![]() They were forced to stay where they were under British guard and wait out the battle, which came during the night of September 13 th, 1814. Beanes was successfully released, but the exchange party, including Key and a man named John Stuart Skinner, the federal Prisoner Exchange Agent in the area, was not permitted to leave because now they had information about an impending attack on Fort McHenry, a critical embattlement defending the city. William Beanes, a friend of Key’s who had misled the British command into thinking he was sympathetic to the Crown.ĭr. And on September 7 th, a lawyer and soldier by the name of Francis Scott Key was dispatched by then President James Madison to facilitate a prisoner exchange, specifically for a man named Dr. Within a week, the British had turned their attention to the busy port city of Baltimore. The occupation lasted just 26 hours however, after a hurricane and subsequent tornado put out the fires and forced the British into an early retreat, back to their ships which were heavily damaged by the freak storm. It was the only time in American history that the capital had been under the command of a foreign force. On August 24th 1814, British forces attacked Washington and burned down many government buildings, including the Navy Yard and the White House, then known as the Presidential Mansion. ![]() The national anthem hasn’t always…exactly been the national anthem. ![]()
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