Guard Room
Fort McHenry's main gate. The rectangular door to the right leads to the guard room and individual prison cells.
During the Civil War (1861 - 1865) President Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeus Corpus. The most famous case being that of John Merryman, a lieutenant in the Maryland State Militia, who was arrested for burning rail bridges north of Baltimore to prevent the passage of northern troops through the city. The army confined Merryman at Fort McHenry, where he was held without charges and denied legal counsel. Throughout the Civil War Fort McHenry was used to confine various political and military prisoners including, ironically, a grandson of Francis Scott Key.
Guard Room
Fort McHenry's main gate. The rectangular door to the right leads to the guard room and individual prison cells.
During the Civil War (1861 - 1865) President Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeus Corpus. The most famous case being that of John Merryman, a lieutenant in the Maryland State Militia, who was arrested for burning rail bridges north of Baltimore to prevent the passage of northern troops through the city. The army confined Merryman at Fort McHenry, where he was held without charges and denied legal counsel. Throughout the Civil War Fort McHenry was used to confine various political and military prisoners including, ironically, a grandson of Francis Scott Key.