Transcript THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON 1814

Teaching American History
The Burning of
Washington, D.C.
1814
Inez Cutler
TROUBLE ON THE
HOME FRONT
The
United States government was
concentrating on the defenses
hundreds of miles away on the
northern border.
The
United States fails to take
sufficient precautions in protecting
matters closer to home.
In
the late summer of 1814 a British
fleet was sent into Chesapeake Bay to
make an attack against Washington
and Baltimore.
Surprise the British have
LANDED!!

In Quebec city, Governor General George Prevost was
the leading commander of the British troops.

Threaten by the Americans, he sent desperate appeals to
London for help.

Ten Thousand British troops were sent to fight in North
America under the command of General Prevost.
The US Forces
U.S. General William Winder was the supreme
commander in North America.
 The American troops attempted to stop the
British forces unsuccessfully who were being led
by General Robert Ross.
 Because of poor coordination between General
Winder and the United States Secretary of War,
John Armstrong, insufficient actions were taken
to protect Washington from the British.


In the evening hours of August 24, 1814,
during the third year of the War of 1812,
British troops set fire to the unfinished
Capitol Building in Washington.

The dome had not been erected.
The burning of Washington illustrated
in a broadside cartoon of 1814. Library
of Congress
THE BRITISH PAYBACK !
 All the public
buildings in the
developing city were
torched except the
Patent Office.
 Buildings were put to the
torch in retaliation for the
destruction by American
troops the year before in
York, capital of upper
Canada.
THE BURNING CONTINUES….
http://news

The President ‘s
house and offices of
the Treasury and
State Departments
were set fire.
AN AMERICAN OBSERVER’S
“QUOTE”

After the main British
force moved into a
Washington suburb
and; After a brief
battle with the militia
unit, the unit broke
and ran.
“THEY RAN
LIKE SHEEP
BEING
CHASED BY
DOGS.”
DOLLY MADISON NOTE TO HER SISTER

“Will you believe it my sister, we have a battle or
skirmish near the city. I am still within the sounds of the
cannons, Mr. Madison comes not. MAY GOD PROTECT
US. Two messengers come in and asked me to leave the
capitol, I must stay here and wait for my husband..”
British official Account of
the Capture of
Washington, D.C.

Click this link to view and read the official
document
http://images.virtualology.com/images/1381.jpg
PORTRAIT OF
George Washington
As Dolly left the
White House, she left
all of their personal
possessions, but not
without taking two
important things:
 Cabinet Papers and a
portrait of George
Washington painted
by Gilbert Stuart.

“The Uninvited Dinner
Guest”

As the British Troops entered the White
House, they were “greeted” with a dinner
that had been set for at least a party of
forty people.

As they ate and drank until they were
merry, they preceded to burning down
and destroying the White House.
As they watched…

After much destruction and burning, President
Madison and his wife, Dolly, fled to the
countryside leaving their lavish home to the
British to devour.

The British gutted what they called home as the
Madison’s watched helplessly while the city of
Washington continued to burn.
VOCABULARY
NORTHERN
BORDER
SUBURB
RETALIATION
DESTRUCTION
MILITIA
FLEET
GOVERNMENT
SUPREME
DEFENSES
DESPERATE
LAVISH
ROBERT ROSS
NORTH
AMERICAN
DOLLY MADISON
BRITISH
1814
WILLIAM
WINDER
GUTTED
REFERENCES






http://www.nationalcenter.org/BritishBurnWashi
ngton1814.html
http://members.tripod.com/~war1812/batwash.
html
http://wwwmultied.com/documents/BurningWas
h.html
http://www.gabby.com/washdc
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/w
arof1812/summary.html
http://gatewayno.com/history/War1812.html