Francis Scott Key, The Battle For Baltimore, Fort McHenry, The Flag - The Truth
I
love history. I love to read about how people lived in the past and
the blessings they experienced and the hardships that they had to
endure. I am not a historian but more a history buff and am pretty
good at ferreting out the truth. One of the things I like to do is
debunk false stories that people make up and then post as memes
online or send in email. The purpose of this article is to examine
one of those internet stories that is about 95% totally made up
without any historical documentation or verification. It was
circulated online and in email for years and apparently derived from
a sermon or article someone wrote that was later used to create a
video that is still on YouTube. While the meme and video are
extremely inspirational, they are almost completely false according
to all trusted documents from that time in history and the archives
available today. This article is not to condemn anyone, just to present
the true facts as compared to that circulated story and video. I'll
be as brief as possible and will compare the two stories with the
tags Meme and Fact.
The
meme and subsequent video were created to expand the actual events that
did happen, to be an inspiration to Christians. This happens a lot
with the stories that are sent to friends and we must be careful what
we believe which comes in an email or is posted online. You
must do your homework BEFORE you accept something as fact and then
resend it. There was another meme I received in email and have heard
preachers use when speaking about eagles plucking their feathers out
and knocking their own beaks off and it is 100% false in every single
"fact" that it states. I've exposed that meme in a separate
writing. Now on to the facts and fiction surrounding Francis Scott
Key and the flag he immortalized in The Star Spangled Banner.
Background:
The story of Francis Scott Key and the writing of The Star Spangled
Banner takes place September 5-14 in 1814 involving an attack on Fort
McHenry by the British Royal Navy anchored in Chesapeake Bay. I won't
go into extreme detail as to why the United States was once again at war with England. You
can look that up for yourself if you don't know. I'll start the
examination and comparison with the British attack on Washington D.C.
and the burning of all our government buildings to the ground except
for the U.S. Patents Building.
The War of 1812 began in July of that
year over the British and their kidnapping of American ships and
seamen. As a reprisal, the U.S. was considering annexing Canada in 1814
to reduce Britain's influence in North America. British government
buildings were set ablaze in York (near where Toronto is today). That
act lead to the burning of our Capitol. Next on the Royal Navy's list
was to cut off supplies by taking the port of Baltimore, Maryland which was
this country's third largest city at the time. From D.C., British
troops raided Alexandria, Virginia and set their sights for Maryland.
The British fleet planned to position itself in Chesapeake Bay near Fort
McHenry just out of range of the fort's guns in order to capture the
fort which was protecting Baltimore harbor.
Two
weeks earlier British troop defectors had tried to steal things from
a house owned by Dr. William Beanes. Beanes and several neighbors and
townsmen confronted them and had them arrested. One of the soldiers escaped and complained to a British officer, Major General Robert Ross, who arrested
Beanes and took him to one of the Royal Navy ships in the Bay. He was
scheduled to be hanged when Francis Scott key, a local attorney and
friend of the doctor, agreed to act on Beanes' behalf. Let's examine
the true story compared to the false meme for the facts as they actually did happen.
Meme:
Francis Scott Key was a lawyer in Baltimore.
Fact:
False. The meme starts out with incorrect information. Francis Scott
Key was a lawyer in Georgetown, just outside of Washington D.C., over 40 miles away. His
practice was not in Baltimore. 1
Meme:
The colonies were engaged in vicious conflict with the mother country
Britain.
Fact:
False. It was September 1814. We were not the 13 colonies anymore but
18 states in the United
States of America.
We had not been colonies for 38 YEARS! England was the former
mother
country but that had ended over THREE DECADES EARLIER. 2
Meme:
Both sides had accumulated prisoners of war. The United States
government went to the British and asked for permission to negotiate
for the release of the American prisoners. The U.S.
government asked if they could send a man out to discuss this with
British military officials as they were holding these prisoners
in boats about 1000 yards off of the coast of the United
States. The U.S. government said they wanted to send Francis Scott
Key to negotiate a mutual exchange for these prisoners. The two
governments reached an agreement that all of the prisoners
could be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Francis Scott Key in a row
boat went out and went below deck and found "a cargo hold
full of humanity". They were the chained prisoners of
war. Key told them he had good news that they would be returned to
the colonies.
