In Defence of Fort McHenry

Dr. James McHenry (1753-1816), Spiritual Lodge 23 of Baltimore, was a friend and confidant of George Washington.  He served as private secretary to both Washington and Lafayette, was an army surgeon, a member of the Constitutional Convention, a revolutionary war hero who became a prisoner of war, and served as the third US Secretary of War (1796-1800).  In 1798, the US built a military fort in Baltimore and named it after him.  It was a garrison that withstood an intense British attack during the War of 1812.  During that attack, a US diplomat was aboard a British ship to negotiate a prisoner exchange.  After watching the barrage and seeing an oversized American Flag raised the following morning to replace the tattered flag there, that diplomat wrote a poem describing the battle.  That poem by Francis Scott Key eventually became our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. Its original title was In Defence of Fort McHenry.