CONGREVE ROCKETS
______In the War of 1812 British forces fought the fledgling republic of the United States to a standstill. During the campaign to punish the U.S. the British attempted to take Fort McHenry, a vital fort outside near Baltimore. One of the weapons they used was the Congreve rocket.
Fort McHenry National Shrine
______The congreve was an iron stick-stabilized powder rocket, sometimes armed with an exploding shell. As a military weapon it was not terribly effective as its accuracy left something to be desired. The congreve was most useful against undisciplined or inexperienced troops.
______A "rocketship," a warship converted to deliver a barrage of congreves against targets, was moved into position to attack Fort McHenry. On September 12th, 1814 the British began their bombardment, which was answered by return fire from the American artillerymen inside McHenry. All of this was witnessed by Francis Scott Key, an American detained aboard one of the enemy ships. He was so moved that he wrote the poem that eventually became the American National Anthem.
______Congreves were never a popular weapon among the military powers of the 19th century. as one expert put it, "if the rocket had come first and the cannon second, I would consider the cannon to be a tremendous improvement." It would take modern fuels and guidance systems to make rockets formidable weapons in the 20th century.
A stamp from modern-day Fort McHenry 
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