This issue of the National Intelligencer contains an early printing of Francis Scott Key’s song “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which later became the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Key set the verses to the melody of the popular British tune, “Anacreon in Heaven.” Although Key’s identity as the author was first revealed in the Frederick-Town Herald on September 24, the editors of the National Intelligencer had not yet learned this information. This issue appeared seven days after the song’s first appearance in the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser on September 20, 1814, and one day after it appeared in the Daily National Intelligencer on September 26.
