ARLINGTON, Va. - s4story -- by Michael F. Bishop for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The Battle of Baltimore, September 12-14

On August 24, 1814, the White House and the Capitol were torched in a British invasion force commanded by Rear-Admiral George Cockburn. It was the lowest point in the War of 1812—until– a battle in Baltimore restored America's confidence and birthed a national anthem.

Nineteen days later—on September 12^th—British troops launched a land-based/naval ambush on Fort McHenry, a pentagon-shaped military fortress—constructed in 1798—and named after a former Secretary of War.

Rockets poured down on the stronghold, illuminating a huge American banner overhead. The merciless bombardment lasted more than twenty-four hours, but the obstructions in the harbor—and Maryland's steadfast militia–held the British fleet away from the guns' most effective range. Two days later, the flag maker Mary Pickersgill replaced the tattered streamer.

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Meanwhile, a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key, who was aboard a prison ship nearby—and attempting to negotiate the release of American hostages—was so moved by the site, that he composed a poem which celebrated the country's deliverance. He depicted "the rockets' red glare;" "the bombs bursting in air," and rejoiced in the fact that "the flag was still there."  Later, it was set to a British drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," that morphed into "The Star-Spangled Banner."

For more information, the Grateful American Foundation recommends Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America's National Anthem by Marc Ferris.

History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize.

The Grateful American Book Prize is awarded each year to high quality, 7th to 9th grade level, historical fiction, and non-fiction, about events and personalities that have shaped the United States since its founding. For more book recommendations and information about the annual award visit https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/.