Today in History

On August 19, 1814, during the War of 1812,... British troops under the command of Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn landed at Benedict, Maryland on the shores of the Patuxent River. The British fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, had chased U.S. Commodore Joshua Barney's flotilla into the Patuxent River, but their true goal was the capture of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. -- only a few days march away. At the same time, Vice Admiral Cochrane ordered Captain James Gordon to sail other British warships up the Potomac River towards Washington which was defended only by Fort Warburton (later renamed Fort Washington) on the east bank of the river, twelve miles south of the nation's capital. News of this British onslaught caused panic in Washington and many of its residents fled.Commodore Joshua Barney commanded an assortment of small, quick gunboats, galleys, and barges that for weeks prior had outmaneuvered the larger British ships in the shallow Chesapeake waters. However, after being forced up the Patuxent, Barney and his men abandoned and destroyed their flotilla, linked up with a contingent of marines, and marched to Washington. Unsure of where the British would attack, American volunteers and militiamen from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington also scrambled to the capital and its outskirts. When word reached them that the British were marching towards Bladensburg, the American forces moved there to take up defensive positions.

Although the Americans outnumbered the British at Bladensburg, they were no match for the well-disciplined professional soldiers under the command of Major General Ross. On August 24, after thousands of American militiamen had retreated, only a small contingent of flotillamen and marines under Barney's command managed a valiant but futile counterattack. The British troops then continued on to Washington. Before leaving the city, First Lady Dolley Madison ordered White House possessions be packed and removed from the city -- silverware, books, clocks, curtains, and most importantly, Gilbert Stuart's full-lenth portrait of George Washington. President James Madison escaped only hours before the British entered the city. In order to prevent the British from capturing it, the Americans set fire to the Washington Navy Yard. Upon entering the city, the British set fire to the White House, the Capitol, and many of the other public buildings. The Patent Office, however, was saved from destruction by the superintendent of patents, Dr. William Thornton, who convinced the British of the importance of its preservation.

The Battle of Bladensburg and the burning of Washington were humiliating defeats for the United States. Within a few days, however, citizens were able to return to the decimated city. The British left Washington as swiftly as they had entered, moving on to capture the City of Alexandria and lay siege to Baltimore.

• Search on Battle of Bladensburg in the collection A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation to read petitions regarding compensation for wounds and damages received at the Battle of Bladensburg. Also, search on burning of Washington or Fort Warburton for similar petitions.
• Learn more about the City of Bladensburg. Search on Bladensburg in Built in America: Historic Building and Engineering, 1933-Present. Although some of the photographs have not yet been digitized, the data pages concerning the buildings in Bladensburg provide background information about the city and the people who lived there. Also search this collection for buildings that were burned in Washington, D.C., such as the White House, and buildings that were saved, such as the Patent Office.
• To learn more about the War of 1812, see Today in History features on the declaration of war against Great Britain and the assault on Baltimore which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star-Spangled Banner."