Battle Monument - Baltimore, Maryland

The Battle Monument is located at the Battle Monument Square in Baltimore, Maryland, and just 2 miles off Route 1.  This monument honors the Battle of Baltimore with the British fleet for the Royal Navy’s bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. It honors those who died during the month of September 1814 during the War of 1812.

The monument lies in the middle of the street and is between the two Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses that are located on the opposite sides of North Calvert Street. It was sponsored by the City and the “Committee of Vigilance and Safety” led by Mayor Edward Johnson and military commanders: Brig. Gen. John Stricker, Maj. Gen. Samuel Smith and Lt. Col. George Armistead.

The monument was designed by the Baltimore architect J. Maximilian M. Godefroy and built in 1815–25, and is 39 feet tall. The base of the monument is an Egyptian Revival cenotaph. It records the names of all who died, regardless of rank. The eighteen layers of the marble base represent the eighteen states that made up the United States at the time of the war. A griffin is at each corner of the base. The column, carved as Roman fasces, is bound with cords listing the names of the soldiers who died during the battle. The top of the list are the names of the officers who died in this battle.

At the top of the monument is an 8 feet tall, 2,750 pound, Carrara marble statue, which was created by Antonio Capellano, and represented a female figure of the City of Baltimore wearing a crown of victory.  She is also holding a laurel wreath in one hand and a ship’s rudder in the other. It was hoisted to the top of the column during the middle of the period of construction on the eighth anniversary ceremonies, Defenders Day, September 12, 1822.

The monument was incorrectly depicted as being in Washington, D.C. in the 2007 film “Live Free or Die Hard” starring Bruce Willis, which had numerous scenes actually filmed in downtown Baltimore.