Defenders Day
| Defenders Day | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Maryland |
| Type | Local, Historical |
| Significance | Anniversary of the successful defense of the city of Baltimore from an invading British force during the War of 1812. |
| Date | September 12 |
| Next time | September 12, 2017 |
| Frequency | annual |
Defenders Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Maryland It commemorates the successful defense of the city of Baltimore on September 12, 1814 from an invading British force during the War of 1812, an event which would lead to the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States.
In 1814, following the burning of Washington, a British force commanded by Major General Robert Ross landed near present-day Fort Howard, Maryland and began an advance on the city. He was met almost immediately by a detachment from the Baltimore garrison led by American General John Stricker, commencing the Battle of North Point. The resulting halt of the larger British force allowed Baltimore to organize its defenses against a later attempted naval invasion. It was during this conflict, the Battle of Baltimore, that Fort McHenry was shelled by the British but refused to surrender, and an inspired Maryland lawyer named Francis Scott Key composed the words to what would later become "The Star-Spangled Banner", eventually proclaimed the national anthem of the United States.
Commemorations of the day of the victory, centering on Stricker's stand east of the city, began in the years shortly after the War. During the mid-19th century, Marylanders would informally picnic on the battlefield grounds, but later celebrations involved the entire city of Baltimore, with parades and speeches.
Initially, the commemoration of Defenders Day was divided between the two sites; one focusing on the Battle of North Point and the other on The "Star Spangled Banner" and the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The development of the holiday followed the evolution of the militia. The first phase was the transition from the involuntary militia system that existed prior to the War of 1812 to the Voluntary militia system that emerged during the war. The second phase was the development of the Voluntary Militia into the local parochial political-militia-business alliance that peaked with dominance of the Know Nothing (American Party) politics prior to the Civil War. The third was the transition from parochial patriotism to national patriotism during the Civil War. Finally in the fourth phase the local militia disappeared and the local parochial patriotic traditions were largely forgotten or replaced with new national patriotic ideas and traditions.
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