History of Washington, D.C. problems, and plans for further construction to reach the Ohio River were abandoned. During the War of 1812, British forces conducted an expedition between August 19 and 29, 1814, that took and burned the capital city. On August 24, the British routed an American militia, which had gathered at Bladensburg, Maryland to protect the capital (see Battle of Bladensburg). The militia then abandoned Washington without a fight. President James Madison and the remainder of the U.S. government fled the capital shortly before the British arrived. The British then entered and burned the capital during the most notably destructive raid of
HMS Liverpool (1814) HMS Liverpool (1814) HMS "Liverpool" was a Royal Navy frigate, reclassified as a fourth rate. She was built by Wigram, Wells and Green and launched at Woolwich on 21 February 1814. She was built of pitch-pine, which made for speedy construction at the expense of durability. Her major service was on the East Indies Station from where in 1819 she led the successful punitive campaign against the Al Qasimi, a belligerent naval power based in Ras Al Khaimah which the British considered to be piratical. She was sold in 1822 but continued to operate in the Persian Gulf for an