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The Fall of Fort
McHenry by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what if the British had captured Fort McHenry? Please note that
the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of
the author(s).
In 1814, at the Indian Queen
Hotel in Baltimore, thirty-five year old amateur author Francis Scott Key
(pictured) scribbled the words to his famous poem "Fall of Fort McHenry" on
the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket; ironically the lyrics were
set to the tune of a popular British drinking song becoming the rebel anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner".
Vice President Elbridge Gerry had sent Key and his colleague John Stuart
Skinner to appeal for the safe return of President James Madison who had
been arrested by British Redcoats at Bladensburg as he fled the burning
White House. They boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant in Chesapeake
Bay and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and then-Vice Admiral
Alexander Cochrane over dinner.
"Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light"However
Ross and Cochrane were fully engaged in their war plans and Kay and
Skinner were moved to the aptly named HMS Surprise where they witnessed
British gunboats slipping past the Fort McHenry and effecting a landing in
a cove to the west of it. Despite a determined defence by troops from Fort
Covington, once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, Key
observed that the Union Jack had been hoisted in place of the fort's
smaller "storm flag".
Author
says original content has been repurposed from
Wikipedia.
Other Early Republic Stories
Steve Payne
Editor of Today in
Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History
That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook and Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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