Battle of Bladensburg
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| Chesapeake campaign |
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| Craney Island – St. Michaels – Bladensburg – Washington – Caulk's Field – North Point – Baltimore |
The Battle of Bladensburg was a battle fought during the War of 1812. The failure of the American forces at this battle allowed the British to capture and burn Washington, D.C..
By this time Napoleon had been defeated in Europe and was exiled to the island of Elba. This meant that significant amounts of British troops were no longer needed in Europe and were being sent to North America. Sir George Prevost had grand plans of a dual invasion of the United States. He would personally lead one invasion south into New York headed for Lake Champlain. The other invasion was to be transported up the Chesapeake bay in the central U.S. under the command of General Robert Ross. Secretary of War John Armstrong did not believe that the British would consider attacking the strategically unimportant city of Washington. He instead believed the likely target would be the more militarily important city of Baltimore. Armstrong was only half right - the British invasion of the central U.S. was aimed at both Baltimore and Washington. Prevost wanted revenge for the American burning of York, Ontario (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada. Ross landed his forces in Maryland in August, 1814 and marched up the Patuxent River. The American commander in the area was Brigadier General William H. Winder, an inept leader who had been recently exchanged after being captured at the July 1813 Battle of Stoney Creek. Winder had at his immediate disposal 120 Dragoons, 300 Regulars and 1,500 militia. On the day of the battle some 5,000 more militia began to arrive on the field. Winder did have a numerically impressive force against the smaller British force which was though made up of experienced regulars. Winder had also chosen a good defensive location on the western side of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac (now called the Anacostia River) across from the town of Bladensburg, east of Washington.
Around noon on August 24 Ross's army reached Bladensburg. President James Madison and Secretary of State James Monroe had ridden out to see the battle, although cautioned by Secretary of War John Armstrong of the possibilities of a breakthrough by the British regulars against the American militia. The British began to cross a narrow bridge over the river. Although the American artillery tore large gaps in the British ranks, they continued to advance. The first line of American militia quickly broke and fled the field. Despite a brave show of resistance by 400 sailors and United States Marines under the command of Commodore Joshua Barney at the second American line, even these defenders were forced from the field when they were in danger of being cut off. Barney, severely wounded with a musketball in the thigh, was captured. Winder had failed to give any instructions in the case of a retreat and therefore the militia fled the field with no goal in mind. The hasty and disorganized American retreat was so great that the fight became known as the Bladensburg Races from an 1816 poem as the American forces fled through the streets of Washington. President Madison, along with the rest of the government of Washington, soon followed. Thanks to the President's wife, Dolley Madison, several historic paintings and artifacts were saved from the White House. That same night the British reached Washington unopposed.
Order of battle
British
- Foot (Infantry)
- *4th Regiment (King's Own)
- *21st Regiment (Royal North British Fusiliers)
- *44th Regiment (Essex)
- *85th Regiment (Bucks Volunteers)
- *Royal Marines
External links
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