William Beanes, but the Americans were not permitted to return to Washington until after the British attack on Baltimore. Key did persuade the British to release Dr. Skinner were in Baltimore negotiating the release of an American doctor who had been taken by the British in the Battle of Bladensburg in August. Less well known is what Key, a Washington lawyer and amateur poet, was doing in the harbor when the bombs were bursting in air. The story of Francis Scott Key witnessing British ships bombard Fort McHenry on Sept. George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry in that city’s harbor. That flag, measuring an impressive 42 feet wide by 30 feet high, was sewn by Mary Pickersgill in Baltimore for U.S. The most famous single American flag, the tattered Star-Spangled Banner now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution, is a product of the nation’s second conflict with Great Britain, the War of 1812. Among them were the well-known Bennington Flag with its seven white and six red horizontal stripes and a canton containing the number “76,” above which 11 stars were arrayed in a semicircle with two additional stars above. So the Continental Army fought the British primarily under unit and militia flags, some of which contained 13 stars and 13 stripes. Washington quickly realized that it wasn’t the best idea to fly it while fighting the British because enemy officers saw it as a sign of surrender. That flag had the familiar 13 red and white stripes, but its canton contained the Union Jack. The Continental Army officially engaged British troops under what was known as the Continental Colors or the Grand Union flag, the banner General Washington flew for the first time at the army’s birth on January 1, 1776. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River with the Continental Army on the night of December 25–26, 1776. Washington Crossing the Delaware, an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by the German-American artist Emanuel Leutze, commemorates Gen. And the most significant steps in the evolution of Americans’ attitude toward their flag have been taken in wartime. Most historians of the period concur.įrom the Revolution to the present conflict in Iraq, use of the flag has progressed from primarily a naval emblem rarely flown by patriotic citizens to a widely revered national symbol. It was used for communication,” Moeller contends, primarily by the military, and mainly on Navy ships. “In the 1777 period, the flag was not a device that was used by the average citizen. “The American flag as a sovereign flag did not occur until 1782,” says early American flag authority Henry Moeller. It would be a stretch, in fact, to say that in 1777 Americans even recognized the Stars and Stripes as the national emblem or symbol. The Betsy Ross myth notwithstanding, we really don’t know who designed the American flag, why it’s red, white, and blue, or why it features stars and stripes.įrom today’s perspective, America’s first flag seems an afterthought, far from the archetypal symbol it would become in the 19th century, a period of territorial expansion and internal strife. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Zachary Hada) Pantfoader is assigned to the 28th Force Support Squadron base honor guard. The ceremony was held to pay homage to those lost in wartime and during the tragic events on Sept. Bobby Pantfoader performs a flag folding demonstration during the 9/11 Remembrance Retreat ceremony Sept.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |