This weekend we marked the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner
or, as the poem was originally titled by Francis Scott Key, "Defence of Fort McHenry”. It was during the War of
1812 when this young lawyer looked on from the British naval position in the
bay as his fellow countrymen fought off the bombardment from the British. It
was during these nights and in the hazy aftermath that he penned the words we
now know as our National Anthem.
Rarely can someone write a narrative of a single conflict
that transcends time and place to represent a greater ideal. However, Key
managed the nearly insurmountable task when he put his pen on the parchment. Rarer
still is the fact that this anthem that epitomizes the strength, endurance, and
courage of our nation was written during what is widely considered a war that
was lost or, at the very least, considered a draw. Here is how the events unfolded around Key:
On September 3, 1814, following the Burning
of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria, Francis Scott Key and John Stuart
Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag
of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was
to secure the exchange of prisoners, one of whom was Dr. William Beanes, the
elderly and popular town physician of Upper Marlboro and a friend of Key's who
had been captured in his home. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of
British soldiers. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant
on September 7 and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and Vice Admiral Alexander
Cochrane over dinner while the two officers discussed war plans. At first, Ross
and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner
showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and
other Americans for their kind treatment.
Because Key and Skinner had heard
details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until
after the battle, first aboard HMS Surprise and later back on HMS Minden.
After the bombardment, certain British gunboats attempted to slip past the fort
and effect a landing in a cove to the west of it, but they were turned away by
fire from nearby Fort Covington, the city's last line of defense.
During the rainy night, Key had
witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort's smaller "storm
flag" continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had
stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. On the
morning of September 14, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag
had been raised.
…
Aboard the ship the next day, Key wrote
a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on
September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He completed the poem
at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and titled it "Defence of
Fort M'Henry".
As the ships rocked back and forth in the bay the events
unfolded before him and Key recognized that he was a witness to much more than
history. In the end, Key served as both poet and reporter as these are the
words that solidified the patriotism of the nation and banded us together until
the end of the war and beyond. It allowed us to look past the current struggles
and strive for a better and brighter future. Key’s words brought us solace
during a time of rebuilding and drive us to this day to see that our nation
remains strong. It is only fitting that a man whose name may have otherwise
been lost to history, speaks to us and for us in the words that he wrote 200
years ago.
