The Burning of Washington, also known as the Capture of Washington, was a successful British amphibious attack conducted by Rear-Admiral George Cockburn during Admiral Sir John Warren's Chesapeake campaign. It was the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a foreign power had captured and occupied a United States capital. Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, a British army led by Major-General Robert Ross marched on Washington, D.C. That evening, British soldiers and sailors set fire to multiple public buildings; including the Presidential Mansion, United States Capitol, and Washington Navy Yard.[5]
The attack was in part a retaliation for prior American actions in British-held Upper Canada, in which U.S. forces had burned and looted York the previous year and had then burnt large portions of Port Dover.[6] Less than four days after the attack began, a heavy thunderstorm, possibly a hurricane and a tornado, extinguished the fires and caused further destruction. The British occupation of Washington, D.C. lasted for roughly 26 hours.[7]
President James Madison, along with his administration and several military officials, evacuated and were able to find refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland; President Madison spent the night in the house of Caleb Bentley, a Quaker who lived and worked in Brookeville. Bentley's house, known today as the Madison House, still exists.
^"Burning of Washington, D.C.; Chesapeake Campaign". The War of 1812. genealogy, Inc. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
^"On this day, the British set fire to Washington, D.C." National Constitution Center. August 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
^"The tornado that stopped the burning of Washington". National Constitution Center. August 25, 2015. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
^Good, Cassandra (December 8, 2016). "The Sole American Killed in the 1814 Burning of D.C. Was Related to George Washington". Smithsonian. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISSN 0037-7333. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
^"The White House at War: The White House Burns: The War of 1812". White House Historical Association. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
^Greenpan, Jesse (August 22, 2014). "The British Burn Washington, D.C., 200 Years Ago". History.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference ReferenceA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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