Transcripts For CSPAN3 Burning Of Washington 20140903

Many of his lectures and programs have been broadcast for them before. Were lucky to have him tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, mr. Anthony pitch. N÷ thank you veepjz much for coming. Just put that down. Its raining outside and so im very flad to see a lot of people here tonight. I want to tell you that a few years ago i escorted somebody into the white house, and his name was major ed ross, the same name Major General robert ross who burnt the white house. He was a descendant. And he wanted to see the scorch marks that i told him were there. They are under the front door and theres a big stone archway where you can see massive scorch marks from the fires set by the british in 1814. And n the pastry chef who has offices close by couldnt stop giggling. He thought heres a man whos come to finish the job. I like to write stories that are epic, true and sad. People ask me why dont you write something funny . I cant. I really like to write epic stories. Vietnam was one and then i wrote the burningxvm[y of washington is certainly a roler coaster of a story, the president escapes. The city is in flames. The National Anthem comes out of it. And you have Andrew Jacksons victory at new orleans. All in the same campaign. And when my book was reviewed by account the Times Literary Supplement in london the reviewer said, he described what happened here as an amusing little incident. Well, he was parading his ignorance because he didnt realize that the british suffered their greatest defeat in the long annuls of the valiant history of military conflict. At the hands of americans. Had that happened before the peace treaty was signed, i think we might have controlled canada today. But Winston Churchill described this as not a war of independence. He denied it was a war of independence. Now, who am i to argue with that great man . But fortunately, hes not with us today so i can challenge him. If your ships are boarded on the high seas bay enemy and they force bring haul off sailors, then if you dont do anything, you are surrendering your sovereignty. Its an affront to the dignity and sovereignty of a nation and thats why i call it without question a war of independence. So now let me tell you what washington was like in 1814. It was a gawky village, a mere embryo of what it aspired to be. There were only 8,000 residents of 1 6 were slaves and the attorney general described it as a meager village with a few bad houses and extensive swamps. And to british diplomat called the hole. When the same diplomat saw the president in stockings greeting foreign diplomats he wrote down to his mother, dearest ma, luckily for me i have been in turkey and write at home in this simplicity of manners. That was the best quote i 6jxg. So why would they want to target this village that had no Strategic Value at all . They wanted to humiliate and demoralize the americans. And if they could seize the capital during wartime it might even lead to them to the breakup of the United States. The commander of the british commander of forces in north america wanted to give the americans what he called a complete dropping. And this was in part payback for american excesses in canada. Where they burned and planted some of the public and private buildings most recently in york and now called toronto and in the villages on the niagara frontier. The countries have been at war for years because britain and france had been at war for years with each side targeting the other trade with neutral america and this meant boarding american ships and banning american ships from each others ports under certain conditions. In addition, thousands of british troops desserted to the american merchant marine for better pay and conditions and many of them took out citizenship. In a sixyear period, leading up to 1810, the british hold up about 5,000 sailors from american ships. About 1,300 of these were later found to have been born in america. So, for years, americans have tolerated this until 1811 and a new breed was elected to congress. Men like henry clay of kentucky and john c. Calhoun of south carolina, both of whom had been born after the declaration of independence. So what was tollerible for the oldernh  generation was insufferable for the new generation, the younger generation. War for them was the only answer and the man that led the crusade against war was representative John Randolph of roanoke. 7c he argued, how can you take up arms against a people who share the same language, same blood, same religion, habeus kor put, Representative Government and he said the works of shakespeare and newton. Call hun was not going to have any of this. He didnt share randolphs attachment to the former colonial power. He replied great indeed must be the reason for going to war if so much had bound us together in the past and in the summer of 1812, a bitterly divided congress, as bitter as it was in the vietnam war, declared war on britain. And for two years, it was a distant rumble on the canadian frontier. If you lived in washington and did not read the newspaper, you might not have known it. It was a war going on. But in 1814, napoleon fell and anxious american diplomats in america warned James Madisons government to free up thousands of additional troops for the war against america. But the capital remained under defended and the principle reason none other than the secretary of war, john armstrong. He was within of those up time and time again. People who believe that their judgment is best for everybody else. Even when reality to the contrary stares them in the face. He was one of them. He was a former minister to france, a Major General and it was said of him that nature and habits forbid him to speak well of any man. He was that kind of person. Cock sure. Stubborn. Self assured. And when a fleet of british warships came up the Chesapeake Bay in summer of 1814, a frantic head of the d. C.  militia, maj general john van mess went to see the secretary of war. He said they would not come without such a fleet without meaning to strike but they wont come here. What will they do . Baltimore is the place. And so, you see, this is a lesson to be learned from the war of 1812. The attack on washington. If you put intelligence in the hands of one man or a small cod ri of people, you are asking for trouble because it doesnt have the analysis that a greater inspection would have by a greater number of people. That is the lesson to be learned. I