Peek! I thought it was adorable how this Water Battery had been made to look a lot like a ship's side, which I'm sure made the sailors manning the guns feel comfortable. These are either 36- or 18-pounders...I'm thinking 36.
During the bombardment of 1814, the British ships, with longer-ranged guns, stayed out of range of all of Fort McHenry's fire...but such extreme range made the King's guns wildly inaccurate, and the vaunted rockets with their "red glare" were more of an impressive spectacle than an accurate weapon under the best of circumstances. The British scored one lucky direct hit on a bastion, but the two American deaths that resulted represented half of those killed in the bombardment.
During the bombardment of 1814, the British ships, with longer-ranged guns, stayed out of range of all of Fort McHenry's fire...but such extreme range made the King's guns wildly inaccurate, and the vaunted rockets with their "red glare" were more of an impressive spectacle than an accurate weapon under the best of circumstances. The British scored one lucky direct hit on a bastion, but the two American deaths that resulted represented half of those killed in the bombardment.
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