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
Admiral Cockburn (1814 ship) Admiral Cockburn (1814 ship) Admiral Cockburn was a ship launched in New York in 1808 or Philadelphia in 1809. The British captured the American ship in 1814 and she was sold as a prize. Corney & Co. purchased and renamed her; originally she served as a London-based transport. In 1829 she became a whaler in the South Seas. She was wrecked at Muizenberg Beach, False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in July 1839 while returning to London from her third whaling voyage. On 28 January 1819, "Admiral Cockburn", J. Briggs, master, sailed for Bombay under a license from the British