because he thought the men had hidden the dwarves
Because Smaug was a dragon. And that is what dragon's do. They are greedy and malevolent by nature, and love nothing better than treasure.
He knew where Bilbo and the dwarves had come from, so he destroyed the town for helping them.
esgaroth
Smaug only appeared in the Hobbit, where he was killed and he never appeared again (because he was dead). So smaug was not in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he was in the Hobbit.
hi
Esgaroth is in the Long Lake of the river Running. It is east of Mirkwood and south of Erebor and Dale.
Bilbo had stolen a cup from Smaug's hoard and, from some unfortunate comments on Bilbo's part, deduced that the thief was a Lakeman from Esgaroth, so he went off in a great fiery rage to burn Esgaroth to the ground and eat lots of tasty Lakemen.
esgaroth
To make the city harder to get to. This way, the dragon has to attack from the air and the archers can shoot him. They wanted to prevent the dragon, Smaug, from being able to attack the town from the shore. The strategy is that Smaug must attack from the air instead of from the ground, but his greatest strength is from the air, so this is counter intuitive.
Thorin unsettled Smaug, causing him to attack the river town of Esgaroth, angering the residents, some time before the Battle of Five Armies.
The Old Thrush, one of the species of Great Thrush that lived in the Esgaroth region, told Bard that Smaug had a hole in his armored chest right over his heart.
Smaug only appeared in the Hobbit, where he was killed and he never appeared again (because he was dead). So smaug was not in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he was in the Hobbit.
hi
Bilbo had stolen a cup from Smaug's hoard and, from some unfortunate comments on Bilbo's part, deduced that the thief was a Lakeman from Esgaroth, so he went off in a great fiery rage to burn Esgaroth to the ground and eat lots of tasty Lakemen.
Esgaroth is in the Long Lake of the river Running. It is east of Mirkwood and south of Erebor and Dale.
Lake-Town's actual name in The Hobbit is Esgaroth, built of wood and situated entirely in the Long Lake.Esgaroth/Lake-Town is not to be confused with the city of Dale, built between the Lake and the Lonely Mountain (Mount Erebor). Dale was destroyed by Smaug when he took over the Lonely Mountain, but was resettled after the dwarves reclaimed Erebor and Smaug was killed.
Smaug doesn't recognize the scent of Hobbit, although he knows what dwarves and men smell like.
Bilbo had stolen a cup from Smaug's hoard and, from some unfortunate comments on Bilbo's part, deduced that the thief was a Lakeman from Esgaroth, so he went off in a great fiery rage to burn Esgaroth to the ground and eat lots of tasty Lakemen.
Dale was a town on the southern slopes of the Lonely Mountain. It was destroyed when the dragon Smaug arrived in the region, and its inhabitants built a new town called Esgaroth which was suspended above the waters of Long Lake on pilings. After Smaug died, Bard Bowman rebuilt Dale and ruled there.