The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago - History in the Headlines The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago August 22, 2014 By Jesse Greenspan Burning of the White House, 1814 Share this: The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago Author The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago URL Google On August 24, 1814, British troops recently arrived from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe easily overran the inexperienced U.S. militiamen tasked with defending Washington, D.C. They then set much of the city ablaze, thereby humiliating the administration of President James Madison. The British only occupied Washington for 24 hours, however, and soon after suffered major defeats of their own that helped bring the War of 1812 to a close. When the War of 1812 first broke out, the fighting centered on the border between the United States and Canada, then a British colony.

Before long, however, other fronts had opened up, including the Chesapeake Bay, where a British squadron led by Rear Admiral George Cockburn spent much of 1813 terrorizing coastal communities. After spending the winter in Bermuda with his troops, the brash-talking Cockburn returned in February 1814 with his eyes set on Washington, D.C., telling a superior that the city “might be possessed without difficulty or opposition of any kind.” In order to further along his scheme, Cockburn built a base on Tangier Island in the middle of the Chesapeake and distributed a proclamation inviting all slaves to join with the British. Meanwhile, in April 1814, Napoleon abdicated the French throne, freeing up boatloads of battle-hardened British troops to cross the Atlantic Ocean. About 4,000 arrived in the Chesapeake in mid-August, along with numerous frigates, schooners, sloops and other warships, whereas an even bigger force went to Canada. By that time, President Madison had established a new military district for the D.C. area for which he wanted at least 2,000 U.S.

Army regulars, plus 10,000 to 12,000 militiamen ready in reserve. Yet only a fraction of this force was ever rounded up, in part because Secretary of War John Armstrong insisted until the last possible moment that the British would not attack the capital. Not even an anonymous letter detailing Cockburn’s invasion plans spurred the administration to action, nor did a plea from Washington’s mayor, who called the city “defenseless.” While the Americans dawdled, the British got moving, with their main fleet setting sail for the Patuxent River on August 17. At the same time, diversionary forces headed for the Potomac River, a more direct route to Washington, and for the northern Chesapeake above Baltimore. Although the British initially struggled with adversarial tides and winds in the Patuxent, they soon began making reasonable progress. A few of the bigger warships dropped out as the river became narrower and shallower, but the majority made it to Benedict, Maryland, where approximately 4,500 troops disembarked.

The following day, August 20, a makeshift scouting party led by Secretary of State James Monroe reached the outskirts of Benedict but, having forgotten a spyglass, couldn’t gauge the size of the invading force. The British then marched north on a road running parallel to the Patuxent, with a fleet of small ships keeping pace. Over the next couple of days, the British briefly exchanged fire with a few Americans, including Monroe’s party, but overall faced virtually no resistance. They also managed to corner a flotilla commanded by Commodore Joshua Barney, forcing the Americans to blow up their own gunboats rather than hand them over to the enemy. As the British drew closer, the panicked residents of Washington began to depart in mass, and clerks began whisking important papers out of town, such as the Declaration of Independence. Finally, on August 24, after a series of disorganized maneuvers, American forces hastily dug in outside of Bladensburg, Maryland, a crossroads town six miles northeast of the Capitol. Borrowing a pair of pistols from his treasury secretary, Madison rode out to witness the battle, as did most of his cabinet.

In fact, the president nearly galloped right into the British lines until a scout stopped him and directed him to safety. With about 6,000 troops, the Americans at Bladensburg outnumbered the British, and they also had a distinct advantage in terms of cavalry and artillery. Moreover, the British had just marched 15 miles through heat so stifling that several men fell victim to sunstroke. Yet when they charged over a bridge at the Americans, militiamen started fleeing almost immediately. Additional militiamen were sent up to restore the breach, but they too were scared off, due largely to the intimidating but notoriously inaccurate Congreve rockets being fired their way. “I could never have believed that so great a difference existed between regular troops and a militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day,” Madison purportedly said. Dame to the U.S. Capitol The lone bright spot for the Americans came courtesy of Commodore Barney. Originally assigned elsewhere, he had rushed to the scene of the battle after personally pleading with Madison to let him go. But although he and his 520 seamen briefly put a halt to the British advance with artillery fire and a downhill charge, it proved too little too late.

