To preserve this American icon, experts at the National Museum of American History recently completed an eight-year conservation treatment with funds from Polo Ralph Lauren, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Nearly two centuries later, the flag that inspired Key still survives, though fragile and worn by the years. His brother-in-law, commander of a militia at Fort McHenry, read Key's work and had it distributed under the name "Defence of Fort M'Henry." The Baltimore Patriot newspaper soon printed it, and within weeks, Key's poem, now called "The Star-Spangled Banner," appeared in print across the country, immortalizing his words-and forever naming the flag it celebrated. Key put his thoughts on paper while still on board the ship, setting his words to the tune of a popular English song. The hours passed slowly, but in the clearing smoke of "the dawn's early light" on September 14, he saw the American flag-not the British Union Jack-flying over the fort, announcing an American victory. Given the scale of the attack, he was certain the British would win. But when darkness arrived, Key saw only red erupting in the night sky.
"It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone," Key wrote later. Under their scrutiny, Key watched on September 13 as the barrage of Fort McHenry began eight miles away. They allowed the Americans to return to their own vessel but continued guarding them. Key's tactics were successful, but because he and his companions had gained knowledge of the impending attack on Baltimore, the British did not let them go. It was another chapter in the ongoing War of 1812.Ī week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer, had boarded the flagship of the British fleet on the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of persuading the British to release a friend who had recently been arrested. The bombardment, known as the Battle of Baltimore, came only weeks after the British had attacked Washington, D.C., burning the Capitol, the Treasury and the President's house. On a rainy September 13, 1814, British warships sent a downpour of shells and rockets onto Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, relentlessly pounding the American fort for 25 hours.
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