The overthrow of Napoleon in 1814, left the United States alone in hostility to Napoleon's triumphant foe, and the British government prepared to carry on the war vigorously. A powerful fleet appeared in Chesapeake Bay, and landed an army of about five thousand men under the command of General Robert Ross. The authorities at Washington were entirely unprepared for the attack, and the British, after defeating an American force, more like a mob than an army, at the battle of Bladensburg, marched into Washington. There, in a manner worthy of vandals, the public buildings, including the Capitol and the President's house, were given to the flames. While this act of barbarism was disapproved by the English people, it is not to be forgotten that it was hailed with delight and laudation by the British Government, and that a monument to General Ross was erected in Westminster Abbey. The British followed up the firing of Washington by an effort to capture Baltimore. The brave defenders of Fort McHenry held out successfully against Cockburn's fleet, and General Ross lost his life while attempting to co-operate with the fleet. Francis S. Key, a resident of Georgetown, D. C., was detained on board a British ship while Fort McHenry was being bombarded, and in the depth of his anxiety for his country's flag he wrote that famous song, "The Star Spangled Banner." Finding that their vandalism only served to inflame American patriotism instead of "chastising the Americans into submission," as Cockburn had been ordered to do, the invaders withdrew to their vessels. CHAPTER XXVII. British Designs on the Southwest--New Orleans as a City of Refuge--The Baratarians--The Pirates Reject British Advances--General Jackson Storms Pensacola--Captain Reid's Splendid Fight at Fayal--Edward Livingston Advises Jackson--Cotton Bales for Redoubts--The British Invasion--Jackson Attacks the British at Villere's--The Opposing Armies--General Pakenham Attempts to Carry Jackson's Lines by Storm--The British Charge--They Are Defeated with Frightful Slaughter--Pakenham Killed--Last Naval Engagement --The President-Endymion Fight--Peace--England Deserts the Indians as She Had Deserted the Tories--Decatur Chastises the Algerians.