"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
The American revolutionary war was well before the times of war planes and modern missiles. What were the rockets and bombs of this time period like? We're bombs often blowing up in the air on purpose?
Those would be Congreve rockets and mortar bombs fired from bomb ketches; the latter was and is also alternatively named 'shell'. More can be said on the matter of either rockets, bombs, or both, if anyone else would like to show their knowledge of 1800s-era ordnance; for the meantime, OP, these previous threads may be of interest to you:
On rockets:
For bombs, see next post.