Dr. William Beanes, who opposed the war, cooperated with the British when they occupied Upper Marlboro August 22–23, 1814. Beanes reportedly dined with Major General Robert Ross. Later, Ross ordered Beanes taken prisoner for arresting British looters. While helping to negotiate Beanes’s release, Francis Scott Key witnessed the Fort McHenry bombardment and penned lyrics for the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
Walking Tour
Dr. Beanes’s grave is next to his house site (fire destroyed the home in 1855). Two more 1812-related sites are nearby. At the site of Trinity Church (0.3 mile south) British soldiers tore pages from the parish register. Darnall’s Chance (0.3 mile east) was home to the only known person tried for treason during the war.
Francis Scott Key’s original manuscript that became the “Star-Spangled Banner”
“To our no small surprise we saw our friend Dr. Bean[es] brought in as a prisoner. On enquiring into the cause we learned that… he had armed his slaves, and sallied forth cutting off all our stragglers.”
– British Lt. George Robert Gleig, August 28, 1814
Dr. Beanes stopped British looters in Upper Marlboro and started a chain of events that led to the national anthem of the United States.
(War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.
