Helping to preserve an important but mostly forgotten piece of U.S. history (Maryland)
If local history buff Dick Charlton wants to retrace the steps of American Marines who shot at invading British forces in the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812, he has to drive up a busy road surrounded by tire shops and fast food restaurants.
"Most are not aware of it all," Chartlon, 77, of Beltsville, said of the battlefield.
"It's almost a forgotten war, and it's one that we won," he added. "It was a foreign country on our territory. It was in the early years of independence as a nation and Great Britain was trying to recapture a lost territory."
The site on which thousands of British troops faced the last American resistance before entering Washington, D.C., where they would eventually burn the White House and Capitol, has long since been covered by busy roads, a park, a cemetery and commercial businesses.
A few plaques telling passersby what once transpired are dotted throughout Bladensburg Waterfront Park and Fort Lincoln Cemetery.
Researchers and archeologists will embark upon a project to preserve the battlefield this year after the National Park Service awarded a $60,000 research grant to the Maryland State Highway Administration in June as part of a battlefield protection program.
Read entire article at http://www.gazette.net (Maryland)
"Most are not aware of it all," Chartlon, 77, of Beltsville, said of the battlefield.
"It's almost a forgotten war, and it's one that we won," he added. "It was a foreign country on our territory. It was in the early years of independence as a nation and Great Britain was trying to recapture a lost territory."
The site on which thousands of British troops faced the last American resistance before entering Washington, D.C., where they would eventually burn the White House and Capitol, has long since been covered by busy roads, a park, a cemetery and commercial businesses.
A few plaques telling passersby what once transpired are dotted throughout Bladensburg Waterfront Park and Fort Lincoln Cemetery.
Researchers and archeologists will embark upon a project to preserve the battlefield this year after the National Park Service awarded a $60,000 research grant to the Maryland State Highway Administration in June as part of a battlefield protection program.