The war in Europe having terminated, the first battalion of the ROYAL NORTH BRITISH FUSILIERS was selected to proceed to America, in consequence of Great Britain having become involved in war with the United States; it embarked from Genoa on the 12th of May, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 7th of June; and on the 11th, sailed with the Twenty-ninth and Sixty-second regiments, for the West Indies, where it joined the corps under Major-General Robert Ross. The fleet, with the troops on board, sailed from Bermuda on the 3rd of August, and proceeded to the Bay of Chesapeake, when the American flotilla fled for refuge up the Patuxent river. To ensure the capture or destruction of this flotilla, the troops landed at the village of St. Benedict, from whence they advanced to the delightful village of Upper Marlborough, when the Americans destroyed their flotilla to prevent its falling into the hands of the British. The object of the expedition had thus been accomplished; but the army had advanced within sixteen miles of _Washington_, and the enemy's force was ascertained to be such as would authorise an attempt to carry the capital. The troops accordingly advanced on the 23rd of August; routed some detachments on the road, and encountering the American army under General Winder, at the village of _Bladensburg_, gained a decisive victory over a force more than twice their own numbers, and occupying a position deliberately chosen. The light company of the regiment distinguished itself on this occasion; it had two men killed; Captain Robert Rennie, Lieutenant James Grace, and eleven rank and file wounded. Advancing from the field of battle, the regiment moved towards _Washington_, and was the first corps which entered that city; it was fired upon by the Americans, and had sixty-eight men killed and wounded; but all resistance was soon overcome: the arsenal, docks, and other public property were set on fire, and the conflagration of burning buildings illuminated the sky during the night, while the exploding magazines shook the city, and threw down houses in their vicinity. Having completed this service, the British troops marched back to St. Benedict, and re-embarked on board of the fleet. Early on the morning of the 12th of September, the troops landed at North Point, and advancing towards Baltimore, a division of Americans fled from an entrenched position which they were preparing across a neck of land. Continuing to advance, the troops entered a closely wooded country, where they encountered a party of Americans, and Major-General Robert Ross, mixing among the skirmishers, was mortally wounded,[8] when the command of the army devolved on Colonel Brooke.