WEBVTT

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Hi, I'm Rosie Treverow, an intern for the
National Park Service at Presidents Park

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in Washington DC. tthe following is a
presentation on the burning of

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Washington in the War of 1812. When
George Washington picked out the swampy

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territory and the border of Virginia and
Maryland to be the location of his new

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nation's capital he couldn't have known
the trouble it would take to reach the

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point of even being considered a city.
The government had been located in

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Philadelphia until that point and in the
city was where many wanted to stay.

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Indeed by 1800 Washington, DC, was little
more than a village with some large

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edifices. There were only just over 3,000
citizens living there then compared to

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the nearly 40,000 in Philadelphia by
1790, one-fifth of whom were enslaved.

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Pierre L'Enfant, the original city
planner had grandiose plans that hadn't

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been fully realized and instead had
created an incompetent system of

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infrastructure. The mess was appalling to
foreigners including visiting

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dignitaries who were also repulsed by
the behavior of the politicians. It was

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said that Dolley Madison brought the
first sense of sophistication to the

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city and redeemed the capital to some
degree with her festive social events.

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By 1810 there were about 8,200 people living in the city,

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nearly 6,000 of whom were white, less
than nine hundred of whom were free

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blacks, and the rest of whom were
enslaved. The city was growing but it was

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still insignificant. President James
Madison, leader of the country during the

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War of 1812,
had to deal with conflicting advice from

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his cabinet. John Armstrong, the Secretary
of War, refused to believe that the

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British would have anything to do with
DC until after the fact and therefore

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deliberately refused to take action. To
further his point he made disparaging

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remarks and attempts to discourage those
who did take action. James Monroe, the

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Secretary of State, wanted to be involved
in the action himself. He tried to scout

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the British when they landed in the bay
but forgot his spyglass and so was

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unable to report back with how many had
arrived. It was William Winter, a lawyer

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with no military experience, who was put
in charge of the Washington militia. He

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was short on men and the men he did have
not only lacked experience but also

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lacked money, weapons and clothes. There
was no support from the government

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because Armstrong couldn't comprehend
the possibility of the city being under

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attack so Winter was alone on all
support fronts to defend the city from

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the incoming British. The two
ill-prepared armies met at Bladensburg

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both consisting of starving and
exhausted men who had been marching for

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too long. The Americans had some initial
success shooting several lines of

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British soldiers but when the British
soldiers kept coming and marching toward

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them despite it all, the American militia
got scared and turned heel. Some men fled

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without taking a single shot and many
others died from heat exhaustion without

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a scratch. When Commodore Josh Barney
showed up after having destroyed the

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ships of his Navy so the British
couldn't capture them he was outraged at

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the reaction of its fellow Americans. He put up such a great fight that when

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he was finally captured by the British
they praised his bravery. Having

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successfully pushed past Bladensburg the
British troops proceeded to march toward

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the capital where things were in a state
of chaos. 90% of the inhabitants fled

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before the British reached the city
including the president and his

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cabinet. By the time it was acknowledged
that there was a problem it was too late

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to take significant action. 
Citizens took wagons and carts to assist

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them in their flight and refused to give
them up to the government despite the

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consequences. Because of this the
government was unable to save many of

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the important documents in the capital,
although a few diligent men managed to

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rescue some of the necessary papers such
as the Constitution and the Declaration

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of Independence from within the capital
and other buildings. Almost everything

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was left behind Dolley Madison. The
fashionable first lady refused to leave

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the White House until Gilbert Stuart's
life-size portrait of George Washington

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was rescued. Dolley was quoted as saying
"Under no circumstances allow it to fall

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into the hands of the British."
Prepared to reach a truce, General Robert

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Ross and Admiral George Cockburn led their
troops into a mostly empty city on

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August 24th, 1814. Ross's horse was almost
immediately shot out from under him and

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all attempts to find the sniper were
unsuccessful.

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According to Martha Custis Peter, George
Washington's granddaughter living in

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Georgetown, the man had been a worthless
hairdresser Other rumors said that it

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was an unidentified woman who'd shot the
gun. Continuing on into the capital the

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British were surprised by the splendor
of the buildings. Many soldiers were told

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to destroy these magnificent edifices
and stood in awe of the soaring ceilings

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in the Capitol and the elegant
decorations in and on all the buildings.

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However orders were orders and after
eating the extravagant lunch that had

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been set in the White House before the
Exodus everything flammable was gathered

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into piles to build up the fires.
While the vaulted ceilings in the White

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House protected some areas from the
fires, the flames were hot enough to melt

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glass and the light from the burning
city was supposedly bright enough for

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spectators on the surrounding hills to
read by. The British were very careful

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however to burn only public buildings
and to leave private homes and

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individuals alone. When they caught their
own soldiers looting they punished them

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severely
and they made a general policy of paying

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for the goods they took from people.
After watching the city burn for two

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days the British moved on, secretly
leaving a false trail to be sure they

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weren't followed. They moved their way up
towards Baltimore hoping for more great

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victories but instead faced trouble on
the river. Fort Warburton, currently known

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as Fort Washington, had been easily
defeated because the Americans had left

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without firing a shot. However the
British faced more trouble at Fort

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McHenry even after the bombardment on
September 13th that continued well into

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the night with thirty foot by 42 foot
American flag that major George

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Armistead had asked Mary Pickersgill to
make was still waving over the fort,

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prompting onlooker Francis Scott Key to
pen the "Star-Spangled Banner." Back in

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DC citizens and politicians alike were
returning to a scene of desolation the

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Madisons stayed for about a year in the
Octagon house, where James Madison signed

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the Treaty of Ghent, and they never moved
back into the White House. There were

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debates about returning the capital to
Philadelphia instead of trying to

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rebuild but it was decided that if the
capital was set on wheels it would never

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stop moving so Washington was rebuilt
slowly but surely and continued to grow

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into what you see today. The White House
is now part of the National Park Service

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and on August 24th 2014
both will celebrate the 200th

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anniversary of the burning of Washington
whose scorch marks still scar the White

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House

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If you would like to find out more about
any of the almost 400 sites of the

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National Park Service please visit our
website at NPS.gov