THE CLIMAX OF THE WAR OF 1812 Sailors' rights? Hah US NATIONAL DISASTER LOOMS AND HOPE DIMS: August 24, 1814: Nathan Jeffries, Joshua Barney, and other patriots get mauled at the Battle of Bladensburg. They call it "the Bladensburg races." Washington City--Most residents flee before the British advance. But a Quaker farm girl who became America's first "First Lady," Dolley Madison, remains behind to save Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington and other treasures from the President's Mansion. An hour later, the British ransack and raze the Mansion and the rest of the US capital. September 11, 1814: Two separate and overwhelming British assault forces prepare to attack Fort McHenry, Maryland-not much chance Nathan can survive this time, after another fight to the death, on Chesapeake Bay. Plattsburg Bay, New York--Thomas Macdonough's small US Naval squadron, with Peter Hughes, Catherine Charles, and Taima, are all that stand in the way of a war-winning British victory, on Lake Champlain. September 14, 1814: The fate of the United States has been decided. The Bicentennial Trilogy First there was 1812: Rights of Passage -- then 1813: Reprisal - and now -- 1814: Raze of Glory