Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British Royal Navy from Chesapeake Bay on September 13–14, 1814.

The fort was built in 1798 and was used continuously by U.S. armed forces through World War I and by the United States Coast Guard in World War II. It was designated a national park in 1925, and, in 1939, was redesignated a U.S. National Monument.

During the War of 1812, an American storm flag, 17 by 25 feet (5.2 m × 7.6 m), was flown over Fort McHenry during the British bombardment of the fort. The flag was replaced early on the morning of September 14, 1814, with a larger American garrison flag, 30 by 42 feet (9.1 m × 12.8 m). The flag's continued flying signaled that the fort continued to remain in American hands, leading British forces to withdraw and ending the Battle of Baltimore in an American victory.

The sight of the ensign inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" that was later set to music in the song "To Anacreon in Heaven", which was later known and designated as "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States.