At night time we fly a small modern flag. During the day, a 15star, 1 5stripe flag, the same style that inspired Francis Scott key. G at a time where american morale was really low. A turning point in the war of 1812. A lot of americans do not know much about the war of 1812. Lets explore why was important for Francis Scott key to have seen that flag and how that inspired him to write those words that became our National Anthem. Gun deck here on the of fort mchenry. We also call it the water battery. As would have been the main line of defense against the british ships. 1812 was one of americas most unpopular wars. That is because the causes were complex. On the one said, you could say the United States had a totally good reason to go to war. The british were dictating who we should trade with, stealing american sailors and forcing them into the british navy. It was deeper than just making up the manpower shortage in the british navy. There was a question of citizenship. The United States, we believe foreignyou come from a country, say great britain, and come here to live for five years and then you become a naturalized citizen. Theyin great britain, believe once a subject, always a subject. So a lot of our statement at the time were saying, the british are trying to define what an american citizen is. If we allow that, then we are no better than we were as a colony. A lot of americans at that time thought that had something to live up to. They saw that previous generation, like the revolutionary war generation, the founding fathers, this spirit of 1776, as something to live up to. A lot of americans, this war of 1812 is our second war of independence. The war hawksre use that language to invoke that spirit of the revolution. They saw the native american issues on the front here as a powerful reason. Are incitingtish the native americans, or as they called them the savages, to shoot american settlers. For issues of national honor, freedom of trade, rights for sailors or free trade in sailors rights, as well as protection of our own frontier. We had to go to war with great britain. We tried embargoes, kind of like economic sanctions. It did not work. They tried sending statements over to negotiate. That did not work. The only thing left was to declare war. On june 18, 1812, the United States declared war against the british. Let me give you the british size. He british were involved in a bigger war against the napoleonic france. The way the british saw themselves, they were liberators. They were the ones trying to free europe from the role of napoleon bonaparte. Here they needed every sailor they could get to man that royal navy. The british were dominant at sea, the french were dominant on land. For the british to win the napoleonic wars, they had to maintain a sea lanes. There were thousands of british sailors that were jumping ship. So in some cases they really were only getting their own people back. As far as the native american issues on the front here, the United States did not always live up to the agreements they made with some of the native american nations out there. So the native americans, a lot of them were angry at the United States. There were some hotheaded americans he wanted an excuse to take over british canada. For some, all these other reasons were just a red herring, an excuse to go and invade canada and acquired some land to the north. Even Francis Scott key himself said, i will not harm the poor, unoffending canadians. And key epitomize many americans. I do not like what the british are doing, but invading canada is wrong. So really to this day, the war of 1812 was the most narrowly to clade of any american war in which our congress set to vote to declare that war. United states goes into the war of 1812, divided at the home front, unprepared militarily. A lot of our generals were aging holdovers from the revolution. The supplies were not worked out. Takingas a hope that candidate would be easy, even the former president , thomas jefferson, set, a mere matter of marching. That was totally wrong. The first battles of the war of 1812 for all american defeat. At the end of the year 1812, there were American Army soldiers in canada. They were all prisoners. So, it is not long before the war of 1812 moves into 1813. Behind me is the Patapsco River and that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The british were able to use their navy to blockade a lot of the east coast of the United States, turned the Chesapeake Bay into a british lake. The Chesapeake Bay was important. Maryland,ylvania, delaware, and virginia where the bread basket of the United States. You bottle up the Chesapeake Bay, a lot of the goods, the wheat, does not get to sea. In addition, you have the important seaports and cities of annapolis, baltimore, the new capital washington, d. C. Alexandria, virginia. All of those become bottled up when you blockade the Chesapeake Bay. So the british are blockading pull ouroping we would troops out of canada and use them to guard targets closer to home. And also recognizing that the amongstd be unpopular our own people, if they could get the americans angry at their own government, because the economy is not doing so well, then that i help end the mi ght help end the war. For the british, the war of 1812 is a distraction. The big war is in europe. They want to bring the war of 1812 to a conclusion as quickly as they can. The war of 1812 here in the Chesapeake Bay really sees the royal navy against the number of small towns. The british had a proclamation, any town that surrendered without a fight