This year marks the 200th Anniversary of the bombardment of Fort McHenry and “The Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key. Local heroes Oliver Hazard Perry and his captain William Vigneron Taylor had just completed their triumphant return to Newport after the Battle of Lake Erie when they were ordered to Baltimore to oversee the construction and outfitting of the 44 gun frigate Java in July 1814. The British blockade delayed completion of the vessel and Perry commanded a small land battery of sailors during the September attack. Meanwhile, Capt. Taylor had witnessed the torching of Washington, DC and sent vivid details to his wife in a letter from Baltimore dated 30 August 1814, from the Society’s collections.
A detail of the envelope from the 1814 letter Capt. Taylor wrote to Mrs. Taylor, from the NHS collections.