Without Dr. William Beanes There Would Be No Star Spangled Banner

Today my wife and took our grandson to Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Bladensburg Maryland. There I read a placard describing Dr. William Beanes and his role in the creation of our national anthem. When I returned home I did a little research at a web site dedicated to the flag of the United States.

In general everyone knows the story of the creation of our national anthem. Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore harbor. Most people think that he was on a British warship but he was on the deck of a sloop behind the British fleet. He was so inspired by seeing the stars and stripes flying proudly through the attack that he wrote what would become our national anthem.

Did you ever wonder what Francis Scott Key was doing behind the British fleet during the battle? He was a loyal American and he wasn't captured. I am proud to tell this story because it starts with a handful of men from my town of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, but let me start with a little background.

The United States and Great Britain were engaged in a war that started over shipping rights. It seems that Great Britain was in a conflict with France and they wanted to control any shipping heading in that direction. The United States would have none of it. This sounds pretty obvious to us in this day and age but you have to remember what the United States was like early in the nineteenth century. It had been a little over thirty years since the end of the Revolutionary War. We did not soundly defeat the British then; it was more of a political victory. Like most revolutions we outlasted them. Now here we were hardly recognized as a country and with a military feared by no one in the world and we were once again getting in the face of a perennial power. This time the power had a score to settle. You have to admire the nerve of our forefathers; they refused to be pushed around no matter what the risk.

When the British came, they came with a vengeance. The British entered the Chesapeake Bay on August 19, 1814, and in less then a week they had captured Washington, DC. There they exacted their revenge. They sacked and burned the city. The flames rose so high that they could be seen forty miles away.

On August 26, 1814, the British army marched through Upper Marlboro and continued moving while frustrated citizens watched them go by. Later in the day a few British stragglers wandered into town. An older man named Dr. William Beanes and a few friends decided to act. They captured the stragglers and held them as prisoners. This infuriated British General Ross so much that he immediately sent troops back to free his soldiers and to capture Dr. Beanes and his friends. The general agreed to let go all of the Americans but Dr. Beanes. They took the doctor with them and they boarded their ships and headed for Baltimore.

The people of Upper Marlboro were very upset. Dr. Beanes was their town physician and a man that had endeared himself to his community. From the tone of the British command, they feared that their good doctor would be hanged. They called upon a young but well respected lawyer from Georgetown to intercede in their behalf. The lawyer's name was Francis Scott Key. Key went to American authorities who pointed him to Colonel Skinner. Colonel Skinner was an American agent for prisoner exchange and Key asked him to be his escort to the British.

On September 7, 1814, Key and Skinner boarded the Tonnant and had their first conference with General Ross. Initially General Ross refused to listen to any pleas from the Americans. Then Skinner and Key produced letter after letter describing the good and humane treatment given to wounded British troops by American doctors; one of them being Dr. William Beanes. This changed the general's mind, but he would not let the Americans leave. He claimed that they had seen too much of his battle plan and that they would be released after the battle. The Americans were placed on a sloop behind the British fleet and that is where Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner.

There is one more part of the story. General Armistead commanding the American forces in Ft. McHenry specifically ordered the biggest American flag in existence to fly during the battle. It was this flag, and the spirit that kept it flying, that inspired Francis Scott Key.