The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-08-07
A SACRED BANNER.
The Flag Which Inspired the
National Anthem.

It Waved 0rer Fort M'Henry When the
British Fleet Assalsd It-How the
Flag Was Protected By
Gallant American.
Sacredly guarded from curious eyes,
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 time as may seem
proper to deliver it into the careful
hands It is SO called because it was
the standard which foated over Fort
McHenry at the time Of its successful
that inspired Francis Scott Key to
write our national ode.
This was the greatest of all naval
victories won in 18l2-l8l4, because it
saved the entire Atlantic seaboard
from further invasion by the enemy.
The conditions also were unusual.
The fort was not bomb-proof It's COM
mander, Lieut. Col George Armistead,
had received orders to surrender the
fortress from his superior, who consid-
cred 1T unable to make successful re-
sistance. But Armistead was stirred
to make brave effort for its defense.
he paid no attention to this order, and
defended the fort to the best of his
ability, knowing that if he failed a
court-martial stared him in the face,
and he gained 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 1872, three
being in the regular army and two in
the militia One Of his brothers was a
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 i patriotic stock of all
cestors, his at-grandfathe
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 Washing on at Winchester.
Col. George ArmisteaI was distin-
guished for his gallantry at the capt
ure of Fort George, and was brevetted
lieutenant colonel at this time. A
little over year 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-
eral OF that aye-the duke Of Yelling
ton. Sir Alexander Cochran, in his
dispatch to the secretary of the admi-
ralty, dated September II, 1914, says:
80 soon as the army moved forward
l hoisted my flag on the Surprise, and
with the remainder OF the frigates,
bonn b-sloops and the rocket ship passed
further up the river. At daybreak
next morning 18th 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.
4
Skinner. were Oh 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 sal ors and q 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 Tauey received this
statement from Keys own lips, who
.old him that he had written his poem
n q a moment of excitement, when the
enemy was retreating to their ships.
The weeks following this great vic
.ory were very proud ones to the Balti-
for though at the lombard
nent were troops from Pennsylvania
Ind Virginia, the great burden OF the
was borne by Baltimore
men. The strain. however, of that
yrcat fight, and the dreadful response
oility of the occasion, were too much
'or Col. Armistead. It left him with
IN affection of the heart from which
he died four years later, In his adopted
.ity, Baltimore. He knew, even after
he victory was gained, that some en-
.my might press against him the
.harge of disobedience to hla superior
,fficer, and if this had been done it
night have led to other complication,
,ut as nothing succeeds like success,
was forgotten in general
ejoicing.
The flag was presented to Lieut. Col.
George Armistead by the government
{ bears upon one of its stripes his
,ame and the date of the bonn bard
nent in his own handwriting. At his
leath he bequeathed it to his widow,
vho left it 10 her daughter, Mrs Will
lam Stuart Appleton. When Mrs. Ap-
,leton died it was bequeathed to her
on. in whose possession it now is.
The banner is thirty-two feet long
" twenty-nipe feet wide. In all prob
,bility it was originally forty feet long.
nd its great width is due TO the fact
+ its having fifteen stripes instead OF
hirteen. In color it is almost as
fright as it was some eighty-four years