War of 1812, Part 34: Washington in Flames

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

Around 4 p.m. on August 24, 1814, First Lady Dolley Madison received a note from the president informing her that the Battle of Bladensburg was lost and to flee at once. As twilight descended on Washington, the British arrived on the outskirts of the city looking for a delegation to negotiate the surrender of the capital. But while waiting for city officials, someone fired at their party from an adjacent house, killing two men and shooting General Robert Ross’s horse out from under him. And with that, any spark of kindness that the British had considered was extinguished. The British first turned their attention to Capitol Hill, firing rockets into a pile of anything that could burn. Then they marched to the President’s House, setting fire to it, the State, War, and Navy department building, and finally what was left of the Washington Navy Yard. The Washington fires burned so brightly that the glow was visible in Baltimore forty miles away.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the British attack on Washington and why it still matters today. 

 

Images courtesy of Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command, Wikimedia. 

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Tom Hand
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War of 1812, Part 33: The Battle of Bladensburg