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The fighting in Washington and nearby Baltimore during the War of 1812, America's first declared war, inspired other memorable words and deeds. Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, refused to flee without Gilbert Stuart's full-length portrait of George Washington. Cut out of its frame, the rolled-up canvas accompanied the Madisons on their flight through the countryside. And lawyer Francis Scott Key began writing his poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," while temporarily detained by the British during their bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry on September 14, 1814. (Contrary to some accounts, he was not a prisoner.) more... |
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