today we're looking at the war of 1812 and the burning of washington
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resources that go with many of the bellringer videos the war of 1812 was a somewhat confusing
conflict between the young american nation and the british there were many causes of the war
some of which were not even factors by the time the war began in june of 1812 america declared
war on britain however the british were far too occupied with fighting napoleon and europe
to truly devote much attention to america so in the meantime while britain was fighting napoleon
the americans decided to invade british-controlled canada on april 27 1813 american forces attacked
and burned the canadian capital of york which is present-day toronto now despite not being fully
able to engage the americans the british did begin to direct naval attacks against americans in the
chesapeake bay area under the command of admiral george cockburn cockburn had had a relative killed
in the american revolution and was basically out for revenge against the americans it isn't until
a year later in april of 1814 that the british and napoleon signed a treaty to stop fighting
so now the british could direct their troops and attention towards america that had declared war
on them almost two years earlier august 19 1814 4 500 british troops under the command of british
general robert ross arrive at benedict maryland barely 40 miles southeast of washington d.c
and begin to march towards the capitol the next day on august 20th a scouting party led
by future president james monroe spot the british approaching the americans organized a defense on
the outskirts of washington at a place called bladensburg maryland here 6 000 american troops
were dug in and ready for the approaching 4 500 british since the americans had the
numeric advantage and are were fortified one would think they would easily win a victory but instead
on august 24 1814 the british attack can easily defeat the americans in one of the worst american
defeats in military history within minutes of the first shot being fired americans began to
retreat and run for washington dc barely six miles away this retreat became known as the bladesburg
races as the british easily push right through the americans you have to remember these were battle
hardened british troops that had fought napoleon and the french who were some of the best troops
in the world at the time and the americans barely put up a fight now the way was clear
for the british to march right into washington d.c president james madison had written out to
see the battle and he sent word back to washington to evacuate the city the entire city was thrown
into pandemonium important documents such as the declaration of independence and the constitution
were stuffed into saddlebags and and ridden out into the countryside the first lady dolly madison
was at the white house and is one of the last to evacuate as she insisted that she remain
there until the portrait of george washington painted by gilbert stewart in 1796 was removed
just as the sun was going down on august 24th the british began to march into the
city and dolly madison boarded her carriage along with the painting and barely escaped
the british troops bust into the capitol building and held a mock session of congress in which they
voted unanimously to burn the building basically in revenge for the americans burning york a few
years earlier they pile all the chairs and desks in in the two chambers and set them on fire
then they marched down to the white house and they broke in stealing whatever they could
find as souvenirs they even took love letters that james madison had written to dolly
they then set the white house on fire as well as several other government buildings
it is said that you could see the glow of the fires from miles away around washington
and that night the british camped on capitol hill near the burning capital building the
next morning august 25th 1814 they then set fire to the navy yard and library of congress
but by around noon dark clouds began to build in the sky and at two o'clock in the afternoon
something surreal occurs a hurricane strikes the city sheets of rain lightning wind tear through
the city extinguishing many of the still-burning fires reports are that a tornado came down in the
middle of washington going down trees and picking up british artillery and throwing it dozens of
yards away in fact the british troops experienced more casualties more soldiers wounded from the
storm than they did from the battle of bladensburg the day before the storm raged for two hours and
literally forced the british to retreat out of the city and they never set foot in washington again
three days later james madison and the citizens of washington returned to the city finding
the the burnout shells of these government buildings madison actually held a cabinet
meeting in the post office because it was the only government building still standing james and dolly
madison would never live in the white house again the reconstruction of it wouldn't be complete
until james monroe was president despite being pushed out of washington the british were not
defeated as now they turned their attention to the harbor city of baltimore but that's
for another bell ringer so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching