Battle Monument (Baltimore, Maryland)

 monument, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1810s construction

Commemorates the Battle of Baltimore and honors those who died during the month of September 1814 during the War of 1812.

Battle of North Point, 12th September, A.D. 1814, and of the Independence of the United States, the thirty-ninth • Bombardment of Fort McHenry, 15th September, A.D. 1814, and of the Independence of the United States, the thirty-ninth. • Levi Clagett, 1st Lieut. Nicholson’s Artilleries • (names of thirty-six men who lost their lives in the Battle of Baltimore)

(adjacent interpretive panel affixed to wrought iron fence) Built 1815-1825 to commemorate those who fell in the British attack on Baltimore in September 1814, the Battle Monument stands on the site of Baltimore’s first courthouse. When Calvert Street was leveled in 1784, the courthouse was raised on an arched brick platform to allow the traffic to flow beneath it. This courthouse “on stilts” remained perched high above the new street level until 1800, when it was razed and a new structure erected on the west side of Calvert Street.

The Monument was designed by Maximilian Godefroy. The symbolism of its Roman faces, Egyptian tomb, and griffins reflects the architect’s background in revolutionary France, where great attention was paid to elaborate memorials and civic celebrations. At the Monument base are two bas-reliefs of the North Point Battle and the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2701

mht.maryland.gov/NR/NRDetail.aspx?NRID=174