 The arrival on 19 July of a battalion of Royal Marines , which had left Bermuda on 30 June , enabled the squadron to mount further expeditions ashore . After a series of diversionary raids , the Marines were again landed at Benedict on 19 August accompanied by recently @-@ arrived Peninsular War army veterans . The battalion was to accompany the Colonial Marines in attacks on Bladensburg and Washington in August 1814 . A company fought at the Battle of Bladensburg , and the other two companies took part in the burning of Washington . One of the firing parties was led by Second Lieutenant Lewis Agassiz ( 1793 – 1866 ) ; for his part in the battle , his family was later granted a coat of arms depicting a torch . Casualties suffered by the Colonial Marines during this action were one man killed and three wounded . 
