The United States had faced a near-disaster in 1814, but victories at the Battle of New Orleans and the Battle of Baltimore and what seemed to be a successful fight against the Britain increased to unite the Americans into one nation. Meanwhile, the loss of the American flagship was conveniently overlooked by the public. The best-known patriotic legacy of the war was "The Star-Spangled Banner." Its words are by Francis Scott Key, who, after the bombardment of Fort McHenry, set them to the music of a British drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." In 1889, the US Navy began using "The Star Spangled Banner" at flag-raising ceremonies, a practice that was copied by the US Army. In 1931, the US Congress made it the American national anthem.