Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
— War of 1812 —
Perched above the Potomac River, Mount Welby was nearly surrounded by the war in August 1814. Mary Welby DeButts describes hearing "every fire" from the Battle of Bladensburg and how the house was illuminated by fires in Washington. She writes of finding rockets "on our hill" and that a British fleet "lay directly before our house."
Mount Welby was in earshot of explosions that destroyed Fort Washington and within view of the plundering of Alexandria.
Conflicting LoyaltiesThe war was especially hard for Mount Welby's owners, Dr. Samuel DeButts from Ireland and his wife Mary from England. Unable to access English banks and markets, the British sympathizers struggled to keep their farm.
"You know not how it hurt me to think I was so near my Countrymen, and must look upon them as Enemy." -Mary Welby DeButts to Millicent Welby Ridgehill, March 18, 1815.
(Inscription under the image on the right) Congreve rockets, named for the inventor, were a new military weapon used by British land and naval forces. Three Congreve rockets landed near the DeButts home at Mount Welby.
| HM Number | HM1IPB |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | National Park Service-United States Department of the Interior |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, January 5th, 2015 at 1:02pm PST -08:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 325952 N 4296657 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 38.80150000, -77.00430000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 38° 48.09', W 77° 0.258' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 38° 48' 5.4" N, 77° 0' 15.48" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 301, 240 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near Oxon Hill Bike Trail, MD 20745, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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