Battle of Bladensburg

After their victory, the British burned down Washington’s public buildings. Woodcut from 1876

date	August 24, 1814
place	Bladensburg (Maryland) , USA
output	British victory, capture of Washington

Parties to the conflict
United Kingdom 1801 United Kingdom	United States 15 United States
Commander
Robert Ross	William Winder
Troop strength
4500 men	approx. 7500 men (120 cavalrymen , 300 infantrymen , 6500 militiamen, 450 seamen and marines )
losses
64 dead, 185 wounded	10 dead, 12 wounded, unknown number of prisoners

British march from Benedict to Bladensburg, August 19, 1814

The Battle of Bladensburg took place on August 24, 1814 during the British-American War near Bladensburg (Maryland) , USA , and ended with a British victory and the conquest of the US capital Washington .

prehistory

The defeat of Napoleon I in Europe allowed the British government to send reinforcements to Canada , where British troops had remained largely on the defensive in the war of 1812 against invasion attempts by far superior troops from the United States. They were not only used in Canada itself to reinforce the troops of Governor General Sir George Prevost , but also in cooperation with the Royal Navy during attacks along the American Atlantic coast. With these attacks Prevost wanted to avenge the devastation of Canadian cities (above all of York , now Toronto , then capital of Upper Canada ) and to deter the USA from further attacks of this kind. In addition, the Americans should be distracted from the main theater of war on the Canadian border and troops should be tied up on the Atlantic coast. These attacks were not attempts to permanently occupy land, but raids in which the invaders withdrew again at sea after they had caused the highest level of damage. Encouraged by several successful attacks of this type, Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane drafted a plan for an attack on the US capital Washington , which was to be followed by an attack on the important port city of Baltimore .

On August 19, 1814, 4,500 British soldiers landed under the command of General Robert Ross at Benedict (Maryland) , reinforced by a command of the Royal Navy under Rear Admiral George Cockburn . Since US Secretary of War John Armstrong refused to believe that the attack could be directed against the strategically insignificant capital, he concentrated all available means on the defense of Baltimore. Although the British made no hurry in their march along the Patuxent River, taking six days to travel about 50 miles (80 kilometers), the Americans did not even succeed in slowing the advance by destroying the existing bridges. The most dangerous enemy of the invaders on this advance was the scorching summer heat. On August 23, Ross received an order from Cochrane to break off the advance, but was persuaded by Cockburn to continue. Brigadier General William Winder , a lawyer from Baltimore, was appointed to command the American troops, which were now hastily assembled to defend the capital . He owed his command not to military merit, but to political influence and had already proven his lack of skills in 1813 when he was defeated and captured by defeated British troops in the Battle of Stoney Creek . Winder had 120 dragoons , 300 regular soldiers and 1,500 militias and artillery. On the day of the battle, a further 5,000 militias and 450 marines and seamen from a gunboat flotilla of the US Navy under the command of Captain Joshua Barney with five guns were added. The Americans were clearly superior to the attackers. Winder had the added benefit of being able to choose his own defensive position. He posted his troops on a ridge near Bladensburg , east of Washington.

Course of the battle

On August 24th, the British arrived on the battlefield. Prominent spectators were US President James Madison , Secretary of State James Monroe and Secretary of Defense John Armstrong . Around noon, the British marched into Bladensburg and found that the Americans had decided not to fortify the place, but had occupied the ridge on the opposite side of what is now called the Anacostia River tributary of the Potomac River . However, they had failed to destroy the bridge. The vanguard in the advance over this formed the 85th Infantry Regiment ( Colonel William Thornton ), which was, however, thrown back on the river by militia units from Maryland with considerable losses when Thornton led an attack on the Americans single-handedly. By now, however, the main body of the British army had crossed the river, and Ross ordered some Congreve missiles to be fired at the Americans. The missiles were not very accurate, but had an enormous psychological effect on the inexperienced militiamen - their formations broke up, they threw away their weapons and fled. Only sailors and marines still offered noteworthy resistance, but were sometimes overwhelmed and killed or captured or finally joined the general escape. Their commander, Barney, fell into the hands of the British. Winder failed completely as a general, was unable to influence what was happening and was also unable to organize an orderly retreat. He had also neglected to set a rally point in the event of a retreat. The Americans therefore flee in panic, which made it impossible to defend the capital and gave the event the nickname Bladensburg races ("Bladensburg races"). The course of this fight, which can hardly be described as a battle, meant that the British losses were significantly higher than those of the US troops, as they had fled before they could be seriously involved in a battle. The British recorded 64 dead and 185 wounded (mostly from the precise firing artillery), the Americans 10 dead, 12 wounded and an unknown number of prisoners. 18 British people are said to have died of heat stroke rather than fighting.

