much of our attention, I must beg to be permitted to assure you, that the cheerful and indefatigable exertions, on this occasion, of Captains Wainwright, Nourse, and Palmer, and of Captain Sulivan, the other commanders, officers, and men, in the boats you have placed under my orders, must justly entitle them to my warmest acknowledgments, and my earnest recommendation to your favourable notice.”
From the same to the same – dated off Nottingham, Aug. 27, 1814.
“Agreeably to the intentions I notified to you in my letter of the 22d instant, I proceeded by land, on the morning of the 23d, to Upper Marlborough, to meet and confer with Major-General Ross as to our further operations against the enemy; and we were not long in agreeing on the propriety of making an immediate attempt on the city of Washington.
“In conformity, therefore, with the wishes of the Major-General, I instantly sent orders for our marine and naval forces at Pig Point to be forthwith moved over to Mount Calvert, and for the marine-artillery, and a proportion of the seamen, to be there landed, and with the utmost possible expedition to join the army, which I also most readily agreed to accompany.
“The Major-General then made his dispositions, and arranged, that Captain Robyns, with the marines of the ships, should retain possession of Upper Marlborough, and that the marine-artillery and seamen should follow the army to the ground it was to occupy for the night. The army then moved on, and bivouacked before dark about five miles nearer Washington.
“In the night, Captains Palmer and Money joined us with the seamen, and the marine-artillery under Captain Harrison. Captain Wainwright had accompanied me the day before, as had also Lieutenant Scott.
“At daylight, on the morning of the 24th, the Major-General again put the army iu motion, directing his march upon Bladensburg; on reaching which place with the advanced guard, the enemy was discovered drawn up in force on a rising ground beyond the town; and by the fire he soon opened on us, as we entered the place, gave us to understand he was well protected by artillery. Major-General Ross, however, did not hesitate in immediately advancing to attack him, although our troops were almost exhausted with the fatigue of the march they had just made, and but a small proportion of our little army had yet got up. This dashing measure was, I am happy to add, crowned with the success it merited; for, in spite of the galling fire of the enemy, our troops advanced steadily on both his flanks and in his front, and as soon as they got on even ground with him, he fled in every direction, leaving behind him ten pieces of cannon, and a considerable number of killed and wounded; amongst the latter. Commodore Barney and several other officers: some other prisoners were also taken, though not many, owing to the swiftness with which the enemy went off, and the fatigues our army had previously undergone.
“It would, Sir, be deemed presumption in me to attempt to give you