CBS News
The 1814 burning of Washington, D.C.
Two centuries ago this past week, smoke and ash lingered in the air of what remained of our nation s capital. Mo Rocca takes us back to that fiery night:
Two hundred years ago this month, 4,000 British soldiers lay siege to Washington, D.C., and set fire to the U.S. Capitol and the White House.
A drawing of the White House after the fire of 1814. Library of Congress
And the burn marks on the White House walls are still there. We now have evidence of the char marks, the scorching that would have happened when flames were drawn out through open windows and doors and licked up around the tops of the stone, said William Allman, the White House curator.