I think it’s reasonable to note that this British victory was far and away the most embarassing defeat in American military history. The British forces involved were no more than a raiding party in size. Around 4,000, if I remember correctly.
There is absolutely no way they should have been able to penetrate to and conquer the national capital. The Virginia and Maryland militia alone should have been able to stop them.
James Madison was a very great man, but he was a really, really lousy war president.
My history is a little fuzzy, but if I remember correctly, we lost because we forgot the lessons of the revolution: guerrilla warfare against a superior (trained and equipped) force. Whenever we went head to head with the Brits in open field battle, we got whooped. When we hid behind trees and cottonbales, we kicked ass.