Barbara Fritchie (person)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barbara Fritchie (nee Hauer), also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, (December 3, 1766 – December 18, 1862) was an American patriot during the Civil War. She was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and married John Casper Fritchie, a glove maker, on May 6, 1806.
She was a friend of Francis Scott Key and they participated together in a memorial service at Frederick, Maryland, when George Washington died. A central figure in the history of Frederick, she lived in a house that was to become a stop on the town's walking tour. In stories it is said that at 95 years of age she waved the Union flag out of her window despite opposition from Stonewall Jackson's troops, who were passing through Frederick in the Maryland Campaign. This event is the subject of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem of 1864, Barbara Frietchie. When Winston Churchill passed through Frederick in 1943, he stopped at the house and recited the poem, an excerpt of which follows, from memory.
"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;
"Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.
In a play of 1899, Barbara Frietchie, The Frederick Girl Clyde Fitch takes artistic liberty and intertwines her story with that of his own grandparents' love story, which also takes place during the Civil War.
The flag incident likely never occurred, however, as Barbara Fritchie was sick in bed that day. She told the housekeeper to hide the valuables in order to prevent looting, and to take the U.S. flag that was hanging outside.[citation needed] But it was never moved, and as a result was shot up by the Confederate troops. Accounts differ as to how the legend that inspired the poem arose. The flag, a symbol of the need for myth in times of war, may be seen in the Barbara Fritchie House and Museum.
Barbara Fritchie died at the age of 96 and was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Frederick City.
