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Detailed map of General Ross's march on Washington, from A Full Account of the Military Occurrences of the Late War . . .By William James.

The map shows the District of Columbia and the roads leading to Washignton, along with Ross's route from teh Patuxet. The in the bottom right notes the Route of the Enemy to Washington, the retreat route, the roads by which the left flank and rear of the enemy might have been turned, and the advance and retrograde of the American Troops under President Madison.

The map is the only printed map of Ross's route obtainable to collectors. Major General Robert Ross (1766 - 1814) was a British Officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Ross sailed to North America as a Major General to take charge of all British troops off the east coast of the United States.

Ross personally led the British troops ashore in Benedict, Maryland and marched through Upper Marlboro, Maryland to the attack on the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, where the American army of mostly militia quickly collapsed. Moving on from Bladensburg, Ross moved on to nearby Washington DC only to have his advance troops fired upon, killing his horse along with other numerous deaths and injuries. Ross later burned the public buildings of the city, including the United States Capitol and the White House in retaliation, but died the following month.

Ross then was persuaded to attack on Baltimore, Maryland. His troops landed at the southern tip of the Patapsco Neck peninsula at North Point, twelve miles from the city, on the morning of September 12, 1814. During the march, and just prior to the Battle of North Point, the troops encountered American skirmishers and Ross rode forward to personally direct his troops. An American sniper shot him through the right arm into the chest. According to Baltimore tradition, two American riflemen, teenagers Daniel Wells and Henry McComas, aged 18 and 19, respectively, were credited with killing Ross; killed in the engagement according to the British. Ross died while being transported back to the fleet.

Major General Robert Ross's tombAfter his death, the general's body was stored in a barrel of 129 gallons (586 l) of Jamaican rum aboard HMS Tonnant. When she was diverted to New Orleans for the forthcoming battle, the body was later shipped on the British ship HMS Royal Oak to Halifax, Nova Scotia where his body was buried on September 29, 1814 in the Old Burying Ground.