The British Rockets That Inspired the U.S. National Anthem
A rocket at the National Air and Space Museum shares a history with the ones that lit up Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13–14, 1814.
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Rockets engineered by Sir William Congreve in the early 19th century represent a dramatic period in the evolution of military technology—and they also played a role in early U.S. history. Congreve, a British artillery officer, designed his aerial weapons to deliver unprecedented range and destructive power. During the War of 1812, as British forces bombarded Fort McHenry, Congreve’s rockets illuminated the skies over Baltimore. Their “red glare” left such an impression that Francis Scott Key immortalized the scene in the poem that would become known as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” forever linking this British innovation to the birth of the U.S. national anthem.
The National Air and Space Museum’s rocket collection includes a Congreve 100-pounder, which was gifted to the Smithsonian Institution by the Royal Artillery Institute in 1968. Designed in 1815 as a powerful siege weapon, the rocket originally measured nearly 25 feet when fitted with a wood guide stick, which stabilized its flight. What survives today is the iron rocket body, complete with a pointed warhead and a portion of the guide stick.
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Although Congreve rockets remained in service into the 1860s before being replaced by the Hale stickless, or rotary, rocket, the Congreve 100-pounder—and even larger versions up to 300 pounds—proved too expensive and cumbersome for sustained operational use. “I’m very pleased that the Museum has examples of the Congreve rocket,” says Colleen Anderson, a curator in the Museum’s department of space history. “Congreve was influenced by rocketry designs from India, and then in turn his rockets were used in the U.S. These artifacts remind us that the history of rocketry did not begin with the better-known innovations of the last century. It has a much older, global story.”
The Museum’s 100-pounder reflects the early engineering that shaped modern rocketry while connecting us to the past. And as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, the Congreve rocket reminds us of the days when a young nation was tested by fire.
Syretta Freeman is an assistant editor at Air & Space Quarterly.
This article, originally titled "Our Flag Was Still There," is from the Summer 2026 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.
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