by Peter Snow
Montpelier (Virginia): Madisons’ mansion in
Morning Post
Morris, Phoebe
mortars; see also bomb ships
Munroe, Isaac
muskets: effectiveness of
Napier, Captain Charles John (‘Black Charlie’)
Napier, Colonel Charles James
Napoleon I (Bonaparte): abdication; campaign against; exile; dislike of John Armstrong; sale of Louisiana to America
‘Narrow Way, The’ (Bob Dylan)
national anthem (US)
National Intelligencer: destruction of offices; commending of Cockburn’s restraint
Navarino, Battle of
Navy Yard, Washington: transporting of supplies from; sending to for powder to destroy bridges to Washington; Tingey ordered to prepare for destruction of; torching of; arrival of Wainwright’s naval demolition party at
Ned (brother of Elizabeth Ross)
Nelson, Admiral Viscount Horatio
New England
New Orleans
New York
New York Avenue, Washington
New York Evening Post
Newark, New Jersey: British raid on
Newcomb, Lieutenant Henry
newspaper reports: on Madison and his government; on Cockburn; on Barney; on British conduct; in Britain concerning burning of Washington; on panic in Baltimore; on rekindled patriotism of Americans; on Baltimore triumph
Niagara peninsula
Niagara River
Nicholson, Judge Joseph
Nile, Battle of the
Niles’ Weekly Register
North Point: British fleet’s arrival at; advance up peninsular of; death of Ross at; Battle of
Nottingham, USA
Nova Scotia
Obama, Barack
Octagon House
Ohio
Orion, HMS
Orr, Mrs
Orthez, Battle of
Pakenham, Major General Sir Edward
Pakenham, Kitty
Parker, Captain Peter
Patapsco river: British advance towards; initial landing; advance up; Stricker’s defensive position on peninsular; British ships anchored in; Napier’s diversionary attack; see also bombardment of Fort McHenry and Baltimore forts
Patent Office: sparing of
Paterson, Lieutenant Colonel William
Patuxent River: landing site at Benedict; clash of Barney’s and Cockburn’s ships in; British advance up; Barney’s flotilla trapped in; British ships in upper reaches of; lashed by storm following sack of Washington; British return down
Peninsular campaign: Harry Smith’s time in; Gleig’s time in; Evan’s time in; Ross’s time in; Napier’s time in; Thornton’s time in; discipline enforced in; introduction of use of shrapnel shells during
Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington
Pennsylvania militia
Persia: Evans’s fighting in
Phaeton, HMS
Philadelphia
Pickersgill, Caroline
Pickersgill, Mary
Pig Point, Virginia
Pinkney, Charles
Pinkney, Major William
Piper, Captain James
Pitch, Anthony
Plattsburg, Battle of
Pleasonton, Stephen
plundering: Cockburn’s reputation for; British rules concerning; of Ewell’s house; of Washington; Codrington’s report concerning; as object of Cochrane’s expedition; see also discipline: British; private property: British respect for
Plymouth, Devon
Poe, Edgar Alan
Point Lookout, Maryland
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Portsmouth Oracle
Potomac River: British fleet anchored at entrance of; advance up; Pleasonton’s loading of White House documents alongside; Eastern Branch Bridge across; Madison’s crossing of during flight from Washington; Madison’s night at Brookville on east bank; British shelling of Fort Washington from; British squadron’s return down; revolt against Armstrong among defenders of; see also Alexandria, Virginia; bombardment of Fort McHenry and Baltimore forts; Navy Yard, Washington
Prevost, General George
Prince Regent (later King George IV)
Pringle, Major Norman
private property: British respect for: remarked on
privateering
Ragan: battalion of
Rain: downpour during bombardment of Fort McHenry and Baltimore forts
regular army, US
Renown, HMS
Republican party and press
Revolutionary War see American War of Independence
Rhode Island
riflemen, US
rifles: in relation to muskets
rocket ships
Rodgers, John
Roosevelt, Theodore
Rosenbach, Dr
Ross, Elizabeth (‘Ly’)
Ross, Major General Robert: reservations concerning campaign; concern for his wife, Elizabeth; early career; first meeting with Cockburn at Chesapeake Bay; under command of Cochrane; organisation of three brigades; landing and encampment at Benedict; advance alongside the Patuxent; advance to Upper Marlborough; advance towards Washington; shots fired at; ignoring of order to abort mission; at Bladensburg; capture of Barney; taking of advance party into Washington; and torching of Washington’s public buildings; meeting with and hospitality offered by James Ewell; supper with Barbara Suter; sparing of Elias Caldwell’s house; concern for victims of Greenleaf Point accident; withdrawal from Washington; urged to march for Baltimore; request for double promotion of Evans; commendation of Harry Smith to Prince Regent; Elizabeth’s delight at news of his success; advance towards Baltimore; shooting and death of; leadership of compared to Brooke’s
Ross of Bladensburg, Kathleen
Rossie (Barney’s privateer schooner)
Rostrevor (hometown of Wellington)
Rush, Richard (Attorney General)
St Helena: Napoleon’s exile on
St Paul’s churchyard, Halifax (Nova Scotia)
St Sebastian: burning of
Salamanca, Battle of
Salona, village
San Sebastián: siege of
Saratoga: surrender at
Scorpion (US sloop)
Scott, Lieutenant Colonel William
