Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light” a large red, white and blue banner? “Whose broad stripes and bright stars ... were so gallantly streaming!” over the star-shaped Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, Sept. 13-14, 1814. The valiant defense of the fort by 1,000 dedicated Americans inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.”