What had happened during the night? Why had the night sky suddenly gone dark? Unknown to Francis Scott Key, the British high command had decided the fight for Baltimore would be too costly. During the night, both land and sea operations ceased. The British withdrew from the battle.

Four months later, the Americans and the British negotiated the Treaty of Ghent. The War of 1812 was over. Britain and America never fought against each other again.

Francis Scott Key, the lawyer, was also an amateur poet. He was so overwhelmed by what he had seen during the battle, and so relieved by what he had seen at first light, he wrote down some words on the back of a letter he had in his pocket.

The next day, on September 16, when he and the other two men were allowed ashore, Key took a room at the Indian Queen Hotel. There he revised the words he had drafted while aboard ship. He showed the poem to his brother-in-law who gave it to the Baltimore Patriot. The Patriot published the poem on September 20, 1814. It was soon published in other newspapers in other states.

The following month, an actor sang those now-famous words to the tune of a popular drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven" and called the new song, "The Star-Spangled Banner." Ever since, the first verse of the song became America's de facto national anthem. It became the official anthem when Congress passed a law to that effect in 1931.

Francis Scott Key lived until 1843, when he died of pleurisy. Today, the American flag flies at his grave - and at Ft. McHenry - both day and night. Three years before he died, Key handwrote a few more copies of his famous poem. The Library of Congress has one of those originals. Note the difference in this original version and the version of today. We sing:

...whose broad stripes and bright stars

through the perilous night...

but Key wrote:

...bright stars and broad stripes through the clouds of the night...

Maybe the change was made because today's version is easier to sing.

And what of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key? It is old and tattered but still survives. It is in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The huge flag, whose stars measure two feet from point to point, is still a sight to see. Because of its age, it is only displayed under rigidly controlled conditions. It is currently undergoing extensive restoration.

Francis Scott Key, the lawyer, isn't really remembered anymore for what he contributed to the practice of law. But what he contributed to the language of freedom will live forever.