Maryland in the War of 1812

September 14, 1814, 9 A.M. – “At this time our morning gun was fired, the flag hoisted, Yankee Doodle played, and we all appeared in full view of a formidable and mortified enemy, who calculated upon our surrender in 20 minutes after the commencement of the action.” Joseph Hopper Nicholson, U.S. Volunteers at Fort McHenry to a friend, September 17, 1814.

It was at this moment,  that a 38 year old Georgetown lawyer, Francis Scott Key, witnessed from an American flag-of-truce vessel, the President, admist the British fleet, the great garrison flag (42’x 30′) over Fort McHenry. The following is from a handbill that was distributed to every soldier at Fort McHenry soon after the bombardment.

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DEFENCE OF FORT McHENRY

The annexed song was composed under the following circumstances – A gentleman had left Baltimore, in a flag of truce for the purpose of getting released from the British fleet, a friend [Dr. William Beanes] who had been captured at [Upper] Marlborough. He went as far as the mouth of the Patuxent, and was not permitted to return lest the intended attack on Baltimore should be disclosed. He was therefore brought up the Bay to the mouth of the Patapsco, where the flag vessel was kept under the guns of a frigate [HMS Surprise], and he was compelled to witness the bombardment of Fort M’Henry, which the Admiral had boasted that he would carry in a few hours, and that the city must fall. He watched the flag at the Fort through the whole day with an anxiety that can be better felt than described, until the night prevented him from seeing it. In the night he watched the Bomb Shells, and at early dawn his eye was again greeted by the proudly waving flag of his country.

Tune -ANACREON IN HEAVEN.

O! say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight

O’er the ramparts we watch’d, 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?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected new shines in the stream,

‘Tis the star spangled banner, – O! long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps pollution.

No refuse could save the hireling and slave,

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

O! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,

Between their lov’d home, and the war’s desolation,

Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land,

Praise the Power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto – “In God is our Trust;”

And the star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,

O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

*  *  *  *  *

On September 20, 1814, the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser published the words. Within the year every newspaper in the eighteen states had also published it.

Sources: One of the rare copies of the “Defence of Fort McHenry” handbills is at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.

“At this time our morning gun was fired, the flag hoisted, and Yankee Doodle played…”  Private Isaac Munroe, U.S. Volunteers, Sept. 1814.

The words of Francis Scott Key still echo over the Patapsco River and Baltimore, when literally “by the dawn’s early light,” the American ensign was hoisted over the walls of Fort McHenry to the tune of Yankee Doodle, a young nation’s national air. What actually happened at that moment on September 14, 1814?  Was the flag hoisted in victory as the British sailed away?

These are the questions that often have been misrepresented in telling this compelling story that occured two hundred years ago. The answer lies not in the national anthem, nor in the “retreat” of the Royal Navy before Baltimore, but in the U.S. Army Regulations of 1813 and 1821 and eyewitness’ of the battle.

The Dawn’s Early Light – On the early morning hours of September 14, 1814, following a 25 hour naval bombardment at 4:30 a.m., the American batteries at Fort McHenry fell silent. Three hours later the British ships ceased firing. The tumultuous night of thunderstorms had now stopped. The sun had been up since 5:40 a.m. The bombardment smoke reflected the morning mists drifting along the shores of marsh grass and river surfaces.

The British fleet that had unleashed its armaments bombs and rockets against Fort McHenry, hoisted their sails and one by one began to sail down river – the Battle for Baltimore had ended. The garrison within, while overwhelmed of having survived the bombardment, now unexpectedly viewed the sudden withdrawal of the British navy from Baltimore.

At 9 a.m. four fifers and drummers of the U.S. Corps of Artillery lined up within the Star Fort parade ground for the raising of the morning colors. The 17’x 25’ storm flag that had flown during the tumultuous night was lowered. The great garrison flag measuring 42′ x 30′ was then ceremoniously raised over the star fort “In full glory reflected how shines in the stream,…” as remembered by Francis Scott Key. A month earlier a newspaper correspondent witnessed at Fort McHenry:

“Who that has ever heard the Reveille played at Fort McHenry by the skillful performers of that Garrison, but who will be ready to acknowledge the power of the “ear-piercing fife and spirit stirring drum,” when touched by the hand of a master? And who has not witnessed the effect produced on an audience at the Theatre, when some favorite air was struck up? Of National Airs we have as yet but few; but we have two that are sufficient for our purpose – Yankee Doodle and Hail Columbia – are as soul-aspiring airs as ever were composed…”

U.S. Army regulations make it very clear that daily at 9 a.m. the sentries of the Fort were changed, the fort’s cannon, a 6-pdr. is fired, and the fifes and drums played. However, amidst the celebration, remained a trepidation of another attack. Any clear celebration would  have to wait. The star-spangled banner that Key had witnessed was not raised in victory – but of U.S. Army regulations. It so happened the British departed on the very hour the U.S. regulations stated the flag be raised!

So much for the romantic nature of writers.

For the first time, an American had composed the words that gave the American flag new meaning and symbolism that had never been expressed before. From this moment, Americans began to refer to the flag as the star-spangled banner, so to the present day.

The flag that so inspired Francis Scott Key with the words that became a new national song is displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Histiry in Washington, D.C.

Sources: “National Music,” Baltimore American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, August 17, 1814; Rules and Regulations of the U.S. Army, 1812;