NEW! Information and "photos" about the Battle of Bladensburg
click here to read how it all started
click here to read about James Madison and Politics of his day.
You don't hear much about the War of 1812, and you never hear about the Battle of Bladensburg. How many battles do you know where both sailors and marines of each side faced each other on dry land? In a military way, the Battle of Bladensburg was pretty insignificant. But it was very significant in several other ways. It was "the" battle to protect the heart of America, and the Americans failed. No wonder you don't hear much about it!
It is rather clear to historians why the Americans lost the battle and the reasons are typical;
Another event that makes the Battle of Bladensburg tragic and odd is that the invaders were ordered by their top officer at sea (Admiral Cochrane) to turn back and not attack! But his subordinate, the top officer in the field (Admiral Cockburn), dismissed the order and insisted they proceed.
To make it easier for you to download and read, we have parced the story into the following mini-chapters:
The British Invasion Force Appears off the Maryland Coast: August 17
Americans Consider the Possibilities
The Invaders Land, Washington Reacts, August 18
The Invader's First Move, August 19
Saturday, August 20: The British Stumble
Sunday, August 21: Invaders on the March
A Quick Look at Commordore Joshua Barney
Officers, Gentlemen, and How They Did War
Monday, August 22: the Trick at the Crossroads
Cockburn Reaches Barney
Tuesday, August 23: Too Close To Delay!
The Frantic Night of Frustration and Foolishness
Not Just Another Hump-Day; Wednesday, August 24, 1814
But don't just take it from me! Now read these EYEWITTNESS ACCOUNTS!
General Winder's description of the battle!
Commodore Barney's description of the battle!
Captain Tingey's description of the burning of his Navy Yard!
The President's own decription of events that morning!
Hey, if you can't believe the President of the United States, who CAN you trust?? Ok, no more hinting at the horror of the GW Bush admin.
So, just what WAS the "body count" (for those to whom it matters)? Different sources claim different numbers. Over a hundred British soldiers lost their lives on that field, some dying of nothing more than heatstroke. The Americans suffered far fewer casualties (difficult to hit a moving target). However, out of the approximately 5000 men there that day, only about 20 Americans lost their lives fighting for the nation's honor. To these this author is remined of Shakespeare's Henry V:
"We few. We happy few. We band of brothers, for he that sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother. Be he ne'r so vile, this day shall gentle his condition..."
And yet, who knows the names of these men now? Certainly our ignorance is not their fault. They gave all they had when the rest ran (or were ordered to run) and lost the cause for all. There is no monument to the dead. There is no list. There is no "thanks". There is not even any recognition of anything having taken place. There IS a monument at Bladensburg, but not to those who fought there. And, strictly speaking, they don't need our "thanks". They did what they felt was right. As President Kennedy said; "...with a clear conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds....".
In addition to the killed Americans, only about 40 men were wounded to varying degrees.
Some soldiers had to live with the emotional anguish of having been ordered to retreat before even firing a shot. Some had to live with the shame of having run from their line and officer, from family and country, and from honor and duty. Some felt it just as well; they had lived to tell about it. Some found there was one thing they could NOT run from; themselves.
Click here to read A Very Brief Account of the Burning of Washington
Click here to read a short version of The Battle Along the Potomac
Click here to read a short version of the Battle of Baltimore
Click here to read a short version of the Story of our National Anthem and the attack on Ft. McHenry
What happened to the main characters after the battle or war? Click here to read the Epiloge of Participants
Heading northeast on Maryland Avenue which is mostly also known as Annapolis Road, you will leave the nicer downtown part of DC and notice things get dumpier and dingier. You see buckled sidewalks, litter, small car dealerships, dreary old plazas, and low-rent businesses. You and your car will experience potholes. Be historic and pretend the disturbances to be British rockets exploding near your carriage. You will see the dinginess if you are riding. If you are driving, you will see nothing but the confusingly constant lights, signs and arrows, turn-only lanes, and idiot drivers. All of it can be expected of a poorly underdeveloped dump.
You will eventually find yourself at the top of a hill looking down the road. You are looking at Bladensburg in the distance. On the right you will pass tall black-iron gatework which is Fort Lincoln Cemetary. This is reputed to enclose the majority of the battlefield of our interest. In an odd coincidence, it is here in this historic ground that your author's mother is interred. Ft. Lincoln itself was a short-term Civil War era enterprise that no longer exists.
Further, past the grocery stores and thrift stores and little businesses, as well as some very modest and 1940 vintage residential areas, you cross over the small river that the British once stormed over (in the opposite direction) and come to a large traffic circle. If you can navigate this while looking around, you will see a war monument at the circle's center; a monument NOT to the Battle of Bladensburg! Oddly, it is a monument to fallen soldiers of World War One that some call "Peace Cross".
This circle is surrounded by undeveloped open land, but off the circle you immediately resume the sidelines of dumpery. You will very soon leave the businesses and see older (but larger) residences. You will be going up a hill at this point, and this is Lowndes Hill. It was here that the British grouped and observed the battlefield, and where the US soldiers had camped before. That is pretty much the entirety of the historic route. The roads the British marched on to reach Bladensburg no longer exist. Even Annapolis Rd and the Bridge may not be in their original locations. There is a small creek that goes under Annapolis Rd SW of the bridge, and is almost invisible from the road, but this author doubts this is the creek crossed by "Tourncliff's Bridge" where the British were under Navy and Marine fire.
There is an estate in Bladensburg that existed at the time of the battle, but it is privately owned and only opened to the public at certain times of the year. In nearby Riverdale there is Riversdale Mansion or Calvert House as it is also known. At the previously mentioned Ft. Lincoln Cemetary, there are some plaques here and there. And that is IT.
Yes, it certainly appears we just don't want to remember the battle that was called "The Bladensburg Races" in derision of how the US performed. We lost the day. We lost the city. And we've lost our memory.
One last tidbit of little-known fact for those who read this far; Free Housing in the Washington Area. You have to have the "pioneering spirit" for this, though. It's underneath the Bladensburg Bridge (or should I say IN it). That's right. While the bridge there now is nothing like the wooden one of 1814, this "historic" bridge is the now home of indigents. Your author doesn't know them. They may be illegal aliens, addicts, prostitutes, villains or just plain homeless. But I'd bet on one thing; none of them is reading this. If you walk on the dirt path and railed walkway under the DC side of the bridge you will not see signs of life - unless you look and know WHERE to look. You'd think the noise of even occassional traffic over the bridge would make sleeping there impossible. Living under a bridge is strange, and so is utter poverty. Let us hope the residents of Bladenburg Bridge find luck and move out.
Most Significant Infantry Battles of the War of 1812(In no particular order)
Lastly,
for die-hard 1812 enthusiasts:
Not being content with just writing about 1812, your humble author felt it necessary to spend considerable time and resources actually manufacturing a vast assortment of toy soldiers of the period! Obsessed? Of course not. Eccentric? Bingo!
click here for info on the author's toy 1812 figures!