Scott, Lieutenant James: and British occupation of Washington; on Cockburn; on Negro volunteers; on Barney’s flotilla; at Cockburn’s meeting with Ross; report to Cochrane; despatched with Cochrane’s letter to Ross and Cockburn; on advance to Bladensburg; at Bladensburg; and advance towards Washington; and torching of Navy Yard; and prisoner’s attempt to escape; on Greenleaf Point accident; on delay in advancing on Baltimore; on return from Washington; frustration at not being despatched to London; on Battle of North Point; and defeat at Baltimore; at New Orleans; subsequent career
Seahorse, HMS
Senate building; see also Capitol
Severn, HMS
sharpshooters
Shaw family
shrapnel shells
Schutz
Simmons, William
Simms, Charles (mayor of Alexandria)
Simms, Nancy
Sioussat, Jean Pierre (‘French John’)
Skinner, John
slaves: staffing the White House; fear of slave rising; issue of; spying for the British; fear that British would carry them off; Key’s opposition to; set to work on defensive ramparts at Baltimore; see also Ball, Charles; Jennings, Paul
Smith, Captain Harry: service during Peninsular campaign; on journey up the Patuxent; advocating of assault on Washington; on reckless assault of Bladensburg bridge; participation in assault on Washington; in White House; on torching of White House; pursuit of escaped US prisoner; on storm following sacking of Washington; and order to move out of Washington; sent to London with news of the expedition’s success; meeting with Bathurst and the Prince Regent in London; promotion of; on wife Juana; arguing against attack on Baltimore; a
nd defeat at New Orleans; subsequent career
Smith, John (Harry’s father)
Smith, Juana
Smith, General Sam: contribution to restoring American self-belief; appointed to superintend defence of Baltimore; reinforcing of Baltimore’s defences; plans for defence of; praise of Stricker; appointment of Captain Webster to command of Fort Babcock; subsequent career
Smith, General Walter (and DC militia): at Long Old Fields; relocated to Washington; ordered to hurry to Bladensburg; at Bladensburg; ordered to retreat to Washington; mutiny of men against Armstrong
Somerset, Lord Fitzroy
Speaker’s Chair, House of Representatives
Stansbury, General Tobias: assembly of force of 1,500 militiamen under; deployment of enlarged force to Bladensburg; waiting for Major Pinkney’s rifle battalion to join him; defensive position taken up at Bladensburg; withdrawal from Bladensburg contrary to orders; ordered back to Bladensburg; repositioned at Bladensburg; giving command to destroy bridge at Bladensburg; during Battle of Bladensburg
star-spangled banner
stars and stripes
State Department: Stephen Pleasonton’s rescue of documents from
State Dining Room, White House
Sterett, Colonel
Stevens, James
Stoddert’s Bridge
storm: over Washington in wake of British occupation
Stricker, Major General John
Stuart, Gilbert
Sukey (Dolley Madison’s personal maid)
Surprise, HMS
Suter, Barbara
Suter, Maria
Swann, Thomas
Tacitus: on Emperor Galba
Taylor, President Zachary
10th Military District
Terror, HMS
terrorist attack (11 September 2001)
Thackeray, William
Thomas, Reverend Joshua
Thornton, Anna Maria: friendship with Dolley Madison; criticism of Winder; flight from Washington; watching torching of Washington; on torching of the White House; on William’s saving of the Washington Patent Office; on fear in Washington of a second attack; on futility of resisting the British further; on Dolley Madison following the sacking of Washington
Thornton, Colonel William
Thornton, Dr William: early career; flight from Washington; designer of the Capitol; watching torching of Washington; overseeing construction of White House; as superintendent of Washington Patent Office; accused of collaboration; curbing of American looters; meeting with Madison; builder of the Octagon House
Times, The
Tingey, Commodore Thomas
tobacco: trade; taken as booty by British; plantations
Todd, John Payne
Tonnant, HMS
Torrens, Colonel
Trafalgar, Battle of
Treasury Building, Washington
Treaty of Ghent; see also Ghent peace talks and treaty
Trenton, Battle of
Upper Marlborough, Maryland: British occupation; Stansbury’s force ordered towards but failure to reach; arrest of William Beanes
Urquhart, Beauchamp Colclough
Van Ness, Major General John
Vauban, Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de
Vermont: joining of the US
Victory, HMS
Virginia Gazette
Virginia militia
Vitoria, Battle of
Volcano, HMS
Wainwright, Captain
War of Independence
War Office: torching of
‘warping’: British fleet’s laborious process of
Washington: place accorded to sacking in history; British reservations concerning attacking; US uncertainty as to whether a potential target; early years as capital; fear of invasion; notorious heat of; news of British landing; rescuing of papers and military stores from; decision to advance towards; early US retreat to; evacuation of; order to abort attack on; panic at prospect of invasion; becomes clear as British target; US forces retreat to after Battle of Bladensburg; subsequent retreat from; entry of British advance party into; sacking of; British withdrawal from; fear of second attack on; reaction to sacking of; defensive measures following sacking of; Harry Smith chosen to carry news of sacking back to England; Prince Regent’s questions concerning; British hopes that sacking would end war; impact of sacking on people of Baltimore; Madison’s proclamation concerning sacking; sacking negated by British reverse at Baltimore and Plattsburg; see also White House
