Other D.C. Damage-- Part 1: "So the Rascals Could Have No Further Means of Abusing My Name"

The day after the destruction of the White House,  British Admiral George Cockburn entered the building of the Washington newspaper, the National Intelligencer, intending to burn it down.  Several women, though, persuaded him not to burn it down as there was a fear the fire might spread to surrounding homes.    Cockburn had been offended by the paper's reporters referring to him as"The Ruffian".  Instead of burning it, he had it pulled down brick by brick and ordered all type of the letter "C" destroyed "so that the rascals could have no further means of abusing my name."

The British also went to the U.S. Treasury hoping to find money or items of worth and only found old records.  They burned it and other nearby public buildings.  Next was the U.S. Department of War building, but all important records had been removed.  It burned.

The first U.S. Patent Office but it was saved through the efforts of William Thornton, the former architect of the U.S. Capitol and now superintendent of the Patent Office, who convinced them not to burn it.

When the smoke cleared, the Patent Office was the only public building in the U.S. capital left untouched.

I "C" What You Mean.  --Brock-Perry