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
USS Viper (1814) USS Viper (1814) USS "Viper" was a heavily armed row galley commissioned by the United States Navy for service in the War of 1812. She was successful in her operations against the British on Lake Champlain, and was retired after the war. The second ship to be so named by the Navy, "Viper" was one of six large row galleys hastily built and commissioned in the mid-1814 at Vergennes, Vermont, for use by Commodore Thomas Macdonough against the British on Lake Champlain. Under the command of Lieutenant Francis Mitchell, "Viper" participated in the capture of the British squadron, under Commodore