Fact: All of the account in the above paragraph is total, complete fiction. During the course of every war, both sides would have prisoners. But Key was not
enlisted by the U.S. Government to act on behalf of all prisoners
being held by the British. In fact, a prisoner exchange had already
happened. Key was a friend and neighbor of the doctor and had family
ties to him. Key's wife and other family members and friends of the
doctor approached Key and persuaded him to try to obtain the release of Dr. Beanes, who was an
elderly man with physical needs. Legally, a U.S. citizen could not
broker a deal directly with a foreign government, especially one we
were at war with. So Key first had to get permission from President
James Madison who subsequently approved the mission and sent U.S. Prisoner
Exchange Agent, Colonel John Skinner, to accompany the lawyer and see
if they could free the doctor. 3
 |
| Col. John Skinner |
 |
| President James Madison |
They brought letters from British soldiers who had had their wounds
treated by the doctor as testimony. 4
There
is no record anywhere that the U.S. Government had made contact with
the British for another mass prisoner exchange. Key only represented
the doctor and was doing so at the request of private citizens. There
were no prisoners being held below deck of the British Flag Ship. Key
and Skinner were taken onboard the HMS Tonnant and immediately taken
to see Vice
Admiral Alexander Cochrane and Major General Robert Ross, whom they
were with the whole time while on board the British flag ship.
 |
| Major General Robert Ross |
 |
| Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane |
Key was considered the enemy and would not have been allowed to wander around a British war ship on his own, especially the Admiral's flag ship. There is no record of Key going into a cargo hold to tell anyone they were to be freed. He told no one else that he had good news. This is fiction pure and simple. There is no documentation or testimony that this ever happened, specifically from Key in his writings and personal testimony. There is nothing in any historical archives and this event in our history is one of the most well documented events ever. And Key and Skinner did not row themselves in a row boat miles out into the bay to meet the British. They traveled on a truce ship, the 60 foot sloop Minden which was under multiple sail with a full crew, for TWO DAYS before they encountered the British fleet. 5
 |
| HMS Tonnant |
 |
| U.S. Truce Sloop Minden |
Meme:
Key goes back up on deck to make arrangements for passage of all of
the prisoners in the hold and an Admiral tells him there is a
problem. They will still honor their agreement but after tonight it
won't matter because they've given the colonies an ultimatum.
Lower that flag that you so greatly love or we will shell the fort
and remove it from the face of the earth. Key asks how they plan on
doing that. The Admiral tells Key to scan the horizon of the sea
(Atlantic ocean). Key looks and sees hundreds of small dots.
Key is told that it is the entire British war fleet. Hundreds
of ships on the horizon. The Admiral says that the entire British
Navy is being summoned to demolish the fort. He said in about two
and a half hours the war will be over and these men would have been
free anyway. Key then says you can't shell that fort. It's large and
full of women and children and predominately not a military
fort. The Admiral then tells Key that there is a way out. If they will
lower the giant flag over the fort, they will stop the shelling and
the fort will then come under British rule.
Fact:
In short, that conversation above NEVER HAPPENED! First of all, the meme keeps calling it Fort Henry instead of Fort
McHenry. Key and Skinner negotiated Dr. Beanes' release over what was described by Key himself as a lavish dinner
with Vice Admiral Cochrane and Major General Ross. 6
Again, this attack was in retaliation for the attack on British
buildings in Canada, it was not to put the United States (which the
meme continues to call colonies) back under British rule. The Admiral
had no intention of destroying the fort. He wanted to capture
it
and the city. Key was there for just one man and was able to finally
get his release after hours of talk. According to the commander of
Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead, there was no
ultimatum delivered to Fort McHenry by Cochran or Ross. And the
coming battle was never about a flag. The fort simply blocked the bay
protecting access to Baltimore harbor. 7
When the British tried to land their troops, the fort would decimate
them with its firepower. When they tried to sail past the fort, the
same thing happened. On September 12, General Ross, who had gone ashore with his troops, was killed while trying to lead his men to Baltimore. So they
had to capture the fort to gain access to Baltimore and it's port,
which would cut off supplies and interrupt commerce.