As the American militia retreated around them, Barney took a bullet to the thigh and was captured by the British, who, impressed by his bravery, paroled him right then and there. “They have given us the only fighting we have had,” Cockburn declared of the seamen. Madison, meanwhile, sent ahead a messenger to his wife, Dolley, who consented to leave the White House only after arranging for the safety of a full-length George Washington portrait. On the heights overlooking D.C., the commander in charge of the city’s defense considered making a second stand. But with his troops scattered in all directions, he ultimately decided to leave Washington at the mercy of the British. They arrived around sunset, prompting a U.S. captain to order the Washington Navy Yard set ablaze, including two warships, much timber and a sawmill. Around the same time, the British burned down a private residence from which some Americans had just fired at them. For the most part, though, the British left private property alone, focusing their attention instead on the city’s government buildings.

Seeking revenge for the sacking of York (present-day Toronto), the British first stopped at the still-uncompleted Capitol, where they piled up furniture in both the House and Senate wings, mixed in rocket powder and applied the torch. Within minutes, flames were shooting out through the windows and roof, damaging not only the congressional chambers, but also the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, which were located inside. Next, about 150 men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, then better known as the President’s House. Upon consuming food and wine that had been set out for 40 people, they stole some souvenirs, like Madison’s medicine chest, and started a new inferno that left the structure a charred mess. The adjacent Treasury building was also burned, although much to their disappointment, the British found no money inside. As they camped that night on Capitol Hill, the glow from the fires could be seen as far away as Baltimore. More destruction occurred the following day, when the British torched what remained of the Washington Navy Yard and the Treasury building, along with the brick home of the State, War and Navy departments.

They also smashed the presses of a newspaper Cockburn disliked and desecrated a monument dedicated to veterans of the First Barbary War. Lastly, they headed to an arsenal two miles south of the Capitol. But as they were destroying the gunpowder there, an accidental explosion killed at least a dozen British soldiers and injured many more. That evening, right after a violent thunderstorm, the British withdrew from the city rather than face a potential counterattack, retracing their steps to the fleet at Benedict. A few days later, the British diversionary force on the Potomac forced the surrender of Alexandria, Virginia (then part of Washington), and seized a large quantity of provisions there. Within a couple of weeks, however, the British had squandered their momentum, losing important battles at Lake Champlain and Baltimore. Their negotiators dropped a demand for a Native American buffer state between the United States and Canada, and on December 24, 1814, the two sides signed a peace treaty in which they agreed to return all conquered land to each other. With the British no longer a threat, reconstruction then began on the Capitol and White House. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault . Start your free trial today.

Tags British capture and burn Washington - Aug 24, 1814 - HISTORY.com British capture and burn Washington Share this: British capture and burn Washington Author British capture and burn Washington URL Publisher A+E Networks During the War of 1812, British forces under General Robert Ross overwhelm American militiamen at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, and march unopposed into Washington, D.C. Most congressmen and officials fled the nation’s capital as soon as word came of the American defeat, but President James Madison and his wife, Dolley, escaped just before the invaders arrived. Earlier in the day, President Madison had been present at the Battle of Bladensburg and had at one point actually taken command of one of the few remaining American batteries, thus becoming the first and only president to exercise in actual battle his authority as commander in chief. The British army entered Washington in the late afternoon, and General Ross and British officers dined that night at the deserted White House. Meanwhile, the British troops, ecstatic that they had captured their enemy’s capital, began setting the city aflame in revenge for the burning of Canadian government buildings by U.S. troops earlier in the war.

