Barbara Frietchie

Fitch takes a good bit of artistic liberty and intertwines her story with that of his own grandparents' love story, which also takes place during the Civil War.

The play met with mixed reviews in 1899 because of the romance he added to the tale, but it would be successfully revived a number of times.

Fritchie, a central figure in the history of Frederick, Maryland, has a stop in the town's walking tour at her home.

When Winston Churchill passed through Frederick in 1943, he stopped at the house and recited the poem from memory.

At 90 years of age she waved the Union flag out of her window despite opposition from Stonewall Jackson's troops, who were passing through Frederick.