About That D.C. Tornado-- Part 2: And Then It Hit

Along with the Executive Mansion (White House), the War Department, the State Department, the Treasury and many government offices were burned.  And, of course, the Capitol , along with the original Library of Congress, was also destroyed.

The British policy was to leave private property alone.  However, the fires threatened to spread out of control.  The city was in jeopardy.

The next day, August 25,  as fires still raged, a massive storm hit Washington,.  The driving rain put out most of the fires threatening the city.  Perhaps, more importantly, the invading British were so battered and demoralized by the storm (tornado included),it caused them to cut short their occupation of the city.

The storm (tornado) was so severe that it tore buildings apart, literally lifting them off their foundations.  The winds uprooted trees and knocked men to the ground.  A number of houses collapsed, killing British soldiers taking cover in them.

One British officer reported seeing cannons lifted off the ground and thrown through the air.  British soldiers out in the streets to maintain order, were forced to lie prostrate in the mud.

This Was a Tornado.  --Brock-Perry

About That D.C. Tornado-- Part 1: Background of the Event

From the March 26, 2012, Historical Digression blog "A tornado saves Washington during the War of 1812" by Patrick Browne.

One of the first targets of the British reinforcement in America in 1814, was the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., partly as a form of payback for American transgressions to the capital of Upper Canada, York (now Toronto), earlier in the war.  Also, the destruction of such an important city would also be a major blow to American morale.

Another factor was that these new British soldiers were veterans, having fought Napoleon all those years.

Some 5,000 British landed in Benedict, Maryland, and made short work of a larger American force at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland on August 24, 1814.    The road to Washington was now open.

Once in D.C., they burned  what is now known as the White House (after sitting down to eat a large feast that Dolley Madison  and her staff had prepared for  cabinet members before they were all forced to flee).

--Brock-Perry

Did a Tornado Save D.C.?-- Part 4: How the President's Home Became White

There was a debate as to whether the tornado saved Washington, D.C. from the British or if it actually helped them to ruin the city.  Whichever it was, President Madison went back to the city on August 27 and peace between the two countries was achieved by the end of the year.

Congress thought about abandoning the city and constructing a capital elsewhere, but they eventually rebuilt the city.  The granite stone of the  President's residence was burned black with soot and it was decided to repair the structure and paint it white.  This is how the White House got nits name.  So, whenever you hear the White House being mentioned, that goes back to the War of 1812.

Peace negotiations started in the City of Ghent, Belgium in August 1814, as both sides wanted peace since the trade embargo largely impacted the British economy (not to mention the even bigger expenses of fighting Napoleon).

Hundreds of American privateers had put to sea and were wreaking havoc on the British merchant fleet all over the world.  Public support  in the U.S. was also waning, especially in New England where the federalists assembled in Hartford, Connecticut to discuss their grievances (and some even went so far as to desire secession).

Peace terms called the Treaty of Ghent were agreed upon and signed in December 1814, but the conflict did not officially end until Congress ratified it on February 17, 1815.

--Brock-Perry

David Rubenstein's Donations to American History

Continued from the previous post.

This man has been very nice to history.  Over the past two decades, his donations have included:

$50 million to the Reach Addition of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

$20 million to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation outside Charlottesville, Va.

$10 million to James Madison's Montpeleier Estate in Orange, Virginia

$10 million to George Washington's Mt. Vernon

$18.5 million to the Lincoln Memorial

$12.3 million to Robert E. Lee's Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery

$10.5 million to the Washington Monument

$5.4 million to the Renwick Gallery

$5.37 million to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

$5 million to the visitor center at the White House

$4.5 million to the National Zoo's panda reproduction program

$1 million  to Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.

Again, a Big Thank You to Mr. Rubenstein.  --Brock-Perry

Paul Jennings Describes the White House That Day-- Part 2

He said that the people who actually saved the painting were:  "John Suse (Jean Pierre Sioussat, the French doorkeeper) and Magraw (McGraw), the President's gardener, took it down and sent it off on a wagon, with some large silver urns and other such valuables  as could hastily be got  hold of.

"When the British did arrive, they ate up the very dinner, and drank the wines, &c.,  that I had prepared for the President's party."

The soldiers burned the President's home and fuel was added to the fires that night to ensure they would continue burning  into the next day.

--Brock-Perry

Paul Jennings Describes the White House That Day

From Wikipedia Burning of Washington.

