John Stricker

Maryland Historical Society

John Stricker, a Maryland Militia officer, fought in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He is best remembered as commander of the Baltimore brigade in the Battle of North Point during the British attack on Baltimore on September 12, 1814.

Son of Colonel George Stricker, who had served in the Revolutionary War, John Stricker was born at Frederick, Maryland, on February 15, 1759. Stricker served as a cadet under his father in William Smallwood's First Maryland Regiment, and was present at the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. In 1783 he married Martha Bedford (1763-1816) a daughter of Gunning Bedford of Philadelphia and had six daughters: Mary (1784-1851), Catherine (1786-1860), Ann Eliza (1789-1843), Julianna (1797-?), Charlotte (1798-1826), and Laura (1805-1877), and a son John (1800-1837). Stricker was a brother-in-law by marriage to Commodore Joshua Barney.

In 1794, as colonel of the Fifth Maryland Regiment, Stricker raised troops to quell the Whiskey Rebellion with General Samuel Smith, but the insurgents submitted before Stricker's departure from Baltimore. He was commissioned a brigadier general of the Maryland Militia, Third Brigade, August 28, 1807, and appointed as Collector of the Port of Baltimore from 1801 to 1810.

During the War of 1812, John Stricker commanded the Third Brigade, Third Division of the Maryland Militia. When the British attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814, Major General Samuel Smith, overall commander of the defense of Baltimore, dispatched Stricker with approximately 3,200 men to block the enemy's overland advance from North Point. During a preliminary skirmish, British General Robert Ross was mortally wounded. The following Battle of North Point lasted about two hours until the British outflanked Stricker's left. The Americans retreated in an orderly fashion to the city's main defenses at Hampstead Hill.

John Stricker resigned his commission on November 10, 1814, and in 1816 Baltimore City commissioned Rembrandt Peale to paint his portrait to honor him and others, including Major General Samuel Smith and Lieutenant Colonel George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry, for their successful defense of Baltimore. He was a member of the Society of Cincinnati and became a merchant and president of the Bank of Baltimore (1824-1825). He died on June 23, 1825, and was buried in Westminster Burying Ground, Baltimore.

"Stricker, John." Encyclopedia of War of 1812.. Eds. David S. Heudkerm,, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO 1997. Pp. 494-95.

Stricker, John. "General John Stricker." Maryland Historical Magazine. , 9 (1914): 209-18 [note written by his son].