Washington, General Ross and Admiral Cockburn set up headquarters in Upper
Marlboro, Maryland, at the home of Dr. William Beanes, one of Key's
friends. Later, Dr. Beanes was made prisoner by the British. Interesting
himself in securing the release of his friend, Key planned to exchange for
him a British prisoner in the hands of the Americans. President Madison
approved the exchange, and directed John S. Skinner, agent for the
exchange of prisoners, to accompany Key to the British commander.

General Ross consented to the exchange. He ordered, however, that Key and
Skinner be detained until after the approaching attack on Baltimore. They
had gone from Baltimore out to the British fleet in a vessel provided for
them by order of President Madison. Now they were transferred to the
British frigate Surprise, commanded by Admiral Cockburn's son, but soon
afterward they were permitted to return, under guard, to their own vessel,
whence they witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

By the glare of guns they could see the flag flying over the fort during
the night, but before morning the firing ceased, and the two men passed a
period of suspense, waiting for dawn, to see whether or not the attack had
failed.

When Key discovered that the flag was still there his feelings found vent
in verse. On the back of a letter he jotted down in the rough "The
Star-Spangled Banner."

On his return to Baltimore, Key revised the poem and gave it to Captain
Benjamin Eades, of the Twenty-Seventh Baltimore Regiment, who had it
printed. Taking a copy from the press, Eades went to the tavern next to
the Holiday Street Theater--a gathering-place for actors and their
congenial acquaintances. Mr. Key had directed that the words be sung to
the air, "Anacreon in Heaven," composed in England by John Stafford Smith,
between 1770 and 1775. The verses were first read aloud to the assembled
crowd, and then Ferdinand Durang stepped upon a chair and sang them.

Key died in Baltimore, January 11, 1843. James Lick bequeathed sixty
thousand dollars for a monument to his memory. This noble memorial, the
work of W.W. Story, stands in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. It is
fifty-one feet high. Under a double arch is a seated figure of Key in
bronze, while above all is a bronze figure of America, with an unfolded
flag.

As Key wrote it, the poem varies in several lines from the versions that
are sung to-day. We reprint verbatim a copy written out by Key himse