general winder hadn't saved -- or hadn't designated any kind of rally point. winder already had a lot of experience at retreating now just as the british had advanced on washington. he'd ordered his troops back a number of times, but he really botches this retreat. so as the maryland militia are falling back, a lot of them start heading north towards baltimore, others are heading towards georgetown, and really none of them are heading back to the third line of defense, which has been formed by joshua barney and his navy flotilla men and the district militia which had raced up from washington during the course of the morning in the terrible heat. in fact, the maryland militia commanders hadn't even been informed that there was a third line. no one had told them that joshua barney and the district militia had formed behind them. so they're retreating in a chaotic fashion. winder is losing his nerve, and he ends up ordering a general retreat, and this even as the british are starting to approach the third line of defense, which is made up of barney and the distri

winder is losing his nerve and he ends up ordering a general retreat. this even as the british are starting to approach the third line of defense, which is made up of barney and the district of militia. now the british at blade denseberg have to move uphill to attack this third line. barney is positioned on a strong position on the district/maryland line. he has big guns, 18 pound weapons that he brought with him. he also had some of the u.s. marines, the marine corps barracks here in washington which had come up to support the platoon men serving as infantrymen for them. the british as they're trying to move into the face of these guns take quite a significant amount of casualties. the front line troops from the 85th light infantry were taking 1/4 casualties. so very significant bloodshed. it appeared to barney and to some of the district militia commanders that they were on the verge of maybe turning the tide here. winder with the maryland militia retreat has ordered a general retreat. barney doesn't get this word. he and his men keep on fighting and

winder said, look, it's too late. we have to fight like we are.think about it? armstrong said, i have no opinion. >> all right. >> correct? >> we have time for one last question. the gentleman right here. th -- yes, sir. >> there's theory i have read about it being kind of a diversion to take pressure abay from what was happening on the north, the canadian border, especially platsburg, provost was going to cut off the new england states and basicallyv that a separate country or use that as a bargaining chip but the whole thing and the chesapeake wasn't the main story. it was just a diversion. could you speak to that? >> i would n't call it a diversion. when you consider that the united states declared war on england, it was in february of 1813 that the british put a blockade at the mouth of the chesapeake bay. that's very early in the war. /Ññ&áá$u$ey do that? well, they were trying to bring an economic as well as a military war to the seat of american government. after all, it's that -- that's where the politicians were that dared to declare war

winder said, look, it's too late. we have to fight like we are.ng, the war secretary, what do you think about it? armstrong said, i have no opinion. >> all right. >> correct? >> we have time for one last question. the gentleman right here. this will be the last -- yes, sir. >> there's theory i have read about it being kind of a diversion to take pressure abay from what was happening on the north, the canadian border, especially platsburg, provost was going to cut off the new england states and basicallyv that a separate country or use that as a bargaining chip but the whole thing and the chesapeake wasn't the main story. it was just a diversion. could you speak to that? >> i would n't call it a diversion. when you consider that the united states declared war on england, it was in february of 1813 that the british put a blockade at the mouth of the chesapeake bay. that's very early in the war. /Ññ&áá$u$ey do that? well, they were trying to bring an economic as well as a military war to the seat of american government. after all, it's that -- that's

winder is losing his nerve and he ends up ordering a general retreat.d line of defense which is made up of3"y barney and the district, militia. now, the british at bladensburg have to move uphill to attack this third line. barney is situated on a strong position right on the maryland line. he had big guns. 18-pound weapons that he brought with him. he also had some of the u.s. marines from the marine corps barrack here in washington which had come up to support the men serving as infill tri for them. the british, as they're trying to move into the space with these guns take quite significant casualties. the frontline troops from the 85th light infantry are taking one-quarter casualties. so, very significant bloodshed, and it appeared to barney and some of the district militia commanders that they were on the verge of maybe turning the tide here. winder with the maryland militia in recruit has ordered a general retreat. barney doesn't get this word. he and his men keep on fighting and then he sees that the district militia has pulled back under orders fr

and they keep winder out of -- from being inserted back in control there. and i think monroe's actions also in trying to trap the british forces, they're leaving alexandria were noteworthy. so, yeah, a lot of characters that we haven't been able to speak about that i think deserve more mention. >> could you elaborate a little bit more about the conduct of cockburn and ross in regard to barney as the battle ended. i think that is sort of an interesting story, and i wanted to hear how you felt about it. >> it is very interesting. because when barney is wounded, and he falls into british hands very quickly, a soldier goes to get first its captain wainwright, one of the british naval ship captains and then cockburn arrives as well and ross. and, you know, they are very impressed by the performance of barney and the flotilla men. in fact, ross himself had to take command after colonel william thorton, one of the british brigade commanders led the way had fallen. and they had -- i think they recognized they were on the cusp of maybe losing this battle because bar

