How did the Brits successfully invade the United states and burn down the White house

by ripasad

Did they just leave after that?

elev57

In addition to what others have said, note that that British offensive was a failure. DC wasn't as important then as it is today. It was the seat of the government, but it wasn't commercially important. The point of that British offensive was to take Baltimore (perhaps the most important American city other than New York, Boston, and Philadelphia), but they failed to do so, making the offensive a failure.