dont think its been learned but that is the greatest lesson. Armstrong was the most reviled man in the country afterwards. And he quit his job when the people tore off their ep lets and they refused to serve under him. He was dismissed with graffiti on the ruined capitol. Describing him as a coward and he was the wrong person in the right job at the wrong place. And so, that was armstrong. Now, he dismissed the Major General in those words. He wasnt the kind of person who could see that they were going to attack baltimore. Washington. Even though their own president speculated that6fn they would attack baltimore, philadelphia or washington. So, the british sailed up the river and disembarked about 5,000 troops at benedict on the 19th of august, 1814. The path to the capitol was clear. The capitol itself was like tethered prey and as a british began the 50mile march inland, fear in washington turned to terror and terror gave way to pandemonium. It was a hottest summer on memory. Not rained in three weeks. Dry and dusty roads were clogged meager possessions spilling over the sides of the carts and wagons. Transport was more precious than jewelry and other washingtonians spread to the woods preferring pair doxically the security of the wild to the insecurity of their own homes. Thats setting what it was like. And so, i dislike books that give a dry recitation of facts. Thats not how it happened. These were real people with our emotions, reacting to different circumstances. And this is what i tried to portray. What happened to the people involved. Rather than a dry list of statistics. Many of the Government Agencies remain staffed because most of the clerks were over 45 and therefore exempt from callup into militia. But in the basement of the house of representatives, nearly all the offices were empty because most of the clerks were young ob people. Only j. T. Frost, a newcomer, remained at his desk. He was over 45 so in this moment of unparalleled crisis, a man of scant experience and Weak Authority is now burdened with the need to make rapid decisions of national importance. He was sorely in need of the guarding hand of patrick mcgruder, the clerk of the house, but he was ill for months and hed finally taken his doctors advice to leave town at this very moment to try and help restore his health of mineral spas. Thats how history operates around one man. And so, nobody was around to adviad advise poor frost on how or when to save the papers of the house from enemy vandals. I used this word vandals with care. Its denigrating the british but there is no other word that would fit what they did later. And so, there was a colleague of his called samuel burch. He tried hard to reason with the superiors and to remain at the desk but he, too, marched out of the city to meet the enemy. He was stood down three days before the british hoisted the union jack on capitol hill and when he went looking for transport the following day it was too late. Most of the carts and wagons had been grabbed by the military and the remainder were piled high with the goods of civilians in flight. . c to scour the countryside with transport. They came back in 1814 with one cart and four oxen. Taken from the man who lived 6 miles out of town. Loaded it up, turned the oxen around, drove nine miles into did countryside and depositived them in safety. And only to join the exodus as the british arrived at sunset, august 24th, 1814. Frost frustrated beyond measure. Papers of the house and even the vast contents of the library of congress if only they had been able to seize more transport. Now, the library of congress in those days faced the western edge of the wall of the mall. Western edge of the capitol. Overlooking the mall. And it was a large room, about 86 feet long with timbered ceilings so it went up like a tinderbox. All 3,000 books were destroyed. Ironically, many of them were printed in britain and some of them were on british parliamentary procedure. You know about Thomas Jefferson offering and it was accepted his private library as a nucleus of a new library of congress 6, 487 and he said it will take about two weeks for the wagons to arrive in washington. Theyre so great. They had a fire in the middle of the 19th century but you can see what remains of them in curved bookcases at the library of congress and its incredible. This man, this renaissance man, every subject you can think of is there. Archaeology. History. Art. Farming. Its all there in different languages. That was Thomas Jefferson. Amazing. Well, two days before the british arrived, the commandant ordered the navy clerk to get a hold of transport to take 124 barrels of gun powder out of the navy yard into the safety of virginia. Booth settled up across into georgetown and saw a wagon outside a store. He rode up and told the two apparent owners he was impounding it for the department of navy. This is wartime. And so some citizens who might normally have buckled to bureaucratic pressure bustled chasing off government officials with abuse and profanities. This is exactly what happened to booth. In a vivid chronicle written two weeks after the departure of the british, he described what happened next. And its got my fingerprints all over it at the National Archives. I dismounted and followed them into the store. Where they made use of such language as was degrading to gentlemen. He didnt have any backup power. He didnt get the wagon. But booth was one of the last to free the city before the british arrived. And before he did so, he decided to check at the white house to see if anybody was there and to get reliable information. When he rode up, he saw an american colonel on horseback near the front door. The colonel dismounted, walked over to the locked front door of the white house, pulled hard on the bell rope and banged on the name of chief john the chief of the household staff but wrote booth all was as silent as a church and only then did he realize in his words, quote, the metropolis of the country was abandoned to his horrid fate. He represented america at that moment. And then a note arrived at the Sate Department scribbled by secretary of state james monroe who was then on horseback spying on the British Advance east of washington. He ordered his staff to secure as best they could the precious National Documents in the departmental records. One of the clerks, Stephen Pleasanton, remember that name, stephen with a ph and pleasanton. This is one of the bravest men ill talk about tonight. He and others