The last battles fought between Britain and America had their origins in Bermuda 200 years ago this month.

A massive fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane left the island in August 1814 headed for Chesapeake Bay to crack down on US ambitions to annex Canada by attacking the capital Washington DC and Baltimore.

The war cemented Bermuda’s importance as a Royal Navy bastion.

And — by the end of the conflict — the shape of North America and a separate Canada were defined and the US had the song that would become its national anthem, inspired by a British attack on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry.

And it remains the only time the US capital has been invaded by hostile forces — who burned most of the public buildings, including the White House, in retaliation for the burning of York, which was later renamed Toronto.

National Museum of Bermuda director Dr Edward Harris said: “ The War of 1812 fully underscored the decision of the British Government to establish a naval base at Bermuda, after the end of the American Revolutionary War with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

“While a young nation less than a generation old, the War of 1812 demonstrated to Britain and tiny Bermuda the potential and coming power of the United States of America.

“Massive expenses were made at Bermuda after the War of 1812 on the dockyard and great fortifications at St George’s, and it may be said that the significance of the War of 1812 and its geopolitical aftermath resulted in laying the modern economic foundations of the Island through the vast expenditures made throughout the following 1800s to protect the place against a conquest by the United States.”

The conflict, which broke out in 1812, had its origins in tensions between Britain and the US over UK domination of the seas and the British territory of Canada.

The US had raided York twice and set fire to government buildings in the city — and Britain wanted to teach the new nation a lesson.

Admiral Cochrane planned the attack from his then HQ at Mount Wyndham in Bailey’s Bay, amassing a fleet of 18 ships and 5,000 soldiers before sailing from Murray’s Anchorage for the US Atlantic coast.

The occasion is to be commemorated with special events this month — including a tour on the tall ship Spirit of Bermuda taking in key locations of the build-up to the invasion, and a reception in St George’s — with Governor George Fergusson and US Consul General Bob Settje both in attendance.

Baltimore will also host Star Spangled 200 next month and the Island’s role will be remembered with a special Bermuda reception on board the tall ship Pride of Baltimore. The earlier loss of its American colonies in the American War of Independence led to a new focus on Bermuda as Britain’s naval bastion in the west and the start of a military build-up that would eventually see the massive Royal Naval Dockyard built in the West End, which helped support the Island’s often-struggling economy. But the planned attack got off to a bad start. In the days of sail, strong easterly winds trapped the fleet in Murray’s Anchorage until Bermuda pilots “Uncle Joe” Hayward and Pilot Outerbridge volunteered to try and navigate the entire fleet, which included the 86-gun HMS Tonnant, out through a narrow gap in the reefs, the North Channel, just east of North Rock.

The feat had never been attempted before with warships under sail, but the entire fleet scraped through with inches to spare and headed for the coast of the US.

The attack took the US by surprise, and land commander Major General Robert Ross defeated a poorly-trained and hastily-assembled American Militia force at the Bladenburg before marching into Washington. Tangible reminders of the attack still exist in Bermuda today — the two massive portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte which hang in the Island’s House of Assembly were looted from a warehouse in Washington before British troops set it on fire.

But things started to go wrong again for the British after they rejoined the fleet and headed for Baltimore — described as “a nest of pirates” by Admiral Cochrane — and landed near the strategic port city.

British troops were turned back by American forces after General Ross was shot and killed by an American sniper.

The British later bombarded Fort McHenry, built to defend Baltimore’s harbour and among a handful of Americans interned on British ships in case they passed intelligence to the US forces was Francis Scott Keys, a lawyer and ancestor of famous US novelist F Scott Fitzgerald.

Keys wrote the poem that became the Star Spangled Banner after US forces showed their defiance by raising a massive American flag after the British fleet had attempted to blast the fort to pieces and, more than 100 years later, it was finally adopted as the official anthem of the US.

And what is believed to be the last casualty of the war — US Navy Midshipman Edward Dale, badly wounded when the USS President was captured by a Royal Navy squadron off New York and brought to Bermuda — died in St George’s of his wounds.

The naval engagement in January 1815 came three weeks after Britain and the US signed the Treaty of Ghent to end the war — but it took months for the news to travel across the Atlantic.

The President was sailed to Bermuda and Midshipman Dale — who is still commemorated in a regular ceremony — died a month later and is buried in the historic St Peter’s Church. The St George’s reception to mark the conflict will be held on Saturday, August 16, at the World Heritage Centre between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, with entertainment and food reflecting Bermuda, the UK and US. Tickets for the event — sponsored by the Bermuda Tourism Authority and XL — are $100 each with proceeds donated to the Bermuda Heritage Partnership.

Contact Starla Williams of Select Sites Group on 335 4351 or at Starla@selectsitesgroup.com for more information or bookings. Tickets can also be bought at BDATIX or through HSBC account 1814 event 010 462000 001. The Spirit of Bermuda — which will also be tied up alongside the reception — begins its seaborne tour of 1812 sites at 2pm from Ordnance Island, St George’s on the same day.