I have a confession. There was a time that I thought the Star Spangled Banner should be replaced by America the Beautiful as our national anthem. The claims that the Star Spangled Banner was too militaristic and was not representative of our nation had seduced me. But a few years ago I read an account of the battle at Fort McHenry and, embarrassed, I totally changed my mind. The time was 1814. The fledgling nation, The United States of America, was struggling to survive. The British had been kidnapping American sailors and forcing them to work essentially as slaves of British ships. They were also imposing trade restriction on the US and arming the Indians to attack American settlements in the west. As a result the two countries went to war. The British had attacked and burned Washington DC and were attempting to cut the country in half by taking the third largest city, Baltimore, but to do that they had to take Fort McHenry. The British attempted both a ground assault and a naval assault to capture the city and Fort. The British fleet consisted of 19 ships. In the early morning of September 13 the British began a 25 hour bombardment of the Fort with Congreve rockets and mortars. Between 1,500 and 1,800 shells, hollow cannon balls with explosive changes, filled the air exploding and raining shrapnel on anyone near the fort. Inside the four men and one woman, who was bringing the men food and water, were killed and 24 wounded. But the commander of the fort had commissioned a widow in Baltimore to make two flags for the fort. One was a huge garrison flag, 30 X42 ft and the other a smaller storm flag. Lawyer Francis Scott Key had been taken to one of the British ships to negotiate the release of an American doctor William Beanes who had been accused of aiding the capture of British soldiers. Key won his release but while they were on the ship the battle began and they were sequestered. The large garrison flag could be seen up to 8 miles from the fort and was clearly visible to Key as the bombs burst above. In the afternoon a shell hit one of the 24 pound cannons in the fort and Key saw the smoke rising through the bombardment. Then in later afternoon it began to rain but the British bombardment continued. Even with the bombardment the garrison flag was taken down and the storm flag raised. All night the British rained bombs on the fort and Key feared that in the morning he would see the British flag flying over the fort and Baltimore would be in the hands of the British indicating that his nation was defeated. He paced the deck in the early dawn anxious for enough light to see the fort. Finally, the shelling stopped and he turned his glasses on the fort. Slowly the faint glow of dawn began to illuminate the huge garrison flag. It was then that Key and the others knew the US defenses had held. The men in Fort McHenry were representative of the American spirit. Against the odds, they were all aware that the British had burned Washington DC, these men were committed to defending the fort and the city at all costs. And all the storm and through the night men risked their lives to make sure that the flag continued to fly. I went to the FL-GA football game this weekend and I admit that, when I sang the Star Spangled Banner, I sang with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I remembered the men in that fort facing 25 hours of terror. So when you sing our national anthem at a foot ball game remember the courage of those who came before us and who won our freedom with their blood. Below are all four versus of the Star Spangled Banner. THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER Oh, say can you see by the dawns early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, Oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foes haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, oer the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the mornings first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave Oer 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 battles confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps 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 Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the wars desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heavn rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 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 Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 17:35:43 +0000
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