Figure 4.––Punch set presented to Col. George Armistead by the citizens of Baltimore in recognition of his services in the defense of Fort McHenry against the British in 1814. Gift of Alexander Gordon, Jr., great-grandson of the recipient. In Division of Political History. (Acc. 6642, cats. 30914-17; Smithsonian photo P-64357.)
On the other side is engraved a view of Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor. The bowl is marked by Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner, silversmiths who worked in Philadelphia from 1814 to 1838. In regard to the excellence of the work of these silversmiths, there is an interesting comment in a diary of Philip Hone that is owned by the New-York Historical Society. On February 14, 1838, Hone wrote:
Fletcher and Co. are the artist who made the Clinton vases. Nobody in this “world” of ours hereabouts can compete with them in their kind of work.[4]
In the set are ten silver cups, each 31⁄4 inches high and 3 inches in diameter. The cups have the same rounded shape as the bowl, without the loop handles, and are marked on the bottom by Andrew E. Warner, a silversmith who was working in Baltimore from 1805 until his death in 1870.
The ladle, in the same shape as the cups, is also marked by Warner.
During the defense of Fort McHenry Colonel Armistead had under him about 1,000 men, including soldiers, sailors, and volunteers. It is said he was the only man aware of the alarming fact that the powder magazine was not bombproof. During the night of September 13 the fort was under constant 86 bombardment by the enemy, but the attack failed. Discouraged by the loss of the British general in land action, and finding that the shallow water and sunken ships prevented a close approach to the city by water, the British fleet withdrew. Fort McHenry was but little damaged and loss of life was small.
