Hometown Hero

Hometown Hero. Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. Nathan Towson, born 1784 in the area named for his family, served in the U.S. Army for 42 years. He enlisted in 1812 when war with Britain seemed imminent. As an artillery captain, Towson distinguished himself in nearly every major engagement on the Niagara Frontier., A lieutenant colonel at war’s end, Towson was later made a brigadier general. He was still on active duty, as paymaster general, when he died in 1854., (Side Bar) Sword of Honor-Nathan Towson was fighting on the Canadian border when the British attacked Baltimore in 1814. In recognition of his service to country, Maryland gave him a sword inscribed with the actions where he nobly fought., “This officer (Captain Towson) has so often distinguished himself, that…I have no idea that there is an Artillery officer in any service superior to him in the knowledge and performance of his duty.” , General Eleazer Ripley report of Battle of Fort Erie, August 1814, (Inscription under the sketch on the left) , Towson’s Battery (far left in this 1814 sketch) was called “Towson’s Lighthouse” because of its relentless firing during the defense of Fort Erie. By U.S. Army Captain Loring Austin-Image courtesy of Clements Library, University of Michigan., (Inscription beside the painting in the lower center), Nathan Towson, ca 1815. By Rembrandt Peale-Image/Courtesy Maryland Historical Society, (Inscription under the engraving in the lower right) , A fanciful engraving of General Winfield Scott (on horseback) with Nathan Towson (on foot in foreground) Image courtesy of Baltimore County Library.