would be spared. However, even the small resistance that town would be burned. To the north, there is a town called havre de grace. That town was burned. The militia put above quick resistance. When the Royal Marines landed, the militia ran away except for only one guy. And the british captured him and went into the town and burned those buildings. On the Eastern Shore of maryland, two towns, one called frederick town, one called georgetown not the one near washington, d. C. Those towns were burned. In the Eastern Shore, the town of Saint Michaels defended itself pretty well. And drove the british off. But the british bombarded st. Michaels during the war of 1812. So there are a lot of addled skirmishes and engagements up and down the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to the british, and these apartments and all that, there was a lot of fear. And the greatest fear was the e uprising. Lav only recently our historian talking about the impacts of slavery during the war of 1812. And here in maryland, you had a divided state. The state was divided into support or not support the war. Amongst the africanamerican population in Baltimore City. You had the highest percentage of free africanamericans. A lot of them are supporting the war effort. In Southern Maryland, and on the Eastern Shore of maryland, on those tobacco and wheat plantations, you had slaves. Offeringridge for freedom to any enslaved African American who would come over to their side. And especially a year later, in 1814, thousands of africanamericans are now coming over to the british. In the british are giving them their freedom. Most of them were younger guys who could escape, and they had the option of belonging to what they called the colonial corps. These were trained as Royal Marines. About 200 of them, some say 400, would be calm part of this colonial corps. This prompted fears among slaveholders that this might pr slave uprising prompted by the british. It never happened. But there was a fear that it could happen. So there was a fear that there would be an uprising, a fear that the british could show up any day and bombard your town. And this is the context. It is not surprising that someone like Francis Scott key, who initially opposed the war, t akes a more active role. Key was a slave holder. He was a highpowered lawyer out of georgetown. Just outside of the district of columbia. Francis scott key has respect for the british, respective british law and culture. However, he was also angered at the depredations that the british were doing in the Chesapeake Bay. Between 18rylander and 45 years of age had to belong to the maryland militia. If called up, he had to go. He was part of the georgetown galicia. This is a field gun. This is the type of Field Artillery that Francis Scott key would have been familiar with as part of the georgetown artillery. This is a field cannon, as opposed to some of the red guns who are naval guns. To bed gun is expected highly mobile. Francis god would see a little bit of combat during the war of 1812, and talk about that combat. I will talk around here to the other side. Fire so, coming around to the front of the water battery and coming into the shade, i want to talk a little bit about Francis Scott keys military career and the events that led up to the bombardment of fort mchenry and the use of this water batery. Francis scott key was part of the georgetown artillery militia unit, citizen soldiers. He wouldve had a uniform, and during the summer of 1814 they would have trained periodically. Combat experience comes on august 24 at the battle of ladenburg. Bladensbrug. Urg. The british 1814, have sent reinforcements against the United States to turn the heat up a bit. At that time, there w negotiators andre there were negotiators meeting in belgium to find Common Ground to end the war of 1812. On the United States side, we really wanted to get out of the war with our honor intact. By this time, the treasury was running out of money. The invasions into canada all seemed to be failures. We lost a lot of men. It was unlikely that we were going to take over canada. However, we did not want to retreat from our demands about the british laying off our sailors and confiscating our merchant ships. So we could not back off on that one. The british were also intimating that they wanted us to give up the indiana territory. We were not going to let that happen. By the same token, the reddish in the way of turning up the heat realizing that by 1814 napoleon had been defeated in europe, were able to send some reinforcements from europe to shore up the defense to canada and also turn up the heat in the Chesapeake Bay. So thousands of british soldiers landed in Southern Maryland in late august. They marched overland towards washington, d. C. Or washington city, as they called it that the time. Figuring if they could capture our capital, that could holster their position as negotiation table. The americans were not entirely caught off guard. The americans called up the initial from around washington, including georgetown. So Francis Scott key was there. A few thousand soldiers from Baltimore City marched south to help defend. And hundreds of virginians came up as well as units of the the United States were corps and navy. The americans were able to put around 5000 men on the field at ladenburg at bladensbrug. Urg. The british attack with 2009, and the americans are almost instantly thrown into disarray. The president of the United States himself, james madison, gallops away from the battlefield. Some of the american positions are quickly