The White House, a number of federal buildings, and several private homes were destroyed. The still uncompleted Capitol building was also set on fire, and the House of Representatives and the Library of Congress were gutted before a torrential downpour doused the flames. On August 26, General Ross, realizing his untenable hold on the capital area, ordered a withdrawal from Washington. The next day, President Madison returned to a smoking and charred Washington and vowed to rebuild the city. James Hoban, the original architect of the White House, completed reconstruction of the executive mansion in 1817. Related Videos The War of 1812 - Washington DC is burned to the Ground - Tornato - YouTube The War of 1812 - Washington DC is burned to the Ground - Tornato Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Apr 27, 2011 The War of 1812 - Washington DC is burned to he ground. A Tornado battles the British. Category D.C.’s darkest day, a war that no one remembers - The Washington Post D.C.’s darkest day, a war that no one remembers On Aug. 24, 1814, the British started a fire — and ultimately kindled a capital’s future. The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! By Joel Achenbach By Joel Achenbach August 23, 2014 Follow @joelachenbach A blanket of clouds forms around the United States Capitol. On Aug. 24, 1814, the British burned the U.S. Capitol and the White House among other buildings. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) 7 a.m., Aug.

24, 1814 The day began like so many days in Washington, with a painfully long meeting marked by confusion, misinformation and indecision. The British were coming. They were on the march in the general direction of Washington. The precise target of the invaders remained unclear, but their intentions were surely malign. James Madison, the fourth president of these young United States, had raced to a private home near the Navy Yard for an emergency war council with top generals and members of his Cabinet. The secretary of war, John Armstrong — conspicuously late for the meeting — had argued in recent days that the British would not possibly attack Washington, because it was too unimportant, with just 8,000 inhabitants and a few grandiose government buildings scattered at a great distance from one another. “They certainly will not come here. What the devil will they do here? No! No! Baltimore is the place, sir. That is of so much more consequence,” Armstrong had declared. The British had landed five days earlier near the head of navigable waters on the Patuxent River, southeast of Washington. There were about 4,500 of them — hardened fighters fresh from the Napoleonic wars.

James Madison used this table during his presidency. The table is now at the Octagon Museum in the District. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) The American forces called out to meet the invaders and defend the capital numbered about 5,500, but most were local militia — farmers and tradesmen with minimal training. The war council proceeded in a desultory fashion until finally a bulletin arrived reporting that the Enemy was most definitely headed straight for Bladensburg, a town just six miles northeast of the Capitol. This provoked a convulsion of activity. Generals prepared to dash to the field of battle. Madison decided he should go, too. Someone handed him two pistols that he strapped around his waist. The gunslinging 5-foot-4-inch president galloped on the pike toward Bladensburg. It had been a brutally hot, dry August, and the sun was beating down again. This day was shaping up as a real scorcher. The war no one remembers In recounting this inauspicious chapter in our history it might behoove us to acknowledge that few Americans care about this strange little war. It was fought beyond the tall ridgeline in American memory of the Civil War.

In the far distance we see the misty peak that is the Revolution. But the War of 1812? We don’t know why it happened, or where the battles were fought. We are a little vague on the question of who won. (We have a decent idea of when it happened, because of the name, but given the critical events of August 1814, the conflict possibly should be called “the War of Approximately 1812.”) Still, the bicentennial has incited some local celebrations (including a major event Saturday in Bladensburg), and it has given rise in recent years to new historical accounts, including “ Through the Perilous Fight ,” a book by Steve Vogel, a former Washington Post military affairs reporter who agreed to be conscripted as a guide for this retelling of the momentous events. With Vogel, we ventured to the Navy Yard, the Marine Barracks, the Sewall-Belmont House (burned after snipers fired on the British), the Octagon House — which sheltered the Madisons for many months after the great debacle — and the battlefield at Bladensburg.

A trained eye sees only the faint palimpsest of the war beneath layers of urbanization, expansion, suburbanization and all the lacquer that an affluent and busy society slathers on the past. The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum was burned by the British as they invaded Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) At the White House, curator William Allman can point a visitor to fire-blackened stones atop an old entrance to the mansion beneath the North Portico. You might walk through that doorway for years and never notice the scorch marks unless someone pointed them out. A brief history lesson: The United States had declared war on Britain in June 1812. One of the central incitements had been the practice in the Royal Navy of “impressing” American sailors, many of them wrongly accused of being wayward British subjects, into service on British warships. The British interfered with American trade with the French, aligning themselves with Native American tribes on the frontier. Critics called the conflict “Mr. Madison’s War.” Later historians would sometimes call it the Second War of American Independence.

