The Battle of Bladensburg was a battle fought during the War of 1812. The defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn Washington, D.C.

By July, 1814, Napoleon had been defeated in Europe and was exiled to the island of Elba. Thus significant numbers of British troops were free to be sent to North America. Sir George Prevost, Governor General of Canada, planned for a dual invasion of the United States. He personally led one invasion into New York, from his headquarters in Canada, headed for Lake Champlain. The other was to be transported up the Chesapeake Bay into the central United States under the command of Major General Robert Ross. U.S. Secretary of War John Armstrong did not believe the British would attack the strategically unimportant city of Washington. He instead believed the likely target would be the more militarily important city of Baltimore. Armstrong was only half right—the British invasion was aimed at both Baltimore and Washington. Prevost wanted to avenge the American burning of the Canadian city of York, Ontario (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada (today the Canadian province of Ontario).

Ross landed his forces in Maryland in August 1814 and marched up the Patuxent River. The American commander was Brigadier General William H. Winder, an inept leader who had been recently exchanged after being captured at the July 1813 Battle of Stoney Creek. Winder had at his immediate disposal 120 Dragoons and 300 Regulars, but the rest of his force consisted of 1,500 poorly trained and equipped militia. On the day of the battle some 5,000 more militiamen began arriving on the field. Winder had the numerically superior force, but he was opposed by experienced British regulars.

By August 21, Winder had advanced south to the vicinity of Long Old Fields and Wood Yard, off modern Route 5, to confront the British at Upper Marlboro. Though he rode with the force directly challenging the British, he realized that Bladensburg was the key to the defense of Washington. By holding Bladensburg, Winder kept open the roads to Baltimore and Annapolis, roads upon which reinforcements were already moving. He also blocked one of only two routes available to the British for an advance on Washington, the preferable route, as it happened, because the Eastern Branch [Anacostia River] was easily forded there. Winder ordered General Tobias Stansbury to "take the best position in advance of Bladensburg...and should he be attacked, to resist as long as possible."

The Burning of Washington took place in August 1814, during the War of 1812 between the British Empire and the United States of America. British forces occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings. The facilities of the U.S. government, including the White House, were largely destroyed, though strict discipline and the British commander's orders to burn only public buildings are credited with preserving the city's private buildings. Historians assert that the attack was in retaliation for the American looting of York, Upper Canada (now Toronto) after the Battle of York in 1813, and the burning down of the Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada. The British Army commanders said they chose to attack Washington "on account of the greater political effect likely to result,". Governor-General Sir George Prevost of Canada wrote to the Admirals in Bermuda calling for a retaliation for the American sacking of York and requested their permission and support in the form the provision of naval resources. At the time, it was considered against the civilized laws of war to burn a non-military facility and the Americans had not only burned the Parliament but also looted and burned private homes and warehouses.  Further proof of the retaliation was that after the limited British burning of some public facilities, the British left. There was no territory that they wanted to occupy and no military facility that they had planned to attack.

The White House was set ablaze causing extensive damage. Only the exterior walls remained, and they had to be torn down and mostly reconstructed due to weakening from the fire and subsequent exposure to the elements, except for portions of the south wall. A legend emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered, giving the building its namesake hue. This is unfounded as the building had been painted white since its construction in 1798. Of the many spoils taken from the White House when it was ransacked by British troops, only two have been recovered — a painting of George Washington, rescued by then-first lady Dolly Madison, and a jewelry box returned to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939 by an old man who said his grandfather had taken it from Washington.