19.I am accordingly ready: Ibid.
20.The captain of the: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 280.
21.A long discussion ensued: Ibid.
22.and finally an order: Ibid., 280–81.
23.The orders contained: Ibid.
24.But, upon the receipt, Ibid., 281–82.
25.I am determined: Shulman, Dolley Madison Digital Edition.
26.My friends and acquaintances: Ibid.
27.Dear Sister—tell me: Ibid.
28.in a wagon if: Ibid.
29.French John: Ibid.
30.To the last proposition: Ibid.
31.Have they artillery?: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 168.
32.We are more frightened?: Ibid.
33.If they want to?: Ibid.
34.Having perused it: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 283.
35.If we proceed: Ibid.
36.I know their force: Ibid.
37.Well, be it so: Ibid., 284.
38.a low murmuring burst: Ibid.
39.and we were not: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 220.
40.In conformity therefore: Ibid.
41.I also most: Ibid.
42.and bivouacked before: Ibid.
CHAPTER 21—SPYGLASSES
1.We feel assured that: Gales, National Intelligencer, August 24, 1814.
2.The Baltimore troops: Ibid.
3.In a few hours we: Ibid.
4.monument to bad: “Washington Navy Yard: History of Latrobe Gate,” http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/commands-and-installations/washington-navy-yard/latrobe-gate.html.
5.more like a fat goose: Ibid.
6.fitter for a: Ibid.
7.not until the extinction: Ibid.
8.the latter had been: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 295.
9.he was asked: Ibid.
10.was grieved to: Ibid.
11.I could scarcely conceive: Ibid.
12.I hoped he had: Ibid., 296.
13.at such a juncture: Ibid.
14.The sun beat: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 172.
15.on reaching which place: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 221.
16.several troops coming: “Capture of the City of Washington,” 557.
17.Mr. Madison! The enemy: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 95.
18.The British are now: Ibid.
19.He said that he: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 297.
20.I have no news: Madison, Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison, 75.
21.I can give you: Ibid.
22.We are to have: Ibid., 78.
23.Wednesday morning: Shulman, Dolley Madison Digital Edition.
24.but, alas: Ibid.
25.On the opposite: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 175.
26.What will be said: Ibid.
27.If it rain militia: Ibid.
28.In the present state: Shulman, Dolley Madison Digital Edition.
29.Mr. Jones is deeply: Ibid.
30.busy packing up: Ibid.
CHAPTER 22—BLADENSBURG RACES
1.roars of musketry: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 286.
2.conspicuous gold laced: Ibid., 288.
3.I trust, Sir: Ibid.
4.Poh! Poh! Nonesense: Ibid., 288–89.
5.Capital! Excellent: Ibid., 289.
6.a musket shot passed: Ibid.
7.dismissed my assistant: Ibid.
8.When it became manifest: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 297.
9.Three o’clock: Shulman, Dolley Madison Digital Edition.
10.Mr. Madison comes not: Ibid.
11.At this late hour: Ibid.
12.Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll: Ibid.
13.This process was found: Ibid.
14.I have ordered the: Ibid.
15.and the precious: Ibid.
16.And now, dear sister: Ibid.
17.When I arrived: “Capture of the City of Washington,” 579.
18.I sent an officer: Ibid.
19.During this period: Ibid.
20.At length the: Ibid.
21.In a few minutes: Ibid.
22.By this time: Ibid.
23.one of which shot: Ibid., 580.
24.to my great mortification: Ibid.
25.At this time: Ibid.
26.Three of my officers: Ibid.
27.In that part: Ibid., 582.
28.Several of the officers: Ibid.
29.inglorious circumstances: Ibid.
30.in a few minutes: Ibid., 580.
31.that is not Admiral: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 179.
32.It is Admiral Cockburn: Ibid.
33.Oh, Cockburn is: Ibid.
34.Do not let us speak: Ibid.
35.Well, Admiral: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 291.
36.Quite enough to: Ibid.
37.Those officers behaved: “Capture of the City of Washington,” 580.
