On This Day In History Francis Scott Key Penned The Star-Spangled Banner

As History.com notes, on this day in 1814 Francis Scott Key penned the Star-Spangled Banner from the deck of a British ship as the British attacked Baltimore.

On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our Flag was still there."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/key-pens-star-spangled-banner?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0913-09132017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=239187358&kx_EmailCampaignID=14624&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0913-09132017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa

Note: If you want to learn more about Key and the battle in the War of 1812 that inspired Key, you should read Steve Vogel's Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation.

On This Day In History: Francis Scott Key Penned Star-Spangled Banner In 1814

As History.com notes, on this day in 1814 Francis Scott Key penned the Star-Spangled Banner from the deck of a British ship as the British attacked Baltimore.

You can read about the event and watch a video on this day in history via the below link:

 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/key-pens-star-spangled-banner?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2016-0913-09132016&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=89900154&kx_EmailCampaignID=7119&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2016-0913-09132016&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa

Note: If you want to learn more about Key and the battle in the War of 1812 that inspired Key, you should read Steve Vogel's Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation.

By Dawn's Early Light: Onlookers Salute 'Old Glory' At Fort McHenry

Navy Seaman Kameren Guy Hodnett, U.S. Navy Public Affairs Support Element East, offers the below piece:

BALTIMORE, Sept. 14, 2014 - Visitors and special guests watched today as members of the U.S. Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), with the help of War of 1812 re-enactors, hoisted a 15-star, 15-stripe, full-size replica Star-Spangled Banner flag over Fort McHenry here at the "By Dawn's Early Light" flag-raising ceremony.

Star-Spangled Banner replica

At precisely 9 a.m., guns blasted and the crowd of onlookers fell silent as service members raised a 30-foot by 42-foot replica of the flag that 200 years ago inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Defence of Fort McHenry," which would later become America's national anthem.

"It is a great pleasure for me to be here at this historic site and historic city of Baltimore as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of our Star-Spangle Banner," said former Secretary of State and retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, the event's guest speaker. The American flag is "a piece of cloth I have loved all my life and have served under for over 40 years,' Powell added.

Celebrating history

The special ceremony capped a weeklong series of events at the fort for Baltimore's Star-Spangled Spectacular, a celebration commemorating the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore and the national anthem.

The fort played host to a number of special events and activities including commemorative ceremonies, living history demonstrations and interpretive programs during the Star-Spangled Spectacular. The city's celebration, which concludes Sept. 16, also includes visits by more than 30 ships from the U.S. and foreign nations, as well as an airshow performance by U.S. Navy's Blue Angels.

Note: The above U.S. Coast Guard photo was taken by Petty Officer 1st Class Pamela J. Boehland.

Remembering A Checkered Battle in The War Of 1812

John Timpane, who edited my first Philadelphia Inquirer piece back in 1999, offers an interesting piece in the Inquirer about the anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg.

Was it a brave, last-ditch effort to defend the country? Or a humiliating military disaster, with U.S. forces taking to their heels before the bloody British?

Sunday is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg, down in Maryland, in which an overwhelmingly volunteer American force stood between Washington and the most powerful army in the world.

We lost, of course. And that same day, the young capital in the miasmal swamp went up in flames.

Thus, the questions about one of the more puzzling battles in our history.

A pretty puzzling war, that War of 1812. Not that well-known. Maybe because, face it, it's one we didn't win.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140824_Remembering_a_checkered_battle_in_the_War_of_1812.html

Note: I happen to being reading Steve Vogel's Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved The Nation, which covers the War of 1812 and how Francis Scott Key wrote what would become our National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. This interesting book also offers a detailed account of the Battle of Bladensburg.

The battle was not our finest hour, but we later stopped the British from taking Baltimore and we went on to win the Battle of New Orleans.