Fort Howard (Maryland)

Fort Howard was a military installation located on the North Point peninsula, overlooking the main channel of the Patapsco River leading into the harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

It was named by Elihu Root, Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1902 after Colonel John Eager Howard (1752–1827).

In coordination with their Royal Navy's bombardment of Fort McHenry (September 13–14 under the command of Lt. Col. George Armistead), the British troops were to march up the North Point peninsula and capture Baltimore from the east but the British advance was demoralized when the commander, Major-General Robert Ross (1766–1814), was killed by a skirmish sharpshooter Daniel Wells or Henry G. McComas.

After two days and a rainstorm-filled night, disheartened, the British troops withdrew retreating back to North Point, reboarded their ships leaving Baltimore not to return.

In 1917, the troops at Fort Howard were doubled and its men were put on a wartime basis due to the concerns of an impending war.

A typical Vietnamese village was built there to train Special Forces ("green Berets") for counterinsurgency operations in the Vietnam War.

The portion of the property containing the old coastal artillery fortifications was declared surplus federal land and was transferred to Baltimore County in 1975 for use as a historical park.

Two surviving examples of the 4.7 inch Gun M1906 designed and issued by the US Army Ordnance Department in 1906 are on display at Fort Howard.