38.Barney was a brave: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 179.
39.If I had had: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 291.
40.that the enemy: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 221.
41.and a victory gained: Ibid.
42.the contest being completely: Ibid.
CHAPTER 23—CAPITOL CONFLAGRATION
1.In the land of liberty: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 297.
2.and on the general: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 221–22.
3.these were: Ibid., 222.
4.All of this is even: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 182.
5.Common sense should: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 301.
6.every possible precaution: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 215.
7.A deputation also: Ibid., 217.
8.I would delay the: Ibid.
9.he could protect: Ibid., 215.
10.the matches were applied: Ibid., 217.
11.sent me to a stable: Paul Jennings, A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison: Electronic Edition, http://docSouth.unc.edu/neh/jennings/jennings.html.
12.in the mean time: Ibid.
13.It was an unfinished: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 297.
14.The interior accommodations: Ibid.
15.infected with an unseemly: Ibid., 300.
16.Taken in the President’s: James Pack, The Man Who Burned the White House: Admiral Sir George Cockburn 1772–1853 (Ensworth: Kenneth Mason, 1987), 17–18.
17.surmounted by a gilt eagle: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 301.
18.Shall this harbor: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 185.
19.All for it will: Ibid.
20.Its funeral pile: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 301.
21.The position of the: Ibid.
22.Silence! If any man: Georgetown Federal Republican, September 10, 1814.
23.Gentlemen, I presume: Ibid.
24.I hope, Sir: Ibid.
25.Yes, Sir, we pledge: Ibid.
26.Be under no: Ibid.
27.Where is your President: Ibid.
CHAPTER 24—WHITE HOUSE INFERNO
1.Come, Madam: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 186.
2.preferred her house: Ibid.
3.a poor British soldier: Ibid.
4.he should return: Ibid.
5.A large store of: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 303.
6.We found the cloth: Ibid.
7.Never was nectar: Ibid.
8.to peace with: “Burning of the White House and the War of 1812,” Journal of the White House Historical Association no. 4 (Fall 1998): 16.
9.must give it to the flames: Margaret Bayard Smith, The First Forty Years of Washington Society (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1906), 16.
10.This will remind me: Ibid.
11.the little president America: Ibid.
12.The beautiful apartments: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 303.
13.I accordingly doffed: Ibid.
14.On the walls hung: Ibid.
15.Our sailors were artists: “Burning of the White House and the War of 1812,” 562.
16.Washington was: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 301.
17.preferred the light: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 186.
18.It was near midnight: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 305–6.
19.It had ever taken: Ibid., 306.
20.Its fate was decreed: Ibid.
21.Well, good people, America: Smith, The First Forty Years, 112.
22.Never fear: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 189.
23.The success of the fair: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 308.
24.Why, that is the vile: Ibid.
25.A half-uttered shriek: Ibid.
26.My plighted word: Ibid.
27.the Americans always: Ibid.
28.harlequin of havoc: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 189.
29.I make no war: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 107.
30.I cannot think: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 189.
31.I am a married man: Ibid.
32.I have heard so: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 107.
CHAPTER 25—DISPLACED OR CONQUERED?
1.Make sure all the C’s: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 109.
2.I’ll punish Madison’s man: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 189.
3.The reams of paper: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 306.
4.the instruments of: Ibid.
5.in short: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 222.
6.About noon: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 313.
7.many of the latter: Ibid.
8.The object of the: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 224.
9.The lady of the house: Jennings, A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison.
10.Hearing the tramp: Records of the Columbia Historical Society (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984), 104, https://archive.org/stream/recordscolumbia00unkngoog#page/n15/mode/2up.
11.Great God, Madam!: Ibid.
12.No, Sir. This is: Ibid.
13.All the villagers: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 298.
14.My Dearest: Ibid., 300.
15.I have just received: Ibid.
16.you will all of: Ibid.
17.I know not where: Ibid.
18.I may fall in with: Ibid.
PART III—PHOENIX BY THE DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT
1.The smoldering fires: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 197.
