Fort Ticonderoga ~ 1755

     Fort Carillon was begun by the French in 1755 between Lake George and Lake Champlain on the Richlieu River. It was based on Vauban's ancient fortress at Metz in Alsace-Lorraine. The English captured it in 1759, and renamed it Fort Ticonderoga. Colonel Ethan Allen, said to be represented by the figure in the design, recaptured the Fort for the Continental Congress. The stamp commemorates the two hundredth anniversary of its founding by the French. The image on the stamp was drawn by Michel Chartier de Lotbiniere for the original construction of the  Fort by the French.

Fort McHenry ~ 1814

     Fort McHenry was originally called Fort Whetstone because of its location on Whetstone Point near Baltimore, Maryland. It was built in 1799 , on a century-old French design, star-shaped with five bastions. It was renamed McHenry for James McHenry, Secretary of War, under George Washington.
     Its major claim to fame is that the battle which provided the background for the Star Spangled Banner was fought at For McHenry.
     On September 13 1814 the British bombarded the fort for twenty-four hours during the war of 1812. The fort resisted the attack and Baltimore was saved. The valiant resistance inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. This poem, set to the English song, To Anacreon in Heaven, became or National Anthem by act of Congress in 1931.
     The flag which flew over the fort was made by Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore. With help from her daughter, Caroline Purdy, she sewed a woolen flag measuring 42 feet long by 30 feet high with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. Francis Scott Key watched the battle from eight miles below Baltimore where he was detained. He had negotiated the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured by the British.