but pleasanton described himself as chiefly instrumental in this. Very gently put the originals believe it or not of the declaration of independence, the constitution, International Treaties and George Washingtons correspondence into bags that he had made up into book bags that were linen. Whilst this is being done, none other than the secretary of war passed by and armstrong rebuked him for being alarmist and thinking the british were on the way to washington. Pleasanton was intimidated. Thats amazing. Imagine. He stood up to the secretary of war and said its more prudent to try and protect the documents of the revolutionary government so he loaded them on to carts, crossed the Potomac River and drove two miles7n upstream of georgetown where he put them in an abandoned mill but then he immediately had second thoughts. He was now opposite fox holes foundry, the largest manufacturer of munitions in the country and certain to be targeted by the british. A spy or turncoat could leave an enemy to the nearby hiding place. So he went further into virginia. Got some wagons, came back and loaded them up. And he drove 35 miles west to leesburg, virginia. Put them in an empty house. Locked the door. And gave the key to the collector of Internal Revenue and then he checked into a hotel. That night, the residence of leesburg went into the streets and they could see the fiery glow over the burning city of washington. Pleasanton was not amongst them. He was too tired and fast asleep. Now, i know this happened because 39 years later, excuse me. I have a slight sinus problem. 39 years later, pleasanton thought that he was going to be he was going to lose his job because he3 department kno anybody and the Incoming Administration and in those days you had to know people. So, he wrote a letter to his eminent friend James Buchanan who became president just before lincoln and he outlined everything he had done, that memorable 24th of august, 1814, and he said, i could have been rewarded by thousands of pound sterling by the british if id given them the documents and i didnt. And the letter is in the papers in the library of congress. Now, i was always upset by the condition of president s grave. I had been to Congressional Cemetery many times, about a mile behind the u. S. Capitol. And it was at an angle and you couldnt read his name too well so i held a fund raising walk to restore the tombstone. And we walked from the capitol to the white house. As we passed the National Archives, i was telling stories all the time from the war of 1812 and i said, if it were not for Stephen Pleasanton you probably would not be able to see those documents in the National Archives today. And of course, i raised the money and we got an expert and restored the tombstone. Up right now and the man got the credit so long overdue. Now, i want to tell you about a woman who was equally as brave safety of her own life. Her name is Dolly Madison. She is without a doubt the most beloved first lady ever to live in the white house. Jackie kennedy was admired but dolly was beloved and people said that when she wore her jewelry it was outshown by her personality. She was a marvelous woman. Look how she risked her life or captivity to save a painting. None of us would do that. Ikxez certainly wouldnt. But she did. And its not surprising that people paid courtesy calls on her until her death on lafayette square, new years day in particular. Courtesy calls from the president onwards down. What shelkqwe does was this. Gilbert stewarts full length portrait of George Washington hung in the west hall of the large dining room. It had been acquired by the federal government in 1800 for the white house at a cost of 800. And at that moment, two new yorkers, friends of herls, came in to the white house and they asked if they could do anything to help. This is jacob barker and according to a historian who interviewed them later, she said fall into the hands of the british. When she saw that her slave Paul Jennings was taking too long to unscrew the giant frame from the wall, she told him to break the canvas. And fortunately at that moment, french john came in. It becomes murky. Did]aen french john tell jennio stop and with dollys approval took out the knife and cut the fabric from its frame . 95 inches long, 59 3 4 inches wide. Or, did dolly tell the slave to break it from the wood and take it out . We dont know for sure. But the conservators didnt find any cut marks on the canvas. And so, were not quite sure. ÷ whatever happened, they gave it to barker one of the new yorkers who started to roll it up. Until he was stopped by the frenchman. They put a flat in the wagon and drove through georgetown into the countryside and left wit a farmer they lodged with overnight and a few weeks latter, they returned it to dolly. Now, today, it hangs in the east room of the white house. When the president is giving a press conference there in the east room or hes awarding medals of honor, et cetera, you will see it behind his shoulders. And when my book came out, it was invited to lunch at the white house. They took me to rooms off limits. We passed through the map room, socalled because theres a map of europe over the mantlepiece and it3m njuj the swastika symbols which plot the nazis advance in world war ii. Theres a Little Medicine chest nearby about so big. And its got holes for viles of medicine and you can pull out the drawers. In 1939, a canadian wrote to president roosevelt and his name was archibald canes. And he said, my grandfather was a paymaster aboard the british warship devastation which came up the Potomac River at that time and laid siege to alexandria and oversaw the raiding of the warehouses of Agricultural Produce. But i checked it up. Thomas canes was the huqoepayma of the devastation but none of the crew set foot in washington. So either henexchange d booty with another briton or archibald canes the canadian is mistaken as is the white house. Well, we then went to see the portrait of George Washington. They took away the rope that keeps you about 20 feet away and then for the first of countless times i saw the artists amazing mistake. In the painting George Washington is standing up facing you. There is a table next to his right leg, under the table are some books and the title painted on one of the books cbqps la and constitution of the United States sates. Can i believe it . Gill birth stewart made a spelling mistake. Extraordinary. Well, when the british arrived on capitol hill, they confronte÷ by the twinm senate in the north, the south and covered wooden walkway. As they entered, theyw3fqz expe to find signs of republican simplicity. But instead, they found evidence of splendor. Now, i go to town in this book on what the building was like because it wasnt a normal building. It was like those great cathedrals in Medieval Europe built with a lot of money and the finest artisans. They want to glorify something capitol. It represented the hopes and aspirations of the young republic. And when it was restored, it would represent resilience and unity. Now, of course, its a beacon of democracy. But they saw this now created a colas sal. He was an architect, latrobe. There were no sculptors of note in america so latrobe looked to the land of don tell lo, davinci and finding two worthy tuscans, he hired them. They began to sculpt the columns and he exasperated latrobe with the slow pace and finishing the first one, latrobe exalted, called him an artist of firstrace excellence and the other, began modeling a bald eagle until he was stopped by latrobe for fear it didnt resemble the bird of prey and latrobe didnt want any criticism, least of all from congressmen from the western states who knew what the bird looked like. He wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Artist peel asking for a drawing of the head and claws of a bald eagle. When the stagecoach arrived with mail from philadelphia, latrobe was in for a surprise. He opened the package to find the perfect head and neck of a baldjw eagle. And a dra c and a coverleter followed saying shoot the bird of prey to look at the arrangement of the feathers. He set to with an obsessive passion. It was a sick man. Wouldnt live a year beyond the departure of the british. He pulled all the Creative Energy into this. If you have ever created anything, quilting, gardening, a book, anything, you know what im talking about. And when he had finished, latrobe marvelled. He called it the finest eagle in the history of sculpture. He said the wingspan of 12 feet and was hoisted high above the speakers chair in the awesome hall of the house of representatives. But now sadly it would be destroyed. Along with all the other works Junior Officers in the british army saying we dont mind destroying ordinances and ammunition and weapons and everything like that. But why artwork . Well, they followed orders. And the british bonfires with furniture, they hacked at the window and door frames and spread the wood with the rockets. The flames were so great that night that i have correspondence that you could see it in baltimore. You could even see it in the ships logs of british warships on the river 50 miles east. Thats extraordinary. And so, thats what they did in the u. S. Capitol. Now, 100 soldiers and sailors, thiss all, the rest of them remained on capitol hill at the headquarters. 100 soldiers and sailors in 2 orderly columns tramped down the broad, quiet of pennsylvania on their way to burn the white house. On either side of them were double rows of stately poplar trees planted by Thomas Jefferson. When one of the men started to talk, an officer shouted, silence. Ill shoot the first man who speaks. Slaves scurried ahead warning the remaining residents to flee the city because the british had just were on the way to burn the white house. Excuse me while i just have a sip. When they got to the southeast corner of pennsylvania avenue and 15th street where the White House Visitor Center stands today in the department of commerce building, they ringed what was then a long low brick building, run as a boardinghouse by a widow. Major general robert ross commanding the land forcesccx entered under the low door and began to tease the woman saying, madame, we have come to supper with you. He tried to steer them across the road but ross wouldnt have it. He said that he preferred the view of the government buildings from her boardinghouse and the frightened woman went into the back house to slaughter chickens for unwelcomed guests to return around midnight after burning the white house. The day begun with a sevenhour forced march from Upper Marlboro through woods and dense thickets and brush to bladensburg and fought an hourlong battle and the heat so intense that 18 of their men dropped dead from heat exhaustion. Then they marched 6 miles southwest to the capitol. Burned the capitol and tramped almost a mile down pennsylvania avenue to where they were now. They were famished and thirsty but when they entered the white house, they found a table laid before 40 because dolly expecting the captains of the military leaders for dinner. Admiral George Coburn was the driving force behind the assault on washington. His superior Major General robert ross had second thoughts and wanted to return and coburn forced him by the influence of his arguments to proceed. He said we have militia men ahead of us. Thats nothing. We have come so far. We have to continue. Coburn had been recognized by none other than admiral who ratio national. Coburn had been a sailor from the preteen years and nelson acknowledged coburns ability and courage and zeal. And he was thought of so highly by the british admiralty that he was chosen to take the great napoleon into exile on the island and i got a hold of the diary and he said, this man napoleon sometimes wants to play the sovereign. I wont allow it. H[j the fiber of the man who grabbed an american, who was innocent, he grabbed him and took him into the white house as a british burned it. America. The man he selected was roger choo whiteman. He was a book seller recently married and he would become a longtime mayor of the city of washington. A free wheeling mood. He taunted and mocked the madisons in the coarse lingo of a common sailor and tweaked the honor of whiteman. With mischievous relish. He said to whiteman, take a souvenir and whiteman looked for something that was valuable. And he said, oh no, thats being delivered to the flames. Take something of useless value. Monetary value. He took something that had no value at all and then copen said ill take a souvenir for myself and selected a cushion and a bra which is a hat probably belonging to the president and the british drank, poured wine from dekanters into cut glass. They told us that the health of the prince regent and success of his majestys land and naval forces and drank to peace with america and down with madison. And when one of the men found the ceremonial hat belonging to the tip of his bayonet and he said, if they could