Two hundred years after the battle, tattered and frail, the Star-Spangled Banner seemed more powerful than ever. Copyright © 2013 by Steve Vogel All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Random House and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vogel, Steve. The perilous fight : three weeks that saved the nation / Steve Vogel. —1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4000-6913-2 eBook ISBN 978-0-67960347-4 1. Baltimore, Battle of, Baltimore, Md., 1814. 2. Cockburn, George, Sir, 1772–1853. 3. Key, Francis Scott, 1779–1843. 4. Washington (D.C.)—History—Capture by the British, 1814. 5. Maryland— History—War of 1812—Campaigns. 6. United States—History—War of 1812—Campaigns. I. Title E356.B2V64 2013 973.5’2—dc23 2012039797 www.atrandom.com Cover design: Dan Rembert Cover painting: © Tom Freeman for the White House Historical Association Excerpted from Through the Perilous Fight by Steve Vogel, copyright © 2013 by Steve Vogel. Published by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. v3.1 To my wife, Tiffany, and our children, Donald, Charlotte, and Thomas Nations will seldom obtain good national anthems by offering prizes for them. The man and the occasion must meet. —John Philip Sousa CONTENTS Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph M AP L I IST OF LLUSTRATIONS P : I See Nothing Else Left RELUDE C 1: How Do You Like the War Now? HAPTER C 2: Laid in Ashes HAPTER C 3: The British Invasion HAPTER C 4: What the Devil Will They Do Here? HAPTER C 5: Be It So, We Will Proceed HAPTER C 6: The Enemy in Bladensburg! HAPTER C 7: The Battle for Washington HAPTER C 8: A Spectacle Terrible and Magnificent HAPTER C 9: They Feel Strongly the Disgrace HAPTER C 10: Hide Our Heads HAPTER C 11: The Arrogant Foe HAPTER C 12: The Mission of Francis Scott Key HAPTER C 13: The Town Must Be Burned HAPTER C 14: The Battle for Baltimore HAPTER C 15: The Rockets’ Red Glare HAPTER C 16: Does That Star-Spangled Banner Yet Wave? HAPTER C 17: Our Glorious Peace HAPTER E PILOGUE A CKNOWLEDGMENTS N OTES S B ELECTED IBLIOGRAPHY About the Author To download a PDF of this map, click here. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS col1.1 The Star-Spangled Banner (Armed Forces History Division, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution) map.1 The Chesapeake Theater map (Gene Thorp/Cartographic Concepts, Inc.) col2.2 George Cockburn engraving from Edward Pelham Brenton’s Naval History of Great Britain, published in 1824 (Library of Congress) prl.1 Admiral Cockburn Burning and Plundering Havre De Grace on the 1st of June 1813 by William Charles (Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library) 1.1 Etching of Francis Scott Key from a newspaper clipping (Library of Congress) 1.2 The Key home in Georgetown by John Ross Key (Courtesy of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State) 1.3 James Madison portrait by Joseph Wood (Virginia Historical Society) 2.1 Joshua Barney portrait by Stanislav Rembski (Naval History and Heritage Command) 2.2 Sketch of the British blockade at the mouth of the Patuxent River by Commodore Joshua Barney in August 1814 (National Archives) 2.3 Portrait of Major General Robert Ross (Stephen Campbell) 3.1 Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane engraving from Brenton’s Naval History of Great Britain (Naval History and Heritage Command) 3.2 Advance on the Capital in 1814 map (Gene Thorp/Cartographic Concepts, Inc.) 3.3 A View of the Capitol Before it was Burned Down by the British, by William Birch (Library of Congress) 3.4 Sketch of Brigadier General William Winder by Benson J. Lossing (The Pictorial Field-