2008 - Star Spangled Banner NHT
This Trail consists largely of water trail routes in the Potomac, Patuxent, and Patapsco Rivers and features the site near Baltimore, Maryland, where the national anthem was written. Towards the end of the War of 1812, in the summer of 1814, British forces invaded the United States after a long series of provocations and trade disputes. British forces in the Chesapeake Bay overwhelmed the small American navy and marched into Washington D.C., where most of the public buildings were burned including the White House. President and Mrs Madison barely escaped to Virginia with the important papers of governmnt. The British retreated to their ships and sailed north to lay siege to Baltimore, a port famous for its anti-British privateers. After being rebuffed at the Battle of North Point, the British started a 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry, the fortified gateway to the city's harbor. The fort held, and its survival was symbolized by a huge American flag flown at dwan. American lawyer Francis Scott Key, on board a British truce ship negotiating freedom for a client, saw the flag from afar and was inspired to write the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry". Set to music, it eventually became the national anthem in 1931. The Trail is administered by the National Park Service in close coordination with the Chesapeake Conservancy.