Event record · battle
Maryland · Chesapeake
Battle of Bladensburg
24 August 1814
British forces rout a poorly coordinated American defense and open the road to Washington.
Participants
- British expeditionary force
- American regulars and militia
- Joshua Barney's flotilla men
Outcome
The American defense collapsed, opening the road to Washington.
Why it matters
Failures of command and preparation, not a caricature of universal cowardice, explain the defeat.
Location evidence
38.940, -76.930 · site precision
Coordinates locate the named site, city, or broad region; they do not reconstruct unit movements.
Where it sits in the story
This record belongs to a connected military, political, and human sequence. The chapter supplies causes, consequences, competing perspectives, and the limits of the surviving evidence.
Follow the evidence
Evidence behind this event
- Chesapeake FlotillaNaval History and Heritage Command · archaeology and naval history
Joshua Barney's flotilla and the Washington campaign.