Day 95, Walk for Warriors

The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics
By Francis Scott Key 1814 ( Excerpt)

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?...

Fourth of July in Albany, Georgia.

At 5:00AM I sat down at the counter at the local Waffle House. It was a sleepy place with tired waitresses from the night shift. A policeman sat at the counter with me and a guy who loudly proclaimed that he owned a carpet cleaning operation. My waitress was Kelleigh who was a gentle girl who needed a day’s rest but instead stood in front of me trying to crack a smile with her last drop of energy.

As I waited for my waffle, cups of coffee and a side of bacon, the cop looked through me and asked the carpet cleaner, “What are you doing now, Archie?”

Looking straight ahead and chewing on some sausage, the carpet cleaner replied, “Working good and clean, man. Got a small company, now. No bosses, just me and a couple of hard working guys, you know.” Then, as a waitress named Marsha sauntered by on her way to bus a table, Carpet Man said in a loud voice, “Miss Marsha, un huh.” The woman ignored the man.

The policeman got up to pay his bill and leaned across the counter and whispered to Kelleigh, “You get off at seven?” Kelleigh nodded in the affirmative without looking up. “I’ll be back at seven then.” She made no motion nor gave any response.

“Kelleigh, did you hear me?” the policeman asked. In a muted voice, Kelleigh said, “I heard you. I will be here at seven.” Her eyes never met his but rather stayed on the plate she was washing at the counter’s edge.

The policeman left and as he did the Carpet Man began to talk in a loud voice again to his would be employee: a skinny kid who sat next to him to hear the pitch. “These guys don’t even know you alive, mutha $%$%#@. Answer that. Well do they?”

The kid obliged the bully with, “I know that, man.”

“Well, you bet your ass. They all mutha %^&%%$$#. You think about comin’ with me. A thousan’ dollahs a week. No credit card messin’ around, no thievin’, I’m tellin’ you. Jus good clean money. Unhuh.”

I thought, "Am I still asleep?"

The cook attempting to make my waffle had great difficulty. On two different occasions he tried to peel away the unevenly cooked dough from the iron without success. Finally, I asked Kelleigh to help him out so that I didn’t have to stay and listen to the jerk sitting next to me. Despite the come-ons and the loud disruptions from the patrons, the worn out waitresses smiled and gave me excellent attention. Dining at this Waffle House was very much like eating in the cafeteria at the mad house.

My walk was on the commercial side of things today. I stayed on Highway 82 for several miles in the early light. Later I came back and made my way to the Marine Corps Logistics Base. My only contact with human kind outside of the breakfast at the Waffle House was a wave from one of the guards at the base, who didn’t have much to do on a Sunday, on the Fourth of July, in sultry Albany, Georgia.

But mostly I blanked out my external surroundings by singing Grateful Dead songs and belting out a rousing version of the Star Spangled Banner near the Piggly Wiggly. It felt really good to turn the volume up.

Before the British Naval Fleet lined up their ships in preparations for their attack on Baltimore, local sea merchants made the decision to scuttle their ships in the mouth of the harbor so that nothing could pass. The decision meant that those merchants would lose their livelihoods or at the very least, a large portion of their net worth. They did it anyway because their country needed them and they acted. In so doing, the Americans were able to keep the superior British Naval Fleet at bay and out of Baltimore.

I ask myself whether average Americans today would sacrifice their livelihoods to keep an approaching enemy from the gates.

For a Republic to be sustained, all of its citizens must serve it in some way. We came very close to losing our independence on September 13, 1814. Here is a brief account of that day in Baltimore, Maryland:

War of 1812, September 13, 1814

On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on England, then the greatest power on earth, to preserve "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." The British, while at war with France, had interfered with U.S. trade and had boarded American ships to force sailors into service on their ships.

It was not until 1814, after England had defeated Napoleon, that the British would test a stubborn, determined people in Baltimore, an anti-British hotbed. To attack the city successfully, the British would first have to seize Fort McHenry, the key to the city's defense.

Late summer 1814 was a critical time for the United States during the War of 1812. A British blockade was taking effect and trade was critically diminished.

Some segments of the country, particularly New England, proposed striking a separate peace accord with the British, who were looking for opportunities to inflict a major morale blow to the Americans. That would bring a speedy end to the war in England's favor.

Baltimore, Maryland appeared to be the most likely target. The city had openly proclaimed its anti-British stance days after war was declared. An angry mob destroyed the building where a Federalist newspaper criticized America for going to war.

Baltimoreans also struck at the British directly. Swiftly sailing schooners seized British merchant ships and transported limited cargoes to foreign ports.

Other cities followed the practice; however, Baltimore alone accounted for about 30 percent of all British merchant ships captured by the U.S. during the war. From this, Baltimore earned the nickname "nest of pirates."

The blockade resulted in stockpiles of goods along the city's wharves. Shipbuilders avoided bankruptcy by building blockade runners and vessels for the U.S. Navy. The potential to strike a decisive morale blow, capture goods, a frigate, and settle a score, may have influenced the British decision to attack Baltimore.

The city fathers foresaw a possible attack on the harbor, so preparations were made as early as 1813. A committee of public supply was established to raise funds for various construction projects.

Citizens began to dig a huge entrenchment along the outskirts of the city, facing east. Large gun barges were constructed to defend the harbor. The city militia was called on for periodic drills.

The regular army also assisted. Colonel Joseph G. Swift dispatched Captain Samuel Babcock to supervise improvements at Fort McHenry. Improvements included mounting a battery of 32-pound cannons along the water's edge, construction of hot shot furnaces, fortifications at Lazaretto Point, and additional gun batteries along the Patapsco River.

On the morning of September 12, 1814, the British landed more than 3,000 troops at North Point. They marched north and west to attack the city.

That night, after the Battle of North Point, they reached Hampstead Hill, where 12,000 Americans blocked their path. The British troops waited for the navy to subdue Fort McHenry and sail into the harbor to shell the city.

At first light on September 13, British ships of war began to fire bombs, rockets, and cannon balls at Fort McHenry. The hope was the Americans would panic, evacuate the fort and leave Baltimore defenseless.

For 25 hours, as lightning flashed and rain fell, the British bombarded the fort, firing between 1,500 and 1,800 rounds, but causing only four deaths and leaving 24 wounded. Major George Armistead and the 1,000 patriot defenders fired back with their cannons when the British ships sailed within range.

Realizing the attack had failed, the British sailed downriver to North Point to retrieve their retreating soldiers. The Battle of Baltimore was over. It was the most dangerous period following the War for Independence as patriots faced and defeated a vengeful foreign power on American shores.

The War of 1812 has been called the "second War of Independence," because it forged national character and demonstrated that Americans would unite not only to win liberty, but to keep it.

After the battle, the young flag, with 15 stars and broad stripes, waved in defiance. The courage Francis Scott Key witnessed inspired him to write the words sung today as the National Anthem.

Fort McHenry, home of the "Star-Spangled Banner," still flies the 15-star flag every hour of every day, above its ramparts.

©2010 John Van Dyke Cote’
All Rights Reserved

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