Meanwhile, Francis Scott Key was worried about his friend Doctor William Beanes, who had been captured in Washington. Key got permission from President Madison to negotiate Beanes' release, then took a small boat out to the main enemy warship. (Key flew the white flag of truce so the British wouldn't fire at him.) They agreed to release the doctor-but because both he and Key had seen too much of the British fleet and its preparations, they refused to let either one of them return to Baltimore until after the battle was over. This was one of the most critical moments in the war, and Key would have to stand by helplessly and watch it from the British ship.

Major Armistead, in command of Fort McHenry, raised the smaller of the two flags he had ordered from Mary Pickersgill. The battle began at dawn on September 13th. All day, and all through the night, the British ships opened fire on the fort, firing over 1,500 shells. From eight miles downstream, Key had no idea how his country was doing. As the sun came up on September 14th, he searched for some sign of whether or not the fort had survived the attack. What he saw was Mary Pickersgill's huge 42-foot-by-30-foot flag.

The flag was still there. The fort was still there. The nation had withstood the British war ships. Inspired, Key wrote a few lines of poetry on the back of a letter. After the battle was over and he was released, he finished the poem in his hotel room (a resident of Washington, he and his family had fled when the British attacked). He had handbills of the poem printed up and distributed, and on September 20th, two Baltimore newspapers published it as The Defence of Fort M'Henry. Soon it was reprinted in other newspapers under a new name-The Star-Spangled Banner.

Perhaps you've heard of it.