In Canada, the war looms larger in memory, as part of the founding mythology of the nation (“Canada” being a plausible answer to the who-won question). What everyone seems to agree on is that the United States chose to wage a war for which it was spectacularly unprepared. The young republic had a vast territory and a miniature army and navy. Madison was a Republican (sometimes called a Democratic-Republican), like his predecessor, Thomas Jefferson, who came to power by promising tax cuts and a small federal government. This proved problematic when the United States declared war on the mighty British Empire. The sun sets on the Capitol in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) Most of the action was initially in Canada and the Great Lakes, but then in 1813 the British launched the Chesapeake campaign, raiding towns and bringing on board African Americans who had been in bondage and who viewed them not as invaders but as liberators. Charged with the defense of Washington was Brig. Gen. William Winder, a lawyer with an undistinguished military background but good political connections. On the 24th of August he clearly didn’t know what to do, or how to do it, or even where he ought to be.

The best that can be said of him is that when he finally rode to Bladensburg, he had a keen perception that events would go badly. Noon, Bladensburg Madison arrived at Bladensburg and went a little too far, nearly riding into the British lines before reversing course and finding a spot to watch the suddenly erupting battle. Busybody Secretary of State James Monroe, hardly in the chain of command, took it upon himself to rearrange the second line of the American defense, moving the soldiers too far back to be of much help. Leading the British invasion were Gen. Robert Ross and Adm. George Cockburn. The British officers detected the cockeyed American defensive positioning and decided to press ahead with light infantry even before their stragglers, who had been marching for seven hours in brutal heat, had caught up. A pedestrian walks over the bridge spanning the Anacostia River in Bladensburg, Md. The British crossed the river, then known as the Eastern Branch of the Potomac River, during the Battle of Bladensburg. The British defeated the American force and then marched to Washington.

(Matt McClain/The Washington Post) The Americans had mysteriously failed to destroy the bridge at Bladensburg that spanned the Eastern Branch of the Potomac — the Anacostia River. The silted-up river was shallow enough to cross on foot, anyway, but the intact bridge hastened the British assault. Some of the Americans on hand had dressed inappropriately for the occasion. “People arrived on the field of the battle of Bladensburg in winter wear, many of them. They had no boots, they had no flints for their muskets. They were totally unprepared,” says historian Anthony Pitch, author of “ The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814 .” “They have one training day a year, which is mostly spent drinking rather than drilling,” University of Virginia historian Alan Taylor, author of two books that deal with the War of 1812, says of the militiamen. “Whoever was elected captain would take them down to the local tavern and they’d get blasted.” The British fired newly developed rockets that could not be aimed accurately, which added to their terrifying effect. Several screamed over the head of Madison — the first time a sitting U.S.

president had been under fire. The man known as the Father of the Constitution turned to Cabinet secretaries Monroe and Armstrong and observed that it “would be proper to withdraw to a position in the rear.” Many of the militia men broke ranks and fled, some never slowing down until they reached home. Two hundred years ago this week, British forces stormed Washington and burned it. There would be significant American heroism on this day — particularly on the part of the men under the command of Commodore Joshua Barney, who was himself wounded and captured and then immediately paroled by Ross and Cockburn as a gesture of respect for his gallantry. But Winder’s forces retreated in disarray and failed to concentrate into another defensive line. The pell-mell retreat of the Americans led to gibes later about the so-called “Bladensburg Races.” Winder pulled back in a series of retreats all the way to Tenleytown, leaving the city exposed and his men so disheartened that they began to desert in droves. The British advanced into the defenseless capital. “Ross couldn’t believe that they’d actually be able to pull this off,” Vogel says. A lithograph print showing fire damage to the White House.

