The Original Star Spangled Banner From Fort McHenry
Imagining being Francis Scott Key, writer of our national anthem in the year 1812:
All night we had watched as the rockets and bombs were launched at Fort McHenry and our troops.Already the British had attacked and burned the White House,Capitol , Treasury,War Department and other public buildings. They destroyed the Washington Naval Yard and sailed up the Potomac to cut General Washington and his army off. President James Madison to our knowledge was last seen in Virginia. Now the British were here at Baltimore to bring us to final defeat. The battle will go ahead on two fronts on land and on sea, and with all our recent defeats I wonder is this then the end of America?
I came to be here to witness this battle after securing the release of Dr George Beanes from the British. He had been captured and held on the British ship HMS Tonnant. I had accompanied American Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, who had negotiated Dr Beanes release, but the British officers would not let us return to Baltimore knowing as we did of their plans to attack the city, so they held us captive aboard the HMS Surprise which I found aptly named this day. On we sailed until we at last were in the harbor outside Fort McHenry. All was still and hush as men anticipated the battle, and then as the day is near the end the orders are given to begin the assault of the fort, and as the rain starts to fall heavily upon us a noisome rain of concussive bombardment also begins on Fort McHenry.
How can I describe the terrible beauty of that which I saw? Rockets launched by the dozens from the British ships streaming arcs of red heading toward our dear fort and exploding on the walls in red fury and shattered rock. The bombs bursting in the air ere they hit they ground like fiery yellow daisies. All our senses were assailed, the smell of the gunpowder smoke wafting on the breeze stung our eyes and noses, the booming concussions caused ringing in our ears and the reverberating thunder of the cannons and explosions trembled the timbers of our ship and our bones, the water itself quaked and shivered beneath us as if it was the end of the world itself. Yet after hours and hours it seemed that it would never end and shells would never be exhausted.
Late in the night the rain stopped and the small American storm flag which had been flying over Fort McHenry was slowly lowered .All the British sailors and officers stood and cheered as everyone thought it was a sign of surrender. Low in hope and much in worry, we watched for the flag of white to rise, it was not the flag of surrender that rose, .but to our surprise a much larger American flag. The British hushed and we all looked on in wonder. There in the twilight hour over Fort McHenry we see it rise and catch the wind and stand straight out ,bravely blooming its red white and blue.
It was a sight to me so proud to the heart, that it choked my breath and rushed the tears to overflowing. Reaching high above the walls hardly seen until alit by the flashes of light she stands tall, that lady of our hope, the American flag. Her back stands straight as a tall redwood pine and she stretches her silk banner 30 feet high and 42 feet long, whipping to and fro with 15 stripes and 15 stars. Sewn by the hand of Mary Pickeral 'her daughter, two nieces and two African American women.
The British sailors had gone from cheers to shock and now went from shock to rage, and with new intensity commenced their firing. That flag was a slap in the face every time it waved and became their sole target. But she who was made by women 's hands now stood as a mother protecting her children and waved back and forth as though she was slapping away the rockets and bombs that assailed her little ones. On through the long hours she stood fiercely, and I hoped she would stand through to dawn.
In the late night I would not leave off the sight of her nor desert her in her battle, not of my own free will. Sadly' the worry and excitement had drained me and I sank down by the ramparts of the ship to rest, and looking up saw the clouds pulsing red and yellow and was lulled to slumber as the booming faded away in my head.
With a start I awake and am lost and wonder had I dreamed all of it for now there is silence and the dawn air is clear again. Then close beside me I see boots and looking up I see Colonel Skinner standing there, he is looking outward toward the fort. I feel ashamed knowing I let her down, yet I want to know, but I can not look and am in sorrow and dread. But I must know,
At last I say to Skinner, "Sir.... Colonel....tell me ...is she.... can you....Oh... say can you see by the dawns early light ...does she yet stand, does our banner yet wave?" When I see his somber sooty face I fear all the more, for tears trickle down through the soot black on his face washing two white trails. His lips then quivered for a few moments and through blinking tears of my own I see them slowly bend into a weary smile. He says nothing but I jump to my feet and look and there she is ,still waving heartily, and the morning sun golden orange is shining like a crown upon her head, and she waves, not in battle but in a slow weary greeting. In my minds happiness I hear a melody, an old pub song but the words are not the same, I don't know them yet but I know they are different, they will be different. Then it is as if I hear that beautiful lady saying softly , "I am all right son, I am tattered but not defeated, scorched but not ashes, worn but not destroyed. You must remember this night and tell the others. Say to them "let your home be that of the brave and your land be that of the free, and as long as you stand I will stand with you. When you see me waving , then remember, remember the cost of freedom."
Hundreds attend TEA Party in Gettysburg From staff reports Updated: 07/04/2009 07:41:07 PM EDT
Singing patriotic songs and chanting "USA," more than 200 people crowded the sidewalk in front of the Adams County courthouse in Gettysburg on Saturday to protest high taxes and President Barack Obama's fiscal policies.
The TEA Party -- TEA standing for "Taxed Enough Already" -- was part of a national event coordinated by the conservative American Family Association. The parties are meant to send a message to government leaders that people are tired of runaway debt, local organizer Susan Williams said.
Protesters listened to speeches for about an hour as they took up most of the sidewalk, occasionally spilling into the street. Police asked a few to return to the sidewalk for safety.
Most of those in attendance carried American flags or signs, the most prevalent of which was the Revolutionary War slogan "Don't tread on me."
Other signs read, "No socialist America" or "Honk if I'm paying your mortgage," among others.
After the speeches and singing "God Bless America," the crowd marched north to Lincoln Square and snaked its way around the crossroads.
Traffic -- already busy because of the holiday weekend that coincides with the annual Battle of Gettysburg re-enactments -- was tied up as demonstrators stretched across several roads leading to the square.
Police helped to stop traffic, and a few motorists were seen arguing with some demonstrators. There were many honks from vehicles, but it was hard to tell if the drivers were in support of the event or mad at the traffic jam. The demonstrators filled the square for about 20 minutes before the event ended back where it began, where voter registration tables were set up and people mingled.
There were thousands of TEA Parties planned across the country for Saturday, according to the American Family Association's Web site for the event, www.teapartyday.com.
According to the group's Web site, the American Family Association represents and stands for traditional family values and exists to motivate and equip citizens to reform the culture to reflect the Biblical truth on which it was founded.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
