by Mike Lamb
The story of our national anthem may best be understood in the broader context of the events, the emotion, and the witness to bravery that led up to its writing. The War of 1812 and the battle for Baltimore, in particular, are important parts of the story. One can see the hand of God moving, for had this battle gone any other way, Key’s poem that inspired our anthem would never have been written, and our nation may not have become the “the land of the free.”
Not many years had passed since America had gained her independence from England in the Revolutionary War. Then, in 1812, the United States was again at war with the same enemy. Americans were angry over British interference with their trade and their impressment of unwilling American sailors into the British Navy. America declared war on Great Britain for these acts on June 18, 1812.
The war went well for America at first but with England’s defeat of Napoleon’s France, England was able to give her full attention to the United States with devastating and humiliating effects. In August of 1814, British Major General Robert Ross landed his force of 5,000 seasoned troops near our capitol, defeated a much larger American force, drove into Washington, and set on fire the capitol building, the president’s mansion, and numerous other structures. President Madison and his wife, Dolley, barely escaped with their lives.
Leaving a ruined Washington behind, the British now turned toward Baltimore, Maryland, the third-largest city in the country. It was to be a combined land and sea attack. General Ross, an Irishman and British hero, landed his troops at North Point, Maryland, where he met heavy resistance from the Maryland militia. Ross was killed and the British army halted their land advance.
Meanwhile, at Fort McHenry, rockets and mortar shells exploded everywhere, spreading fire and raining shrapnel. The fort, under the command of Major George Armistead, had a defending force of just 1,000 men. Their smaller guns could not reach the British ships which stayed just out of their range, but the Americans held on and refused to surrender.
Now to the story of our national anthem and the “Star Spangled Banner” that inspired it. When Major Armistead took command of Fort McHenry in 1813, he commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to make two flags. One was a large garrison flag for which she was paid $405.90 and a smaller one, a storm flag, for which she was paid $168.54. Mary Pickersgill had her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl help her. The large garrison flag was sewn from common wool and cotton. It measured 30×42 feet with stars about two feet in diameter and stripes two feet wide.This was the flag that would inspire Francis Scott Key’s poem that would become our national anthem.
Prior to the battle for Baltimore that took General Ross’ life, friends of Dr. William Beanes, who was being held on a British ship eight miles away down the river as a prisoner of war, had asked Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key to join John S. Skinner, the American prisoner-exchange agent, on a humanitarian mission to seek the doctor’s release. Boarding the British ship under a truce flag on September 3, Admiral Cochrane and General Ross, who was aboard at the time, refused, believing Dr. Beanes to be an informant for the enemy. Having been shown letters from British soldiers who testified to the kindness and care of the doctor, they then consented to his release, but detained them for some days until the battle was over, fearing they might divulge their plans to the Americans if they let them go.
During the assault on the fort, the British, landing a direct hit, threw aside caution and moved their ships closer as the battle raged through the stormy night. With the vessels finally coming within range of Fort McHenry’s guns, the determined defenders trained all their cannons on the British ships and managed to so damage them that they were forced to withdraw. Admiral Cochrane ordered a land attack against the rear of the fort in an attempt to scale its walls, but it also failed when the guns of nearby Fort Covington drove the attackers off. By dawn the British could see that all hope of taking the fort and the city were gone.
At 7:30 a.m. on September 14, 1814, British Admiral Cochrane called off the assault. Because of a heavy rainstorm, Major Armistead had flown the smaller storm flag through most of the battle, but at dawn, with the British retreating, he ordered the large garrison flag raised as the troops in the fort, no doubt with loud cheers, fired their guns and played “Yankee Doodle.” Three months later, the war ended. It is widely believed that the successful defense of Baltimore and Fort McHenry played a large part in the British decision to sign a truce.
Francis Scott Key and the others had been permitted to return to the truce ship but under heavy guard so they could not leave or signal the shore. He had been on deck all through the night anxiously watching the battle unfold. When the bombardment ended and he saw the British withdrawing, he could see through the morning mist on that September 14 morning the large garrison flag flying over the American fort. Deeply moved, he wrote, on the back of a letter he had in his pocket, the poem that would become our national anthem. Originally entitled “The Defense of Fort McHenry,” it had four stanzas. The middle two were eventually dropped from the anthem, probably because they contained some language unfavorable to the British who became our friends. (“Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.) The last verse became the second and it was set to a popular tune of the day and was renamed “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1815. In 1890, the military adopted it and ordered it played at the raising and lowering of the flag. Both the Army and Navy designated it the national anthem in 1917 for ceremonial purposes and Congress and President Hoover made it official on March 3, 1931.
Today, there are those who would change our national anthem to something less militant. With forces around the world plotting to destroy this country and deprive us of, in Jefferson’s words, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” “The Star Spangled Banner” has no equal and must not be replaced. We should insist it be sung properly, as written, with all standing, hats off, hands over hearts. We should insist schools teach it to our children and insist it be sung regularly in a patriotic opening. (California law provides for this even though some schools ignore the law.)
We should further insist that our schools teach our official National Motto, “In God We Trust,” probably taken from Key’s line “In God is our trust,” and not be intimidated by the few who loudly want it dropped. I hope that as Americans we will remember the spirit of Major Armistead and the brave men of Fort McHenry as well as the heroes on the ground who, though often outgunned and outmanned, stopped the British advance on Baltimore. The second verse of “The Star Spangled Banner” is rarely sung. Many probably do not even know it exists. With our country again at war we should include it every time we sing our national anthem:
O thus be it ever,
when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes
and war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace,
may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Pow’r 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
O’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.
Christians should remember that many of those who fought and died for our country in the Revolutionary War and again in 1812 were devout Christians who did not believe that faith in God should keep them out of politics and the defense of America. Nor did they believe that the name of God has no place in national life. They were unashamed in their belief that America is a “heavenrescued land” and that it is imperative that we proclaim “In God is our trust” to our nation. The need for this caliber of Christian is as great as ever.
May the words of our national anthem remain true as long as God allows our great nation to exist.