and winder with the militia retreat has ordered the general retreat.this word, and he and his men keep on fighting, and then he sees that the district militia have pulled back orders from wind er. ross, manages to get high ground over varney and the flotilla n men, and some of the british sharp shooters are able to take down a number of the flotilla men and including some of the gun crews, and varney, himself, he is hit in the hip and severely wounded, and he tries to disguise the wound from the british, but and from his own men, because he does not want sfaith. but, very quickly, varney is also running out of ammunition, and all of the crews that were bringing his crews, the civilian crews, they had joined in the general retreat, and varney was running out of ammunition, and it was clear that he was close to it at this point, and so he then orders his men tow+d@Ñ suro and retreat. he orders themk1"to leave him o the battlefield. one of his officers stays with him, and most of the flotilla men are able to escape back towards washington. varney is left

general winder is moving his forces back and forth.e moves them from washington into maryland at a point where he can position himself between the attacking force in the capital. but then he loses his nerve, marches back to washington. his force gradually is getting larger. and it had only been about 2,100 when the british landed at benedi benedict. and within about four or five days. enough forces had been gathered that they now outnumber the british force. but through a series of fates and just playing up on the american indecision, ross continues to move towards the capital and then faints directly towards the city and instead moves more north toward the village of bladensburg. this is what's today known as the anacostia river. back then, 200 years ago, it was known as the eastern branch of the potomac. it's a tributary of the potomac. and this play ss a key part in everything that happens at blai bladensburg. in fact, when bladensburg was founded in 1749, this was a deep-water port with ships coming from around the globe to take aw

winder said, look, it's too late. we have to fight like we are.ut it? armstrong said, i have no opinion. >> all right. >> correct? >> we have time for one last question. the gentleman right here. this will be the last -- yes, sir. >> there's theory i have read about it being kind of a diversion to take pressure abay from what was happening on the north, the canadian border, especially platsburg, provost was going to cut off the new england states and basicallyv that a separate country or use that as a bargaining chip but the whole thing and the chesapeake wasn't the main story. it was just a diversion. could you speak to that? >> i would n't call it a diversion. when you consider that the united states declared war on england, it was in february of 1813 that the british put a blockade at the mouth of the chesapeake bay. that's very early in the war. /Ññ&áá$u$ey do that? well, they were trying to bring an economic as well as a military war to the seat of american government. after all, it's that -- that's where the politicians were that dared to de

first thing is that to be fair to winder, you call him winder, some call him winder. to be fair to winder it was monroe who turned up just before the battle thebegan, i think. it was monroe, the future president of the u.s., who changed the deployment of the american troops, moving the fifth, for example, very n the baltimore regiment back from just behind the guns on the front line to 500 metersa behind wherenge they couldn't possibly support them. the ranger of musket is not mort than 50 or 70 meters. you couldn't do anything from 500 meters away. that was a disaster committed from machine row. monroe did that.t. he turned up on the battlefielda chaos. monroe did that.s second thing i would say is be i we'rer talking about militia. let's bear in mind to be fair th british can side the that went across that bridge and fought their way through campaigns with the french in europe of appalling bloodshed and professional skill on both sides. and thatar the men who marched across that bridge had to be lo seen to believe, i have no idea what it must have looked like. if yo

and they keep winder out of -- from being inserted back in control there.and i think monroe's actions also in trying to trap the british forces, they're leaving alexandria were noteworthy. so, yeah, a lot of characters that we haven't been able to speak about that i think deserve more mention. >> could you elaborate a little bit more about the conduct of cockburn and ross in regard to barney as the battle ended. i think that is sort of an interesting story, and i wanted to hear how you felt about it. >> it is very interesting. because when barney is wounded, and he falls into british hands very quickly, a soldier goes to get first its captain wainwright, one of the british naval ship captains and then cockburn arrives as well and ross. and, you know, they are very impressed by the performance of barney and the flotilla men. in fact, ross himself had to take command after colonel william thorton, one of the british brigade commanders led the way had fallen. and they had -- i think they recognized they were on the cusp of maybe losing this battle because barn

his headquarters was down here near the navy yard where general winder had convened on the morning of august 24th. madison and most of the cabinet had come there as well. madison had ridden by horse out to bladensburg there to -- mostly to observe and to make sure his secretary of war, john armstrong, would give general winder the support he needed. madison when he gets to bladensburg before the fighting has started almost runs directly into british lines. the british are just arriving as madison gets there, and madison actually rides across the bridge into bladensburg before being told by a scout who was up front that, mr. madison, the british are in bladensburg, and madison and his attorney general richard rush turn around and head back to american lines where they're observing the battle. once the fight starts out, madison is initially encouraged by the first resistance that the militia is showing. the british when they start firing rockets actually fire one that goes right over the head of madison and the rest of his cabinet officers. it sailed high harmlessly, but madison at this

