He Wrote ‘The Star-Spangled Banner

One can imagine the concern of young Francis Scott Key that day in early September of 1814 as he pulled on his boots, kissed his family goodbye, and left his Georgetown home to confront the British in Baltimore. The 35-year-old lawyer had learned that the invading army had arrested an American doctor, and he was on his way to help negotiate the man’s release in the midst of the War of 1812. 

It couldn’t have been easy to leave his home and family behind—after all, the Brits had burned large portions of Washington, D.C. only a handful of weeks earlier. But the mission was a success in more ways than Key could ever have imagined.

Not only did the physician go free and the Americans triumph in the Battle of Baltimore, but while Key watched the British mercilessly bombard Fort McHenry while under enemy custody during the long night of September 13, he was inspired to write the poem ‘Defence of Fort McHenry’ that would be set to music and eventually become as ubiquitous at U.S. sporting events as mustard-stained shirts and peanut shells. With the creation of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ Francis Scott Key became a national treasure (albeit one with a complicated history).

For nearly two centuries, Key’s contribution to his country has been honored in ways large and small. A bridge spanning the Potomac River from Georgetown to Rosslyn, VA opened in 1923 and was named after him, as was a larger version built in 1977 that stretches across the Baltimore Harbor. Money was raised for a monument at his gravesite; a memorial park in D.C. was donated to the National Park Service in 1993; and countless monuments popped up around the country from Baltimore to San Francisco to commemorate the one-hit national wonder.

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