Follow a scenic, 100-mile trail that returns you to the waning days of the War of 1812, also known as "America's Second War of Independence." As fighting continued throughout the summer of 1814 (just a few months prior to the war's conclusion), Maryland's brave defenders not only stood strong against British invaders up and down the Chesapeake Bay, but also inspired the poem that would become our National Anthem.

This byway follows a northerly course, tracing the chronology of the Chesapeake Campaign as British troups made their way along the bay, leading up to the perilous fight in Baltimore made famous by Francis Scott Key's "Star-Spangled Banner."