Battle of Baltimore The Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea / land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812 . American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore , Maryland , and killed the commander of the invading British forces . The British defeated an American force at North Point , however they made no further progress and later withdrew . The resistance of Baltimore ’ s Fort McHenry during bombardment by the Royal Navy inspired Francis Scott Key to compose the poem " Defence of Fort McHenry " which later became the lyrics for " The Star - Spangled Banner , " the national anthem of the United States of America . Background . Tied down in Europe until 1814 , the British at first used defensive strategy , repelling multiple American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada . However , the Americans gained control over Lake Erie in 1813 , seized parts of western Ontario , and ended the prospect of an Indian confederacy and an independent Indian state in the Midwest under British sponsorship . In the Southwest , General Andrew Jackson destroyed the military strength of the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 . With the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 on April 6 , the British adopted a more aggressive strategy , sending in three large invasion armies . The British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed them to capture and burn Washington , D . C . American victories in September 1814 and January 1815 repulsed all three British invasions in New York , Baltimore and New Orleans . With the recent defeat of Napoleon the previous year , thousands of British troops along with many seasoned officers , including Major General Robert Ross , were deployed to America to undertake a major campaign on America ' s East Coast . In August , 1814 , British forces sailed from the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda to attack the U . S . capital of Washington , D . C . On August 24 , the British Army had overrun confused American defenders at the Battle of Bladensburg and marched into Washington , which had been abandoned by the military . After burning and looting the White House , Capitol , Treasury , War Department and other public buildings and forcing the destruction of the Washington Navy Yard , the British carted public and private possessions back to their ships . President James Madison and the entire government fled the city , and went North , to the town of Brookeville , Maryland . The British also sent a fleet up the Potomac to cut off Washington ' s water access and threaten the prosperous ports of Alexandria , just downstream of Washington , and Georgetown , just upstream . The mere appearance of the fleet cowed American defenders into fleeing from Fort Warburton without firing a shot , and undefended Alexandria surrendered . The British spent several days looting hundreds of tons of merchandise from city merchants , then turned their attention north to Baltimore , where they hoped to strike a knockout blow against the demoralized Americans . Baltimore was a busy port and was thought by the British to harbor many of the privateers who were raiding British shipping . The British planned a combined operation , with Ross launching a land attack at North Point , and Vice - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane laying siege to Fort McHenry , which was the point defensive installation in Baltimore Harbor . Battle . North Point . The British landed a force of 5 , 000 troops who marched toward Baltimore and first met heavy resistance at the Battle of North Point which was fought about 5 miles ( 8 km ) from the city . The city ’ s defense was under the overall command of Major General Samuel Smith , an officer of the Maryland Militia . He dispatched roughly 3 , 000 men under the command of General John Stricker to meet the British in a forward engagement . General Stricker was to stall the British invasion force in order to delay the British advance long enough for Major General Smith to complete the defenses in Baltimore . The land invasion force for the British was led by Ross , and would be killed in the second shift of the American defense by an American sharpshooter whose name has been lost to history . However , Daniel Wells , age 19 , and Henry McComas , age 18 , of Captain Aisquith ' s rifle company of the 5th Maryland Militia regiment have been attributed by Baltimore legend to have been responsible for his death , which was immediately followed by their own . With Ross ' s death the British army came under the command of the less competent Colonel Arthur Brooke . However , the British succeeded in driving the American militia back . Hampstead Hill . Rodgers Bastion , also known as Sheppard ' s Bastion , located on Hampstead Hill ( now part of Patterson Park ) , was the centerpiece of a 3 - mile - wide earthworks from the outer harbor in Canton , north to Belair Road , dug to defend the eastern approach to Baltimore against the British . The redoubt was assembled and commanded by U . S . Navy Commodore John Rodgers , with General Smith in command of the overall line . At dawn on September 13 , 1814 , the day after the Battle of North Point , some 4 , 300 British troops advanced north on North Point Road , then west along the Philadelphia Road ( now Maryland Route 7 ) toward Baltimore , forcing the U . S . troops to retreat to the main