223 



ANNUAL REGISTEK, ISU. 



the fleet within the capes of Vir- 

 ginia; and I beg leave to offer my 

 congratulations to their Lordships 

 upon the successful termination of 

 an expedition, in which the whole 

 of the enemy's flotilla under Com- 

 modore Barney has been captured 

 or destroyed ; his army though 

 greatly superior in number, and 

 strongly posted with cannon, de- 

 feated at Bladensburgh — the city 

 of Washington taken, the capitol, 

 with all the public buildings, mili- 

 tary arsenals, dock-yard, and the 

 rest of their naval establishments, 

 together with a vast quantity of 

 naval and military stores, a fri- 

 gate of the largest class ready to 

 launch, and a sloop of war 

 afloat ; either blown up or reduced 

 to ashes. 



Such a series of successes in the 

 centre of an enemy's country, sur- 

 rounded by a numerous popula- 

 tion, could not be acquired with- 

 out loss, and we have to lament 

 the fall of some valuable officers 

 and men : but considering the dif- 

 ficulties the forces had to contend 

 with, the extreme heat of the cli- 

 mate, and their coming into action 

 at the end of a long march, our 

 casualties are astonishingly few. 



My letters of the 11th of Au- 

 gust will have acquainted their 

 Lordships of my waiting in the 

 Chesapeake, for the arrival of Rear 

 Admiral Malcolm, with the expe- 

 dition from Bermuda. 



The Rear Admiral joined me on 

 the 17th, and as I had gained in- 

 formation from Rear Adm. Cock- 

 burn, whom I Found in the Potow- 

 mac, that Commodore Barney, 

 with the Baltimore flotilla, had 

 taken shelter at the head of the 

 Patuxent, this afforded a pretext 

 for ascending that river to attack 

 bim near itt source, above Pig 



Point, while the ultimate destina- 

 tion of the combined force was 

 Washington, should it be found 

 that the attempt might be made 

 with any prospect of success. To 

 give their Lordships a more cor- 

 rect idea of the place of attack, I 

 send a sketch of the country upon 

 which the movements of the army 

 and navy are pourtrayed ; by it 

 their Lordships will observe that 

 the best approach to Washington 

 is by Port Tobacco, upon the Po- 

 towmac, and Benedict, upon the 

 Patuxent, from both of which are 

 direct and good roads to that city, 

 and their distances nearly alike: 

 the roads from Benedict divide 

 about five miles inland; the 

 one by Piscataway and Bladens- 

 burgh, the other following the 

 course of the river, although at 

 some distance from it, owing to 

 the creeks that run up the coun- 

 tr)' ; this last passes through the 

 towns of Nottingham and Marlbo- 

 rough to Bladensburgh, at which 

 town the river called the Eastern 

 Branch, that bounds Washington 

 to the eastward, is fordable, and 

 the distance is about five miles. — 

 There are two bridges over this 

 river at the city ; but it was not to 

 be expected that the enemy would 

 leave them accessible to an invad- 

 ing army. 



Previously to my entering the 

 Patuxent, I detached Captain Gor- 

 don, of his Majesty's ship Sea- 

 horse, with that ship and the ships 

 and bombs named in the margin,* 

 up the Potowmac, to bombard 

 Fort Washington (which is situated 

 on the left bank of that river, about 

 ten or twelve miles below the city), 

 with a view of destroying that 



* Euryalus, Devastation, JEtna, 

 Meteor, Manbv and Erebui. 



