Town Ravaged
Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
| | War of 1812 | |
“They opened all the feather beds
broke the doors and windows out and so tore the houses to pieces inside as to render them of very little value”
Baltimore American & Commercial Daily Advertizer, June 20, 1814.
Battle Worn
Charles Ball, a former slave born in Calvert County, may have lived in Lower Marlboro. He was a cook with the U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla during both battles of St. Leonard Creek. Present at the Battle of Bladensburg, Ball later noted that the militia “ran like sheep being chased by dogs.”
(Inscription below the image in the lower right)
Characterization of Charles Ball by Keith Rocco.
Erected by National Park Service-United States Department of the Interior.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War of
Location. 38° 39.346′ N, 76° 40.977′ W. Marker is in Lower Marlboro, Maryland, in Calvert County. It is on Lower Marlboro Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Owings MD 20736, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southern Maryland. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Mid-Atlantic, in the Tidewater, in the Chesapeake Bay Region, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Lower Marlboro Town (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Up in Flames (approx. 1.3 miles away); Warships and Raids (approx. 2.1 miles away); Camp Mohawk (approx. 2.3 miles away); Calvert County (approx. 3.4 miles away); A County in Ruin (approx. 3.4 miles away); Nottingham (approx. 3.9 miles away); Changing Guard (approx. 4 miles away).
Another marker is no longer nearby. Lower Marlboro (was here, next to this marker but has been confirmed missing).


Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 17, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 939 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on February 17, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 6, 7. submitted on May 19, 2016, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.




