Today in American and Military History, September 13, 1814: American lawyer Francis Scott Key, accompanied by British Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, will board HMS Tonnant (1798), sitting in Baltimore Harbor. His purpose is to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes. Dr. Beanes had been arrested for making a citizens arrest on unruly British Soldiers outside of the city. Key and Skinner will have dinner aboard Tonnant with the three high ranking British officers who set up the negotiations and guaranteed Key safe passage. As the dinner ends the five gentlemen drink their Brandy and begin to prepare to negotiate. Before they are able to begin the captain of HMS Tonnant (1798), British Captain Charles Kerr, enters the quarters and informs all present that the Battle of Baltimore is about to begin. He also informs the group that Mr. Key and Colonel Skinner will be detained for the duration of the battle fearing that the men, especially Francis Scott Key, may know too much of the British battle plan and must be held. The order comes from the ranking staff of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane whose flagship is HMS Tonnant (1798). Admiral Cochrane is one of the British officers attending the dinner and was to also take part in the negotiations. Knowing and fully understanding the vital importance of the detaining order he allows it to stand but immediately apologizes to Key and Skinner asking for them to bear with him. Admiral Cochrane also assures Key that all previous agreements are still in place. Key and Skinner do understand and ask permission to go on deck to watch the battle. Admiral Cochrane grants the request and also orders the temporary, but guarded, release of Dr. Beanes so that he may join his fellow countryman and the agent on deck. As the three men watch throughout the night they see something that most never will. Fort McHenry is pounded by a massive British fleet with fire that never seems to stop. The fleet is out of range of the forts guns but the Americans do fire. The British plan is to pound the fort and then when her guns are silent sail into and invade Baltimore. The guns of the fort must be knocked out because to enter the inner harbor they will have to use the channel. The channel is certainly within range of the forts guns and there will be no invasion as long as the guns of Fort McHenry remain active. The deadly game progresses all night long. As the Sun rises on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key cannot believe what he sees. The forts guns are still firing and the very large American flag, which originally measured 30 by 42 feet but is now very shot up, still flies above Fort McHenry, meaning that the vital American position has not fell. He is now greatly inspired. Soon the British learn the futility of the battle and choose to withdraw under the orders of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. He informs Key that he will be released as soon as Keys hired sloop can arrive at Tonnant. Admiral Cochrane also informs Key that Dr. Beanes is no longer being held and may leave on the sloop with the lawyer and Colonel Skinner. The sloop arrives and the three men board her. Immediately afterwards the British fleet sails for the Chesapeake Bay and never returns to Baltimore. Francis Scott Key takes pen and paper from his pocket and begins to pen the poem that is now deep in his heart. He named his quickly written poem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Key later gave the poem to his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph H. Nicholson, who saw that the words fit the popular melody The Anacreontic Song, by English composer John Stafford Smith. The song was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemans club of amateur musicians in London. Many still say that it was a drinking song. The song gained popularity throughout the 19th century as bands played it during public events. On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order Number 374, making The Star-Spangled Banner the official tune to be played at the raising of the American flag. In 1916, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered that The Star-Spangled Banner be played at military and other appropriate occasions. The playing of the song two years later during the seventh-inning stretch of the 1918 World Series, and thereafter during each game of the series is often cited as the first instance that the anthem was played at a baseball game. Evidence shows that the Star-Spangled Banner was performed as early as 1897 at opening day ceremonies in Philadelphia and then more regularly at the Polo Grounds in New York City beginning in 1898. By a law signed on March 3, 1931, by U.S. President Herbert Hoover, The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted as the National Anthem of the United States of America and continues to this day. The tradition of performing the National Anthem before every baseball game began in World War II. Our nations National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. O 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 through 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; O 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, O! 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. O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the wars desolation. Blest with victry 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! (1) Francis Scott Key (L), accompanied by British Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner and Dr. William Beanes, watches the overnight bombardment of Fort McHenry on September 13-14, 1814, onboard HMS Tonnant (1798) in Baltimore Harbor. Artwork by Artist George Grey. (2) Fort McHenry under attack by the British fleet during the famous battle. Artwork by Artist I. Pierson. (3) Fort McHenry today with the view towards the 1814 location of the attacking British fleet. The Francis Scott Key Bridge can be seen in the background. Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:26:10 +0000
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