Table of ContentsState of the WarDefense of Fort McHenryScott Key and the Creation of the National AnthemOn September 13, 1814, during the War of 1812, the British had begun launching attacks against the Americans. ground, an incredible combat feat consisting of American soldiers tasked with the defense of Baltimore, Maryland, within the Fort McHenry structure, facing a British force that outnumbered them five to one, but even with their odds against them, Against a hail of artillery, they finally managed to defend themselves, raising the large American flag once the assault stopped. This great battle and its images guided the hand of Scott Key, who witnessed this fortress event that held for hours, day and night, to inspire the poem that became the great anthem of the United States, The Star Spangled. Banner.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay State of the War As the final year of the War of 1812 approached, 1814, the British had just ended the Peninsular War and, as far as possible, finally said goodbye to Napoleon for a time, after having exiled him to the island of Elba after numerous losses consisting of his offensive against Russia which turned out to be a disaster and having Spain taken away by the Duke of Wellington, they would not see until a year later.1 The British could therefore now concentrate their entire army on the United States to try to end this other war in which they were participating.1 Now having only By concentrating on a single front, the British embarked on a full-scale fight. During the attack on the United States, beginning on August 19, 1814, 19 warships and 4,500 battle-hardened British soldiers who had previously been fighting Napoleon's army arrived at Benedict, Maryland.2 His men were commanded by British Major General Robert Ross and warships. under the command of Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane who had both served in the Peninsular War.3 General Ross had his men execute a rapid and focused blitz attack strategy, developing a strategy to take the States of New England and attack New Orleans in order to separate the United States. north and south by cutting off transportation routes in order to cripple American commerce, and wanted to damage American morale by attacking coastal cities, including Washington and Baltimore. General Ross and his forces made contact with the Maryland militia on August 24, where American forces under General William Winder would attempt to defend Bladensburg, a town in Maryland, as it was a key point in the defense of Washington. and Baltimore. Although the Americans had 2,000 more men than the British, they were inexperienced and lacked adequate training, which spelled disaster when they clashed with the more experienced British soldiers who had just fought just months before.4 main defense now in place. In disaster, British soldiers marched into Washington, D.C., where fortunately neither President Madison, his family, his cabinet, nor the portrait of George Washington remained to occupy, and proceeded to set fire to many monuments and government buildings, including the United States Capitol and the White House, then called the President's House.5 Now that Washington had been captured, the British turned north, setting their sights on their next goal, Baltimore. The defense of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, was generally moreimportant for the United States. The British preferred to take Washington, because the port of Baltimore was important to the American war effort, and the British hoped it would be enough to force the Americans into peace now that this strategically important port was gone. By now, the Americans were aware of the importance of Baltimore, so it was generally better defended than Washington, with most defenses even intended to specifically defend the port.6 The main part of this defense was Fort. McHenry, a large star fort built in 1800, which guarded the interior of the port. It was designed by a Frenchman named Jean Froncin and the fort itself was named for then-Secretary of War James McHenry.7 The British strategy was to concentrate all of their land troops on the east side of Baltimore while by grouping warships. The payload decimated the fort so they could further support their soldiers as they took on the rest of the city's defenses. On September 12, 1814, the assault began with British soldiers deploying to a peninsula at the junction of the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay, called North Point. They encountered no resistance when they landed, so they headed toward Baltimore. As they moved towards their objective, the commander of the Maryland militia, Major General Samuel Smith, sent 250 riflemen along with cannons under Brigadier General John Stricker to engage the incoming British in order to buy time. Brigadier General Stricker's forces were able to approach the British at a moment of weakness, as they had stopped their advance in turn to have a meal, during which Stricker ordered his men to force the British towards them with their fire. During this spontaneous attack on his troops, General Ross did his best to assess the situation, ordering his men