Today was my big day of driving around to War of 1812 sites. Unfortunately I only made two-Bladensburg and North Point. I'm posting from my iPhone, so I'm not sure about pics but I'll do my best.
I blew out of Baltimore this morning at about 10:30 and successfully navigated my way south toward D.C. Not an easy feat given the aggressive drivers near our nation's capital. Lots of highway should make it easy to find things, but it doesn't. I finally broke down and used information from websites and the GPS feature on my phone to locate the village of Bladensburg on Maryland Hwy 1.
Bladensburg is located on both sides of the Anacostia River. It seems pretty unprosperous by any standard I'm used to. The Maryland Historical Association/Society received a grant to begin studying the battlefield, which includes the state highway bridge over the river and a lot of privately owned businesses.
There are two valuable sites to see in Bladensburg. First is the Waterfront Park on the river. From here you can look across the Anacostia along the British line of advance. The other site is the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home/Cemetery-strange place for awar memorial. Yet, at the top of the hill behind the largest structure on the grounds is a marker showing the position of Joshua Barney's flotilla men and a memorial to the handful of Marines that accompanied him.
North Point post tomorrow
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| Fort Lincoln Cemetery is located on the site of Fort Lincoln, an actual Civil War fort in the outer defenses of Washington D.C. In the distance is Lowndes Hill which was more easily defended than the Bladensburg crossing |
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| View upriver to the (Maryland) Highway 1 bridge. Likely crossing point for the British, and proposed archaeological site.for Maryland Historical Society |
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| Marker for the small band of Marines that fought alongside Barney's bluejackets. |
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| Barney's view from the American third line, down the hill toward the Anacostia crossing |
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| Plaque dedicated to Barney in the Fort Lincoln Cemetery |
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| British view of their line of advance across the Anacostia River. Taken from the Bladensburg waterfront park. |
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