not capture the little president , madison was only 54, they would parade his hat in england. That night they burned the white house and the treasury and the next morning, the state department and the rope walks and the last because of the content of rope and tar sent columns of choking black smoke over the city. The ruins were telling commentary on a scale of the citys b1 ndegradation. Now, thats the scene as they left the capitol. And now these flames, theres they came wednesday night. And on thursday, at 2 00 p. M. , there was a twohour storm that may have been a hurricane. It was so fierce itqj1 lifted heavyweight cannons and things like feathers and dropped them at random. And it spread eagled horses and britons. They were terrified. Locals had never seen anything like it. But its mythological to say that storm extinguished the flames. I have correspondence from a number of sources that says the flames burned for several days after the storm. So now, you have this terrible sight but thats not the end of americas humiliation because washingtonians in this moment of catastrophe that did most of the looting, believe it or not. Many waited for the streets to be empty, the houses to the military out of sight. Now they were free to steal and run. No one was around to protect private property or enforce law and order. Poor jennings had been told by dollys brotherinlaw to go to 40th street to get his carriage. And from that Vantage Point that he his slave would later recollect a rabble taking advantage of the confusion ran the president s house. Thats what they called the white house then and would steal lots of silver and whatever else they could run off with. Souvenir hunting and isolated cases of robbery for which the thieves paid dearly at the hands of their own. Time and again enemy commanders reassuring the remaining residents that the property would be safe so long as they didnt take up arms against the occupying forces. And these were not promises. They even accompanied a company to patrol pennsylvania avenue to protect personal property. They would perform with two exceptions. Extraordinary. Occupying force behaving likeo that. So, excuse me while i take one more sip. Thats what happened while washington was being occupied. Now, six weeks, it was only three weeks later that the British Forces, the same British Force s i descended on baltimo. More than 15,000 defenders, many coming in from surrounding counties and from pennsylvania and virginia. History has a way of taking a humiliating moment like that and turning it into glory. And this is what happened. It was raining hard and the bulbous hills were slashed with soggyehp trenches but even tho the men were wet, damp, tired and hungry, they were itching for payback for what had happened in washington. The general in charge of the british, Major General robert ross, rode far ahead of the bulk of his troops and at breakfast he rashly predicted, tonight ill sup in baltimore or hell. He never made it to baltimore. We dont know whether he made it to heaven over hell but a snipers bullet tore through of his right arm and lodged in his chest and his body was taken in a cart over a bumpy road to the ships but by the time he got there demoralizing everybody along the route, he was dead. So they took his corpse aboard hms royal oak and in hogs head of2 m rum where he would swish sway in the dark spirit until his internment at halifax, nova scotia. His successor colonel arthur overcome an inferior force of mostly militia men. Meanwhile, british warships pounded fort mchenry between 1,400 and 1,800 shells each weighing over 200 pounds. If they could bludgeon the fortress into submission, baltimore was theirs and philadelphia was probably next. But even though there was no cover, and a pounding went on for a day and a night, nobody ran. Nobody flinched. Thats the extraordinary heroism of fort mchenry. Now, the british had planned a combined naval and land attack in the dead of night. The naval force would create a faint passed fort mchenry drawing defenders away from the heavily2jn fortified eastern hi so that the british infantry would then be able to charge through and capture the city. Commander sent a message to his land commander that he would not be able to help. He said his force could not penetrate the mouth of the where americans scuttled 24 ships behind which they waited with gun boats. And so, the land commander was devastated. Into his diary he later groaned, in a moment all my hopes were blasted. If i took the place i should have been a greatest man in england. But if i failed, my military character was gone forever. The stakes were terribly high. Incredibly high. There was a lady called Phoebe Morris in philadelphia which was next on the list probably. And she wrote to her father who was the american minister to spain and she said, papa, we may have to swear allegiance to the British Crown in three months. Thats how high the stakes were. Now, there was a hostage on board called Francis Scott key. He was a hostage this gaeway. When the british withdrew from 2jgkuaat a m hours or 26 hours somewhere around there. Their way back to the ships. They need not have feared but that was their fear and so they stayed very quickly. They left quickly. And they actually burned logs on capitol hill to make it appear that they were still there. And so, this is what they did to deceive the americans. Now, some of them were captured, some stragglers. But one of them escaped and brought some british troops back. They, in turn, captured a friend of Francis Scott keys. His name is dr. William beans and they took him away on board key got president madisons permission to board the british ships and plead for his friends release. But when he boarded the ship, the british commander said, oh no, both of you now know our target. You know the strength of our forces. You know our morale. Once we have captured baltimore, well release you. That was how Francis Scott key came to witness what happened next. At sunset, he had seen this gigantic flag flying over fort mchenry. What so proudly we held at the twilights last gleaming. 