It remains a mystery of why the flag didn’t fall at Fort McHenry. Despite being bombarded all night by some 20 British warships, taking many direct hits, and suffering much loss of life. I would like to offer a reason, which I have thought to be true my entire life.
Let me be clear from the beginning… I wasn’t there. I was with Chris when he discovered America, but I must have been sleeping that fateful night. This is the story I have heard years ago. I am not a scholar, nor do I know any, this is simply the way I see it. This was perhaps the turning point in the war of 1812, and a crucial point in securing our nation.
The war had drug on for years, and both sides had a significant number of prisoners. The colonists desired to have a one for one prisoner swap with the British. They secured a prominent Boston lawyer, by the name of Francis Key. The American prisoners were kept on boats offshore, so Mr Key rowed out in a rowboat to meet with the British Admiral.
An exchange was agreed upon for the next morning, and Francis went down in the hold to tell the prisoners that they would be freed. He found the prisoners in horrible squalid surroundings. He told the prisoners that in the morning they would be freed. However when he returned, the British had changed their mind.
If we would take down our flag from Fort McHenry, the war would be over, and the prisoners would be free, but we would have lost the war. “See the specs out on the horizon. There is a fleet of British warships coming that will shell Fort McHenry tonight until the flag lays on the ground. Francis argued, that the fort was not primarily a military establishment, but was sheltering women and children.
Shelling began about dusk, and continued through the night. Periodically the prisoners would call up to Francis on the deck, “Can you see the flag? Is the flag still standing?” The British had invented a new cannonball that exploded in the air or upon impact, so the flag was visible throughout the night.
“Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
Came morning light, our flag was still standing. It had taken numerous hits, was shredded almost beyond recognition, and the flagpole was leaning at a precarious angle. The flag still exists and is displayed at our National History Museum. A word about the flag, it was 30 ft by 40 ft, on top of a 90 ft high flagpole. Larger than any flag flown at any of our military installations today. It had been sown by four ladies, one of which was a slave.
The question remains, why didn’t it fall? I can only say what I have heard throughout my entire life. The soldiers labored all night trying to hold the flag up. They had stacked any object they could find on either side of the flag to prop it up. I had heard that the next morning when Francis went ashore, he found they had even used dead bodies and men who had died holding it up.
The next time you see your favorite team play, and rise and remove your hat, think about the people that died in Fort Henry trying to protect the flag. Think about the Boston lawyer, the amateur poet, and the poem that lives on today.
“O say does that Star-Spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?”
It is sad that our sports teams, have found one more way to degrade our flag and our nation, by the singer of the National Anthem at Tuesday night’s All-Star game. Let’s hope this type of thing comes to an end.
—James Neuhouser
