The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part VII – Final:

The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling:

     Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
     Between their loved homes and the 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, for our cause it is just,
     And this be our motto – “In God is our trust.”
     And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
     O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Now that you know the story, have read the words, and understand their meaning – I hope you will look at our national anthem with new eyes.  Listen to it the next time you have a chance, with new ears.  And don’t ever let anyone take it away.

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(C) Patriotic Expressions and Patriotic Minute 2008

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part VI:

In the third stanza, Francis Scott Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph and to shout abuse at the British enemy.  In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise.

However, during World War II, when the British were our staunchest allies against a new and more hideous enemy, it seemed that this third stanza was unnecessary and it was removed from the anthem and not sung:

     And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
     That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
     A home and a country should leave us no more?
     Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.
     No refuge could save the hireling and slave
     From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.
     And the star spangled banner in triumph doth wave
     O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part V:

The first stanza only asks the question.  the second gives an answer:

     On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mist of the deep,
     Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
     What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
     As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
     Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
     In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;
     ‘Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! Long may it wave
     O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

“The towering steep” is, again, the ramparts.  As the boastful British wait in the silence after the bombing for the sight to let all know who holds the Fort, Key catches the sense of anticipation everyone is feeling.  When finally the morning breeze clears the fog of battle and the early dawn illuminates the American flag.  The bombardment has failed, and Fort McHenry remains in American hands with the American flag still flying.  The British fleet can do nothing now but sail away, their mission a failure, so the United States survives…

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part IV:

Francis Scott Key fancied himself as an amateur poet, and having been so uniquely inspired during the battle with Fort McHenry he pulled a letter out of his pocket and began to write on the back.  He wrote a four-stanza poem that told the events of the night.  It was first printed in a newspaper, the Baltimore Patriot, on September 20, 1814 under the title “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” 

Key

It was later noted that the words fit an old drinking tune called ‘To Anacreon in Heaven’, a difficult melody with a large vocal range.  In fact, Key aparently had tried previously to write a poem to fit this tune.  In October a Baltimore actor sang Key’s new song in a public performance and called it “The Star Spangled Banner”.

Eventually, in 1931 Congress officially declared it to be the national anthem of the United States, and a flag flies day and night over Francis Scott Key’s grave.

Now that you know the story, here are the words.  It starts with the old doctor speaking from his bed, and here is what he is asking Key:

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! Say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

‘Ramparts,’ in case you don’t know are the walls or other elvations that surround a fort to help protect the personnel inside.  This is only the first stanza, and the doctor being anxious to know the outcome of the battle wants to know if the flag still flies over the fort…

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Observational Note: With the Olympics in full swing, we are getting our biennial dose of the National Anthem of the United States of America.  Everytime our athletes mount the pinnacle of the winners podium and the National Anthem is played, it still stirs emotions in my soul and brings a tear of joy, appreciation and patriotism to my eyes.  The story of our National Anthem, as well as its words, embodies the determination and strength in the face of unimaginable odds we see in athletic events all across this country.

Part III

Francis Scott Key, a respected young lawyer living in Georgetown, soon learned that the British had carried off a much loved and elderly town physician, Dr. William Beanes, and was being held on the British flagship TONNANT.  The people were afraid that Dr. Beanes would be hanged and asked Key for his help.  He agreed and arranged to have Colonel John Skinner, an American agent for prisoner exchange, to accompany him. 

On September 3rd, they set sail from Baltimore flying a flag of truce authorized by President Madison.  At first, the British refused to release the doctor, but Key and Skinner presented a pouch that contained letters written by wounded British soldiers who praised the care they were receiving from the Americans, and in particular Dr. Beanes.  The British captain agreed to release the doctor, but they would have to wait.  The bombardment of Fort McHenry was about to start and the three had seen and heard too much of the plans to attack Baltimore.  They were put under guard and were forced wait out the battle.

At 7 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1814, the British bombardment began, and the flag was ready to meet the enemy.  The bombardment continued for 25 hours, the British firing 1,500 bombshells.  With lighted fuses, they weren’t very dependble and often blew up in mid air.  The Americans had sunk 22 vessels in the harbor so a close approach by the British was not possible.  But at about 1 a.m. on the 14th, the British fleet roared to life, lighting the rainy night sky with a grotesque fireworks.  Key, Colonel Skinner and Dr. Beanes watched the battle with apprehension.  The knew that as long as the shelling continued, Fort McHenry had not surrendered.

But before daylight there came a sudden and mysterious silence, either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag now flew above it and the United States might be through as a nation, or the bombardment had been a failure and the American flag still flew over the Fort and the United States would survive.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key waited for the sight that would end his anxiety; the joyous sight of the great flag blowing in the breeze.  Bedridden and unable to look for himself, the physician asked over and over again, “Can you see the flag?  Can you see the flag?”

