Star-Spangled Banner

Star-Spangled Banner. . The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States, was written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 18 12, and set to the music of To Anacreon in Heaven, an old English tune. , In the summer of 1813, Major George Armistead, Commander of Fort McHenry which guarded the Baltimore Harbor, commissioned Baltimore resident, Mary Young Pickersgill, a “maker of colours," to make an American flag so large that "the British, who had been waging war with the United States since 1812, would have no trouble seeing it from a great distance.” By August, Mrs. Pickersgill and her 13-year-old daughter Caroline had finished the flag. It measured 30 by 42 feet. Maj. Armistead then proudly had this great flag of the United States of America raised above Fort McHenry for the British and all to see. , In mid-August of 1814, the British fleet sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and invaded and captured Washington, D.C. and set fire to the Capital and the White House. It was expected that the British would soon attack nearby Baltimore. , Shortly after the attack on Washington, Dr. William Beanes, an elderly and much-loved Maryland physician, had been captured and carried away by the British. Francis Scott Key, an attorney, agreed to help local citizens attempt to secure the release of Dr. Beanes. Col. J. S. Skinner, who had experience in the exchange of prisoners, agreed to help Key in this mission. Key and Col. Skinner were allowed to board the British warship where Dr. Beanes was being held to discuss his release. The British agreed to Dr. Beanes’ release but when they learned that Key, Col. Skinner and Dr. Beanes, had overheard the British plans to attack Baltimore and Fort McHenry they refused to let them leave the ship and held them all captive. , The British began an intense and unrelenting bombardment on Fort McHenry on the morning of September 13 and continued their attack until the early morning of September 14, 1814. Key and his companions had to remain on board ship where they watched the battle with great apprehension. In the predawn darkness, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety , the beautiful sight of the Flag still flying and the Fort still standing and undefeated. When at last daylight came, the Flag and the Fort were still there! Intensely moved, Key, an amateur poet, began scribbling a poem on the back of an envelope. Unsuccessful in the attack, the British fleet withdrew and Key and his fellow patriots were released. Key then completed the poem and entitled it The Defense of Fort McHenry., The poem was quickly distributed on handbills throughout the city of Baltimore. Later, the poem was published in Baltimore newspapers. It met with instant popularity and was soon renamed The Star-Spangled Banner. In 1931, it was officially adopted by the United States Congress as our national anthem. , Star-Spangled Banner, O say, can you see, , By the dawn's early light, , What so proudly we hailed , At the twilight's last gleaming, , Whose broad stripes and bright stars, , Through the perilous fight, , O'er the ramparts we watched, , were so gallantly streaming? , And the rocket's red glare, , The bombs bursting in air, , Gave proof through the night , That our flag was still there, , O say, does that star-spangled , Banner yet wave , O'er the land of the free, , And the home of the brave?. , [marker background image] , This drawing of the American Flag was created for Veterans Memorial Park by , Aleia McCloud Warren, 4th Grade Student, November 2006 , Watauga Elementary School, Washington County, Virginia. , Actual Fort McHenry flag is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.