Maryland; stories of her people and of her history . elve hundred of them, in a score ofboats and a large schooner. On the shore were not onehundred and fifty men to keep them from landing. Theenemy had cannon, muskets and scahng ladders, and werecoming to storm Fort McHenry in the rear. But themen at the guns opened fire. For two hours they andthe men at Fort Covington kept it up steadily, and drovethe enemy off. If the enemy hadlanded they might havecaptured Fort the whole Britisharmy could have landedand marched on toBaltimore. The city ofBaltimore and the Stateeach presented J
Maryland; stories of her people and of her history . elve hundred of them, in a score ofboats and a large schooner. On the shore were not onehundred and fifty men to keep them from landing. Theenemy had cannon, muskets and scahng ladders, and werecoming to storm Fort McHenry in the rear. But themen at the guns opened fire. For two hours they andthe men at Fort Covington kept it up steadily, and drovethe enemy off. If the enemy hadlanded they might havecaptured Fort the whole Britisharmy could have landedand marched on toBaltimore. The city ofBaltimore and the Stateeach presented John with a goldmounted sword. The city, and indeedthe whole country, rejoiced at the news that the British had given up theattack on Baltimore. A year later, in Baltimore, BattleMonument was built to commemorate the event, and thetwelfth of September was made a public holiday in thecity. Year after year, on that day, those who had takenpart in the defense of Baltimore were publicly honored,until the last of the old defenders died in FRANCIS SCOTT KEY 187 MARYLAND On a ship in the British fleet was a Marylander,Francis Scott Key. He had gone there to arrange forthe exchange of prisoners. He was received kindly, butwas told that he must remain until the attack on Balti-more was over. From the deck of the ship he w^atchedall night the bombardment of the fort, with no means ofknowing whether it had surrendered or not. But withthe first glimpse of dawn he saw that the flag was stillflying. And it was the sight of this flag which inspiredFrancis Scott Key to write his patriotic song, The StarSpangled Banner. He says that he commenced his famous song on thedeck of the British ship, when he saw the enemy retreatingand the flag flying over the fort. He wrote some brieflines on the back of a letter which he had in his of the lines he kept in his memory. He finished thesong in the boat on his way to the shore, and finally wroteit out, as it now stands, at the
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