On
September 3,
1814, Key and John S. Skinner, an American prisoner-exchange agent, set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship
HMS Minden flying a
flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, the elderly and popular town physician of
Upper Marlboro, and a friend of Key’s who had been captured in his home. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of British soldiers. Key and Skinner boarded the British
flagship HMS Tonnant on
September 7 and spoke with
Major General Robert Ross and
Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner, while they discussed war plans. At first, Ross and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and other Americans for their kind treatment.
Because Key and Skinner had heard details of the plans for
the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard
HMS Surprise, and later back on the HMS Minden. After the bombardment, certain British gunboats attempted to slip past the fort and effect a landing in a cove to the west of it, but they were turned away by fire from nearby Fort Covington, the city's last line of defense.
During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the
fort’s smaller "storm flag" continued to fly, but once the shell and
rocket [2] barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered, and the larger flag had been raised.
15-star, 15-stripe "Star-Spangled Banner" flag
Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large
American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the
Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the
National Museum of American History, a treasure of the
Smithsonian Institution. It was restored in 1914 by
Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.
Aboard the ship the next day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on 16 September, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He finished the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and he entitled it "Defence of Fort McHenry."
Key gave the poem to his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph H. Nicholson. Nicholson saw that the words fit the popular melody "
To Anacreon in Heaven", an old British drinking song from the mid-1760s, composed in
London by
John Stafford Smith. Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously printed
broadside copies of it — the song’s first known printing — on
September 17; of these, two known copies survive.
Francis Scott Key's original manuscript copy of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem. It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society.
On
September 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The song quickly became popular, with seventeen newspapers from
Georgia to
New Hampshire printing it. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner", although it was originally called "Defence of Fort McHenry." The song’s popularity increased, and its first public performance took place in October, when Baltimore actor
Ferdinand Durang sang it at Captain McCauley’s
tavern.
The song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands played it during public events, such as
July 4 celebrations. On
July 27,
1889, Secretary of the Navy
Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order #374, making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.