overrun. And whole american units break and run away. American militia units received some training but not as much training as professional soldiers and certainly not as much as Battle TestedBritish Regular army soldiers. So, they did not really hold up too well. Francis scott key, some say that he relayed some misorders. Others say that he packed up with the artillery unit and retreated along with everyone else. Who can blame him . One africanamerican, an american sailor named charles the american militia ran like she chased by dogs. It was one of the most disgraceful battles in American Military history. The british won in a matter of a couple of hours. They did sustain casualties, but at the close of the day, they were entirely in possession of the field. In a way, you can say that ends Francis Scott keys brief listeria experience. But in a way, Francis Scott keys journey to fort mchenry begins at that point. The british did sustain over 300 men killed and wounded in the battle. Later that night, the british marched into washington, d. C. Where they took possession of the government buildings. The white house was burned by the british. The house of representatives, senate burned. The Treasury Building burned by the british. The eightgly enough, individual homes would be spared. The british also spared the patent office. Standing where i am now, if you look over my shoulder, you can see a tree line in the distance. That direction is south. Of august,t of 24 residents from Baltimore City and soldiers on duty at the for t could see a glow in the skey y. No competing lights at that point. You can really see that, and everyone knew that it was the capital that had been taken by the british, and that it was only a matter of time before the british would come to baltimore. The british did not stay in washington, but more then the marched, and they soon out on the 25 of august to rejoin their fleet. They got what they came for. Interestingly enough, documents that you can almost consider sacred to our history, the declaration of independence, the constitution, narrowly saved by some American Government clerk who got those documents out only a day or two before the british took possession of the capital. Even the declaration may have been burnt had it been left there. To british marched back their ships and sailed away. They had to leave their wounded behind. This begins a rather interesting human story. A local resident, a man named dr. William beans, he lived in upper marlborough. As the british were moving through his town, a lofew british stragglers decided to raid his henhouse and create mischief in the town. Perhaps they wanted to desert from the british or there were only supplementing their rations with local poultry. A feisty maneenes in his 70s it took a few of them prisoner. One of them managed to escape and reported this to the british high command. Only days as the British Advance to upper marlboro, dr. Beenes pretended he was probritish, saying he was educated in great britain, which he may have been, but certainly giving the illusion that his sentiments tended to lean more with the british and not with the americans in spite of where he was living. However, this seemed to indicate that dr. Beenes was putting up a front. They saw him as breaking his word is a gentleman. And the british went and took him down to the fleet. This news spread like wildfire. Beenes was a leading citizen. He was also a civilian. And while it was considered normal for both sides to apprehend sailors and soldiers as prisoners, taking civilians as a prisoner was seen as not really part of what the war was about. Something out of the ordinary. And so, the federal government sends john skinner, the prisoner of war exchange agent, to try to negotiate the release. Friend ineenes had a Francis Scott key. Francis scott key receives word being beenes apprehended, and he volunteers to negotiate the release. I have a lot of respect for key. First, he volunteered to do it. Second, when he volunteered, who knows how long the negotiation process would take . If the bridge took one civilian prisoner, who is to say that key might not be the next . He left behind a wife and six children. Key left behind a law practice that was not doing very well. Was considering going into the ministry, perhaps being an episcopalian minister. He also consider perhaps becoming a newspaper editor. Was still decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. A lot of soulsearching at that time. A lot of soulsearching for our nation at that time. And key does perhaps one of the greatest things to help get the release. He meets some of the british wounded who were taken at the getse of bladensburg, and letters of testimony saying that other american doctors in good faith nursed the wounded on both sides cared with those letters, he was able to go back to negotiate with the british, showing that, maybe this dr. Representative mis representative self but other american doctors helped your guys. If you look at the body of water behind me, this is the upper part of the Patapsco River where it flows into the inner harbor baltimore third if you were standing here in early september, 1814, you would see a bearing key and skinner going down the river to rendezvous with the british. A few days later they rendezvous with 50 ships coming up the bay. The biritish negotiate with a high command. Key and skinner are allowed in the apples cabin. There is a negotiation they are allowed in the admirals cabin. In the course of negotiation, perhaps the british gave key and skinner a hard time and the