Washington, DC: militia
Washington, George: choosing of Washington as capital city; portrait of; tobacco plantation of; leading of troops; Thornton’s design of the Capitol for; Pierre L’Enfant’s design of Pennsylvania Avenue for; White House as brainchild of; death of John Lewis (nephew); purchase of luxury goods from Alexandrian traders
Washington Bank: sparing of
Waterloo, Battle of
Webster, Captain John
Weightman, Roger
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of: Peninsula campaign; reservations concerning American War; contempt for Congreve rockets; respect for rules of engagement; Harry Smith’s meeting with brother; appraisal of object of Cochrane’s expedition; fellow Anglo-Irish officers; Gleig’s biography of
Wells, Private Daniel
Whetstone Point, Baltimore
Whitbread, Samuel
White House: British officers’ dining in; early years as the President’s House; Dolley Madison’s redecoration of; staffed by slaves; parties at; Cockburn’s purported threat to burn; Madison’s meeting with top advisers in; Dolley Madison’s remaining in; planned ball to celebrate defeat of British; Dolley Madison urged to leave; planned supper; Jennings’ preparations for dinner; rescue of paintings and valuables from; checked out by Booth; American looting; occupation and torching of; flames doused by storm; whitewashing; burnt-out shell; British reaction to burning; restoration
Whitney, Eli
Wiley’s Tavern
William III, King
Williams, John
Williams, Major John
Williams, Lieutenant
Winchester, David
Winder, Governor Levin
Winder, Brigadier General William: failure of; appointed as commander of military district comprising Washington and Baltimore; manpower challenge confronted by; dispute with Van Ness over command of troops; despatching of cavalry to harry the British; meeting at Woodyard with Monroe; failed attempt to intercept Ross’s main force; failure to destroy bridges; arrival with troops at Long Old Fields; flurry of contradictory orders given by; ignoring orders of; uncertainty of concerning British target; Armstrong’s failure to advise; move to and deployment of troops at Bladensburg; at Battle of Bladensburg; retreat to Washington; retreat from Washington; appeal to by town council of Alexandria; order to spike guns of Fort Washington; Sam Smith preferred to as commander of Baltimore’s defence force; role in defence of Baltimore; name cleared in court inquiry
Woodyard
‘Yankee Doodle’: striking up of at Fort McHenry
York (modern-day Toronto)
York (US coastal town)
Yorktown, Virginia
Praise for When Britain Burned the White House
“A stirring tale.”
—Max Hastings
“Peter Snow’s account of this extraordinary event in British-American relations reads like a military thriller, each chapter raising the tension with a mass of detail and a kaleidoscope of characters who transform this book from what could have been a dry, chronological account into a riveting romp.… Snow adds an extra ingredient—a boyish enthusiasm for his subject.… A meticulous and fascinating account.”
—The Times (UK)
“Superb. When Britain Burned the White House is an exemplary work of history—lucid, witty, and humane, with terrific pace and so evenhanded that it will surely be received as well in America as here.”
—The Spectator (UK)
“Sno
w builds his account on the voices of those who fought and witnessed the campaign, from nervous U.S. militiamen to Ross, Cockburn, and Dolley Madison, the president’s resourceful wife. Written with verve and insight, this is a fitting reminder of a remarkable interlude in a war that deserves to be better known.”
—BBC History Magazine
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
WHEN BRITAIN BURNED THE WHITE HOUSE. Copyright © 2013 by Peter Snow. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Maps drawn by Rodney Paull
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
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First published in Great Britain by John Murray (Publishers), an Hachette UK Company
First U.S. Edition: August 2014
eISBN 9781466848948
First eBook edition: July 2014
* The brilliant whitewash that has given the building its name was first applied as early as 1798, two years before it was occupied by a President, in order to seal the porous Aquia Creek sandstone of which it is constructed.
* ‘Omnium consensu capax imperii, nisi imperasset’ (Histories, Book 1, section 49).
* There were two battalions of the 44th: Brooke’s was the 1st Battalion; the 2nd fought with Wellington through the Peninsula but did not travel on to America. I have for simplicity referred to Brooke’s 1st/44th as the 44th.
* Stephen Pleasonton died in 1855 and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington. One hundred and fifty years later the damaged and barely readable gravestone of this modest hero of the Republic was restored thanks to the exertions of the writer Anthony Pitch, author of the book The Burning of Washington.
* It’s an interesting twist that Ross’s aide George de Lacy Evans, writing later on, claims that in a recent Cockburn biography the admiral’s role has been greatly overplayed: he could not, as the biographer suggests, have ‘determined to make an attack’ on Washington: that was Ross’s role. Cockburn had no more authority to order the army to advance than ‘the youngest midshipman’ (Evans, Facts, pp. 1–4).
