The Star-Spangled Banner Flag-- Part 4: 25-Hour Bombardment and Gifted to the Smithsonian

The British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours between September 13-14, 1814.  When they were unable to force the fort to surrender, the attack ended and they sailed off.  The flag was still flying.

This so impressed Francis Scott Key that he wrote his famous poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry."  This became the "Star-Spangled Banner" that we know today.

The flag that flew there at the end of the bombardment became a significant artifact, yet remained in the possession of Major Armistead and later, his family.  He was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel for his action.

Eben Appleton, his grandson, inherited the flag in 1878.  In 1907, he loaned it to the Smithsonian Institution and in 1912 made it a formal gift.

--Brock-Perry

About That "Star-Spangled Benner"-- Part 3: After the Battle

Francis Scott Key's "Defence of Fort McHenry" was published in newspapers and then set to music.  The "Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized as the National Anthem in 1931.

Over the years, souvenir seekers snipped away bits of the flag.  This is how the museum in Fayetteville came to get the snippet they have on loan.

The main part of the flag is now in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C..

The "You're a Grand Old Flag" exhibit opened May 22 and will continue until July 8.

The exhibit also contains a 48-star flag (the one used in World War II) and a 40-star one.  But the scrap of the Fort McHenry flag is drawing the most attraction.

--Brock-Perry

The Star-Spangled Banner and Song Are United-- Part 1

From the Jan. 8, 2014, Yahoo! News, AP "Star-Spangled Banner, song to be reunited in D.C." by Jessica Gresko.

The original hand-written manuscript of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the flag that inspired it will be displayed together at the Smithsonian for what some believe to be the first time ever that the two have been shown side-by-side.

The manuscript normally resides at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore and the flag has been at the Smithsonian since the early 1900s.

The two will be displayed together from Flag Day on June 14th to July 6th, 3 weeks, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of it being written September 14, 1814.

--Brock-Perry

Fort McHenry Flag Still Inspires After 200 Years-- Part 2

In 1912, what was left of the flag was presented to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. After many restorations, including a recent one, it is on permanent dispaly at the National Museum of American History.

ANOTHER HISTORIC FLAG

On Flag Day, June 14th this year, three restored threads of the Fort McHenry flag were sewn into "The National 9-11 Flag," a tattered remnant of that day that was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center buildings. That flag is on tour.

The threads were taken from seven small patches of the flag that are at the Star-Spangled Banner House Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

"By the Dawn's Early Light..." --Brock-Perry