24 feet by 42 feet and raised there over the fort by the forts Commander Major george arm stead. And he was in active of defiance. He was saying if you want baltimore, you first have to lower this flag. Thats how key got to see what was happening and he paced the deck of his ship in the darkness hoping the explosions would continue because if there was silence, it might mean the fort capitulated but in the darkness before dawn there was a lull in the firing. And key didnt know whether its a signaled submission by did fort or whether the british imposed a ceasefire. Gradually the morning mist began to clear, oh, say can you see by the dawns early light, and once more, and madeo stars and stripes still flying above the fort. Never before had he looked with such reverence upon the symbol of his country. Never before had the flag have such a sheen to the glory. In his ecstasy, there is no other word. In his ecstasy, he took a letter out of his pocket and on the thoughts, anything that tumbled through his mind while the intense moment lasted. Three days later, the british withdrew, they couldnt take it. They take it as a rebuke from the probably survivors. Minor revisions, his poem was now publish and set to the tune of the popular song in those days. Now, five days later, congress met in the undamaged office in washington at in the northwest and put the chairs and desks right up to the fireplace and the window sills, but they could not accommodate anybody, but there was one advantage. They didnt have to shout like they had to do in the Previous Assembly where the acoustics were so bad, and they debated new yorks motion that to move to capital from philadelphia elsewhere to save the cost of rebuilding the ruled city. Imagine. The northerners;ciaed it at least 100 miles north closer to the canadian war front and to satisfy the creditors. The southerners dug in their heels. They said no. The original language establishing washington as the Nations Capital described it as the permanent seat of government. To do anything else would be to frank the dignity of George Washington who, himself, selected the site. It was approved, but when it was put into legislative form, it debate in which one of the congressmen from North Carolina warned once youve set the seat of government on wheels, there is no saying where it will stop. On Christmas Eve 1814 in belgium, the commissions from both countries met to sign the treaty of peace and am anymorety that would end this war. They went to bed that night having prayed this would be the last great war between the two great English Speaking countries, but he it took a long time for word to cross the atlantic in those days, too late for armies squaring off at new orleans. Andrewoe] jackson had assembled rag tag army of frontiersmen, roughians, pirates, and militiamen to put them behind modern mud facing the mighty british army forge through centuries of warfare and later that year would include the down fall, and the british were impatient. They were led by the brother of nor by none other than the man who defeat eed napolean, the grt duke of wellington, and they should have waited until they took the flank across the mississippi river, but instead, they charged the front of the assault on the flat field. They had no cover and were c. R by the other frm the Sharp Shooters of tennessee. Surprisingly, the american artillery was accurate, and as the day wore on, it was uniform british dead, battlefield sticky with blood and heavy with corpses, and when it was all over, there were more than 2,000 british casualties. There were six american dead and seven american wounded. Britain had never suffered such vn military history. I think i did not speculate in the book but will now, i think had that battle been fought well in advance of the peace treaty, we might be running canada today. And so from that moment, you america regained pride and dignity and the second war of independence is really, truly over, and so is my speech. I finished earlier than i thought, far earlier, and that means much more time for questions. Please, i beg of you, limit them to the extent of my talk because my expertise is with washington and about and new orleans. The rest, its a long war. I really am not at liberty to speak with any authority on the so may we have some questions . Yes, the lady. Would you mind, rebecca, because im my hearing aid has gone off. Would you mind repeating that question . The battle, why did the u. S. Troops withdraw their ammunition from the top of the hill there . Thats a very good question. Ill tell you something, there was a poem written after the battle that was fought at lunch time on the same day that the british arrived at sunset in washington, and the british rolled all over the americans. The poem made fun of the americansrh 4 running, it was denigrating those who fought to spare the americans. Its not fair. Most of the people who ran and broke ranks were militiamen, not so well tr9 like regulars of which thegu2citish army was the finest, seasoned in the peninsula wars with napolean. The americans who were trained, 114 marines, they fought as well as they got. They fought so gallantly, so gallantly, they took 10 casualties, 114 of them, and engaged in handtohand combat when they ran out of ammunition, when they ran out of ammunition, so its not fair to sayt4q they were terrified at the beginning of the british who just had been trained so well that they crushed a narrow bridge, and then they would go forward in lines, and if that line fell, the next line would proceed, and the americans and later in baltimore too, they were so impressed with this, werekn believe it. With this, thats how they had. Trained. So it was inevitable that the british would succeed. In fact, before the battle began, the secretary of war and the general commanding American Forces have pointed out the roots of the escape for the americans. You see, they knew it was going to be a walkover. It was. The british were so anxious to engage the battle, to engage the enemy that they rushed forward without thefjhn approval of the british commander. He said, oh, if we only had this man forgot his name now he would teach these people who are so anxious to crossover and engage the enemy, teach them the y they were horrified to see this, and it was too late, the british were storming through, so its very, very unfair to blame the americans. Those who fought, fought as we would expect. Thats why there is a myth going around that the home at the Marine Barracks is saved. I didnt find anydalv to suppore theory that the british were so enn enamored, but thats a lasting myth in the modern age. I dont know whether thats tru or not. Thank you for the presentation, andy. Do you have details on the burning of the Washington Naval yard . Of the naval yard . Yes. The question was can i givec ox background to the burning of the naval yard. This is