After a pleasant day at the Fort, we stay around for the evening concert and speeches which are supposed to start at 6:00 but are delayed until almost 7:00. We settle down on a spot on the grass, but all we can really see is the jumbo screen ( I think the other side would have been better).
On stage for the ceremony are several generations of politicians with connections to Baltimore and Maryland. The surprise is Nancy Pelosi, who is from Baltimore, and the St. Senator Sarbanes with the current senator Sarbanes, his son. The Lt Governor, running for Governor is featured, but generally the speeches by each of these tend to repeat the same tribute to Ft. McHenry, to the flag, to the city. Senator Sarbanes Sr. gives a history lesson, fascinating but long.
The highlight is Vice President Biden, who gives a dynamic, short pointed speech. The difference between his confident veteran style and that of Lt. Governor Brown is apparent to me and shows what being on the national stage has given him in terms of stature and projection.
The music ranges from Bagpipes to drum corps, gospel to patriotic as we wait for the grand finale. And it is worth waiting for. As they raise the large flag that is the replica of the original Star Spangled Banner, the fireworks begin in three locations over the harbor. For 20 thrilling minutes we are treated to unusual fireworks that spell out USA and form the flag (!).
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The Star Spangled Spectacular part 1
As children we are taught to sing the very challenging melody and oddly poetic words of our national anthem. "Oh say can you see?" Yes, we learn that it was written by Francis Scott Key, and yes we knew he was looking out onto some harbor where the 'bombs were bursting in air'. But what war, and who was fighting, and where- now that was something I never got straight.
How startling to learn that right in my own backyard, to the east of the tunnel that I drive through on my way to Silver Spring and back again, was the Fort where the battle was fought fiercely in a war that is rarely discussed. It was at Ft. McHenry, in defense of Baltimore, the 3rd largest city in the US, that 1200 soldiers fought off the most powerful navy in the world-the British. The war was eventually called The War of 1812 and in 1814, the British bombarded this entrance to Baltimore for 25 hours.
As it turns out Francis Scott Key was being held in detention, where he watched the 19th C. version of 'Shock and Awe', where as part of the tension that mounted overnight, 'o'r the ramparts watched', then saw 'that our flag was still there'. He chose to couple his soaring words with a melody that was well known because it was a drinking song written for the Anacreonitic Socity, "an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Anacreon_in_Heaven
Surprisingly, the song became an instant hit throughout the states, renamed on the advice of his uncle, from "The Battle of Fort McHenry" to "The Star Spangled Banner".
And so we, on Sept 13 2014 exactly 200 years later, walk around Ft. McHenry, listening to music from then and now that includes the Washington Revels, and a Navy rock band. Then we stroll to the waters edge to view the Blue Angels air show, whose pilots in the sleek jets weave across the sky at 600 miles an hour. But the star of the day is the fort and the flag. How joyous to arrive inside the fort just as the enthusiastic ranger lowers the small flag, then instructs a group of 20 or so on folding it. Out then comes the replica of the flag that is to be flown later that night. As we hold it, unfurl it, and put it back safely, I feel a surge of pride.
The uniforms of this era are more tailored and fay compared to those just 40 years later. The men's hats of no practical use, the long waistcoats as well. My brother asks one of the 'soldiers' about the functionality of the hats to which we are treated to a personal tour of the officers' quarters room, where he shares how he learned that his relative had served at Ft. McHenry.
How startling to learn that right in my own backyard, to the east of the tunnel that I drive through on my way to Silver Spring and back again, was the Fort where the battle was fought fiercely in a war that is rarely discussed. It was at Ft. McHenry, in defense of Baltimore, the 3rd largest city in the US, that 1200 soldiers fought off the most powerful navy in the world-the British. The war was eventually called The War of 1812 and in 1814, the British bombarded this entrance to Baltimore for 25 hours.
As it turns out Francis Scott Key was being held in detention, where he watched the 19th C. version of 'Shock and Awe', where as part of the tension that mounted overnight, 'o'r the ramparts watched', then saw 'that our flag was still there'. He chose to couple his soaring words with a melody that was well known because it was a drinking song written for the Anacreonitic Socity, "an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Anacreon_in_Heaven
Surprisingly, the song became an instant hit throughout the states, renamed on the advice of his uncle, from "The Battle of Fort McHenry" to "The Star Spangled Banner".
And so we, on Sept 13 2014 exactly 200 years later, walk around Ft. McHenry, listening to music from then and now that includes the Washington Revels, and a Navy rock band. Then we stroll to the waters edge to view the Blue Angels air show, whose pilots in the sleek jets weave across the sky at 600 miles an hour. But the star of the day is the fort and the flag. How joyous to arrive inside the fort just as the enthusiastic ranger lowers the small flag, then instructs a group of 20 or so on folding it. Out then comes the replica of the flag that is to be flown later that night. As we hold it, unfurl it, and put it back safely, I feel a surge of pride.
The uniforms of this era are more tailored and fay compared to those just 40 years later. The men's hats of no practical use, the long waistcoats as well. My brother asks one of the 'soldiers' about the functionality of the hats to which we are treated to a personal tour of the officers' quarters room, where he shares how he learned that his relative had served at Ft. McHenry.
Ft. Delaware and Ft. Mott part 1
Where the Delaware River meets the Bay is an area that holds great significance in the defense of Pennsylvania during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th C. There, two forts hug the coastline, one nearly invisible, the other a brick fort within a stone fortress. Tony and Francine and I drive to Ft. Mott. With time to explore while we wait for the ferry to Ft. Delaware, walk the parapet of Ft. Mott, looking out over the vast expanse of the Delaware River.
Especially amazing to us are the varieties of the mechanical machinery designed to bring
the heavy artillery shells by railway cart to a lift used to raise the
shells up to the ramparts where they are slid into the casings. The communications systems, a complex web of human and technological devices include something akin to a
19th C fax machine.
There is enough to keep us interested for nearly two hours as we wonder through the storerooms and behind the parapet to see the parados, which is a secondary defense hill built in case of attack from the rear. As an additional deterrent to enemy encroachment from the back, the moat is filled with the sewage from the 'earth closets', rooms with actual toilets whose refuse drains right into the moats behind the parados.Among the artifacts are original shells and the lift mechanism that brings them up to the top
We board the DelaFort ferry, a 20 minute ride that takes us to the other side of Pea Patch Island where we can see the entrance to Ft. Delaware. At first look from the ferry the fort seems massive, a large square granite structure.
The ferry, the DelaFort takes us on a pleasant ride under blue skies and 80 degree temperature. We can see the square stone fort from the boat. surrounded by marsh that we drive through on the tram once we get off the ferry. that is cut by muskrat trails. Bill Cooper meets us in front of the fort to give us some information mostly about bats. There is a lot information about the disease that has infested the bats of the area. A lot of information. The prisoners lived in barracks outside the fort, 3 levels of bunks that held 120 soldiers who had a scratchy blanket and a wood stove in the middle of the room to keep them warm. The prison had the reputation as being the 'Andersonville of the north". Andersonville was the notorious southern prison with intolerable conditions, so to make this comparison is quite dramatic. On this benign day of sun and warmth and good friendship it was hard to imagine the depredation of the conditions there. For example, union deserters imprisoned there were made to wear a ball and chain as the walked around the camp. Food, though existent, was rancid, slimy, inedible. Conditions spread disease; more than 2400 men died there.
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