FAMOUS BATTLE BLADENSBURG

The war between Britain and the United States had grown uglier and harsher the longer it continued. In July 1814, Governor-General Sir George Prevost in Canada had made a request to Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, commander of the Royal Navy’s North American Station, to retaliate for American outrages – the most notable being the burning of government buildings by American troops in York, Ontario.

In compliance, Cochrane ordered his forces to “destroy and lay waste” to American towns on the Atlantic coast. There was to be a larger