Then part of the land making up the district of columbia. This was a very wealthy port on the potomac. And they also could pose a threat to other targets in washington that hadnt been taken by the british army. Though they dont know this at this point. Georgetown had been left alone by the british and theres an important foundry that makes weapons for the u. S. Navy that is still sitting untouched. In any event, they were proceeding up river when theyre hit by the huge storm. The remarkable storm that comes through washington on august 25th sweeps down river and severely damages several of the ships in gordons squadron. And they have to stop to make repairs. They almost considered turning back at that point. But they keep coming up river. They sailed past mt. Vernon, which was just down river from here. And finally on august 27th, they come in sight of ft. Washington, which is the last fortress guarding the Potomac River as they on the approach to alexandria in washington. This was the
Hes been quite fearful that georgetown will be attacked. A a few days later, it is from this home that he would launch the mission to try to gain 8p maryland who had been taken prisoner by the british, a and this would ultimately lead to his eyewitnessing of the bombardment of ft. Mchenry and ultimately to thev f writing e national antent them. A big rainstorm hit the city that night after the n÷ britisd gone back to their camp, and extinguishes some of the flames including at the treasury. And coburn, the next morning, he rides up to the white house pretty much for the ae satisfn of seeing the burnt building and he also wanted to make sure that some of the parts of the building that hadt not been extinguished by the rain, and one party sent up to the navy yard, and coburn remarks that he is glad that the americansrn e÷d him the trouble of burning the place, but he sends some of his sailors and loyal marines there remaining buildings that had not been burned. Another party comesvel
A big rainstorm hit the city that night after the n÷ britisd gone back to their camp, and extinguishes some of the flames including at the treasury. And coburn, the next morning, he rides up to the white house pretty much for the ae satisfn of seeing the burnt building and he also wanted to make sure that some of the parts of the building that hadt not been extinguished by the rain, and one party sent up to the navy yard, and coburn remarks that he is glad that the americansrn e÷d him the trouble of burning the place, but he sends some of his sailors and loyal marines there remaining buildings that had not been burned. Another party comesvel down hero point, and this was the southern tip of the city at this point. 2p the federal government had a large arsenal ofs;fcannons and hundreds of kegs of powder stored there. And the party Royal Marines gets to it, and they find the well sh, and they try to destroy it, and some of the cannons that had been left behind. And they are in the proc
Saved by several businessmen from new york who came by4pqon secured a wagon and took it away in maryland for safekeeping. Now, dolly rides into georgetown adison friends, and she is etown waiting more word from madison. President madison arrives at the white house around 4 00 in the afternoon. Dolly is left, and he takes sort of the last look around the place, and she is accompanied by a couple of aides. He is obviously exhausted and a 60yearold man who had been riding out on a horseback out to a battlefield to come under rocket fire, and has come back to the white house, and you can only imagine what his thoughts are at this moment. This is the nation that he had helped conceive. He had been the Guiding Light behind the constitution. And now, you know, americas great enemy Great Britain had a clear path and was on its way into washington. He stopped and pauses for a glass of wine and collects his thoughts and then gets on horseback to ride down here to georgeto georgetown where the su
Limits. We passed through the map room, socalled because theres a map of europe over the mantelpiece and it shows the swastika symbols which plot the nazis theres a Little Medicine chest nearby about so big. And its got holes for vials of medicine and you can pull out the drawers. 1 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 paymaster of the devastation but none of the crew set foot in washington. So either he exchanged 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 artis