Brooke assumed command of the entire army.
He pushed his light troops forward to North
Point, only to discover sizable militia forces
under Gen. John Stricker in his path. Mary-
land militia troops wore especially gaudy uni-
forms at this time, so Brooke perceived him-
self to be confronted by large numbers of
regular soldiers. He therefore delayed attack-
ing further that day, withdrew, and made de-
tailed preparations for a decisive encounter
the following morning.
On September 12, 1814, Brooke ordered
his army against Stricker’s line. The Maryland
militia may have looked formidable, but it
was no match for the British Peninsula veter-
ans, and they gave ground readily. Brooke
carefully placed his artillery to neutralize the
numerous American cannons, he deliberately
employed noisy Congreve rockets to demoral-
ize the defenders, and enacted a turning
movement to encircle Stricker’s left wing. All
these activities induced Stricker to order a
general retreat back to Baltimore, with a loss
of two cannons and 163 casualties, so the Bat-
tle of North Point was a British victory. How-
ever, Brooke declined to follow up decisively
and did not order an advance upon the city it-
self. Baltimore was then heavily fortified with
entrenchments, batteries, and a garrison re-
putedly numbering 20,000 men under Gen.
Samuel Smith. The British forces at that time
consisted of the Fourth, 21st, 44th, and 85th
regiments, with a combined strength of
scarcely 5,000 men. The sheer preponderance
of American defenses forced Brooke to pon-
der his next move very carefully.
On September 13, 1814, Brooke pushed his
light troops forward into Godly Wood and
conducted a personal reconnaissance of the
city’s defenses. Upon closer inspection, he de-
cided it could not be safely assailed from any
quarter during daylight. He then contem-
plated launching a night attack in concert
with Adm. Alexander Cochrane’s fleet, but,
as the latter proved unable to reduce Fort
McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, the Royal Navy
could not mount a diversionary attack against
the city. Judging discretion the better part of
valor, Brooke finally capitulated to the in-
evitable and ordered the army to break camp
and withdraw. The past four days had been an
ignominious display of military futility on the
part of England, especially in light of events at
Washington, but the American defenses were
too well manned. In Brooke’s own words, “If I
took the place, I should have been the great-
est man in England. If I lost, my military char-
acter was gone forever.” The British army and
fleet then departed on September 15, 1814,
leaving the Americans to celebrate their vic-
tory. And well they might, for the heroic de-
fense of Fort McHenry induced a local lawyer,
Francis Scott Key, to compose a poem enti-
tled “The Star Spangled Banner”—the future
national anthem.
Brooke sailed south with the fleet and was
superseded at sea by Maj. Gen. John Keane.
He subsequently fought in the campaign for
New Orleans that winter and returned to En-
gland in the spring of 1815. Four years later he
gained promotion to major general and, in
1822, became governor of Yarmouth. How-
ever, his failure before Baltimore seems to
have put a damper on his rising military ex-
pectations, for he never received another ac-
tive command, despite a promotion to lieu-
tenant general in 1837. Brooke died in London
on July 26, 1841, largely regarded in military
quarters as an excellent regimental grade offi-
cer, insufficiently daring to command a
brigade or higher.Bibliography
George, Christopher T. “The Family Papers of Major
General Robert Ross, the Diary of Col. Arthur
Brooke, and British Attacks on Washington and Bal-
timore in 1814.” Maryland Historical Magazine 88
(1993): 300–316; Lord, Walter. The Dawn’s Early
Light.New York: Norton, 1972; Pitch, Anthony S.
The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion
of 1814.Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998;
Whitehorne, Joseph A. The Battle for Baltimore,
1814.Baltimore: Nautical and Aviation, 1997.BROOKE, ARTHUR