Combat· War of 1812
Chesapeake Campaign
The Chesapeake Campaign was the British amphibious offensive that humiliated the United States by capturing and burning Washington, then failed before Baltimore.
Marines were in the thick of it. At Bladensburg on 24 August, Captain Samuel Miller's Marines and Commodore Joshua Barney's flotilla sailors held the last line on the Washington road after the militia broke, working their guns and musketry until they were flanked, the one creditable American stand of the day, at a cost of eight Marines killed and fourteen wounded. As the capital fell, a Marine guard covered the burning of the Washington Navy Yard. Three weeks later, Marines helped man the defenses of Baltimore on Hampstead Hill while Fort McHenry endured its famous bombardment. The British were thrown back, and the tenacity at Bladensburg and the successful Baltimore defense did much to restore American military pride after the loss of Washington.
Engagements in this conflict (1) Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 214