a terrible story. None of us would want to go through what they went through that night. He had been told by the secretary of the navy that if the british succeeded and seemed to be within the boundaries of washington, he was to take preemptive action and burn the shipping, the ordnance supplies and Everything Else at the navy yard. This was a terrible decision to make, but they didnt want this to fall in the hands of the enemy, so he waited until the last minute. He sent his scouts out, and they came back with the news that, yes, the british had succeeded, and they were pouring into washington. Now they had a decision that horrified them. They laid gun powder into the building, the ordnance, into the shipping, and they set it alight. Like pyrotechnics, and people there couldnt believe what they were doing, but they had to carry out orders, and this came from the top secretary of the navy, preemptive action, and thats what they did, and they watched these, built with the finest labor and taken so long to build the ships, and one or two saved, but there was a burning one was called mary hunter on pennsylvania avenue in her home,oq ap and she was left her husband and children who went to safety, and he was going to come back and take and she was amazed at the flames over the navy yard. Felt like she was in the middle of it all, and she wrote a letter to her sister, the letter survived, the sister was in princetop, and she said, nobody awful sight that the eyes had to see and that our ears had to hear, and she was talking about the navy yard and the enemy on capital hill with the rockets and flying, and it must have been a terrible moment. Thank you so much for the talk, fascinating. You eluded to the talk with the taking of al exandriaalexandria detachment of the british fleet with amazing treacherous sailing up the river and somehow managed to get away. Can you comment on that, if you would . What happened at alexandria . Thats a good question. This follows up on the medicine chest. The british hoped the movement would succeed if they had the wh forces coming upgsx fro benedict, from the east, and a and would rival washington, and that would be it, but the naval force coming up the river was not there before and did not realize there were the cattle bottoms were large clusters where the holes were caught on the cattle buttons, and so to release the shipping trapped there, they had to lighten the ships so they would float away. That took time. A lot of the ships got caught, and they came up the river, and they were the white house, then in place on the shores, three miles from the fort what was it called again . Fort washington, thats right. It was commanded by captain dyson, a young man, and he held a conference with his people, and they said, i think wed better surrender. We better leave the fort. So with the utter shock being fired, they retreated from the fort, left it to the british. The british couldnt believe the good luck. They just couldnt understand this. They thought it was a trick, but they destroyed the fort. Naturally, and at a moment when the flag should have been flying, it was in the darkness as the judge advocate general later said in the court marshal. Dyson was convicted, kicked out of the military, and they didnt want anybody of that caliber. He said, whats the point of flying a flag if were going to be overtaken anyway . It was the worst kind of commander that you wanted to turn out, and they took the fort and nothing between them in al exandrea and virginia. They sailed upstream, and they laid siege to alexandria. Nour, just about everybody, alexandria had been called up and gone to other places. They were too young or too old and could not defend the city so an allegation went to see and he spoke to them as if they were underlings. He demeaned them. He told them that they would be attacked and ransacked if they took action against the forces, but he told them that they were going to raid the warehouses of Agricultural Produce. He demanded su eed sunken ameri ships be raised by the americans. They said they could not do this. They did raid the warehouses. They did terrible damage, terrible damage thezsqo americ brought people from baltimore, notably Commodore John rogers, to harass the british as they descended away from alexandria, and they did a good job, but they literally ran out of r were n, and they castigated in the press for this folly. That is, the people, the critics of the americans, and theylb to away this vast Agricultural Produce from alexandria. One of two people did go americans they went on horse back into alexandria, captured a british sailor and had to release him. Yanked him up by the collar and put him on a horse, but that was early action. They were too terrified, and Dolly Madison was terrified of this. She was horrified. She said they should have blown up the city rather than to it. In a situation like that, you dont fly the white flag. You defend the place. You do not give it away. The british sailed away apart from the harassment, they got away, none of the ships are sunk. Yes, sir . 6au n did the british try to pursue president madison after he left the city . No. They did make that markingbm ÷ remark that they would capture the little president , this 54 man that would parade his hat in england if they couldnt capture him. They didnt pursue him. He escaped across the river in virginia agreeing to meet his wife at a tavern near great falls, and he was 63 years old, retiring man, brilliant, but he was described as like a School Master just finished whipping his schoolboys, and now he was crying over the fact. He was very different from the outgoing wife. They did not pursue him at all. Theyzq÷ did not know where at of americans did not know where he was either, but stayed in a state on route 23 south probably at a tavern in app inn recommended by Thomas Jefferson, and then he went up to wileys tavern, met his wife, dolly, and he crossed over into the courthouse, now call rockville, and they expected to find the z Americans Army there, but they went to baltimore to defend it. That was friday night. He rode over east to brook fooel, a quaker village, out of the path of the advancing british. They could not capture him there, e2gn there are interestg scenes, the cattle the american calvary and infantry lit their fires by the mill, and brookville residence, young and old, pressed faces against the window panes trying to get a glance of the president who was in the village, and he stayed at the home