It's never been recorded or documented that Key ever begged for the fort to be spared. And unlike what the meme
claimed, Fort McHenry was
indeed a strategic military
fort with around 1000 soldiers inside, made up of both local militia and
army regulars. 8
It was not
a refuge for women and children. In fact, the town's women and
children were sitting on rooftops in and around Baltimore watching
the battle until it started raining. 9
Key couldn't see the sea (Atlantic ocean) from where the HMS Tonnant
(the ship that he was originally on for the dinner and negotiations)
was anchored. They were way up in the bay at the mouth of Baltimore
harbor, 170 miles from the Atlantic. And there were not hundreds
of ships as the meme says. There were 16
British war ships and around 30 to 40 or so small rafts/barges that had
gunners on them. 10
It
was never about the flag. It was about getting past the guns of a
well positioned, well armed military fortress on a peninsula in the
bay.
Meme: The meme now continues and says Key went back down to the men in the hold and told them what was about to happen. The men asked how many ships were coming and he replied, hundreds. Key told the men that he would shout down what was happening. As the shelling began at dusk, the men in the hold kept shouting, asking about the flag, what about the flag? Is the flag still flying? When a bomb would explode near the flag and they could see it, Key would shout down to the men that it was still up.
 |
| Key could not see the sea (the Atlantic Ocean) which was 170 miles away |
 |
| There were not hundreds of British war ships but 16, many with deep drafts keeping them away |
Meme: The meme now continues and says Key went back down to the men in the hold and told them what was about to happen. The men asked how many ships were coming and he replied, hundreds. Key told the men that he would shout down what was happening. As the shelling began at dusk, the men in the hold kept shouting, asking about the flag, what about the flag? Is the flag still flying? When a bomb would explode near the flag and they could see it, Key would shout down to the men that it was still up.
The
Admiral told Key that the people in the fort were insane. Key quoted
George Washington that "What sets the American Christian apart
from all other people in the world is he will die on his feet before
he'll live on his knees." The Admiral said that all guns are now
to be aimed at the flag to take it down. The Admiral said that their
intelligence reports said the flag had been hit over and over and
over again and they couldn't understand why it was still flying.
Key said all that he could hear was the men in the hold praying to
God to keep the flag flying.
Fact:
Everything in the above paragraph is false
and never
happened.
Key, Skinner, and Beanes, after the doctor was released to their
custody, were immediately transferred off of the flag ship HMS Tonnant to
the British frigate HMS Surprise.
 |
| HMS Surprise |
This was the day before
the attack began, not during it. So Key and company were taken off
the Tonnant and away from the Admiral on September 12, the day
before the battle started at dawn (not dusk) on September 13. The three men were then transferred
back to their own sloop and detained under guard so that they could
not go to shore and warn of the planned attack that was still a day
away. Right there, the meme totally falls apart, again. Key could
not hear men below deck on the flagship Tonnant praying because
he was on the HMS Surprise and then his own boat under guard the day before the attack began.
He also could not have had a continuing conversation with the
Admiral. And Key describes the incredible noise of the guns as so
loud you could not hear what the person right next to you was saying,
so he certainly couldn't hear men way below a deck softly praying.
It's total
fiction!
The truth of the matter is that Key, Skinner, and Beanes spent
the entire battle on their own sloop, not the HMS Tonnant or the HMS
Surprise. 11,12
 |
| Famous but inaccurate painting of Key and Skinner on a British ship watching bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key, Skinner, and Beanes were on their own sloop, a boat of truce with no guns and eight miles from the fort. There were no prisoners or a deck boy. And British canon were not on the top deck. See earlier picture of HMS Tonnant. |
 |
| British prison ship called a Hulk. Not what an Admiral would use as his flag ship |
In
the meme, Key supposedly quotes George Washington. The problem is,
there is no record of Washington ever saying that quote and
Washington's quotes are all well known. The later half of the quote
is actually documented as being said by Mexican revolutionary leader
Emiliano Zapata years later, 13
not by George Washington. 19 And Zapata was not even born until 65 years after this battle.
 |
| Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata actually made the quote in the meme. He wasn't even born until 65 years after the battle for Fort Henry. |
Again, there was no Admiral on the ship that Key and company were on as immediately after negotiations were completed and Dr. Beanes freed, the three men were escorted off the Tonnant to the Surprise and then under armed guard onto their own truce ship for the whole battle which was still a day away. No one gave an order to aim at the flag. All volleys were aimed in the general direction of the fort because these were not regular canon balls they were firing. They were too far away for that.
The
British had to stay out of the range of the fort's guns so they fired
new weapons like Congreve rockets hoping to set the fort on fire, and
bombs with lit fuses that would explode in the air and rain down hot,
burning shrapnel over the soldiers. 14 Both of these were described in Key's poem verses:
"...the rocket's red glare...the bombs bursting in air..."
 |
| Ship mounted Congreve rockets and fused bombs bursting over Fort McHenry |
 |
| Unexploded fused bomb from British ship at Fort McHenry |
And both of these
types of weapons could not be aimed at a skinny flag pole over two
miles away with any precision. Also, the meme says the battle began
at dusk. It actually began in the morning
just after dawn, September 13, 1814.
Meme:
At sunrise, Key says he saw the flag still flying though it was in
shreds and the pole was at a crazy angle. The flag was in shreds
almost unrecognizable.
Fact: Again, totally False. Key could not see the flag at first light because of the haze
and clouds of smoke from the guns and bombs that still hung over the fort. There was
also an early morning mist that was normal for the area. When he
finally did see the flag, because he was eight miles away, he had to peer through a
mariners looking glass to see that the 90 foot wooden flag pole was
still standing straight up, not at a crazy angle. All paintings and
art that were done immediately following the event, and described by
Key, have the flag pole straight up. Also, the Smithsonian Institute
has the flag that flew that morning in the mist. It was not in shreds
because the flag that flew overnight during the battle was not the
30' by 42' giant garrison flag made by Mary Young Pickersgill, but what was called the storm flag which was 17 by 25 foot, due to the fact that it had
violently rained all night and during the torrential downpour the garrison flag had been lowered and the storm flag raised. 15
This was
documented by Militiaman Isaac Monroe of the Baltimore Fencibles who
was in the fort that morning and wrote that as the sun came up, they
took down the storm flag and raised the garrison flag while the drum and fife corp played Yankee Doodle. 16
The larger flag would not have seen any of the overnight battle action at
all because of the fierce
wind and rains so it would not have been in shreds. If the storm flag
had been hit, it would have been the one in shreds, not the one that
Key finally saw in the morning light. The large garrison flag is still in the
Smithsonian Institute having gone through restoration from wear, improper storage and dry rot. It hung there
for years with no evidence that it was ever hit by the British
volleys, nor was it in unrecognizable shreds as the meme describes. 17 Over the years, the storm flag disappeared. The 90' flag pole at Fort McHenry was
still upright with no evidence of having taken even one hit during
the battle of Baltimore. Today a replacement pole stands after the original pole had been hit by lightning. During tours of the fort, park rangers joke that "nature had a better aim than the British" 18 confirming that the pole had not been hit one time during the 25 hours of battle.
 |
30' by 40' Garrison flag that Key wrote about but was not up during the overnight battle. The right edge has been restored after friends and family for years snipped bits to keep as collectibles |
Meme: Francis Scott Key immediately went into Fort Henry to see what had happened. He found that the flag and pole had suffered repetitious direct hits. Key saw that the reason the flag pole was still up was that men knowing that all the British guns were aimed at the pole, would hold the pole up, even though they knew they would die doing so. Their bodies were removed as others took their place. Key said that it was patriots bodies that were holding the flag pole at that unusual angle so it wouldn't fall.
Fact:
Total
and complete fiction.
Key did not go into Fort McHenry, or Henry
as the meme continues to misspell it. When Key, Skinner, and Beanes
were finally released from custody, they took their sloop, which they had spent the last two days on, directly into
Baltimore. Key never
went into the fort but surely saw the large garrison flag was flying as they
passed the fort, not knowing that it had only been raised after the battle had finished and had not seen any battle action the entire night. When they got to Baltimore, Key went to The Indian
Queen Hotel and continued to work on his poem verses which he had
started while still detained on the his own sloop for two days. Another fact is that Key and his boat were not released for almost a full day after the battle was over.
