As dawn approached on June 26th, 1814, the United States Chesapeake Flotilla and American shore batteries launched a poorly coordinated attack against the British at the mouth of St. Leonard Creek. Under cover of darkness, U.S. Army and Marine units, aided by 20 flotillamen, had secretly erected two 18-pounders and three 12-pounders on the hill overlooking the creek, and when these cannons opened fire the surprised British could not immediately respond because their ships were anchored with their guns aimed up the creek. After the Royal Navy repositioned, Commodore Joshua Barney and the Flotilla attacked, further confusing the British, while a contingent of British Royal Marines was sent by barge up the Patuxent to strike the American right flank. This threat caused many American infantry to flee, and with the Flotilla taking the brunt of the attack, Barney began to retreat up the creek as the British withdrew into the Patuxent to repair damaged ships. The turn of events allowed the Flotilla to escape from St. Leonard Creek and flee up the Patuxent River, but in the following weeks the British regrouped and again pursued it. On August 22nd, near where Route 4 crosses the river, the British saw the United States Chesapeake Flotilla explode and sink after it was scuttled under orders from the Secretary of the Navy to keep it out of British hands. In the sweltering heat of August, British forces then landed at Benedict and marched toward Washington, D.C., defeated the Americans at Bladensburg, and reached the capital to find the Washington Navy Yard on fire after the American Navy destroyed most of what could not be moved. President Madison, members of Congress, and many citizens fled the city, and the British burned the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and other significant government buildings, attacking private residences only when they were used as resistance points, before returning by late August to Benedict to board ships bound for Baltimore.