The British soon advanced on Colonel Wadsworth's Baltimore Artillery, seeing the British charge, Wadsworth gave the command "load" as the Americans mistakenly placed the wadding in the barrel of the cannon, before placing the charge of powder, and this left the Americans fleeing, leaving both cannon behind.
The British troops rushed into the house where the shots had been fired from, and put all who were found in the house to the sword and then reduced the house to ashes.
The British intend to engage the western shore batteries and create a diversion in hopes of pulling the Americans from Hampstead Hill to support the threat on Fort McHenry and the backdoor of their defenses, favoring an assault by Brook's forces on Hampstead Hill.