Key had a letter in his coat pocket on which he had started to make notes of what he was seeing during the battle such as "the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air...". There were no reports of bodies piled around the 90' flag pole holding it up. The pole weighed hundreds of pounds. That would have been impossible anyway considering the height and weight of the pole and giant garrison flag that was now flying as Key and party passed by. This was never mentioned in any recounting of the battle. Isaac Monroe would certainly have described pulling bodies away so they could hoist up the large garrison flag and I seriously doubt they would play a joyful song like Yankee Doodle with the remains of people at their feet. Not to mention the bottom line: that only four people died inside the fort during that battle. 19 There were no piles of bodies.
 |
| Francis Scott Key's handwritten poem manuscript |
Key had a letter in his coat pocket on which he had started to make notes of what he was seeing during the battle such as "the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air...". There were no reports of bodies piled around the 90' flag pole holding it up. The pole weighed hundreds of pounds. That would have been impossible anyway considering the height and weight of the pole and giant garrison flag that was now flying as Key and party passed by. This was never mentioned in any recounting of the battle. Isaac Monroe would certainly have described pulling bodies away so they could hoist up the large garrison flag and I seriously doubt they would play a joyful song like Yankee Doodle with the remains of people at their feet. Not to mention the bottom line: that only four people died inside the fort during that battle. 19 There were no piles of bodies.
 |
| Reenactment of Fort McHenry Fife And Drum corp at flag raising |
Another insight into Key's poem/song is overlooked. His sloop was eight
miles away and he could not see the flag in the mist and dark to know
if it was still there. That is why he starts his song "Oh say,
can you see, by the dawn's early light?" It's a question and
that's how he wrote it down. So Key couldn't even see the flag at first light and
that's how he scribbled down his notes... as a question. Key's poem was published in a
local newspaper and slowly caught on later as a song after it had been put to the music of "Ancreon In Heaven".
 |
| Tavern patrons singing "Ancreon In Heaven" |
But it would be
100 years more before it became our national anthem. The battle of
Baltimore doesn't need fiction or embellishment. Let's tell the real
story of how the British gave it everything they had and still lost.
So,
this meme, taken from an almost totally fictionalized account of that
25 hour day, that was part of an inspirational sermon or article,
should never be forwarded to anyone. And never used as a basis for
anything, including dramatic presentations. Yet, it was never
researched or verified,
but just taken for granted as historical fact which it is not. This
type of rewriting of history is condemned all the time by Christians
when the liberals try to take God out of our past. Yet Christians are
doing it too and it discredits God's people and de-legitimizes
everything else we say.
David Barton has his own YouTube video about
the Star Spangled Banner and it includes none of the fiction found in
the meme. Pastor Dudley Rutherford found the false video on YouTube
and decided to create his own with that fiction in it. It went
viral and soon historians, including a couple who were born again,
came out of the wood work showing him how it was all false
information. He took down his video and created another
one apologizing for his mistake. Then he created another video on the
real story about the flag and the song using just historical
fact, not fiction and that video is still online as of this writing.
Rob
Summary:
*Francis
Scott Key was a lawyer in Washington D.C. not Baltimore.
*He
was asked to obtain the release of one man, his friend and neighbor,
Dr. William Beanes, not a ship's hold full of prisoners.
*He
was asked by the doctor's friends and family, not the U.S.
Government.
*With
President Madison's permission, Key, along with Col. John Skinner
(who is not mentioned in the video or meme at all) were given use of
a 60' sloop with crew, not a row boat. It took two days to find the
British fleet's flag ship with the sloop so Key never could have
reached the fleet in a row boat.
*Key
and Skinner met over dinner with Vice Admiral Cochran and Major
General Ross and spent hours in negotiation for Beanes release, not
for a ship full of prisoners. Prisoners would never have been on the
Admiral's flag ship.
