Proudly hailing War of 1812

Daughters salute fight that lit up ‘Star Spangled Banner’

Some call it the “forgotten war,” but the Daughters of the War of 1812 are making sure that MidSoutherners are reminded of the conflict that inspired “The Star Spangled Banner” and left a list of at least 31 veterans in Shelby County.

The war ended with defeat of the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and as part of the bicentennial the Daughters of the War of 1812 are putting together a brass plaque honoring the war’s veterans who are buried in Shelby County.

Thirty one veterans, including first Memphis Mayor Marcus Brutus Winchester, have been identified so far. But project head Bettie Gustafson, a former state president of the Daughters of the War of 1812 and of the group’s Piomingo Chapter here, said she hopes to identify any other veterans who may be buried in Shelby County before the plaque is completed. It will be dedicated during an Oct. 5 ceremony in the southeast corridor of the Shelby County Courthouse.

Gustafson said the War of 1812 seems largely forgotten because it was sandwiched between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, both momentous wars with clearly defined goals and outcomes.

While there were clear winners and losers in those wars, the War of 1812 was more like extended bickering with the British and their attempts to exert control over the colonies, which had won their independence in the Revolutionary War. Some colonists still wanted to remain loyal to the British Empire. The Brits continued to try to draft American sailors into the British Navy. Some colonists wanted to wrest Canada from the British. And the British set up blockades to prevent America from trading with France, which was at war with the British .

hen it was over, says Gustafson, “Little was changed except that the boundaries of Canada were set.” She says most historians say the main thing accomplished by the war was to unite the majority of colonists against the British and, in the process, create a true sense of patriotism for the new nation. “It was a time when people became excited about our country. We became more united. We became more of a country,” says Gustafson.

One example was the “Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key as a poem, “Defence of Fort McHenry,” after witnessing the Battle of Fort McHenry in 1814. Key, a lawyer, was on a mission to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the British.

He watched as the British bombed the fort in Chesapeake Bay for an entire night and was impressed the next morning that, despite the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air, the American flag (with 15 stars and stripes) still flew over the fort.