William Beanes resistance in the Battle of Bladensburg, northeast of the Capital along the upper Eastern Branch stream of the Anacostia River on August 24, 1814. After a decisive victory by the British they continued to Washington and burned most of the city's public buildings, including the White House, The Capitol, the Navy Yard, and various other Federal buildings and structures in retaliation for the earlier American Burning of York, the capital of Upper Canada (later called Toronto, capital of the Province of Ontario) the year before. On their return trip back to their ships they again stopped briefly at Upper Marlboro.
Hercules (1814 ship) Hercules (1814 ship) Hercules was built at Calcutta in 1814. She acquired British registry and traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC), before returning to Calcutta registry. She then traded opium between India and China, and became an opium receiving ship for Jardine Matheson. In 1839 she was one of the vessels that surrendered her store of opium to be burned at the behest of Chinese officials at Canton. This incident was one of the proximate causes of the First Opium War (1839–1842). Her owners apparently sold her to American owners in