How did Francis Scott Key get captured?
He was not captured. Just before the bombardment of Ft. McHenry he had gone to negotiate the release of a friend, r, William Beane, who had been taken prisoner by the British & was being held by their navy on a ship in the harbor. The prisoner exchange was successfully concluded and Key and his two companions were released from the British Naval ship onto a US ship that was temporarily required to stay behind the British Naval formation that was preparing to shell the fort. That is where he watched the bombardment from & where he saw in the a.m. that the US flag still waved above Ft. Mc Henry, inspiring him to write a poem “The Defense of Ft. Mc. Henry” which eventually became “The Star Spangled Banner.
