Casualties at Fort McHenry: why there is no number here

Where to get the answer

the National Park Service page for Fort McHenry is the place. The Park Service administers the monument, maintains the record and staffs a visitor center that is free to walk into, which is a better source than any page assembled from search results, this one included.

If you find a number quoted elsewhere with no source attached, treat it the way you would treat any unattributed figure about the dead: with suspicion. This is one of the few subjects where being approximately right is not good enough.

What is verified about the visit

Fort McHenry is a 43-acre park at 2400 East Fort Avenue in Locust Point. The entrance fee covers the star fort and the outer battery inside a wooden fence, $15 for an adult aged 16 or over, valid seven days on the receipt, free for anyone under 16. The rest of the park, the visitor center and the film cost nothing. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day the grounds open at 7:00 a.m. and the registers open at 9:00, and last entry is 4:45 p.m. on weekdays or 5:45 p.m. at weekends. All of it is set out on hours and closures and tickets and prices.

The other thing people expect to find

The flag. The original Star-Spangled Banner is in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, admission free, no ticket required — not at Fort McHenry. See where the flag actually is.

Seeing the site from the harbour

A 45-minute Inner Harbor sightseeing cruise names the fort as a sight and passes it from the water. None of it includes entry to the star fort. That is a National Park Service ticket, sold at the gate and nowhere else.

Frequently asked questions