Francis Scott Key seeing the Star-Spangled Banner flag "by dawn's early light." COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Of all the stories passed down from the War of 1812, the one that Americans know best is how Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become the national anthem. In a flash of inspiration, Key jotted the poem on the back of an envelope as he watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry. In that moment, America’s most patriotic song was born, although Congress did not adopt “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem until 1931.
Key was born on Aug. 1, 1779 at Terra Rubra Farm near Keymar in Carroll County, Maryland. The farm’s Latin name translates to “red earth,” soil that is still farmed today. The 149-acre farm, along with Key’s house, has changed ownership twice since 2002 after being occupied previously by the same family for 29 years. There is a small, marble monument to Key on the farm and a United States flag flies high above the fields. The farm is not open to the public, but that does not stop curious amateur historians from knocking on the door about once a month. They are disappointed to learn that a wind storm in 1858 destroyed the original house.
Key studied law, and by his early 30s, was a respected lawyer in the Washington suburb of Georgetown, where he lived with his wife and eleven children. He also served as an officer in the local militia.
In his spare time, Key wrote poetry. When he witnessed the battle of Baltimore, it was only natural that he would be inspired to write about the event. None of his other poems have endured, but grateful Marylanders have named schools, highways, bridges, a shopping mall and even a minor league baseball team after the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The young lawyer witnessed the battle while on a diplomatic mission. He was in Baltimore to accompany John Steuart Skinner, the United States’ agent for the release of prisoners of war, to intervene on behalf of a Maryland physician, Dr. William Beanes.
Dr. Beanes lived in Upper Marlboro at the time of the British attack on Washington. Twenty years before, he had emigrated from Scotland. Beanes, an outspoken opponent of the war, was one of the few residents of his small town to stay behind when the British invaded. He willingly offered supplies to the Redcoats, who bought horses and other goods from him. He even gave at least one officer a free supply of tea, sugar and milk.
When a group of thieving British stragglers appeared in town, Beanes and some neighbors captured them. British commander General Robert Ross became irate when he heard that Beanes was interfering with his troops. The general believed that the doctor’s earlier hospitality now seemed insincere.
Ross dealt harshly with the doctor. The sixty-five-year-old Beanes was arrested and imprisoned aboard the HMS Tonnant under the worst conditions, not even being allowed a change of clothing during two weeks of captivity. Beanes was accused of being a traitor to the crown by reason of his Scottish roots. The punishment for traitors was hanging. Never mind that he was a naturalized United States citizen.
Key, who was a friend of Beanes, was asked by one of the doctor’s patients to help obtain his release. It was Skinner who was acting in an official capacity. Skinner was carrying several letters written on Beanes’ behalf by wounded British soldiers, praising the doctor for treating them. Historians speculate the letters were why Beanes was spared, rather than any persuasive arguments made by Skinner or Key.
As an educated and accomplished American, Francis Scott Key must have felt keenly any slights by his aristocratic British captors in Baltimore. COURTESY MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES.
During his stay aboard Tonnant, Key developed a low opinion of the British. He dined and conversed with the three top British leaders in the Chesapeake Bay region, Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn and General Ross, who would soon be killed leading his troops in an attempt to capture Baltimore. Key had expected refinement in these British aristocrats. Three weeks after the battle he wrote to a friend, “Never was a man more disappointed in his expectations than I have been as to the character of British officers. With some exceptions they appeared to be illiberal, ignorant and vulgar, seem filled with a spirit of malignity against everything American.”
While Key and Skinner were treated as guests, technically they were prisoners. The British would not let the Americans return to Baltimore for fear that they would give away details of the impending attack. Guarded by British marines, they were allowed to return with Dr. Beanes to their own sloop anchored at the mouth of the Patapsco River. From this prime vantage point, they watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry.
At dawn, as the darkness and mist lifted, Francis Scott Key was thrilled to see the huge United States flag – not the Union Jack – waving above the fort. Key jotted down a few lines of poetry and some notes capturing his feelings at that moment. Over the next few days, still held captive by the British, then later at the Indian Queen Hotel in Baltimore after his release, he reworked those rough beginnings into thirty-two lines of verse, creating a poem made up of four stanzas.
The poem was an immediate sensation. Copies were distributed around Baltimore and among the defenders at Fort McHenry. Key had written the words to match the tune of a popular British drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key’s brother-in-law, Judge J.H. Nicholson, was so impressed by the poem that he had handbills made up and distributed under the title “The Defence of Fort M’Henry.” Key’s poem was published in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper on Sept. 20, 1814, then reprinted in newspapers from New Hampshire to Georgia. In October, an actor gave a public performance of the poem in Baltimore, calling it, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Key never sought to profit from his creation. He continued to write poetry and practice law, going on to argue cases before the United States Supreme Court. He died on Jan. 11, 1843 at his “red earth” farm.
