In 1814, the Burning of Washington went into its second day. It was a successful British amphibious attack conducted by Rear Admiral George Cockburn during Admiral John Warren’s Chesapeake campaign. 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 (White House), United States Capitol, and Washington Navy Yard.
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. 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.
An 1814 watercolor and ink depiction of the United States Capitol after the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812. Painting by George Munger.
This is Emmylou Harris with an old favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6fdib3GBI
