They had been let into their little sloop. The little boat that they had come over to negotiate the release of Dr. Beanes. But unfortunately, by coming to talk to the British, they had learned of the British fleet’s placement and strength. So, the British had shoved them back into their little boat to keep them out of the way, but wouldn’t allow them to return to land.
They had to watch a large part of the British fleet converged on Fort McHenry early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, and began bombarding it. The onslaught continued on through the entire day and all through the night, cannons thundering as loud as if the three men were in the clouds themselves. It was a terrifying show of the might of the British. Surely the entire British Navy was unstoppable, they would get what they wanted sooner or later. The smoke became too much, they could no longer see the Flag waving above the Fort. It continued through the night until they ran out of ammunition twenty-five hours after they begin the bombardment.
John Skinner, Francis Scott and Dr. Beanes all sat in their sloop and waited for the smoke to clear, hoping that through some miracle… No, it was impossible, it couldn’t survive. Fort McHenry had surely fallen to the might of the British. The smoke began to clear and they made out a red, white, and blue flag waving over the fort. It continued to clear and it became distinct, those colors were the American ones, fifteen stars in the corner, and fifteen stripes running down it. The poor scrap of cloth was barely there, but it was still flying stalwartly through the air.
The British retreated from this defeat and the three made their way back to Baltimore. On the way the lawyer was so caught up in his high spirits that he penned a poem that he named “The Defence of Fort McHenry” which would later be renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and put to an American drinking song and made the anthem of those defiant States of America, in a Republic, under God, indivisible, standing for the Liberty and the Justice of all.