Maryland,” Archives of Maryland, Vol. 192, pp. 1625-1626, Maryland State Archives; Maryland Gazette, June 13, 1810; The Sun, June 28, 1852.

Published in: on March 29, 2011 at 8:30 pm  Comments Off on Baltimore Bellona Gunpowder Manufactory (1801-1856)  

Camp Eagleston on Bear Creek

At the north side of the entrance to Sollers’ Point on Bear Creek was Camp Eagleston named for the nearby farm of John Eagleston, a private in Captain Samuel McDonald’s company, 6th Maryland Regiment. The camp was one of several strategic militia outposts along with Colegate Creek, Swann Point and North Point to detect British naval movements. On August 5, 1813 the British established a naval base of operations on Kent Island for their subsequent attacks on Queenstown (Aug. 13) and St. Michaels (Aug. 10, 26). Baltimore was threaten by several barges that had entered the mouth of the Patapso River that summer. With the Baltimore militia brought into federal service, various infantry regiments were encamped here among them Lt. Colonel Benjamin Fowler’s 39th Maryland Regiment (519 men). A year later on September 12, 1814, British naval barges with Congreve rockets entered Bear Creek towards the head of Bear Creek where the Battle of North Point had begun.

 

Source: William Jameson to Samuel Smith, August 7, 16, 1813. Samuel Smith Papers, MSS 18974, Reel 4, Containers 5-6, Library of Congress.

Published in: on March 27, 2011 at 1:15 pm  Comments Off on Camp Eagleston on Bear Creek  

Sheppard Church Leakin (1790-1867)

Sheppard Church Leakin’s ancestors emigrated from Northumberland, England, in 1684, acquiring an estate on Humprhey’s Creek on the Patapsco Neck at Baltimore. The son of John and Elizabeth (Irvine) Leakin of Govanstown, Md., he was born on April 25, 1790 and later married Margaret Dobbin of St. Michaels’ on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Prior to the war he served in various occupations as printer and book store proprietor. During the war he resided at “Lodge Farm” on on Humphrey’s Creek with a townhouse in Fell’s Point.

At the age of twenty-three, Leakin received a captaincy on May 20, 1813 in the 38th U.S. Infantry under the command Lt. Colonel William Steuart. During the spring 1814 he commanded Fort Covington (a mile west of Fort McHenry) and during the summer we find him on the lower Patuxent River in concert with Commodore Joshua Barney’s U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla at the Battle of St. Leonard’s Creek. He also served at Fort McHenry during the bombardment of Sept. 13-14, 1814 and later in 1818 as captain of militia in the Eagle Artillery company. His character was described by none other than Lt. Colonel George Armistead of Fort McHenry as “…I found him vigilant and prompt, his company in a fine state of discipline – his conduct conduct during the bombardment was such as to deserve [my] entire approbabtion…”

He served as High Sheriff of Baltimore County (1822) and Mayor of Baltimore (1838-40). In 1836 he was one of the founders of what became known as the Old Defenders’ Association of Baltimore in 1814. In 1862 he was commissioned major general of the First Light Division of Maryland US Volunteers.

He died on November 20, 1867 at his country estate of “Spring Hill” near Relay, Md., at the age of 78.

Source: The Sun, November 21, 22, 1867; American & Commercial Daily Adv., May 11, 1814 and August 16, 1818;  Wilbur F. Coyle, The Mayors of Baltimore (Baltimore: The Baltimore Municipal Journal, 1919), p. 55-57.

Published in: on March 25, 2011 at 9:40 am  Comments Off on Sheppard Church Leakin (1790-1867)  

Thomas Ruckle (1776-1853):Veteran War of 1812 Artist

Battle of North Point by Thomas Ruckle

Within the galleries of the Maryland Historical Society are two paintings: Defense of Baltimore: Assembling of the Troops, September 12, 1814 and Battle of North Point, Near Baltimore, Sept.12, 1814. Both were by artist and veteran of the battle Thomas Ruckle, a corporal in Captain George Steuart’s the Washington Blues, 5th Maryland Regiment.

Little is known of his early life other than he was the son of John and Elizabeth (Piper) Ruckle born in Embery, Ireland in 1776. In the late 18th century the family immigrated to Baltimore where his father took up the dry goods trade in 1802 on Market Street. On Nov. 28, 1798 at the age of twenty-two, Thomas married and took up residence near the Roman cathedral, and in May 1811 entered into business advertised as “House and Sign Painters & Glaziers”

In 1812 Thomas enlisted as a corporal in Captain George H. Steuart’s (1790-1867) Washington Blues, 5th Maryland Regiment and was present at the Battle of North Point on Sept. 12, 1814. His experience enabled him to recollect the preparations and the battlegrounds for two of his most famous paintings, The Defense of Baltimore Assembling of the Troops, September 12, 1814” (c.1820) and Battle of North Point, near Baltimore, September 12, 1814. (c. 1830).

Two of his sons, Thomas Coke and William Hogarth became accomplished artists in their own right the latter wrote his father in 1830, , “…Painters must be ambitious to excel. Don’t stop for trifles…Push ahead and in time the name of the Ruckles shall make as much of a noise in the United States as the famous Peales’ [family]…” On September 4, 1853, Thomas died at the age of seventy-seven and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in east Baltimore.

Sources: (Extract- New Discoveries and Interpretations: The War in the Chesapeake, 1812-1815 by Scott S. Sheads (unpublished, 2011); The Sun, Sept. 17, 1830; Sept. 6, 1853; July 3, 1903.

Published in: on March 25, 2011 at 9:15 am  Comments Off on Thomas Ruckle (1776-1853):Veteran War of 1812 Artist  

“The Boy Martyrs of 1814”: Daniel Wells and Henry G. McComas

During the Battle of North Point, in a pre-battle skirmish these two “boys” (18 & 21 years of age) are reputed to have killed Major General Robert Ross, RA. as the army advanced towards Baltimore on September 12, 1814. This popular event heighten great interest in the “folklore” of the Battle for Baltimore.


The popularity of the Wells and McComas story was further heighten on the evening of September 15, 1859 at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore, when the famous playwright, dramatis, actor and theatre manager Clifton W. Tayleure (1832-1891) produced in three acts “The Boy Martyrs of Sept. 12, 1814: A Local Historical Drama.” It was complete “with representations of The Battle of Bladensburg, The Rescue of the Colors, The Bombardment of the Fort, Death of Ross, and the Battle of Baltimore.”


Only a year before were the remains of Daniel Wells and Henry G. McComas were removed from their temporary graves at Green Mount Cemetery and reposed in state in the Hall of the Maryland Institute, then to Ashland Square in west Baltimore where they were interred, awaiting the completion of the monument in their honor in May 1872.


Sources: “The Boy Martyrs of Sept. 12, 1814: A Local Historical Drama.” (Boston: Wm. V. Spencer, 1859); The Sun, September 11, 1858.

Published in: on March 24, 2011 at 9:01 pm  Comments Off on “The Boy Martyrs of 1814”: Daniel Wells and Henry G. McComas  
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