In the last post I mentioned James Madison's personal slave, 15-year-old Paul Jennings describing the events at the White House 24 August 1814.  He later purchased his freedom from the widower Dolley Madison and in a memoir he published in 1865. related those events.

"It has often been stated in print that when Mrs. Madison escaped  from the White House , she cut out  from the frame of the large portrait of Washington (now in one of the parlors there), and carried it off.  She had no  time for doing it.

"It would have required a large ladder to get it down.  All she carried off  was the silver in her reticule (purse in case you're wondering), as the British were thought to be but a few squares off, and were expected an moment."

He went on to tell who were responsible for saving the painting.

Who Saved the Portrait?  Tomorrow.  --Brock-Perry

Hot Time in the Old Town, Burning Washington, D.C.-- Part 2

But, the books in the Library of Congress contributed to the flames.  Almost all of the 3,000 books in the library were destroyed.  Later, though, former President Thomas Jefferson donated his private book collection to start a new Library of Congress.

But the Capitol was not a complete loss.    The House rotunda, the east lobby, the staircases and Latrobe's famous  Corn-Cob columns in the Senate entrance hall survived.

After burning the Capitol, the British turned up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House  The president and other government officials had already fled the city, but his wife, Dolley, was still at the White House.  When Madison  urged his wife to leave, she organized the slaves to save  valuables from the British.

Reportedly, she saved the famous Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington, but another account by James Madison's personal slave, Paul Jennings, then age 15, said she didn't save it herself, that others saved it.

When the British arrived, they happily devoured a feast that had been prepared for Madison before setting fire to the White House.

--Brock-Perry

Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight-- Part 1: The Burning of Washington, D.C.

From Wikipedia.

Sappers and Miners of the British Royal Engineer under Captain Blanchard were employed to burn the principal Washington buildings.  Blanchard reported at the White House that it appeared that President Madison was so sure  that the Americans would be victorious that he had prepared a handsome entertainment and feast.  he said he and his sappers had thoroughly enjoyed that feast before they set fire to the building.

The U.S. Capitol was the only building in the fairly new city  that was "worthy to be noticed."  It was a prime target of the British because of its aesthetic and symbolic  value.    Prior to setting fire to it, they looted it which at the time, besides both houses of Congress, contained  the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court.  One of the items taken was "An account of the receipts and  expenditures of the United States for  the year 1810."

The British intended to burn the building to the ground.  They set fire to the southern wing first, but it burned so quickly they were unable to gather enough wood to burn the stone walls completely.

--Brock-Perry

The Burning of Washington, D.C.-- Part 1: Brookeville, Md., U.S. Capital for A Day

From Wikipedia.

August 24, 1814

After the Americans were routed at the Battle of Bladensburg, outside Washington, D.C., on August 24, the British Army under General Robert Ross occupied the city and set about burning down a lot of buildings, including the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings.

This burning was partly in response to American sacking and burning of Port  Dover and York (Toronto today) in Upper Canada earlier in the war.  This marked the first and only time since the American Revolution that the nation's capital has been occupied by a foreign country.President Madison, military officials and other government people gad hurriedly abandoned the city as soon as they learned of the defeat at Bladensburg.

They made it to Brookeville, Maryland, and found refuge for the night.  Today, Brookeville bills itself as the "United States Capital for a Day."  Madison spent the night at the home of Caleb Bentley and the house still stands and is known today as the Madison House.

--Brock-Perry

The Singeing of Washington, D.C.-- Part 1: A Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight, Then a Real Bad Storm

From the March 20, 2019, Washington Post "Weird Weather Saved America three times" by Gillian Brockell.

Frequently, when an invading country captures an enemy city, they occupy it, but not so when the British did so with Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812.

When they invaded on August 24, 1814,  they set the capital building on fire which at the time housed not only Congress, but also  the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.  Then it was on to the Executive Mansion for the same thing.

The next morning, they continued their arson and would have done more, except that a terrifying thunderstorm, possibly a hurricane,  hit and a pounding rain put the fires out.  High winds sent debris flying, injuring and killing several British soldiers.  Then a tornado touched down in the middle of Constitution Avenue, sending cannons aloft.

Real Bad Weather.  --Brock-Perry

N.C.'s War of 1812 Personalities-- Part 3: Dolley Madison and Benjamin Forsyth

DOLLEY PAYNE MADISON  Born in the Quaker village of New Garden in Guilford County, N.C., but only lived there for a year before moving to Virginia.  Wife of President James Madison and most known for saving objects out of the Executive Mansion when the British captured Washington, D.C.

