Battle of Baltimore 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. Future President James Buchanan served as Private in the defense of Baltimore. Until April 1814, Great Britain was at war with Napoleonic France, which limited British war aims in America. During this time the British primarily used a defensive strategy and repelled American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. However, the Americans gained naval control over Lake Erie in 1813, and seized parts of western Ontario.
Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 lineage back to the Reading Union Volunteers, organized on March 23, 1794. The Reading Union Volunteer served in the Whiskey Rebellion. During the War of 1812 the Reading Union Volunteers were mustered into federal service on September 12, 1814, as the Reading Washington (Guards) Blues, in response to the British attack on Fort McHenry and Baltimore, and mustered out on February 8, 1815. The last four months of 1814 was a period of time when the British navy was very active all along the Atlantic coast, especially in the Chesapeake Bay, and the Americans feared attacks on its coastal cities.