By Catherine Ulrich
Brakefield
Americans hoped the Revolutionary War
of 1776 had shown Britain that the United States was a power to be reckoned
with. Little did anyone dream that
thirty-six years later, the United States would be forced to declare war
against the British superpower to protect their sailors, ships, and Northwest
frontiers in the bloody war of 1812.
Nor that one man who did not approve of
this war would risk his life during a battle. What changed him seemingly
overnight? How could one man one night write a song that would weather the
protocols of generations, is sung at sporting events, and reverenced by
statesmen and every military unit? How could this one man, an amateur poet,
become the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” America’s national anthem?
So was the case for Francis Scott Key.
Born August 1, 1779, in Frederick County, Maryland, to an affluent family. He
entered St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, at the age of ten.
His dedication for his Lord set his thoughts first to become an Episcopal priest. And though he did pursue a profession as a lawyer, his passion for helping the poor continued throughout his life’s journey. He served as a lay rector for many years, leading services and visiting the sick. Among the poems he wrote, many dealt with religious themes and he wrote several hymns.
He first practiced law under the
guidance of Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase. Key passed the bar in 1801. He had a
thriving private practice. He lived in his Georgetown home with his wife Mary
Tayloe Lloyd, whom he fondly nicknamed Polly. Little did he know he would be
instrumental in the War of 1812, during the height of a military confrontation.
The stench of the burning buildings of
Washington D.C. was still fresh in his nostrils. He’d served in a Georgetown militia
unit at the Battle of Bladensburg. The British were victorious on that August
day 1814 against the ill-equipped American units. This victory by the British
allowed them to march onto Washington D.C. and gleefully burn down the Capitol, the president’s
house, and other government buildings.
Now, this early September of 1814 Key
was asked to perform a potentially dangerous mission. Bean’s family approached Key
and Army Colonel John Skinner to go to the British admiral’s ship docked in
Baltimore and negotiate the release of his friend William Beans, a physician
from Upper Marlborough, Maryland.
The feisty 65-year-old physician
confronted British soldiers who had broken in and plundered his Upper Marlboro,
Maryland, home. One soldier complained to his officer. William Beans was placed
under arrest.
His family hoped that Key, being a prominent
Washington attorney, could effectively negotiate his release. Key acquired the
necessary authorizations to do so. As Skinner’s and Key’s steps resonated
against the ship’s deck, his thoughts revolved like a whirlwind. One of the
reasons for entering this war was because Britain captured American vessels and
confiscated American sailors for British ships. Would he ever see his beloved Polly
again?
While being escorted to the captain, waiting
for his turn to finalize the prisoner release arrangements, he overheard the
British plans to attack Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. They acted as if the fort was
in their hands already. After all, the captain hauntingly said that with the British
victory at Bladensburg and the consequent burning of Washington, D.C., it would
be an easy victory to burn Fort McHenry to embers and capture the port city of
Baltimore. Baltimore was far more important than Washington because it was
strategically located for their ships.
Perhaps the thought crossed Key to pretend
he didn’t hear, hoping he could warn his fellow Americans. That idea was terminated
when the British laid hold of him, Skinner, and Beans. The British refused to release
them until after the battle was won. Key knew, as did the British, if the fort
fell—so could the nation.
They were forced to watch the constant bombardment of Fort McHenry. During the daylight hours, it was hard to miss that gigantic flag waving down at them from the fort. History recorded the size to be 30’ high and 40’ wide.
He watched the sun’s departure and
darkness engulfed their ship. Key dreaded seeing the red flames licking hungrily
toward the blackened and smoke-filled sky, and the sight of their beloved, but
burned, capital awakened in his mind’s eye.
The bombs lighting up the sky showed
the Stars and Stripes bravely waving. How long would it stand before the inevitable
happened? The rockets licked the darkness with fevered intensity. And with
every burst of red from the British artillery, the Stars and Stripes boldly,
tautly waved over the ramparts.
The three men waited helplessly,
praying for a miracle. Upon that morning’s first beam—as dawn’s early light appeared
across the horizon, is that the Stars and Stripes? Half concealed, half
disclosed—their flag was still there! Dauntlessly it stood, tattered and frayed,
it caught the gleam of the morning’s light—waving down to them as if to say, “This
is my home and I’m not leaving!”
The very sight of those broad stripes and bright stars sent his fingers plunging into his pockets for paper and pen as he hurriedly scratched down the immortal words of what we now know as the United States national anthem.
By sea and by land, that brave band of
American patriots weathered every attack. The odds of them winning were insurmountable,
and the ending looked dismal; the rockets and bombs burst the air in a mighty
roar of consuming hatred. Still, American forces refused to admit defeat and the
Stars and Stripes sang out vauntingly amidst the havoc of war and hopelessness—and
turned a defeat into a victory!
Americans proved they could withstand a great
world power. The enemy’s foot soldiers, its shells, and mortars were no match against
that type of determination, faith, and fortitude of the American spirit, a
benevolent spirit, that “blessed the power that has made and persevered us a
nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto—‘in
God is our Trust.’” (See below “Star-Spangled Banner”)
In a Baltimore hotel, the amateur poet Key
rewrote the poem and printed it anonymously under the title “Defense of Fort
M’Henry.” On September 20 it was published by the Baltimore Patriot and
set to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” It became one of several popular
patriotic songs.
Key never knew it became America’s national
anthem. It took more than a hundred years for that to evolve. During the Civil War
it became a powerful expression of patriotism, with its emotional and enduring
symbol of a still-new nation marching forever forward for truth and freedom for
all Americans. Irish Immigrants, which I tell in Swept into Destiny. “No
refugee 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.” (See Star-Spangled Banner below)
In 1889, the song was recognized by the U.S. Navy who sang it when raising and lowering the flag. It was proclaimed in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson to be the national anthem of the armed forces. It did not become the nation’s official anthem until March 1931.
Through the years, the song has seen
variations in both words and music. In 1917 an official arrangement was
prepared by Walter Damrosch and John Philip Sousa for the army and navy. The
third stanza is customarily omitted out of courtesy to the British. Key’s original
lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” are written below:
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 strips
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 bomb 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 now 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 footstep’s pollution.
No refuge 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.
This September and every day after, never
forget Key’s words and those valiant patriots who attributed their victory to
the blessings of God. “Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!” (See above Star-Spangled
Banner)
Nothing is impossible when your motto
is, “In God is our trust.”
Swept into Destiny One brave decision leads to serious consequences. A new republic looms on the horizon as Maggie secretly educates the slaves at Spirit Wind Manor. With the fires of civil war glowing on the horizon, Maggie is swept into its embers. The handsome Irish immigrant Ben McConnell joins the Union Army, and Maggie is forced to call him her enemy… As the battle between North and South rages, Maggie wonders if Ben is right. Had the Irishman perceived the truth of what God had predestined for America?
Catherine says,
"My readers inspire me to write." She is an award-winning author of
inspirational historical romances Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny,
Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny. Love’s
Final Sunrise is her first Amish suspense.
Catherine lives with her husband of 51 years and has two adult children and four grandchildren. See https://www.CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information about her books.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Scott-Key
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/war-1812/battles/fort-mchenry
Thank you for telling the history of this beautiful song!
ReplyDeleteConnie, I am so happy you enjoyed the history behind the song! God Bless!
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