The Washington herald., 1911-12-31

The New Year marks the lapse of a
century since the outbreak of our last
war with England. By all odds the most
spectacular incident of that conflict was
the capture OF Washington by the British,
which was followed by the burning Of the
Capitol and the White House. the Presi-
dent and his Cabinet being driven to
ignomInous flight.
One hundred years ago, in 1872, the
United States declared war against Great
/ Britain by a bill which, after passing
the Senate and House, was formally sign
ed by Mr.. Madison.
The struggle which thereupon ensued
was marked by some very heroic deeds
and many blunders on our side, but the
most ineXcusable and ingloriOus happen
| ing of all was the taking of Washing
! ton, which could easily have been pre-
vented. Truth to tell, the President and
his advisers awaited themselves OF this
precious opportunity to behave like a lot
of old women. and Gen. Winder who
commanded the American troops in the
vicinity of the Capital. lost his head en-
| tirely, and did nothing until it was too
late to do anything effectively.
Nevertheless, the occasion had it's hero
and its heroine. The latter was Mistress
Dolly Madison. who played her part like
man, holding the fort at the White
House until the last possible moment,
and then retreating in good order with
everything in the way of official docu-
ments and valuables that could possibly
be carried away.
Dolly MadISon's Letter.
At the moment of what seemed ex-
tremest peril she coOlry sat down and
wrote to her sister, Mrs. Steptoe Wash
ington:
will you believe 1t, my dear sister.
we have had a battle near Bladensburg?
And 1 am still here within sound of the
cannon. Mr.. Madison comes not: may
God protect him, Two messengers
covered with dust come to bid me fly,
but / wait for him. At this late hour
wagon has been procured I have
had 1t filled with the plate and most
valuable portable articles Whether it
will reach its destination, the Bank of
Maryland. or fall into the hands of the
British, events must determine. Our
kind friend, Mr.. Carroll, has come to
hasten my departure. and is in a very
bad humOr with me because 1 insist on
waiting until tine large picture of Gen.
Washington is secured 1t required to
be unscrewed from the wall, and this
process was found too tedious for these
perilOuS moments; so l have ordered
the frame broken and the canvas taken
out. 1t is done, and the precious pOr-
trait placed in the hands of two gen.
tlemen of New York for safe-keeping.
And now, my dear sister. I must leave
the house, or the retreating army will
make me prisoner in it by filling up
the road / am to take"
The portrait Of Washington was by
Stuart, and hung in the state dining
room. Somebody, at Mrs. Madison's or
derS. broke with an ak the heavy gold
frame that protected the inner one of
wood, on which the canvas was stretch
ed. and thus it was removed uninjured.
The oft-published statement that the
picture was cut from the frame by
Dolly herself is incorrect.
But to go back little. The British
forces on land and sea had orders to de
strOy and lay waste such towns and dis
trictS on the coast as might be assaila-
BILE" The enemy's fleet and transports
arrived off the mouth of the Patuxent
(fifty miles north of Annapols) on the
18th day of August, 1914. The troops, I'M
der Gen. Robert Ross, were disembarked
on the following day and formed into
three brigades numbering $500 men. On
August 20 the boats of the fleet, led by
Rear Admiral Cockburn, started up the
PatuXent to capture a bunch of gunboats
bloCkaded there, under the command of
Commodore Barney. The soldiers march
ed abreast of the boats. and Barney, hav-
ing blown up his vessels to prevent them
from falling into the hands of the foe,
retreated.
March Across Maryland.
Now comes the remarkable part of the
military proceedings. For five days the
British troops marched across Maryland
in a leisurely way, without encountering
the slightest opposition. The country,
much of it deHsely forested and with
few roads, was difficult. Under such cir
cumstances a few hundred determined
men could have so harassed the adyanc-
ing column as to make its progress prac-
tically impossible. Even the most I'M
tutored savages would have had sufficient
military knowledge to adopt such an ex-
pedient. But Gen. Winder, with a force
of $500 men, including 1000 regulars and
800 fighting sailors under Barney, did
nothing.
AS a result. the enemy was not obliged
to fire a shot until it had arrived ac-
tually within sight of the Capitol, Then.
at Bladensburg. Winder put ~ some
sort of a fight. But it was wholly in
effective. and the Americans soon fled
all of them, that is to say, except the
800 sailormen under Barney, who stuck
by their guns, and, against overwhelming
odds, were pretty nearly wiped out be-
fore they surrendered, Barney himself
being badly wounded and made prisoner.
There is no question of the fact that If
Barney. instead of Winder, had been in
command of the American forces, the
foe would never have gotten anywhere
near Washington. He knew his business.
But as 1t was, the British entered the
city after nightfall on the sd and camp
ed a quarter of a mile east of the Capt.
toll
Meanwhile, in Washington. alarm had
turned into panic. The American troops,
after the fight at Bladensburg, were in
disorderly retreat. Crowds of flying flu
gitives were passing over the Long
Bridge across the Potomac, and when
the British entered the population had
dwindled to n few stragglers and the
slaves of absent residents. All private
houses were shut up and there were few
signs of life.
During the previous twenty-four hours
clerks at the Presidents house had been
busy packing and aiding in the removal
of valuables Coarse linen bags, hastily
made for the purpose, were hung around
the walls to receive portable stuff, and
particularly documents. Among the lat
ter were the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution of the United States,
and Washington's commission as COM
mander-in-chief of the American forces
The records of the Continental Congress
are said to have been carried away by
Mrs. Madison in a small red trunk, which
is preserved to this day as an historical
relic In the Department Of State.