A slim, yet detailed volume on The Chesapeake Campaign of 1813-14, which saw the British burn the White House, while the bombardment of Fort McHenry inspired the writing of the "Star-Spangled Banner".
The War of 1812 was never the most popular of conflicts on both sides of the Atlantic. Bogged down by their involvement in the Napoleonic conflict in Europe, the British largely relied on the power of the Royal Navy in the early years of the war. Part of this naval strategy was to blockade the American coastline in order to strangle American commerce and bring the new nation to its knees.
Nowhere was this blockade more important than in the Chesapeake. Partly in response to the sacking of York (modern Toronto), the British decided to strike at the nation's capital, Washington, DC, and a force of Peninsular War veterans under General Robert Ross landed, defeated the Americans at the battle of Bladensburg and took Washington on August 24, 1814. Buoyed by this success, the British pressed on towards Baltimore. However, they were forced to withdraw at the battle of North Point, and a naval bombardment of Fort McHenry failed to reduce the fort and Baltimore was spared.
With his intimate knowledge of the events in this theatre of war, Scott Sheads of Fort McHenry NPS brings these dramatic events of American history to life.

Scott S. Sheads is a ranger-historian at Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine and has spent over 25 years researching the War of 1812 and the Chesapeake Campaign. He served as a consultant for the Smithsonian's Saving the Star-Spangled Banner Project (1998-2005) and has written a number of books on the subject, including most recently The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Reference Guide to Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).

Origins of the campaign
Chronology
Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign
Aftermath
The battlefields today
Further reading
Index