"On 25 August 1814, horrified Americans watched the summer skies over Washington darken with the smoke of their capital under British attack. The assault rocked an inexperienced U.S. military machine already undergoing painful tests of battle in theaters in the north. While Washington burned that night, the costliest fighting between U.S. and British regular troops during the War of 1812 raged along the Niagara Frontier."--Book Jacket.