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
Orient (1814 ship) Orient (1814 ship) Orient was launched in 1814 at Calcutta. She sailed to England and from then on was based there. She traded with India into the 1830s. She participated in a naval punitive expedition in 1819, and performed four voyages for the British East India Company. From the 1840s she cntinued to sail widely until she was condemned in 1865 and sold for breaking up. Shortly after her launch "Orient" sailed to England. She first appeared in "Lloyd's Register" in 1815 with W. Rutter, master, Js. Murry, owner, and trade London–Bengal. From 1814 the EIC lost its monopoly on