Consequences: the occupation and partial destruction of Washington

The soldiers fleeing through Washington also joined President Madison and the rest of the US government as well as parts of the population. Madison was deeply shocked by the behavior of the militiamen, which he would not have wanted to believe if he had not seen it for himself. That same evening, the British marched into Washington with General Ross and Rear Admiral Cockburn at their head. The only resistance they faced was the shooting of some snipers, killing a British soldier and Ross's horse. The house from which they were fired was set on fire in retaliation, and around the same time the Americans blew up the naval yard and set fire to the ships that remained there. The British now began systematically devastating and looting the capital's public buildings. First the Capitol (the seat of the Senate ) was set on fire, then the House of Representatives and the Treasury. In the White House , the soldiers found a table set for 40 people, apparently in preparation for a victory ceremony. Ross and Cockburn made a toast to the British Prince Regent there and set the house on fire. This destruction is blamed in part for the name of the White House, as it was said to have been painted white for the first time during reconstruction, but it apparently existed before 1814. For two days the invaders were able to continue their work of destruction undisturbed, which was largely limited to public buildings. Ross deployed soldiers to protect private estates, had one looter executed and two others flogged. Cockburn personally wanted to set fire to the house of the anti-British newspaper National Intelligencer , which had printed abuse against him, but was dissuaded by residents of the neighboring houses. Instead, the inventory was taken to the street and destroyed there. On August 27, after the work of destruction had been completed, the British troops gathered on the outskirts of Washington, marched out without being in any way bothered by American forces, and were taken back on board by Cochrane's ships four days later. The British approach has been scourged as "vandalism" by the American side, not without justification, but it is mostly ignored that part of the city population significantly increased the damage caused by further looting and devastation after the invaders withdrew.

The British naval advance into the Potomac

As the British infantry advanced along the Patuxent River, a Royal Navy formation of two frigates , two gunboats, a missile-equipped ship and a number of smaller vehicles under Captain James Gordon invaded the Potomac. They should shut down Fort Warburton , which is used to secure Washington , and stand by for an evacuation of the land forces. Gordon reached the fort on the evening of August 27th. After a few shots that did not hit their target, to the astonishment of the British, the Americans evacuated the fort and blew it up. This allowed the British Association to occupy the city of Alexandria, Virginia , capture a number of ships there and loot the port. On August 31, Gordon received orders to withdraw and was warned of a series of coastal batteries that American naval officers - including Captain Oliver Hazard Perry - had set up on the banks of the Potomac. The British managed, however, to shoot their way free and destroy two batteries without much effort.

rating

The landing of the British on the Chesapeake and their attack on Washington was a risky undertaking, which, due to the cold-bloodedness of the British commanders, but above all because of the disorganization, negligence and incompetence of the American defenders, which was hardly comprehensible in its dimensions, bought it at one with only relatively small losses , became a great success. Bladensburg marks - not necessarily in view of the dimensions, but due to the accompanying circumstances and the consequences - the greatest military humiliation in US history. The fact that a state surrendered its capital to enemy troops practically without a fight aroused "astonished contempt" in European capitals - according to Theodore Roosevelt in his History of the War of 1812, quoting Antoine-Henri Jomini . The British achieved both the goal of avenging the devastation of Canadian cities and distracting the Americans. In addition, the American government was virtually inoperable for weeks and the morale of the US people was badly hit.

However, the British subsequently suffered a setback when Baltimore proved too well defended to be captured. Even more serious is that the Governor General Prevost in his invasion along the Lake Champlain to New York in the Battle of Plattsburgh was beaten and broke his advance. This course of the war, which was unsatisfactory for both sides, played a key role in bringing about the conclusion of the Peace of Ghent on December 24, 1814. Even after the official end of the war, a tragic late consequence of the Battle of Bladensburg became clear for the British: In the Battle of New Orleans , a British army under Sir Edward Michael Pakenham (who had not found out about the peace agreement in time) suffered a loss-making defeat against the defenders of the city because it was criminally underestimated - not least because of the experience of Bladensburg.

Web links

Commons : Schlacht bei Bladensburg - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

Pierre Berton : Flames Across the Border, 1813-1814. Anchor Canada, Toronto 2001, ISBN 0-385-65838-9 , p. 361 ff.
Theodore Roosevelt : The Naval War of 1812. Or the History of the United States Navy during the last War with Great Britain to which is appended to an Account of the Battle of New Orleans. New Introduction by HW Brands. 1st Da Capo Press Edition. Da Capo Press, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-306-80910-9 , eText at Project Gutenberg .