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On 18 July, Cochrane ordered Cockburn that to "deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages{{nbsp}}..." You are hereby required and directed to "destroy and lay waste such towns and districts as you may find assailable".{{sfn|Cruikshank|2006|p=414}} Cochrane instructed, "You will spare merely the lives of the unarmed inhabitants of the United States".
In August, the vessels in Bermuda sailed from the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda|Royal Naval Dockyard]] and [[St. George's, Bermuda|St. George's]] to join those already operating along the American Atlantic coast.
Despite the considerable disadvantage in numbers, [[Force concentration#Hypothetical example|standard military logic]] dictates that a three-to-one advantage is needed in carrying out an attack on prepared defenses, and sustaining heavy casualties, the British force routed the American defenders and cleared the path into the [[Washington, D.C.|capital]]. President [[James Madison]] and the entire government fled the city, and went North, to the town of [[Brookeville, Maryland]].
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