Editor’s note: This is the ninth of a series of stories that will be featured in the Pensacola News Journal each week leading up to the 200th anniversary of Escambia County. Look for these stories each Monday in print.
It took the entire Baltimore Pickersgill household, including the two female African-American slaves, six weeks using 350,000 stitches and 400 yards of bunting (ironically from England) to complete the two new flags for the American War Department. Each had 15 stripes and 15 stars, and the garrison flag was larger than the storm flag, with 23-inch-wide stripes and 2-foot-wide, point-to-point stars. The storm flag would be left out at night and in poor weather, replaced by the larger garrison flag during the day.
After the British bombardment of Fort McHenry on Sept. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key, spotting these flags, would jot some words on paper about the defense of Fort McHenry. He had in mind the popular tune “To Anachreon in Heaven.” The 1775 melody was composed in London for the Anacreontic Society, a gentleman’s club which regularly hosted musical concerts followed by an elegant supper and occasional group singing. By 1814, the tune was in wide use throughout the colonies with at least 85 versions of words.
But it was Key’s words, about this star-spangled banner, triumphing over foreign forces, and imbuing a sense of pride and patriotism, that would turn this tune and poem into a new American national anthem.
Seven years later, on July 17, 1821, Andrew Jackson wrote that on the transfer of the Floridas in Pensacola, they “hoisted the American Colors under the full Band playing long may it wave o’er the land of the free & the home of the brave.” Music was provided by the regimental band of the 4th Regiment with musicians from the USS Hornet. On this special occasion, the strains of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were played for the first time in Pensacola and in American Florida.
Theaters, taverns and Patgo
That evening, the theater opened for the first time in Pensacola and was attended by Gov. and Mrs. Jackson, and other officials. The featured fare was a drama and the theater became known as the “Jacksonian Commonwealth Theatre.” With at least weekly productions, it closed for the season on Oct. 22, 1821, with its last performance for the benefit of the band who were apparently unpaid.
Envisioning other entertainments coming to the new city, the Pensacola City Council quickly passed an ordinance July 27 setting fees and noting that licenses were required for exhibits, puppet shows, displays of rare animals, feats of agility, circuses or any other public spectacle, including billiard tables. Within a month, an equestrian circus “recently from Havana” gave a performance Aug. 22 featuring “astonishing feats of horsemanship.”
The Eagle Tavern, which opened Sept. 8, 1821, with accommodations for gentlemen and ladies, and a bath house with hot and cold water, featured an “elegant ten pin alley.”
Escambia County turns 200
Part 1: Setting the stage: Our Pensacola is fifth Spanish settlement on Pensacola Bay
Part 2: How did Pensacola end up back in Spanish control for a second time?
Part 3: How Andrew Jackson set up a ‘good government’ for Pensacola and Florida
Part 4: From newspapers to circuses, Escambia County and Pensacola have many ‘firsts’
Part 5: How early Pensacola treated disease outbreaks and the role of health care
Part 6: Cultural survival on the run: Pensacola’s history shaped by Native Americans
Part 7: Life in 1820s Pensacola was primitive, but cosmopolitan. A look at our early years.
Part 8: How the Sampler project aims to connect us with our Pensacola ancestors from 1821
Another common entertainment was the Patgo, an ancient tradition that came from Europe. The Patgo had been practiced by the Spanish before 1821, and the tradition continued afterward. It was an event where a large artificial bird is created, set up on a metal pole and the various colored ribbons coming off the “bird” corresponded with various women at the party. The men would then take turns trying to shoot off the ribbons, and they would get the honor of the first dance with the lady whose colored ribbon corresponded with the one they shot off.
In 1822, George McCall, an Army officer stationed at Pensacola, attended a large Patgo at the home of Juan de La Rua which overlooked the Escambia Bay bluffs. It was an all-day affair with shooting the Patgo, dancing and large amounts of food.
Other entertainments included concerts, schooner excursions, dances and balls. Horse racing and boat racing also took place, usually with betting, and gambling houses also flourished.
How the military and civilians socialized in 1820s Pensacola
From the 1820s on, the U.S. military had a presence in Pensacola, from the Army camp on Bayou Chico (Cantonment Clinch) to the U.S. Navy Yard, which was established in 1826, as well as the numerous coastal defense forts built by the government. Thus, there were numerous opportunities for civilians and the military to socialize.
One such military-civilian ball was described as:
“Festooning the large door … were the lion flag of Spain and the star spangled banner of the (U.S.), representing the happy union of the American and Spanish population, of which our society is composed. Branches of magnolias, each bearing a full blown flower, seemed to grow from the window frames, and around them were festooned flags of different nations (and) stars of bayonets and crosses of swords. …
The company are beginning to assemble … those dance-loving Creoles with their dark hair and darker eyes, which grow brilliant under the inspiration of music. Neatness and simplicity, under the guidance of good taste, characterize their style of dressing, and this, combined with the untaught, native grace of their movement, makes the ball room as appropriate their sphere as though they belonged to the ‘upper crust’ … of New York.
The dancing commences … (and though it was storming that evening) about eighty ladies and a hundred gentlemen showed a praiseworthy contempt of all inclemency. … Cotillions, waltzes and Spanish country dances succeeded each other in agreeable irregularity. About one o’clock … the doors were thrown open and the supper formed the subject of greatest interest. Five hours dancing had … sharpened my appetite … (and) our gaze was fixed upon sundry turkeys, pigs, and (salads), to say nothing of pyramids of cakes arising … from amid a profusion of dishes. … Everyone enjoyed it — the champagne passed around merrily, and I for one drank a bumper to the ‘officers of the Army stationed at Barrancas.’ What was done after supper I cannot so well chronicle, but I understand that at five o’clock there was still heard a ‘sound of revelry.'”
As with every corner of the Republic, the Fourth of July was widely celebrated with a parade, a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, pleasure cruises, gun salutes, barbecues, public dinners, balls and fireworks.
And, of course, musical concerts featuring the “Star Spangled Banner.”
JOIN THE FACES OF PENSACOLA – 1821 AND 2021: Volunteers wanted!
What: A web based interactive mosaic of faces from our modern community honoring the 1821 community.
Why: To celebrate our rich and diverse heritage through a reflection of our modern community.
Who: Area residents, all ages, ethnicities, and genders.
How: Fill out the form at pco.la/1821 and upload your photo to represent a member of the 1821 Pensacola community (use an uncluttered background, clearly showing face and shoulders, no hats please, and names optional.
So far, researchers with the West Florida Genealogical Society have identified 2,000+ individuals who were here when Florida passed from Spain to the United States. These were more than just names; every person had a rich life and history. By honoring a member of the 1821 community, you are participating in this celebration of our rich and diverse Florida heritage.
Dean DeBolt is the university archivist at the University of West Florida. Brian Rucker is on the faculty at Pensacola State College.
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