George Armistead
George Armistead | |
---|---|
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1799–1800, 1801–1818 |
Rank | Brevet Lieutenant Colonel |
Commands held | Fort McHenry |
Battles/wars | |
Relations | Lewis Addison Armistead (nephew – Confederate general from Virginia mortally wounded in "Pickett's Charge" at Battle of Gettysburg – July 1863) |
George Armistead (April 10, 1780 – April 25, 1818) was an American military officer, best known as the commander of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.[1]
Early life and education
Armistead was born to the former Lucinda Baylor Page and her husband John Armistead at his Newmarket Plantation in
Career
This man's military career began during the
War of 1812
When he arrived at Fort McHenry, located in the outer harbor of
During the nearly 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry, 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 four men were killed, when two shells smashed into the fort's southwest bastion, despite a deadly rain of some 2,000 mortar shells that the British bombardment fleet fired at the fort. Because the
Personal life
On October 26, 1810, he married Louisa Hughes, whose grandfather had emigrated from County Wexford in Ireland, and whose mother had been born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.[12] The couple had two daughters and a son and owned several enslaved people.[13]
Death and legacy
Following the battle, Armistead was soon promoted to the rank of
Dates of rank
- Ensign, 7th U.S. Infantry – January 14, 1799
- 2nd lieutenant – March 3, 1799
- 1st lieutenant – May 14, 1800
- Discharged – June 15, 1800.
- 1st lieutenant, 2nd Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers – February 16, 1801
- Captain – November 1, 1806
- Major, 3rd Artillery Regiment – March 3, 1813
- Brevet Lieutenant Colonel – September 14, 1814
References
Notes
- ^ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915) vol. 2, p. 197
- ^ Tyler
- ^ John F. Dorman, Adventures of Purse and Person vol. 1 pp. 279-280
- ISBN 978-1-63758-733-1)
- ^ Armistead's family name is an English habitational meaning someone who lived by a hermit's cell. The Armistead surname, ancestry.com
- ^ Nicoll, Kurt (24 March 2002). "Historic plantation". Fredericksburg.com. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
- ^ Tyler
- ^ Tyler
- ^ Tyler
- ^ Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Star Spangled Banner and the War of 1812: Making the Star Spangled Banner
- ^ Davenport, Misha. "A Nation's History," Chicago-Sun Times, 2002-06-02.
- ^ Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775< vol 5 p. 16, also citing Vol. 1 pp. 12-12, as available on ancestry.com
- ^ slaveholdings mentioned in audiobook but not readily available on ancestry.com
- ISBN 9780665243844.
- ^ Fort McHenry, Baltimore MD. http://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm
Bibliography
- 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
- ISBN 0-393-05452-7