months what would follow on a much larger
scale.
On August 15, 1814, Cockburn, Cochrane,
and Ross settled upon a strategy of large-scale
raiding, coupled with a possible thrust against
Washington, D.C., known to be lightly de-
fended. The army was landed at Benedict,
Maryland, on August 19, 1814, while Cock-
burn’s fleet proceeded up the Pautuxent River
in search of a gunboat squadron commanded
by Commodore Joshua Barney. Barney, cor-
nered by superior forces, obligingly destroyed
his vessels and marched his men overland to
assist the defense of the capital. Cockburn, his
blood up, also came ashore and raced pell-mell
to join Ross’s advance. At this time instructions
from Cochrane arrived, ordering both men to
return to the fleet, but the admiral’s sense of
timing was never more apparent. He convinced
Ross to continue advancing upon the enemy
capital, which was done after routing Gen.
William H. Winder’s larger force of American
militia at Bladensburg on August 24. The only
real resistance came from a handful of sailors
and marines under Commodore Barney, who
was wounded and captured. Cockburn was so
impressed by this brave display that he immedi-
ately paroled his prisoner. Ross and Cockburn
then occupied Washington, and the admiral
brooked no delay in paying his respects to the
offices of the National Intelligencer.Not only
did he order the building torn down, he also in-
structed his men to destroy certain letters in
Gales’s type press. “Make sure that all the C’s
are destroyed,” he ordered, “so that the rascals
can have no further means of abusing my
name.” Cockburn then leisurely rode around
Washington on his white horse, thoroughly en-
joying his escapade, and carefully supervising
soldiers and sailors as to what they could and
could not loot. The British expedition then re-
traced its steps back to Benedict, reembarked
unmolested, and sailed away. The capture and
destruction of Washington, conducted largely
at the instigation of Cockburn, was the most
audacious operation of the war. It was also the
greatest American humiliation in that conflict
and gained its architect the undying enmity of
the nation. Cockburn shrugged off the entire af-
fair, counting it simply as the latest in a long se-
ries of successful actions ashore.
The next target on the British agenda was
the important commercial center at Baltimore,
long despised by the British because of its
flourishing privateer industry. On September
11, 1814, Cockburn landed with Ross at North
Point and accompanied the march inland.
However, the general was killed in a slight skir-
mish, which largely dampened subsequent mil-
itary operations. When Cochrane was unable
to reduce Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor,
he called off the invasion, and Cockburn was
only too happy to comply. Cochrane next
sailed off to attack New Orleans, and Cock-
burn followed only as far south as Cumberland
Island, off the Georgia coast, which he cap-
tured on January 1, 1815. The British then es-
tablished a base of operations and began fan-
ning out along the Georgia coastline. The town
of St. Mary’s was raided on January 13, and
Cockburn was in the act of preparing for a full-
scale assault against Savannah when word of
peace arrived. As part of his overall strategy,
the admiral was apparently intent on provok-
ing a mass uprising by African American slaves
to facilitate the British conquest. The Ameri-
can press quickly excoriated these intentions
as more proof of his apparent ruthlessness.
Cockburn returned to England in June- It then fell to his responsibility to trans-
port Napoleon, recently defeated at Waterloo,
into exile on the remote island of St. Helena,
where Cockburn also briefly served as gover-
nor. Sailing home in 1816, Cockburn was pro-
moted to vice admiral in 1819 and rose suc-
cessively through the ranks until reaching the
stellar grade of Admiral of the Fleet in 1851.
He died on August 19, 1853, quite possibly the
most hated Englishman of the War of 1812,
but also among its most daring and effective
naval commanders.
Bibliography
Bullard, Mary R. Black Liberation on Cumberland Is-
land in 1815.South Dartmouth, MA: M.R. Bullard,COCKBURN, SIRGEORGE