When daylight finally came, the flag was still there!

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part II

The British entered Chesapeake Bay on August 19th, 1814, and by the evening of the 24th of August, they had invaded and captured Washington.  They set fire to the Capitol and the Executive Mansion.  It wasn’t much of a fire and it didn’t do much damage.  Later on, the Executive Mansion was painted to hide the scorch marks, and it has been known as the “White House” ever since.

President James Madison, the only sitting U.S. President to observe his troops in battle, did not manage the war well.  He and his Cabinet fled Washington to a safer location.  Dolly Madison, the First Lady, remained behind as long as possible and continued to plan for a formal dinner in the Mansion.  However, as the British neared the town, Dolly and the staff packed up numerous government documents including the Declaration of Independence fearing it would be destroyed.  In fact, they were in such a hurry to leave that they had to rip the portrait of George Washington from the wall using an axe to free it from its frame!

A thunderstorm at dawn kept the fires from spreading.  Having done their work the British troops returned to their ships in and around Chesapeake Bay.

In the days following the attack on Washington, the American forces prepared for the assault on Baltimore that they new would come by both land and sea.  On September 12, 1814 the British arrived and found 13,000 men in Fort McHenry, whose guns controlled the harbor.  It they wanted to take Baltimore they would have to silence those guns and take Fort McHenry.

Back in the summer of 1813 at the star-shaped Fort McHenry, the commander, Major George Armistead, asked for a flag to be made that was so big that “the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance.”  A flag measuring 30 x 42 feet consisting of 400 yards of best quality wool bunting with 15 stars that measured 2 feet from point to point was completed and delivered to Fort McHenry.  The flag was now ready to meet the British.

The Star Spangled Banner – The Story

Part I

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain over their attempt to regulate shipping and other activities.  For two years we held the British off even though we were still a rather weak country and Great Britain was a strong one.

The reason we held them off was that Great Britain was in a life-and-death struggle with the French Emperor Napoleon and had little time or energy to fight another war across 3,000 miles of ocean.  In fact, just at the time the United States declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia; and if he won, as everyone expected him to, he would control all of Europe and Great Britain would find itself alone and isolated in opposition to the Emperor.  It was no time to be involved in an American war, and if the United States had been more patient, and if communications across the ocean had been faster, Great Britain would have given in to American demands in time to prevent what was really an unnecessary war.

American land forces did very poorly.  At sea we did well.  American ships and American seamen proved to be better than the British, to the world’s surprise.  We also won a battle on Lake Erie in 1813, when the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry sent the famous message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

However, the weight of the British navy eventually beat down our ships, and the United States was under a tightening blockade.  New England, particularly, was hard-hit economically and it threatened to secede from the Union.

Meanwhile, Napoleon had been beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to abdicate.  Great Britain could now turn its attention to the United States and it organized a three-pronged attack on the country.  The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain toward New York and cut off New England.  The southern prong was to go up the Mississippi to take New Orleans and to paralyze the west.  The central prong, the most important, was to head for the mid-Atlantic and take Baltimore, the greatest port south of New York.

If Baltimore was taken, the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two.  It was the central prong, then, that counted.  On its success or failure rested the death or life of the United States.

The Star Spangled Banner – You Sing It!

She’s only 10 years old…long, straight brown hair…big brown eyes…a smile that is endearing.  She walks up to the front of a room full of ‘grown ups’ attending a meeting, all eyes on her…she swallows hard, smiles, and captures everyone’s heart…she starts to sing with a beautiful voice…

Have you ever been asked to sing The National Anthem?  Most people probably beg off.  Many make an adequate attempt, some perform beautifully.  And then some are just down right awful!  You can name them – Rosanne Barr at a 1990 San Diego Padres baseball game probably tops the list.  Some are controversial, such as Jimi Hendrix’s rendition on his electric guitar at Woodstock in 1969, and Jose Feliciano’s slow, bluesy rendition considered to be the first nontraditional version heard by Americans.

Then there are the famous attempts which flubbed:  Robert Goulet on May 25, 1965 at the much-anticipated rematch of Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.  Goulet began to sing: “Oh say, can you see, by the dawn’s early night…” and is always asked about it.  Today, just watch any sporting event and I guarantee you will hear incorrect words at least fifty percent of the time.

…only in 5th grade, she boldly began to sing The Star Spangled Banner with the room-full of people standing at attention, hands over hearts, listening to her angelic voice.  Then she forgot…”O’er the ramparts we watched…”, a look of fear and embarrassment swept over her face – then panic!  Somewhere in the room a strong voice began to sing “O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming!”  The rest of the room joined in and rescued a brave little girl.