*After
the negotiations were complete, the Dr. was released and Key,
Skinner, and Beanes were immediately taken from the Admiral's
ship to a frigate briefly before being placed back on their sloop
minus their sails so they couldn't leave and warn of the British
plans.
*This
took place a full day prior to the beginning of the attack so Key
could not have a continuing conversation with the Admiral since he
was on his own boat a full day prior to the battle.
*Key,
Skinner, and Beanes stayed on their sloop for the next two days until
the British attack ceased. Key never engaged in a continuring
conversation with the Admiral. He was under guard the whole time
after the doctor's release on his own boat.
*An
ultimatum was never given to the fort.
*The
British never aimed at the flag.
*There
were not hundreds of war ships involved.
*There
were 16 war ships along with 30 to 40 small rafts and larger barges
that contained gunners.
*The
British did not want to destroy the fort, they wanted to capture and
occupy it. This was a major military fort, not a refuge for women and
children as the video and meme says. There were no women or children
in the fort during the battle.
*When
the British stopped the attack, Key and company were given their
sails back and sailed directly back into the port of Baltimore where
they disembarked and went to the Indian Queen Hotel. Key did not ever
go into Fort McHenry.
*There
were no piled bodies around the flag pole.
*Only
four soldiers died in the attack along with 24 wounded.
*The
flag pole was not an a crazy angle and it had taken no direct hits
from the British. It was 90 feet tall and weighed hundreds of pounds
so a person could not have held it up as depicted in the video. There
are many drawings and paintings showing the pole standing straight.
*The
flag seen by Key that morning was not in shreds as it had only
been raised just before Key saw it. The large garrison flag had been
lowered and the storm flag rasied the evening before when a violent
rain storm began. The storm flag remained during the battle until
just before sunrise of Sept. 14 1814.
Sources:
1 britannica.com/biography/Francis-Scott-Key
2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beanes
3 biography.com/people/francis-scott-key-9364165
4 usdaughters1812.org/chapters.html
5 thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/september-16-1814-francis-scott-key-star- spangled-banner/
6 nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hh/5/hh5h.htm
7 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McHenry
8 historynet.com/war-of-1812-big-night-in-baltimore.htm
9 Salem Gazette, Massachusetts, September 28, 1814
10 britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Baltimore-1814
4 usdaughters1812.org/chapters.html
5 thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/september-16-1814-francis-scott-key-star- spangled-banner/
6 nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hh/5/hh5h.htm
7 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McHenry
8 historynet.com/war-of-1812-big-night-in-baltimore.htm
9 Salem Gazette, Massachusetts, September 28, 1814
10 britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Baltimore-1814
11 starspangledmusic.org/spangled-mythconception-1-key-was-held-prisoner-on-a- british-ship/
12
washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-its-200th-anniversary-five-myths-about-the-star-
spangled-banner/2014/09/11/aa2cab5c-3830-11e4-bdfb-de4104544a37_story.html
13 en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata
14 smithsonianmag.com/history/our-flag-was-still-there-30050592/
13 en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata
14 smithsonianmag.com/history/our-flag-was-still-there-30050592/
15 si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/banner-facts
16 maryland1812.wordpress.com/category/fortifications/page/3/
17 washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-its-200th-anniversary-five-myths-about-the-star- spangled-banner/2014/09/11/aa2cab5c-3830-11e4-bdfb-de4104544a37_story.html
17 washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-its-200th-anniversary-five-myths-about-the-star- spangled-banner/2014/09/11/aa2cab5c-3830-11e4-bdfb-de4104544a37_story.html
18 nps.gov/fomc/learn/news/star-fort-closed.htm19 thoughtco.com/attack-inspired-star-spangled-banner-1773539
19 The mountvernon.org site reads "There is no known quote from Washington in any of his writings or papers that reflected this sentiment." Historians at the Mount Vernon Presidential Library publicly state on their website that there is NO WRITTEN EVIDENCE that can attest to the authenticity of [this] claim.
19 The mountvernon.org site reads "There is no known quote from Washington in any of his writings or papers that reflected this sentiment." Historians at the Mount Vernon Presidential Library publicly state on their website that there is NO WRITTEN EVIDENCE that can attest to the authenticity of [this] claim.
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