defensive line around the city . British commander Col . Arthur Brooke established his new headquarters at the Sterret House on Surrey Farm ( today called Armistead Gardens ) , about two miles east - northeast of Hampstead Hill . When the British began probing actions on Baltimore ' s inner defenses , the American line was defended by 100 cannon and more than 10 , 000 regular troops , including two shadowing infantry regiments commanded by general officers Stricker and Winder as well as a few thousand local militia and irregulars . The defenses were far stronger than the British anticipated . The U . S . defenders at Fort McHenry successfully stopped British naval forces but a few ships were still able to provide artillery support . Once the British had taken the outer defences , the inner defences became the priority . The British infantry had not anticipated how well defended they would be so the first attack was a failure ; however , Brooke ' s forces did manage to outflank and overrun American positions to the right . After a discussion with lower ranking officers , Brooke decided that the British should bombard the fort instead of risk a frontal assault and , at 3 AM on September 14 , 1814 , ordered the British troops to return to the ships . Fort McHenry . At Fort McHenry , some 1 , 000 soldiers under the command of Major George Armistead awaited the British naval bombardment . Their defense was augmented by the sinking of a line of American merchant ships at the adjacent entrance to Baltimore Harbor in order to further thwart the passage of British ships . The attack began on September 13 , as the British fleet of some nineteen ships began pounding the fort with Congreve rocket s ( from rocket vessel HMS " Erebus " ) and mortar shells ( from bomb vessel s " Terror " , " Volcano " , " Meteor " , " Devastation " , and " Aetna " ) . After an initial exchange of fire , the British fleet withdrew to just beyond the range of Fort McHenry ’ s cannons and continued to bombard the American redoubts for the next 25 hours . Although 1 , 500 to 1 , 800 cannonballs were launched at the fort , damage was light due to recent fortification that had been completed prior to the battle . After nightfall , Cochrane ordered a landing to be made by small boats to the shore just west of the fort , away from the harbor opening on which the fort ’ s defense was concentrated . He hoped that the landing party might slip past Fort McHenry and draw Smith ’ s army away from the main British land assault on the city ’ s eastern border . This gave the British a good diversion for half an hour , allowing them to fire again and again . On the morning of September 14 , the oversized American flag , which had been made a few months before by local flagmaker Mary Pickersgill and her 13 - year - old daughter , was raised over Fort McHenry ( replacing the tattered storm flag which had flown during battle ) . It was responded to by a small encampment of British rifleman on the right flank , who fired a round each at the sky and taunted the Americans just before they too returned to the shore line . Originally , historians said the oversized Star Spangled Banner Flag was raised to taunt the British . However , that is not the case . The oversized flag was used every morning for reveille , as was the case on the morning of September 14 . Brooke had been instructed not to attack the American positions around Baltimore unless he was certain that there were less than 2000 men in the fort . Because of his orders , Brooke had to withdraw from his positions and returned to the fleet which would set sail for New Orleans . Aftermath . An American lawyer and poet , Francis Scott Key , was on a mercy mission for the release of Dr . William Beanes , a prisoner of the British . Key showed the British letters from wounded British officers praising the care they received from Dr . Beanes . The British agreed to release Beanes , but Key and Beanes were forced to stay with the British until the attack on Baltimore was over . Key watched the proceedings from a truce ship in the Patapsco River . On the morning of the 14th , Key saw the American flag waving above Fort McHenry . Inspired , he began jotting down verses on the back of a letter he was carrying . He composed the words to the tune of an old British drinking song , " To Anacreon in Heaven " . When Key reached Baltimore , his poem was printed on pamphlets by the " Baltimore American " . His poem was originally called " Defense of Ft . McHenry " . The song eventually became known as " The Star - Spangled Banner " . Congress made it the national anthem in 1931 . Colonel Brooke ’ s troops withdrew , and Admiral Cochrane ’ s fleet sailed off to regroup before his next assault on the United States , the Battle of New Orleans . Armistead was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel . Much weakened by the arduous preparations for the battle , he died at age 38 , only three years after the battle . Three active battalions of the Regular Army ( 1 - 4 Inf , 2 - 4 Inf and 3 - 4 Inf ) perpetuate the lineages of the old 36th and 38th Infantry Regiments , both of which were at Fort McHenry during the bombardment . The lineage of the 5th Maryland Infantry Regiment , which played a major role in the Battle of North Point , is perpetuated by the Maryland National Guard ' s 175th Infantry Regiment . The battle is commemorated in the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine .