Battle of Bladensburg

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Site of the Battle of Bladensburg, on Aug 24 1814. Known to the victorious British as "The Bladensburg Races" in honour of the way the untrained American militia ran away from the British regulars. The British went on to burn several of the public buildings in Washington, DC.

On August 24, 1814, British forces broke camp at Melwood Park and moved northwest to Bladensburg. The Baltimore militia, under the command of General Tobias Sansbury, was positioned west of the Anacostia River along the Bladensburg-Washington Road in the area of present day Cottage City, Colmar Manor, and Fort Lincoln Cemetery. Marching in the intense heat along the river road paralleling today's Kenilworth Avenue, the British arrived in Bladensburg about noon and attacked the American defenders shortly thereafter.

More at www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6069 & www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5068