So as the rain poured down, a smaller storm flag that measured 17-by-25 feet flew in its place. The fort's 30-by-42-foot garrison flag was so massive that it required 11 men to hoist when dry, and if waterlogged, the woolen banner could have weighed upwards of 500 pounds and snapped the flagpole. The flag is on display at the National Museum of American History.Įven though legend holds that the flag Pickersgill created was the one Key watched waving over Fort McHenry the night of the attacks, historians aren't so sure. The Star-Spangled Banner flag was commissioned at the request of George Armistead, commander of McHenry, who wanted a flag "so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance." Baltimore flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill sewed the flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes, which she ended up crafting to be 30-by-42 feet. According to accounts, when Key saw the flag, he knew the British hadn't overpowered his countrymen. The rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air - the images he saw the night of September 13 all came together in a poem he later wrote called "Defence of Fort M'Henry." 2) There was an actual star-spangled flagīy the dawn's early light on September 14, Key was able to see a battered American flag flying over the ramparts at the fort. Key, still aboard the HMS Tonnant, watched from afar as the Battle of Baltimore raged on.
On the rainy evening of September 13, 1814, a British fleet of about 20 ships attacked Baltimore's Fort McHenry with mortars and rockets. But because he learned of an impending British attack on Baltimore while he was in the company of the British, Key was not permitted to leave the ship until the bombardment was carried out. Key was invited onto the ship as a guest of British officers, so he was safe.
He was a Maryland-area attorney, associated with both the American Bible Society and the American Colonization Society.ĭuring the War of 1812, Key, along with a prisoner exchange agent, boarded the British ship HMS Tonnant to negotiate the release of American prisoners. 1) Francis Scott Key watched the bombing that inspired the song onboard a British shipĪn amateur poet, Key penned the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the age of 35. Here are five things you might not have known about our national anthem.
That's pretty good, but, seriously, 10 percent of American adults don't know them?Įven if the words of the song are well-known, less known is the history behind it. A recent study conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that 90 percent of Americans know the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner," which turned 200 over the weekend.
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