he had even carried personal messages from winder to his son. the men were fooled, they were embarrassed, and they wanted revenge. timothy webster was going to pay for deceiving them. in 1862, still suffering from rheumatism, he was helped up to the scaffolding. the first attempted not succeed. -- attempt did not succeed. the noose was around his neck too loose and he crashed to the ground below. the second time, it was choking him. when the truck was wrong, he became the first spy executed in the civil war. death, a pinkerton operative went to richmond to retrieve his body. he found it after three days. webster returned to illinois where he was laid to rest next to his son, who had died in the war from wounds in battle as a union soldier. on the other side of that stone as his father who died in 1860. in a moment, i will take questions. if anybody wants to purchase any books, i have them for $35. i will be at the table in the back afterwards. i have a few copies of my first book, "murder on the white sands," which is about a new mexico lawyer w

even as late as really the 24th when very belatedly the american commanders, including general wi winder, realized that the british attack would be coming through bladensburg, even though as ralph mentioned, really ultimately it was pretty clear the british were going to have to come through bladensburg to get to washington because the more southern approaches, certainly they couldn't have been able to cross the river down there because the bridges had been blown, if, they wouldn't be able to get across the river. it is much wider here than at bladensburg. so if our forces had been placed a little bit earlier, a little bit more wisely and without so much chaos at the last minute, i think that british force could have been turned back. so i think when we think about bladensburg, we have to think about some of the missed opportunities but also honor the sacrifice that was made here. thank you. >> mr. george, welcome. we are starting off talking about why the battle of bladensburg. >> okay. well, one of the things that i would like to mention is that one of the things that the americans had

stack being up anywhere from the 50s at the beaches, 60 degrees back into the hills of berkeley, west winder wind wind -- west wind, finally pillow -- below axe. and other inland areas will be our outside number noticed by mid-week, those are the two warmest weeks, back to you guys. >>> hunting he he can -- expedition, it happened on the hills just above cup cup on the -- cupper tino. here is more for the search this morning. >> the probability of another attack is very lie, so come sunrise, they will hit the trail with four dogs specialerly -- specially trained. this is near the winery, they were two miles away from the nick nick grounds and dragged into the bushings. it was later up graded and if they find it they will have to put it down. the boy was no more than 10 feet away from his parents when the animal pounded. -- pounced. >> he absolute lit could have killed the little boy so the boy is lucky to be alive. >> reporter: if the search team finds any mountain lions in the area they will shoot to kill. it has shown to be very aggressive so the wardens are not going to be taking chances.

de p pended on joe biden with a stem winder. >> we take care of those that are grieving and when thatnished we should know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. >> the president and british prime minister david cameron roseanne offense that nato needs to do more than address terrorism. the president getting similar message from members of congress here at home that is something the president will not yet commit to. >> doug luzader live thank you. >> that takes us to look who is talking. lashing ourt on president obama's mixed messages and weak stance on isis. >> he is strong and backs off and says we need to get it to a manageable level. you can't manage hard-core fanatical terrorists. joe biden ranting about how we will follow isis to the gates of hell. we won't even cross the border into syria. this is an administration that relies on rhetoric. the threat is growing. it is met it's sizing and our president is doing nothing. at some point even the best efforts of new york's finest are not going to be able to prevent that horrible attack. >> we as

problem but so far these gas prices have been trending lower and will probably trend lower there the winder so fill up and cross your fingers. christine, nice to see you, thank you. >>> the next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins after a very quick break. when a pro at any 2014 pga tour event sinks a hole-in-one, quicken loans will pay your mortgage for an entire year. that is how it's done. truly amazing! get in the hole-in-one sweepstakes. enter today at pgatour.com/quickenloans and you could have your mortgage paid for an entire year. >> i think they underestimated what had been taking place in syr syria. >> happening now the cnn "newsro "newsroom," president obama admitting he underestimated the isis threat but says america is the indispensable nation in this fight. so what's the plan now? >> the result is going to be an assassination. i'm afraid the only way we're going to have a change. >> protecting the president. the secret service up to the task? a blistering new report picks apart how the agency handled a shooting at the white house. >> protests, tear gas,

i think that the issue -- you know, yesterday's speech was not a stem winder.t the midterm elections and so i think that there is this kind of slower start as she starts to formulate her opinions and she doesn't want to peak too early. that was kind of the point i was making. she's got to ease into this in a significant way. >> how can you ease into it when it's two years out? i guess that's just american politics right now. >> when you're running unopposed you put it on cruise control and you just keep telling people "i'll decide tomorrow" and meanwhile all the other democrats sort of hover around and wait for her to quote/unquote decide and before you know it, we'll be actually at -- t iowa caucuses and won't that be wonderful? >> yeah, that will be wonderful. well bernie sanders, he was in iowa this weekend, hilary. >> how's he polling? [ laughter ] >> he had 100 people at his rally. there were 00 of them. here's the issue, though, and nobody know this is better than hillary clinton which is taking iowa for granted, taking the primary voters for granted is n