Yesterday's war, Tomorrow's Adventure the war of 1812 in Context: Viewed by British Historians As a Minor Sideshow to the Epic Napoleonic Wars Being Waged on Continental Europe, The war of 1812, Nevertheless, Remains a Defining Moment in Canada's History (Feature‪)‬

On August 24, 1814, with Napoleon imprisoned on Elba, 4,000 troops British troops sailed up the Patuxent River heading for Washington, D.C.--and found a new enemy. Congress and most citizens had fled the city. President James Madison had taken troops to Bladensburg, 20 kilometres north of the capital, and his wife Dolly Madison refused to leave until her husband had returned from the front. The British sent word that unless Dolly Madison left Washington, her house would be burned over her head and she would be taken hostage and paraded through the streets of London.