"Then did I remember that there were gathered around that banner, among its defenders, men who had heard and answered the call of their country — from these mountain sides, from this beautiful valley, and from this fair city of my native country." — Francis Scott Key, August 6, 1834 Excerpt from a speech describing his writing of the "Star Spangled Banner" give during a celebratory dinner on the Frederick Courthouse lawn.
Since its unveiling in 1898, hundreds of dignitaries and thousands of tourists have visited the grave of Francis Scott Key. In the shadow of the monument linger over 100 known soldiers of the war that led to Key's rise to meteoric fame.
Frederick's Mount Olivet Cemetery holds the second highest concentration of War of 1812 veterans in the state of Maryland, following Baltimore's Greenmount Cemetery. Although no battles or skirmishes occurred here in Frederick County, the citizenry proudly took up arms in this Second War of Independence in a effort to keep this area and surrounding region safe and secure.
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