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Summary
As the British turned their attention to the war effort against the US after Napolean’s exile to Elba, British sea power asserted itself. Using this renewed source of strength, on August 18, 1814, a force of about 4,000 British soldiers landed in the Chesapeake Bay area en route to the capital city of Washington. The American General William Winder realized that the British were heading to Washington, which could be approached from Maryland by two bridges. Winder burned one bridge and stationed men at the other to destroy it up if the British approached. Realizing that the bridge they had planned to use was destroyed, the British decided to ford the river at Bladensburg, about 10 miles from Washington. Winder quickly ordered his men there, where they were quickly routed at the ignominious Battle of Bladensburg.
With Bladensburg lost, Washington was quickly evacuated. Fleeing Americans destroyed the Navy Yard, hoping to deprive the British of any armaments they might find there. When the British, having rested in the midday heat, finally entered the city, they found it abandoned. The British looted and burned government buildings, including both the President’s Residence (later called the White House) and the Capitol Building. British Major General Robert Ross saw to it, however, that private residences were spared. President Madison and his cabinet fled to set up a government-in-exile.
With Washington ablaze, British Admiral Thomas Cochrane now planned an invasion of Baltimore. Baltimore, however, was committed to not having the same fate as Washington. Its citizens formed a Committee of Vigilance and Safety to prepare for the British attack. The city unified command of its forces under Major General Samuel Smith. Although General Winder had rank in the situation, the defeated General of Bladensburg decided to waive his right and let Smith control Baltimore. Unlike Winder, who had adopted a defeatist poster, Smith worked tirelessly to prepare Baltimore for a strong defense. Smith managed to divert five big artillery guns intended for shipment to Washington to the defense of Fort McHenry, which protected Baltimore’s harbor.
The British ships arrived in Baltimore on September 11, 1814, during Sunday church services. As the British infantry advanced, British Major General Robert Ross was killed by small-arms fire. With Ross dead, his forces stalled. Admiral Cochrane, waiting outside of Baltimore’s harbor, grew impatient at the delay. At around 7 PM, he began the naval bombardment of Fort McHenry.
Under constant bombardment, American gunners found that their smaller guns didn’t have sufficient range to hit the British ships. The guns and powder were ordered inside the safety of the fort, where the gunners and materiel weathered the British attack. Having heard no shots from Fort McHenry, the British assumed the American had run out of ammunition and sailed in closer. Fort McHenry’s guns suddenly opened fire, decimating Cochrane’s fleet and forced the British to retreat to Jamaica, where Cochrane would undertake repairs and prepare to attack New Orleans.
Analysis
American military ineptitude in the War of 1812 hit its lowest depths at the Battle of Bladensburg. General Winder proved to be morose and defeatist, issuing hopeless statements to his officers, such as, “When you retreat, make sure you use the Georgetown Road.” During the battle, Winder guilelessly accepted advice on troop movements whether from officers or non-military men. To make the already bizarre scene more surreal, President James Madison went to the front to get a close look. Stopping to water his horse at the river, Madison was dangerously close to the enemy, but quickly fled to a safer position. The Battle earned the disdainful nickname “Bladensburg Races,” a reference to the speed with which the Americans retreated. The heat turned out to be a greater foe to the British than the American. Rather than pursue the fleeing American troops, the British stopped to rest and hide from the heat.
With the British on the way to the capital city, there was some debate among US leaders over whether to blow up the Capitol Building—either because they didn’t like the idea of letting the British destroy the centerpiece of American democracy or because they didn’t want the British getting access to important government documents. Some considered using the Capitol as a fortress and making a last-ditch fight from its walls. Madison, however, decided that the Capitol should be abandoned, and that the British should be allowed to burn it, since that would help upset and unify national opinion. Madison's intuition turned out to be correct. Newspapers throughout the country reported Washington’s fall with rage, and these insulting events greatly increased the US resolve to fight the British.
During the evacuation of Washington, first lady Dolley Madison’s presence of mind saved many early treasures of the US. Notable among these was Gilbert Stuart’s famous 1796 portrait of George Washington. Because the frame was so solidly bolted to the wall at the White House that neither Dolley nor her assistants could unscrew it, they were forced to cut the canvas out of the frame. The first lad, knowing the residence would soon be destroyed, set out the best wine in the cellar on ice for any “thirsty soldiers” that might come by.
The Bombardment of Baltimore was much more than just a follow up by the British after they had burned the US capital city. Rather, the taking of Baltimore would have been a strategic triumph for the British had it not failed. In 1814, Baltimore was the third largest city in the US, and one of its wealthiest. The destruction of Baltimore would therefore not only represent a victory over American morale, but also inflict a grievous wound in the American economy. Instead, it had become a great American success, with the British fleet having to limp down to Jamaica to receive repairs from the damage inflicted by the wily Americans.
The news of the American triumph at Baltimore, in conjunction with the news of the British burning and looting of the American capital, helped to turn an already war-weary Britain further against the war. The failure of the British to advance at Fort Erie and at Lake Champlain played into this as well. Public opinion began to turn against the war, and newspapers criticized British commanders for the “uncivilized” burning of Washington.
In addition to its critical status as a military success, the defense of Baltimore provided the US with one of its most enduring cultural legacies. On September 6, 1814, five days before the British entered Baltimore harbor, a US agent named John Skinner and an American lawyer named Francis Scott Key took a boat out to a British vessel, the Royal Oak sailing under a flag of truce. Skinner and Key hoped to negotiate for the release of the captured Dr. William Beanes with the British captain Malcolm. Malcolm explained that that Skinner and Key would need to talk to Admiral Cochrane himself. Cochrane eventually agreed to free Beanes, he was not willing to release the Americans, because they might give away the position of the British fleet. Thus, Skinner and Key waited on a nearby ship as the British bombarded Baltimore. Key kept up a vigil through his telescope all night but could not seek much of the battle at Fort McHenry. When morning finally broke, he rushed to see if Fort McHenry’s enormous American flag was still waving. If it hadn’t been visible, it likely would have meant that the British had taken the fort during the night. When Key saw the flag still flying, he was so inspired that he quickly wrote the lyrics for what would become the Star-Spangled Banner.
