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Burning of Washington
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 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.[permanent dead link]
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 burned large portions of Port Dover. 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.
President James Madison, along with his administration and several military officials, evacuated and found refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland; 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.
The United Kingdom was already at war with France when the United States declared war in 1812. The war against France took up most of Britain's attention and military resources. The initial British strategy against the United States focused on imposing a naval blockade at sea, and maintaining a defensive stance on land. The British Army could not reinforce Canada; instead, the government relied on militia units and indigenous allies to support the British Army units already posted in Canada. With the defeat and exile of Napoleon in April 1814, Britain was able to use its newly available troops and ships to prosecute its war with the United States. The Earl of Bathurst, serving as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, dispatched an army brigade and additional naval vessels to the imperial fortress of Bermuda, from where a blockade of the U.S. coast and even the occupation of some coastal islands had been overseen throughout the war. It was decided to use these forces in raids along the Atlantic seaboard to draw American forces away from Canada.
The commanders were under strict orders not to carry out operations far inland, or to attempt to hold territory.[why?] Early in 1814, Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's North America and West Indies Station, controlling naval forces based at the new Bermuda dockyard and the Halifax Naval Yard, which were used to blockade American ports throughout the war. He planned to carry the war into the United States, by attacks in Virginia and against New Orleans. Rear-Admiral George Cockburn had commanded the squadron in Chesapeake Bay since the previous year. On June 25, he wrote to Cochrane stressing that the defenses there were weak, and he felt that several major cities were vulnerable to attack.
Cochrane suggested attacking Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Rear Admiral Cockburn accurately predicted that "within a short period of time, with enough force, we could easily have at our mercy the capital".
He recommended Washington, D.C. as the target, because of the comparative ease of attacking the national capital and "the greater political effect likely to result". On July 18, Cochrane ordered Cockburn to "deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages ... You are hereby required and directed to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts as you may find assailable". Cochrane further instructed, "You will spare merely the lives of the unarmed inhabitants of the United States". Ross was less optimistic. He "never dreamt for one minute that an army of 3,500 men with 1,000 marines reinforcement, with no cavalry, hardly any artillery, could march 50 miles inland and capture an enemy capital", according to historian John McCavitt. Ross refused to accept Cockburn's recommendation to burn the entire city. He spared nearly all of the privately owned properties.
An added motive was retaliation for the "wanton destruction of private property along the north shores of Lake Erie" by American troops under Colonel John Campbell in May, the most notable being the Raid on Port Dover. On June 2, Sir George Prevost, Governor General of British North America, wrote to Cochrane at Admiralty House, in Bailey's Bay, Bermuda, calling for a retaliation against the American destruction of private property in violation of the laws of war. Prévost argued that,
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Burning of Washington
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 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.[permanent dead link]
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 burned large portions of Port Dover. 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.
President James Madison, along with his administration and several military officials, evacuated and found refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland; 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.
The United Kingdom was already at war with France when the United States declared war in 1812. The war against France took up most of Britain's attention and military resources. The initial British strategy against the United States focused on imposing a naval blockade at sea, and maintaining a defensive stance on land. The British Army could not reinforce Canada; instead, the government relied on militia units and indigenous allies to support the British Army units already posted in Canada. With the defeat and exile of Napoleon in April 1814, Britain was able to use its newly available troops and ships to prosecute its war with the United States. The Earl of Bathurst, serving as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, dispatched an army brigade and additional naval vessels to the imperial fortress of Bermuda, from where a blockade of the U.S. coast and even the occupation of some coastal islands had been overseen throughout the war. It was decided to use these forces in raids along the Atlantic seaboard to draw American forces away from Canada.
The commanders were under strict orders not to carry out operations far inland, or to attempt to hold territory.[why?] Early in 1814, Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's North America and West Indies Station, controlling naval forces based at the new Bermuda dockyard and the Halifax Naval Yard, which were used to blockade American ports throughout the war. He planned to carry the war into the United States, by attacks in Virginia and against New Orleans. Rear-Admiral George Cockburn had commanded the squadron in Chesapeake Bay since the previous year. On June 25, he wrote to Cochrane stressing that the defenses there were weak, and he felt that several major cities were vulnerable to attack.
Cochrane suggested attacking Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Rear Admiral Cockburn accurately predicted that "within a short period of time, with enough force, we could easily have at our mercy the capital".
He recommended Washington, D.C. as the target, because of the comparative ease of attacking the national capital and "the greater political effect likely to result". On July 18, Cochrane ordered Cockburn to "deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages ... You are hereby required and directed to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts as you may find assailable". Cochrane further instructed, "You will spare merely the lives of the unarmed inhabitants of the United States". Ross was less optimistic. He "never dreamt for one minute that an army of 3,500 men with 1,000 marines reinforcement, with no cavalry, hardly any artillery, could march 50 miles inland and capture an enemy capital", according to historian John McCavitt. Ross refused to accept Cockburn's recommendation to burn the entire city. He spared nearly all of the privately owned properties.
An added motive was retaliation for the "wanton destruction of private property along the north shores of Lake Erie" by American troops under Colonel John Campbell in May, the most notable being the Raid on Port Dover. On June 2, Sir George Prevost, Governor General of British North America, wrote to Cochrane at Admiralty House, in Bailey's Bay, Bermuda, calling for a retaliation against the American destruction of private property in violation of the laws of war. Prévost argued that,