History of the Flag: Part 3

On the morning of March 15, 1781, General Nathanael Greene formed the 4,400-man army into three long lines along the hill that crested in front of the Guilford County Courthouse. The front line included the militia regiment from North Carolina, who proudly displayed their national colors designed in a rather unique combination of red, white, and blue: 13 red and blue stripes with a white canton emblazoned with 13 eight-pointed stars.

Although Lord Cornwallis’ British soldiers fought bravely for over two hours and ended up in possession of the battlefield, they lost more than a third of their 2,000-man army and had no option but to begin a retreat to the coast (Yorktown, Virginia).

By Martin Link

“We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.” These eight words by Gen. Nathanael Greene expressed the fortitude and determination of his Patriot soldiers in the southern colonies as they faced British forces in the final years of the American Revolutionary War.

Although most military units and naval vessels by now were using the standard design as defined in the Congressional Flag Resolution, variations and differences in the color patterns were still being conceived. A number of battles, such as Cowpens, South Carolina (January 15, 1781), Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina (March 15, 1781), and Eutaw Springs, South Carolina (September 8, 1781), were all technically British victories, but their forces, now greatly reduced by these conflicts, took refuge in and around Yorktown, Virginia, where they finally surrendered on October 19, 1781.

The war, for all intents and purposes, was over, and the Stars and Stripes became the official flag of a new, independent nation. Congress decreed that both a stripe and a 5-pointed star would be added for every state that entered the Union.

But then, less than three decades later, in 1812, the United States and Great Britain entered into a state of war with each other.

In Defense of Fort McHenry

By 1812 we were back at war with Great Britain. In early September, 1814, British land forces captured and burned Washington, D.C. The British fleet was poised to bombard Fort McHenry and render nearby Baltimore defenseless.

Aboard the British flagship was an American doctor, Dr. William Beanes. His attorney, Francis Scott Key, had sailed out to the British ship to negotiate Beanes’ release, but because of the impending engagement, the British admiral temporarily detained both of them.

As night fell on September 13th, the fleet began its bombardment. Soon, darkness and the smoke from exploding shells and rockets completely obscured the fort and its massive garrison flag. Throughout the night the bombardment continued, and return fire from the fort set fire to several ships and destroyed the sails and rigging of several others. Shortly before dawn, the shelling stopped, and in the eerie quiet of the pre-dawn darkness, the two American captives stood at the ship’s railing anxiously waiting for a first view of the fort.

As the eastern sky turned yellow, and the smoke and mist dissolved, they caught their first sight of the fort’s ramparts—and the flag that was floating in the morning breeze. Overcome with emotion, Key wrote down his feelings on the back of an envelope he had in his pocket, entitling it, “In Defense of Fort McHenry.”

“Oh! say can you see,” he wrote, “By the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O! say does that star spangled banner yet wave over the land of the free and home of the brave.

Later that morning, when Key and Dr. Beanes were back in Baltimore, Key composed three more stanzas and then had a local printer publish it as a handbill for public distribution. About a week later, someone who was a member of the local chapter of the Anacreonic Society suggested that the words of the poem fit nicely to their club song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” About that time the title was changed to “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Although a popular song throughout the Civil War and World War I, it wasn’t until March 1931, that Congress officially replaced “Hail Columbia” with the “Star Spangled Banner” as our new national anthem.

4th verse:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us as a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

With the ratification by Great Britain and France of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, the United States of

America became an independent and sovereign country. The flag became more uniform in design, and with the admission of both Vermont and Kentucky in 1795 to the Union, the flag boasted both 15 stripes and 15 stars.

This 15-striped, 15-starred flag was raised over New Orleans in 1803 after the Louisiana Purchase. It was the flag carried on the westward explorations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the travels of Zebulon Pike.

And the largest hand-sewn flag ever made, up to that time (30 ft. x 42 ft.), was made to fly over Fort McHenry on the night of September 13, 1814, during an all-night bombardment by British Naval forces that inspired Francis Scott Key to write his “Star Spangled Banner.”

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Saturdays from 8:30 to 11:30am

in the Gallup Downtown Walkway 200 block of West Coal Avenue

Weather permitting, our last market will be on Saturday, October 12th

Some things you may find at the Farmers Market:

tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and summer squash, apricots, cherries, carrots, radishes, beets, garlic, onions, lettuce, spinach, kale

GALLUP FArmers mArket

EXCEPTION: No market on August 10th

Our Local Winner!

Congratulations Sandip Patel, 2019 SONM Athlete of the Year

More Information on How to Get Involved: 2019 Fall Sports

Special Olympics Gallup is offering sports training and competition in bowling and basketball this fall.

Basketball practices will be held at Rehoboth Christian School on Thursdays, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, beginning August 29th. Please contact Kevin Zwiers at 505-870-5617 for more information.

Special Olympics Gallup will be competing in the Area 5/2/6 Sectional on Sunday, October 6th, at Sandia Prep. Please contact Janie Lee Hall at 505870-8707 for more information.

The Holiday Classic basketball competition will be held on October 25th through the 27th at NMSU in Las Cruces. Please contact Janie Lee Hall at 505870-8707 for more information. Bowling practices will be held at Gal-A-Bowl on Saturdays, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm, beginning September 14th. A minimum of 15 games is required to advance to the state competition. Please contact Robert Martin at 505-401-8107 for more information.

The Area 6 bowling competition will be held at GalA-Bowl, on October 19th, beginning at 1pm. Please contact Janie Lee Hall at 505-870-8707 for more information.

The North Regional bowling competition will be held at Santa Ana Starlight Lanes on November 8th through the 10th. Sessions will be assigned by SONM. Special Olympics Gallup will likely play on Saturday or Sunday. Please contact Janie Lee Hall at 505-870-8707 for more information. Athletes are expected to let their coach know if they are unable to attend a practice session.