(Library of Congress) 3 p.m., the White House Now comes the most famous part of the story: Dolley Madison and the painting. The popular first lady had set a table for 40 people in the White House, expecting the president and his top officials for dinner at the customary hour of 3 p.m. She instructed 15-year-old family slave Paul Jennings to get cider and ale from the cellar, Jennings recalled in a memoir published decades later. But then a free black man named James Smith came riding up to the White House, shouting, “Clear out! Clear out! General Armstrong has ordered a retreat!” The first lady finished a letter to her sister, and then, before fleeing in a carriage, ordered workers to break the frame of Gilbert Stuart’s painting of George Washington and save the canvas. “Save that picture if possible!” she said. “If not possible, destroy it. Under no circumstances allow it to fall into the hands of the British!” Thus the famous painting wound up at a farm in Montgomery County that night, preserved for White House tourists to see for centuries to come. Less well known is that local vagrants ran amok in the White House.

“A rabble, taking advantage of the confusion, ran all over the White House, and stole lots of silver and whatever they could lay their hands on,” Jennings reported. Scorch marks from the Aug. 24, 1814, burning by the British are still visible on stones at the White House. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) 8 p.m., Capitol Hill The British knew how to build a bonfire. You just stacked the furniture, sprinkled it with gunpowder and put a torch to it. They built multiple fires inside the Capitol, immolating the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the splendid chambers of the House and Senate. Later in the evening, Ross and Cockburn made their way to the White House and helped themselves, amid hearty toasts, to the fabulous meal and adult beverages left by Mrs. Madison and her staff. They took a few souvenirs, and one filthy lieutenant ventured into the president’s dressing room and put on one of the president’s clean linen shirts. Then they set the fires. Up in flames went some of the most beautiful furniture in the country, including pieces obtained by Jefferson in Paris and the private possessions of the Madisons.

The fires left the mansion a gutted, smoldering shell. The British also burned the Treasury building, and the building housing the War and State departments. They ransacked the National Intelligencer newspaper office, with Cockburn ordering the seizure of all the letter C’s from the presses so that the editor could no longer write nasty things about him. The Americans themselves burned the Navy Yard to keep the ships and stores out of British hands. Military personnel walk by the Latrobe Gate at the Washington Navy Yard. Much of the Washington Navy Yard was burned by the Americans just prior to the British invading Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) The invaders spared private dwellings. This was to be a civilized sacking; no rapes, no murders, minimal plundering. They even spared the Patent Office after being persuaded that patents were private property. From Tenleytown, and the heights in Virginia, and from all points of the compass, the fleeing leaders of the U.S. government and its ineffectual military could look back toward the federal town and see fires everywhere. The glow of the fires could be seen 50 miles away.

Vogel’s book recounts a letter from Mary Hunter, a resident on Capitol Hill: “You never saw a drawing room so brilliantly lighted as the whole city was that night. Few thought of going to bed — they spent the night in gazing on the fires, and lamenting the disgrace of the city.” The flight of the Madisons Madison, with no guards and only a small entourage, fled into Virginia. He wandered the dark roads. Refugees from Washington clogged the taverns and many of the private homes. The president apparently stayed at an estate called Salona, in McLean, and failed to reunite with Mrs. Madison, who had crossed the bridge at Little Falls and wound up not far away at a farmhouse called Rokeby. The citizenry by now had turned against the Madisons. The president and his wife were targets of insults as they roamed the Virginia byways. Storms blew in. The fiercest, on the afternoon of the 25th, has been described as a tornado or hurricane, and it might have been a derecho, for it ripped off the roofs of houses and helped squelch the fires in the city.

Madison went to a tavern the night of the 25th, but there were rumors that the British were coming to capture him, and he was evacuated to what has been called a “hovel in the woods,” possibly a shack belonging to a ferryman just above Great Falls. Sandy Heiler stands outside her home in Brookeville, Md. President James Madison stayed at the residence on Aug. 26, 1814, after fleeing from the British. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) One might pause here to flag this as a remarkably low point in the history of the American presidency. The next afternoon, Madison managed to cross the swollen Potomac and, still searching for his army, he arrived exhausted and hungry in Brookeville, Md. , a Quaker settlement of just 14 homes. A member of his party knocked on the door of the biggest house in town and, without mentioning the president, asked for refuge, but the owners said they had no more space. The second house took them in. Then came the surprise announcement: Here’s President Madison! Sandy Heiler, who owns that house today, and keeps it exquisitely preserved in period style, said Madison showed his resilience that night.

