A Beloved General

A Beloved General. .

"…and I feel pride in the belief that the stand made on Monday, in no small degree, tended to check the temerity of the foe, daring to invade a country like ours, and designing the destruction of our city..." , Brig. Gen. John Stricker writing to Major General Samuel Smith, Report on the Battle of North Point, September 15, 1814

, The Battle of Baltimore, the heroic stand against British forces in September 1814, has long ranked among Baltimore's greatest achievements. Among the battle's many heroes was a 55-year-old Revolutionary War veteran of German descent named John Stricker. As commander of a militia brigade, Striker stalled the British infantry advance at the Battle of North Point. When the British naval bombardment failed to take Fort McHenry, - the event that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen "The Star Spangled Banner" - the fate of Baltimore and the nation was secure., John Stricker (1759-1825) was a native of Maryland's Frederick County. At the time of his death, the 66-year-old was a bank president and a beloved war hero., Other known burials include Stricker's infant son, George (d. 1793); Joseph J. Nicholson (1831-1864); and, Richard Hopkins (1873-1873). John and Martha Bedford Stricker (1763-1816) had seven other children., [painting] , From the Gallery of Heroes , Stricker's portrait by Rembrandt Peale was one of five commissioned by Baltimore's City Council to commemorate the heroic stand of 1814. The others were Gen. Sam Smith, Lt. Col. George Armistead (commander at Fort McHenry), Commodore Joshua Barney (naval commander and Stricker's brother-in-law), and Major Edward Johnson., Brigadier General John Stricker by Rembrandt Peale, oil on canvas, 1816 , The Maryland Historical Society, [print] , Stalling the Enemy , Members of Stricker's 3rd Brigade prepare to meet 4,700 British troops at North Point. The American line broke under a flank attack, suffering 163 killed and wounded and 50 captured, but retreated in an orderly fashion. More importantly, they managed to slow the British advance. In the hours before the battle, British commander General George Ross had been killed by an American volley, a demoralizing loss even to veteran troops. , Battle of North Point, near Baltimore, aquatint published by Swett and Endicott, ca. 1831 , The Maryland Historical Society, [newspaper clipping] , With Military Honors , Stricker's remains were interred with elaborate military honors befitting his long service. He went to war as a teenager in 1776 serving with his father's German regiment at the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. After time with Maryland's storied Fifth Regiment, Stricker was appointed Brigadier General of the state militia in 1807. He resigned his commission soon after the Battle of Baltimore and became a merchant., Order of Procession for John Stricker's Funeral , American and Commercial Daily Advertiser , (Baltimore), June 24, 1825