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Port Commissioner Proud
of Ties to Fort McHenry
Port Commissioner Charlie White
(pictured below)
enjoys a modern-day
connection with the War of 1812, having
served with a U.S. artillery regiment that
is descended from that time.
“It’s a kind of folk tale around here
that ordinary citizens raced to Fort
McHenry and manned the guns,” White
said. “Those big artillery pieces were
manned by regular U.S. artillery soldiers.”
The soldiers belonged to the U.S.
Corps of Artillery. During the War of
1812 or shortly thereafter, the Corps was
reorganized into a regimental system,
and the regulars who served at Fort
McHenry were designated as the Second
U.S. Artillery Regiment. Fort McHenry
remained its regimental headquarters for
many years.
The Second Artillery’s distinguished
combat history includes being the first
Union artillery on the field at Gettysburg
during the Civil War, and the last active
pack howitzer mule battalion in the Army.
Designated a historic unit, the Second is
now permanently stationed at Fort Sill,
Oklahoma, the home of the U.S. Army
Field Artillery, where it serves both as the
Artillery’s salute battery and provides fire
support for the Field Artillery School.
The Second Artillery has trained
generations of artillery officers for both
the Army and the Marine Corps. White
commanded “Charlie” Battery of the
Second Howitzer Battalion, Second Field
Artillery (C 2/2) from 1965-66 before
deploying to Vietnam where he was an
Artillery Liaison Officer with the First
Infantry Division, the “Big Red One.”
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KATHY BREGREN SMITH