Battle of North Point

Battle of North Point
Part of the Battle of Baltimore and War of 1812
Battle of North Point (1996) by Don Troiani
Date September 12, 1814 Location North Point, Maryland, southeast of Baltimore, Maryland Coordinates: 39°11′53.54″N 76°26′29.39″W / 39.1982056°N 76.4414972°W / 39.1982056; -76.4414972 Result British tactical victory American strategic victory British advance delayed
Belligerents
United States	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Samuel Smith John Strickerbr>John Rodgers	Robert Ross  † Arthur Brooke
Strength
3,200	4,000
Casualties and losses
24 Killed 139 Wounded 50 Captured	42-46 Killed 279-295 Wounded

The Battle of North Point was an engagement in the War of 1812, fought on September 12, 1814, between Brigadier General John Stricker's Third Brigade of the Maryland State Militia and a British landing force, composed of units from the King's Army (British Army), Royal Navy seamen and Royal Marines, and led by Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn. The events and result of the engagement, a part of the larger Battle of Baltimore, saw the U.S. forces retreating after having inflicted heavy casualties on the British.

One of the casualties was Ross, killed during the course of the battle by American sharpshooters. His death significantly demoralized the troops under his command and left some units confused and lost among the woods, meadows and marshes of the Patapsco Neck penninsula. This prompted the British second-in-command, Colonel Arthur Brooke of the 44th Regiment of Foot, to have his troops remain on the battlefield for the evening and night, treating the wounded at the nearby Methodist meeting house (church), and evacuating some by barge south down Bear Creek to the offshore Fleet in the Patapsco River, thus delaying by a day his northwestward advance against Baltimore.

This delay gave the Americans more time to organize and strengthen the defense of the city, under the command of Major General Samuel Smith, along an extensive network of trenches, fortifications, and artillery with a central strong point of "Rodgers' Bastion", commanded by U.S. Navy Commodore John Rodgers. Gen. Stricker slowly retreated his organized militia back to the main defenses, cutting down trees across the roads to delay the British advance, and rejoined the existing regular army and navy, militia and civilian forces of approximately 15,000 men and 100 cannons. Along with the failure of the Royal Navy to neutralize Fort McHenry guarding Baltimore Harbor (Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River), the resulting vast numerical superiority over the invading British force of 4,000 men and 4 cannons led to the subsequent abandonment of the planned sea and land assault on Baltimore.

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