In the War of 1812 Frederick, Havre de Grace, and Frenchtown were burned by the British; but particularly noteworthy were the unsuccessful movements of the enemy by land and by sea against Baltimore, in which General Robert Ross (c. 1766-1814), the British commander of the land force, was killed before anything had been accomplished and the failure of the fleet to take Fort McHenry after a siege of a day and a night inspired the song The Star-spangled Banner, composed by Francis Scott Key who had gone under a flag of truce to secure from General Ross the release of a friend held as a prisoner by the British and during the attack was detained on his vessel within the British lines.
A few days later, he received at this camp the British, French and Italian admirals, who came under a flag of truce to negotiate a settlement between the insurgents and the Turks.
Our front line and that of the enemy were far apart on the right and left flanks, but in the center where the men with a flag of truce had passed that morning, the lines were so near together that the men could see one another's faces and speak to one another.
