His fleet was then in the Patuxent River, emptying into the
Chesapeake Bay. The towns immediately "assailable," therefore,
were Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis.
Landing at Benedict's, on the Patuxent, the land forces,
enervated by a long sea-voyage, marched the first day to
Nottingham, the second to Upper Marlborough. At the latter
place, a town of some importance, certain British officers were
entertained by Dr. Beanes, the principal physician of that
neighborhood; and a man well-known throughout southern Maryland.
His character as a host was forced upon him, but his services as
a physician were freely given, and formed afterward the main plea
for his lenient treatment while a prisoner.
As the British army reached Upper Marlborough, General Winder was
concentrating his troops at Bladensburg. The duty of assigning
the regiments to their several positions as they arrived on the
field was performed by Francis Scott Key, a young aide-de-camp to
General Smith. Key was a practising lawyer in Washington who had
a liking for the military profession. He was on duty during the
hot and dusty days which ended in the defeat of the American
army. Subsequently, he could have read a newspaper at his
residence in Georgetown by the light of the burning public
buildings at Washington, and he passed with indignant heart the
ruins left by the retreating army when, after a night of
frightful storm, they silently departed in a disorderly forced
march of thirty-five miles, to Upper Marlborough.
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