continued…. Going clockwise, the next building (the one near the flag and entrance), was a casemate (fortified chamber) and was used as a prison. The prison had three cells. According to the sign, there was a mattress that was leaned up against the wall during the day and laid on the floor at night for sleeping. The toilet was a barrel that was emptied every morning. They did not allow silverware to be used and cut up the food into small pieces for the prisoners. Bathing was apparently not allowed.
It also had an exhibit about the Civil War. In February of 1861, the southern states formed the Confederacy. It sounds like Maryland had not joined, even though it was a slave state. In April, Confederate forces fired upon Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor. A week later, there was an attack on an infantry regiment stationed in Baltimore, and a riot broke out. Four Union soldiers and nine civilians died, telegraph lines were cut and railroad bridges burned. On April 22, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which meant people could be detained without proof, and put Baltimore under federal control for 6-months. Martial law was imposed, police officers were replaced with Union soldiers, newspapers shut down, telegraph lines were monitored, hundreds of citizens and elected officials were arrested (many held here at Ft. McHenry) for being Southern sympathizers, and Ft. McHenry’s cannons were turned to face the city. The Maryland legislature condemned Lincoln’s actions, viewing him as a dictator who overthrew the public’s freedom. Lincoln believed it was essential to prevent Maryland from joining the Confederacy for Maryland’s own safety and security.
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