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| Star-Spangled Banner Flag |
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The
Defense of Washington
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| Francis Scott Key's House In Georgetown in the 1800's |
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Although its events inspired one of our most famous national songs, the War of 1812 is itself a relatively little-known war in American history. Despite its complicated causes and inconclusive outcome, the conflict helped establish the credibility of the young United States among other nations. It also fostered a strong sense of national pride among the American people, and those patriotic feelings are reflected and preserved in the song we know today as our national anthem.
Britain’s defeat at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown marked the conclusion of the American Revolution and the beginning of new challenges for a new nation. Not even three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which formalized Britain’s recognition of the United States of America, the two countries were again in conflict. Resentment for Britain’s interference with American international trade and impressments of American sailors combined with American expansionist visions led Congress to declare war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.
In the early stages of the war, the American navy scored victories in the Atlantic and on Lake Erie while Britain concentrated its military efforts on its ongoing war with France. But with the defeat of Emperor Napoleon’s armies in April 1814, Britain turned its full attention to the war against an ill-prepared United States. Admiral Alexander Cochrane, the British naval commander, prepared to attack U.S. coastal areas, and General Robert Ross sought to capture towns along the East Coast to create diversions while British army forces attacked along the northern boundaries of the United States.
In August 1814, General Ross and his seasoned troops landed near the nation’s capital. On August 24, at Bladensburg, Maryland, about 30 miles from Washington, his five-thousand-member British force defeated an American army twice its size. On one of the hottest , sweltering, and humid summers in memory of Washington, D.C the British marched into the nation’s capital and burned the White House and several 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. Library of Congress, several federal buildings and White House. The sweltering, humid heat turned the stagnate marshes surrounding the city into thriving hatcheries for disease-carrying mosquitoes. To make matters worse, the city found itself the target of an invading British army slowly making its way from the Chesapeake Bay.
As the British army approached capital hill, the majority of Washington residents fled the city. On August 24th American defenders, with President James Madison in attendance, were quickly routed by the invaders in a battle at Bladensburg a few miles from the city.
That evening, the vanguard of the British army reached Capitol Hill and began its systematic destruction of all public buildings in the city.
At about 10:30 pm, 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.
A messenger was dispatched to the White House to warn First Lady Dolley Madison of the impeding arrival of the British. She and her staff fled by carriage across the Potomac - taking with her the full-length portrait of George Washington that had been torn from a White House wall.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Three weeks later, the British bombardment of Fort McHenry inspired an eyewitness, attorney Francis Scott Key who was a federal employee under President James Madison, to write a poem he called "The Star-Spangled Banner."
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