The Man Who Captured Washington

  A website focusing on the British General Robert Ross who won the Battle of Bladensburg and captured Washington in 1814, burning the public buildings including the Capitol and the White House after President Madison abandoned the city. Ross' death during the Battle of Baltimore helped to inspire the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner. Ross, from an Irish military tradition that included the famous Wild Geese and countless others who served in the British Army, was a childhood friend of the Duke of Wellington and earned fame during the Peninsular war.