of caleb and henrietta, and that building still stands where he stayed. By his presence, Supreme Executive Authority resided in brookville at that moment because washington was in captivity. Thats why the residents of brookville described their village the capital of america for one day. They never caught his wife, dolly, who was also roaming around unknown to a lot of americans. They did come back. The british arrived on sunset on wednesday. They were treated on thursday night. Madison came back saturday morning after he was told the brit ir had left, and it took  brookville to washington, about 25 miles, and then he didnt leave any written commentary of what he felt like. That really distressed me. I wanted to know what the president thought. I mean, descriptions of shame and embarrassment, went on and on, but not from madison. He kept his peace. Dolly came back on sunday, the day after, and she was disguised in the clothing of another person. She lost eight of her body guards who decided to get drunk rather than to defend her, and she arrived with one body guard and had to acknowledge her identity to a guard at the river, which she didnt want to do, but she had to to begf to cross. She was described by people who saw her that day and the next totally broken in spirit. This woman rfs who was normaly rebel and 0bnwellliked was now distraught and introverted, but she was firy, and she said, if only she had weapons to use, she would have used them at that stage against them. The british really, they had done what cobens12n decided. Because he said ifvpb0 you can strike at the heart of the enemy, which is the capital city, you will destroy the morale. Thats exactly what he want to do. He knew that it did not have anything to offer strategically, but held the Nations Capital, and thats why they targeted it. There was a lightning occupation. Did a lot of damage. Nearly all the governmentti do we know how long it took to rebuild the white house and capital after had burned . Yes. The white house, because it didnt have any major additions, took three years. They invited hogen, who won the metal for designing it to redesign, and the troupe invited to redesign the capital which took five years. Now, the capital was, at that time, many people think it was destroyed. Its not true. The flames set by the british, they came back towards the british, and the Vaulted Ceilings which were pioneered as an architectural feature, they acted as fire breaks so that the Vaulted Ceilings protected a lot of the capital and a lot of it was saved. If you want to see the parts saved, go in, and go near the Old Supreme Court where the senate used to meet. That was destroyed, but youll see columns there that are beautifully topped with cornxh b capitals design, carved by giovani andre. Youll see husks of corn pulled back so that the corn shows. The corn cob capitals, and those were in the building. Youll see after the Old Supreme Court, youll see the places that survived, and theres a room now occupied by the House Majority leader which is doubled as a room at that time as a committee on the district of president when he went to the u. S. Capital, and the admiral coburn wanted a souvenir so he went into this aoffice, which still stands, and he found a boring book, a coffee table sized book on the table that belonged to madison, and it was written there in gold type, president s copy. It was an expenditures of the u. S. Government for 1810. A very boring book, but he wrote on the inside cover, probably at the later date, taken by admiral coburn on the destruction of the capital during the occupation of washington, august 24th, 1814, and given to him by his brother, the book disappeared and resurfaced in philadelphia in 1940, and a dealer authenticated the writing and gave the book to the library of congress. When brian lamb interviewed me onbook tv, it was in the main reading room of the library of congress, and he said to me before we aired, would you like any props, and i said, please, bring that book down from the rare book division, and he brought it down, and gave me white gloves to handle it, and he was tremling because this is visible proof of the past, tangible evidence of its happenings, and if you didnt react with a heightened sen station, you needed a heart n transplant. So you know, its a marvelous just so much i didnt think there would be so much extent at the time when i decided to write y that if you dig deep, really deep, and you go for the original documents, not other peoples books i really dislike doing that, go for the original documents, affidavits, reports back to the british, things like that. I found in the National Archives, youll find so much that makes us a living testimony of what happened at the time. It was not a forgotten war as its call today. It was a war that should be remembered by everybody. I give a speech in fort mchenry, well, i did before my stroke two years ago, but every year the writing the National Anthem, every year id go to fort mchenry on how and why he wrote the National Anthem. At the end, they said, thank you, i didnt realize the story. I couldnt believe it because this5vcib is one of the fundame believve beli beliefs of the country. Thats the words of the National Anthem, and they didnt know the story. I think its a thrilling moment. When i go to fort mchenry, i feel this every time, and when you hear the anthem next and now know the story, youll listen to it with a different kind of,tn feeling because its not archaic words, but something that resinates down the centuries and is very meaningful. Thank you very much. Well have more on the war of 1812,qzn and burning of washington wednesday afternoon at a symposium hosted by the White House Historical historical society. Live coverage begins at 1 00 with live coverage, we compliment coverage showing you the most relevant congressional hearings and on weekends, cspan3 is home to American History tv with programs that tell the nations story including six series, the civil wars 150th anniversary visiting battlefields and key events, american artifacts, touring Historic Sites and museums to see what artifacts reveal on americas past. History book shelf, the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of the commander in chiefs, lectures in history, and the new series, real america, featuring government and educational films from the 1930s through the 70s. Created by cable tv industry and funded by your cable provider. Like us on facebook and follow us on1 ox twitter