wounded. Joseph A. Whitehorne says the Americans lost "120 taken prisoner, many of these wounded". Ten cannon and two colors, belonging to the 1st Harford Light Dragoons {Maryland} and the James City Light Infantry {VA}, were captured by the British. For many of the U.S. wounded, Naval Hospital Washington was the primary treatment center. Thirty-three incoming patients recorded in August and September 1814 were American seamen, soldiers, and marines wounded from Bladensburg or subsequent engagements. One British soldier, Jeremiah McCarthy is also recorded. The majority of those wounded however, were first treated on the field of battle and often by British surgeons. Despite the war, both sides generally respected hospitals and afforded care to the enemy wounded. The naval hospital's 1814 register reflects U.S. seamen Frederick Ernest and George Gallagher both endured amputations in the field. Aftermath The hasty and disorganized U.S. retreat led to the battle becoming known as the "Bladensburg Races" from an 1816 poem. The battle was termed "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms" and "the most humiliating episode in American history". The American militia actually fled through the streets of Washington. President James Madison and most of the rest of the federal government had been present at the battle, and had nearly been captured. They, too, fled the capital, and scattered through Maryland and Virginia. That same night the British entered Washington unopposed and set fire to many of the government buildings in what became known as the Burning of Washington. Lieutenant General Prevost had urged Vice Admiral Cochrane to avenge the raid on Port Dover on the north shore of Lake Erie earlier in the year, in which the undefended settlement had been set ablaze by American troops. Cochrane issued a proclamation that American property was forfeit; only the lives of the civilian inhabitants were to be spared. He had issued a private memorandum to his captains however, which allowed them to levy what was effectively protection money in return for sparing buildings. In fact, there was little or no looting or wanton destruction of private property by Ross's troops or Cochrane's sailors during the advance and the occupation of Washington. However, when the British later withdrew to their ships in the Patuxent, discipline was less effective (partly because of fatigue) and there was considerable looting by foraging parties and by stragglers and deserters. After Major General Ross was killed at the Battle