to return fire against their attackers, but in his efforts he was fatally shot in the chest, dying hours later and finding himself in the position. of command of the land forces entrusted to Colonel Arthur Brooke. Now defeated by the man who had led them to two victories in this campaign in the past, the British were forced to press on, with Brooke leading his troops to make a frontal attack on the American positions, which only resulted in the Americans inflict heavy losses on American positions. his men, at one point the Americans even resorted to scrapping their guns due to the lack of cartridges for their guns. Despite their effectiveness in eliminating their opposition, the American defense began to collapse and the British soldiers began to make progress in their offensive. Both sides took a break from fighting, with the Americans retreating to Baltimore and Brooke leaving his forces waiting to deal with the losses they suffered and organize them for their next offensive. Overnight, the Americans improved and solidified their defenses of Baltimore, amassing more troops and artillery for the coming battle. The next day, September 13, the British had resumed their offensive, arriving on the Philadelphia Road where they encountered a large force of American soldiers, numbering 10,000 men and equipped with 100 cannons to serve as artillery. They had settled on this route to block the British route to Baltimore and, with their numbers, they doubled the number of British troops. It was at this point that the British realized that they would need help from their warships if they were to continue advancing, meaning they would have to destroyFort McHenry, which at the time was only defended by 1,000 men, a considerably reduced force when compared to the numbers the British had, making their offensive a seemingly easy victory for them. The naval support planned to take Fort McHenry had become defective as the water proved to be shallow, prohibiting the use of the heaviest warships. During the assault, it was necessary to use ships specialized in mortar firing, as well as a ship, the HMS Erebus, equipped with new Congreve rockets capable of firing incendiary rockets.9 The warships launched into a shooting match with the fort's cannons. , and after realizing that their attacks were causing minimal damage, withdrew from the range of the fort's cannons and instead chose to fire constantly on the fort for 27 hours, firing 1,500 combined shells consisting of cannonballs, shells and rockets. Despite the best efforts of the British to devastate the fort, but due to the downtime given to the Americans to go back and reinforce the fort's defenses, the fort suffered only minimal damage. At night, the British made an effort to see if they could simply move away from the defensive line that was blocking Brooke's forces, sending troops from Cochrane's unit to harass the Americans on the line in the hope that they would follow, but these efforts failed. pulling troops from Baltimore's defensive line.9 On September 14, American soldiers stationed inside Fort McHenry lowered the storm flag they had raised during the bombardment, now decrepit and battered, and raised a large flag garrison of thirty feet by forty-two feet which had been ordered by the commander of the American defenders, Major George Armistead, which was raised each morning for the wake, showing that the fort was still standing.10 This failure in the destruction of the fort led Brooke and his troops to give up on taking Baltimore, as the fort was still standing they could not get naval support to help them eliminate the defensive line leading to Baltimore and therefore could not push further, deciding to attack New Orleans, where they would be defeated again by the Americans. thanks to the defensive prowess of Andrew Jackson. This defeat at the capture of Baltimore would be an important part of the peace agreement between the two nations later that year. This image of the American Fort McHenry seemingly demolished by an all-out bombardment of enemy artillery, only to still stand the next morning and see the United States flag raised in glorious fashion is iconic, and sufficient to be the same context of the he national anthem of the United States.Scott Key and the creation of the national anthemFrancis Scott Key lived in Georgetown, he worked as a respected lawyer and had lived in Georgetown since 1804 with his wife and their six sons and five daughters. The Georgetown location was only a few miles from the Capitol, White House, and federal buildings, which proved to be an unlucky place to live due to the arrival of the British in 1814 for their capture of Washington, D.C., lighting up Much of Washington was ablaze in a blaze so large it could be seen from Baltimore 40 miles away. As American soldiers focused on the impending attack on Baltimore, it had been discovered that an elderly and well-known physician, Dr. William Beanes, had been captured by the British and was now being held on the TONNER, the flagship British. People feared that Dr. Beanes would be hanged by the British and so asked Francis Scott Key to help get him back, which he decided to do with the help of Colonel John..