She saved the famous painting of George Washington.  The British burned the Executive Mansion and when it was rebuilt, its walls were painted white and it became known as the White House.

BENJAMIN FORSYTH   From Stokes County, N.C..  Lt.-Col. in U.S. Army who distinguished himself along the Northern Border during the War of 1812.  Killed at Odelltown in Canada in 1814.  Like Brigadier General Francis Nash in the Revolutionary War, he came to be regarded as a hero.

The State of North Carolina presented his 8-year-old son a beautiful sword and awarded him $250 a year for seven years.  A N.C. county was named for him in 1849.

--Brock-Perry

Andrew Jackson to Come Off $20 Bill, But Goes Up in Oval Office-- Part 1

From the January 25, 2017, Time "5 Things to Know About the President Whose Portrait Donald Trump Chose for the Oval Office" by Olivia B. Waxman.

On January 21, 2017, President Donald Trump picked the portrait of Andrew Jackson to be hung in the Oval Office in the White House.  President Trump has expressed an admiration for the 7th president whom he has called "an amazing figure in American history, very unique in so many ways."

Jackson is the only president to have served in both the American Revolution and War of 1812.  He is a military hero, slave owner, lawyer, judge and planter.

--Brock-Perry

Brookeville Steps Back in Time

From the October 29, 2013, Maryland Gazette Net by Terru Hogan.

In 1814, James Madison fled from Washington, D.C., when the British Were Coming and went to Brookeville and was accompanied by remnants of the American Army.  He was shown hospitality by the village which in fact became the temporary White House.

On October 27th, 2014, the Madison Supper was hosted at the Inn at Brookerville Farm.  Some 300 attended to raise funds for the planned War of 1812 bicentennial activities to be held in 2014.

--Brock-Perry

Temporary White House: D.C.'s Octagon-- Part 1

From the July/August DAR American Spirit Magazine "The Octagon: An Icon of Democratic Design" by Courtney Peter.

Before this article, I'd never heard of this house or that it had served a s temporary White House for James and Dolley Madison after the British burned much of the city, including the President's House, as the White House was then called.

"The Octagon (not sure why it is not called the Octagon House) has stood at the corner of 18th Street and New York Avenue Northwest in Washington, D.C., for 214 years, yet is best known for a brief period in 1814-1815 when it served as James and Dolley Madison's temporary presidential residence after the British burned a path through the city. Undeniably, the first couple's stay was historically significant-- President Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent, whih officially ended the War of 1812, at the Octagon-- but the home's rich history includes much more than the Madisons."

And, I'd Never Heard of It Before. --Brock-Perry

Washington Navy Yard in the News Today

It was very sad to learn that 13 people were killed today at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC. Fortunately, the killer is also dead.

I have been writing a bit about the yard in this blog as of late. Along with the White House and other public buildings burned in the city when the British captured it in 1814, ships and facilities at the Washington Navy Yard were also destroyed, some by the British, but others by Americans trying to keep them from being captured.

You Rarely Hear About What Happened at the Navy Yard in the War of 1812.  --Brock-Perry

Ten Things You Didn't Know About the War of 1812-- Part 3

5.  THE BURNING OF THE WHITE HOUSE WAS CAPITAL PAYBACK

To Americans, the burning of the White House and other public buildings by the British was a barbaric act.  But, in actuality, it was payback in kind for the American torching of York (today's Toronto) a year earlier.  It was then the capital of Upper Canada (today's Ontario).  United States troops plundered the town and then burned down the parliament building.

Perhaps the burning of the White House was for the better as the original one was very combustible and it was rebuilt much sturdier.    Plus, white paint replaced the white wash on the original, making for a much whiter building.  Plus, the British also burned Congress' library, which was replaced by Thomas Jefferson's own personal library, which became the foundation of the Library of Congress.


6.  NATIVE AMERICANS WERE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

There was much combat with Indians along the frontier areas.  Andrew Jackson battled Creeks in the South and William Henry Harrison fought Indians allied with the British in the Old Northwest Territory.

Of course, by this time, the Indians knew exactly what the Americans intended for them and their land which led to their alliance with the British as their only help.  The British not winning the war opened the way for waves of American settlers pouring into Indian territory and the eventual Indian Removal.

Four More.  --Brock-Perry