He didn’t despair. Still, she said, “Every now and then he would become very quiet and ask questions. At one point he said, ‘Do you think they burned my library?’ Someone in the group said, ‘Your Excellency, they burned your whole palace.’” A representation of the capture of the city of Washington, by the British forces under the command of Major General Ross and Rear Admiral Sir I. Cockburn, Aug. 24th 1814. The print shows British soldiers in the foreground and British ships on the Potomac River bombarding Washington, which appears atop a hill with several buildings burning. (Library of Congress) The spin Word came that the British had left the city and returned to their ships. Madison decided on Saturday, Aug. 27, to ride back to Washington, despite a new threat from British warships heading up the Potomac to Alexandria. Madison and Monroe ordered cannons to the banks of the river to prepare to repel the next wave of invaders. The British, however, settled for the capitulation of Alexandria, and made off with a trove of ships and other plunder as they sailed back down the Potomac.

On Sunday the 28th, Richard Rush, the attorney general, having contemplated the enormousness of the disaster of recent days, argued that there was only one sensible move left: Spin the results. He wrote a long memo to Monroe describing the need to put out a government statement quickly, thus seizing the narrative and putting the most positive light on the debacle rather than letting the British control the story. “Such a proclamation should reach Europe contemporaneously with the account of the entry of the capital, thereby at once repelling the idea, so prevalent there, that it carries with it the reduction of the country,” Rush wrote. He suggested a statement with “a high and manly tone,” one that “might serve to inform, to balm, and to rouse.” The Burning of Washington was not permitted to live in infamy. Instead, the Americans turned their humiliation into a mere act of vandalism, and in the nation’s memory it would become little more than a quirky prelude to the uplifting story of the victory at Baltimore three weeks later, when the light of glaring rockets and bursting bombs gave proof that our flag was still there. “The losers are writing the history as if they were victors,” the historian Taylor says. “It’s the essence of American politics.

You’ve got to be able to control the narrative and persuade the public that you have led the nation on to great and glorious things.” Traffic streaks in front of the White House in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) The war, in fact, soon petered out. The British were exhausted by years of fighting in Europe and had tired of the American sideshow. By December, negotiators had finished crafting the Treaty of Ghent, in which the two sides (spoiler alert!) agreed to a draw, keeping everything the way it had been before the war started. In January 1815, as yet unaware of the peace treaty, Gen. Andrew Jackson led the Americans to one last, morale-boosting victory in the Battle of New Orleans. Madison soon signed the treaty at the Octagon House and the country erupted in celebration. The Burning of Washington created an existential crisis for a city that had been through a number of them already. Every few years, certain lawmakers demanded that the seat of government move somewhere more congenial. Now, with most of the government buildings destroyed, Congress again debated a relocation. But something had changed. The U.S.

experienced a surge of nationalism, and became something more than a loose collection of states. The capital took on new significance in the national psyche. “Because the buildings were burned and it was such a national insult, Americans rose to the defense of Washington, D.C., as a seat of government,” says historian Kenneth Bowling. “There was never another bill introduced in Congress to remove the seat of government until 1869.” So perhaps Washington’s worst day was one of the best things that ever happened to the city. It was the stake that pinned the capital forever to this patch of land on the Potomac. national A Most Magnificent Ruin: The Burning of the Capitol during the War of 1812 | Architect of the Capitol | United States Capitol A Most Magnificent Ruin: The Burning of the Capitol during the War of 1812 August 22, 2012 | AOC Curator Office Around 8 p.m., on the evening of August 24, 1814, British troops under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross marched into Washington, D.C., after a victory over American forces at Bladensburg, Maryland, earlier in the day.

