The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-09-26
TIE FLAG OF FORT M'HENRY.
Through It's Inspiring influence the Ma
tionaI Anthem Was Written.

and as much as possible from the slow
but sure ravages of time, the Star
Spangled Banner is laid away by its
owner until such a time as may seem
proper TO deliver it into the careful
hands. 1t is so called because it was
the standard which foated over Fort
McHenry at the time of its successful
defense against the British, defense
that inspired Francis Scott Key to
write our national ode.
This was the greatest of all naval
victories won in 1Sl2-1S14, because 1t
saved the entire Atlantic seaboard
from further invasion by the enemy.
The conditions also were unusual
The fort was not bomb-proof. Its COM
mander, Lieut.. Col George Armlstead,
had received orders to surrender the |
fortress from his superior who consld-
cred it unable to make successful re-
sistance. But Armistead was stirred
to make brave effort for its defense.
lie paid no attention to this order, and
defended the fort to the best OF his
ability, knowing that if he failed a
court-martiaI stared him in the face,
and he gained a remarkable victory.
Lieut., Col George Armistead was
born in Newmarket, Carolina county,
Va, on April 10, 1880. He was one OF
| five brothers, all of whom served with
| distinction in the war of 1912, three
| being in the regular army and two IN
! the militia. One of his brothers was
| first graduate of West Point, and his
full length picture is to be seen there
to-day in the library in the grounds.
He came from patriotic stock of an
! cestors, his great-great-grandf
having been a member of the house of
burgesses and of the council OF states
On his mothers side Armistead was
descended from Col John Taylor, who
/ was with Washington at Winchester
! Col. George Armistead was dlstln-
guished for his gallantry at the capt
ure of Fort George, and was brevetted
lieutenant colonel at this time. A
little over a wear afterward fresh
from this victory, he was placed in
command of Fort McHenry. Here he
was destined to meet men whose com
manding officer had gained his epau-
lets in the service of the greatest gem
eral of that age-the duke of Yelling
ton Sir Alexander Cochran, in his
dispatch to the secretary Of the adml-
raltv, dated September II, 1874, says:
80 soon as the army moved forward
I hoisted my flag on the Surprise, and
with the remainder of the frl%ates
omb-sloops and the rocket ship passed
further up the river. At daybreak
next morning-the 13th-the bombs
having taken their stations within
she'll range, supported by the Surprise,
with the other frigates and sloops,
opened their fire upon the fort that
protected the harbOr" Admiral Alex
ander Cochran was in command of the
ROYAL Oak. while his son, Sir Thomas
Cochran, commanded the Surprise, to
which the admiral transferred his flag
in going up the Batapsco river.
Francis Scott Key and his friend, Mr..
Skinner, We're on board the Surprise
until shortly after the battle, when
they were transferred to their own
, vessel, in which they'had set sail from
| Baltimore. Here they remained with
their own private sailors and a detach-
ment of marines from the Surprise as
; guard 1t was at this time on his own
vessel that Francis Scott Key wrote
the Star Spangled Banner" and not
on the Mindon, as is generally sup
posed. Judge fancy received this
, statement from Keys own lips, who
told him that he had written his poem
: in a moment of excitement, when the
enemy was hastily retreating to their
ships.
The weeks following this great vic
= tory were very proud ones to the Balti
moreans, for though at the lombard
ment were troops from Pennsylvania
. and Virginia, the great burden of the
" engagement was borne by Baltimore
= men. The strain, however, of that
= great fight, and the dreadful RESPONSE
= bility of the occasion, were too much
! for Col. Armistead. 1t left him will
: an affection OF the heart from which
L he died four years later, in his adopted
city, Baltimore. He knew, even alter
the victory was gained, that some en-
D. envy might press against him the
p charge of disobedience to hlS superior
officer, and if this had been done i
o might have led to other complication
a but as nothing succeeds like success,
everything was forgotten in genera
:. rejoicing.
q The flag was presented to Lieut.. Col
is George Armistead by the government
1t bears upon one of its stripes hi
e name and the date of the lombard
is mcnt in his own handwriting. At hi
Il death he bequeathed it to his widow
= who left it to her daughter, Mrs. VIII
liam Stuart Appleton. When Mrs. Ap
d pleton died it was bequcathed to lie
D son. in whose possession it now is.
The banner is thirty-two feet LONG
is by twenty-nine feet wide. In all prob
1t ability it was originally forty feet long
is and its great width is due to the fac
d of It's having fifteen stripes instead o
"a thirteen. In color it is almost a
bright as it was some cighty-four year
7" ago but the bunting has become yer,
worn, and some twenty years since
lie was stitched on canvas to insure it
preservation. 1t will be observed tina
there is one large hole it, where
II bombshell passed through it, and it l
torn in other places by fragments O
~ ! she'll