The nation was in the midst of war. Word of the approaching forces sent most of the population fleeing, leaving the capital vulnerable. Meeting little to no resistance, British troops set fire to much of the city, in retaliation for the Americans' burning of the Canadian capital at York on April 27, 1813. Those who remained on the evening of August 24, 1814, were witness to a horrifying spectacle. The British torched major rooms in the Capitol, which then housed the Library of Congress, as well as the House, Senate and Supreme Court. The White House, the navy yard and several American warships were also burned; however, most private property was spared. At the time, the U.S. Capitol was still being constructed and consisted of only the north and south wings connected by a wooden walkway spanning the area intended for the center building. Damage to parts of the wings was severe, but the building was not completely destroyed. Fortunately, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe had used fire-proof building materials, such as sheet iron, marble, sandstone, zinc and copper. His extensive use of masonry vaulting also proved to be practical as well as aesthetic.

As a result, the exterior structure survived and many of the interior spaces remained intact. British Burn the Capitol, 1814, Allyn Cox, 1974, Corridor, House wing, First Floor. The British focused their destructive work on the principal rooms, foregoing the lobbies, halls and staircases, thus securing their escape route. In the south wing, soldiers ignited a giant bonfire of furniture slathered with gunpowder paste in the Hall of the House of Representatives (now National Statuary Hall ). The heat from the fire grew so intense that it melted the glass skylights and destroyed much of the carved stone in the room, including Guiseppe Franzoni's life-size marble statue of Liberty seated on a pedestal, located above the Speaker's rostrum. Downstairs, the Clerk's office was transformed into an inferno of burning documents and furniture; this fire produced a heat so great it forced the British to retreat from the south wing, leaving half of the rooms on the first floor unscathed. In the Supreme Court Chamber , on the first floor of the north wing, troops piled furniture from nearby rooms to create another great bonfire, severely damaging the Doric stone columns.

Upstairs, a large room that then housed the Library of Congress' collection of over 3,000 books served as a ready stockpile of fuel. The space burned so fiercely that it endangered a portion of the exterior stone wall. From the library, winds spread the flames to the Senate Chamber, where the damage to the art and architecture was also severe. Upon seeing the flames of the Capitol from his temporary residence at the Octagon House, French minister Louis Sérurier remarked, "I have never beheld a spectacle more terrible and at the same time more magnificent." Today, to see the sandstone areas of the building that survived the fire, make your way to the Small House Rotunda on the second floor of the Capitol and look at Latrobe’s variation on the Corinthian columns adorned with water leaves , installed in 1807. Then, head across the Rotunda and down the stairs to the east vestibule on the first floor of the north wing, where the architect's "corn cob" columns still stand. It was through the original door of this domed vestibule that the British fled the burning building into the night.

After members of Congress returned to the city and saw the damage, a number called for the movement of the federal government to Philadelphia or another more established, more metropolitan city. While the option to rebuild proved more popular, one wonders, if the destruction of the Capitol and other buildings had been complete, would those who advocated relocation have prevailed? Categories: The Burning of Washington in 1814 - British Invasion By Robert McNamara Updated August 24, 2015. The War of 1812 holds a peculiar place in history. It’s often overlooked, and it’s probably most noteworthy for verses written by an amateur poet and attorney who witnessed one of its battles. Three weeks before the British Navy attacked Baltimore and inspired the "Star-Spangled Banner," troops from the same fleet landed in Maryland, battled outgunned American forces, marched into the young city of Washington and torched federal buildings. • The War of 1812 As Britain battled Napoleon, the British Navy sought to cut off trade between France and neutral countries, including the United States. The British began a practice of intercepting American merchant ships, often taking sailors off the ships and “impressing” them into the British Navy.

The British restrictions on trade had a very negative impact on the American economy, and the practice of impressing sailors inflamed American public opinion. Americans in the west, sometimes called “war hawks,” also wanted a war with Britain which they believed would let the US annex Canada. The US Congress, at the request of President James Madison , declared war on June 18, 1812. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Rear Admiral George Cockburn. courtesy Library of Congress • The British Fleet Sailed for Baltimore The first two years of the war consisted of scattered and inconclusive battles, generally along the border between the US and Canada. But when Britain and its allies believed it had thwarted the threat posed by Napoleon in Europe, more attention was paid to the American war. On August 14, 1814, a fleet of British warships departed from the naval base at Bermuda. Its ultimate objective was the city of Baltimore, which was then the third largest city in the US. Baltimore was also the home port of many privateers, armed American ships which raided British shipping.

The British referred to Baltimore as a "nest of pirates." One British commander, Rear Admiral George Cockburn also had another target in mind, the city of Washington. Battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1814. courtesy Library of Congress • Maryland Invaded By Land By mid-August 1814, Americans living along the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay were surprised to see the sails of British warships on the horizon. There had been raiding parties striking American targets for some time, but this appeared to be a considerable force. The British landed at Benedict, Maryland, and began marching toward Washington. On August 24, 1814, at Bladensburg, on the outskirts of Washington, British regulars, many of whom had fought in the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, fought poorly equipped American troops. The fighting at Bladensburg was intense at times. Naval gunners, fighting on land and led by the heroic Commodore Joshua Barney , delayed the British advance for a time. But the Americans could not hold. The federal troops retreated, along with observers from the government including President James Madison . Dolley Madison, Who Rescued Valuables from the White House.

courtesy Library of Congress • A Panic in Washington While some Americans tried desperately to battle the British, the city of Washington was in chaos. Federal workers tried to rent, buy, and even steal wagons to cart off important documents. In the executive mansion (not yet known as the White House), the president's wife, Dolley Madison , directed servants to pack up valuable items. Among the items taken into hiding was a famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington . Dolley Madison instructed that it had to be taken off the walls and either hidden or destroyed before the British could seize it as a trophy. It was cut out of its frame and hidden in a farmhouse for several weeks. It hangs today in the East Room of the White House. The Burned Ruins of the Capitol, August 1814. courtesy Library of Congress • The Capitol Was Burned Reaching Washington on the evening of August 24, the British found a city largely deserted, with the only resistance being ineffective sniper fire from one house. The first order of business for the British was to attack the navy yard, but retreating Americans had already set fires to destroy it. British troops arrived at the U.S. Capitol, which was still unfinished.

According to later accounts, the British were impressed by the fine architecture of the building, and some of the officers had qualms about burning it. According to legend, Admiral Cockburn sat in the chair belonging to the Speaker of the House and asked, "Shall this harbor of Yankee democracy be burned?" The British Marines with him yelled "Aye!" Orders were given to torch the building. British Troops Burning Federal Buildings. courtesy Library of Congress • British Troops Attacked Government Buildings The British troops worked diligently to set fires inside the Capitol, destroying years of work by artisans brought from Europe. With the burning Capitol lighting the sky, troops also marched to burn an armory. At about 10:30 p.m., approximately 150 Royal Marines formed up in columns and began marching westward on Pennsylvania Avenue, following the route used in modern times for inauguration day parades. The British troops moved quickly, with a particular destination in mind. By that time President James Madison had fled to safety in Virginia, where he would meet up with his wife and servants from the president's house. Burned Ruins of the White House, August 1814.

courtesy Library of Congress • The White House Was Burned Arriving at the president's mansion, Admiral Cockburn reveled in his triumph. He entered the building with his men, and the British began picking up souvenirs. Cockburn took one of Madison's hats, and a cushion from Dolley Madison's chair. The troops also drank some of Madison's wine and helped themselves to food. With the frivolity ended, the British Marines systematically set fire to the mansion by standing on the lawn and hurling torches through the windows. The house began to burn. The British troops next turned their attention to the adjacent Treasury Department building, which was also set on fire. The fires burned so brightly that observers many miles away recalled seeing a glow in the night sky. Poster Mockingly Portrays the Raid on Alexandria, Virginia. courtesy Library of Congress • The British Carried Off Supplies Before leaving the Washington area, British troops also raided Alexandria, Virginia. Supplies were carried off, and a Philadelphia printer later produced this poster mocking the perceived cowardice of the merchants of Alexandria. With the government buildings in ruins, the British raiding party returned to its ships, which rejoined the main battle fleet.

Though the attack on Washington was a grave humiliation to the young American nation, the British still intended to attack what they considered the real target, Baltimore. Three weeks later, the British bombardment of Fort McHenry inspired an eyewitness, attorney Francis Scott Key , to write a poem he called "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Question: In what war was Washington D.C. burned?
Answer: War of 1812