CHAPTER 26—PHOENIX SPICES
1.War America would: Walter Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light (New York: W.W. Norton & Company), 302.
2.the reign of Madison: Ibid.
3.It was an attack: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 197.
4.After twenty-five years: Ibid., 190.
5.The object of the expedition: Ibid., 182.
6.There is scarcely: John Quincy Adams, Letter to Louisa Adams, Oct. 4, 1814, Adams Family Papers, Library of Congress.
7.The army of Napoleon: Ibid.
8.John Armstrong is a traitor: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 216.
9.Fruits of war: Ibid.
10.This is the city of: Ibid.
11.George Washington founded: Ibid.
12.The immediate and: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 197.
13.Sir, do you seize: Irving, Life and Letters of Washington Irving, 151.
14.Let me tell you: Ibid.
15.The country is insulted: Ibid.
16.Believe us fellow: Ibid.
17.You’re here?: Ibid., 155.
18.During which time: Ibid.
19.The smoldering fires: Ibid.
20.And glory, like the: Lord Byron, “Phoenix,” Oxford English Dictionary, 1809.
21.O golden bird: Thomas Watson, “Phoenix,” Oxford English Dictionary, 1582.
22.He seems to think: John Wesley, “Phoenix,” Oxford English Dictionary, 1775.
23.I stopped at General: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 300.
24.I observed to him: Ibid., 301.
25.that violent prejudices: Ibid.
26.received a message: Ibid.
27.what was best to: Ibid.
28.aware of the excitement: Ibid.
29.that a temporary: Ibid., 302.
30.in relation to the: Ibid.
31.he had not taken: Ibid.
32.I could not in: Ibid.
33.that he had omitted: Ibid.
34.that it was the: Ibid., 303.
35.had never appeared: Ibid.
36.a single precaution: Ibid.
37.I had selected: Ibid.
38.leaving my country: Ibid., 303–4.
39.I have received: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 244.
40.The people now begin: Ibid.
41.with a view: Ibid.
42.It is believed here: Ibid.
43.consequently I could: Ibid.
44.I shall be ready: Ibid.
45.I repeat again, that: Ibid.
CHAPTER 27—PHOENIX MULTITUDE
1.After an intermission: Gales, National Intelligencer, Aug. 30, 1814.
2.The country must be: Georgetown Federal Republican, September 1, 1814.
3.The expenses of living: Francis Scott Key, Correspondence to Mrs. Ann Phoebe Key, January 2, 1814, University of Virginia, Special Collections.
4.I really think: Ibid.
5.I have not determined: Ibid.
6.It is absolutely necessary: Georgetown Federal Republican, September 1, 1814.
7.The admiral has said: Ibid.
8.omit no sacrifice: Ibid.
9.No man who is mindful: Ibid.
10.Whereas the enemy: Madison, The Writings of James Madison, 304.
11.they wantonly destroyed: Ibid.
12.Whereas it now appears: Ibid., 305.
13.principles of humanity: Ibid.
14.at the very moment: Ibid.
15.to chastise: Ibid.
16.exhorting all the good: Ibid.
17.be vigilant and alert: Ibid.
18.none will forget: Ibid.
19.the glory acquired: Ibid., 306.
20.We are constrained: Francis Scott Key, Correspondence to James Madison, January 26, 1807, Library of Congress.
21.The disgraceful loss: King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 410.
22.My object was to: Ibid.
23.the time had arrived: Ibid.
24.he should be obliged: Ibid.
25.ruin yourself if it: Ibid.
26.We are in a critical: Ibid., 413.
27.The enemy is at: Ibid., 411.
28.Sir, do you seize: Irving, Life and Letters of Washington Irving, 151.
29.Let me tell you: Ibid.
30.The country is insulted: Ibid.
31.Believe us fellow: Ibid.
32.You’re here?: Ibid., 155.
33.During which time: Ibid.
34.I have before: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 228.
35.To Rear-Admiral Cockburn: Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second War Between the United States and Great Britain, 166.
36.Whether Madison will: King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 411.
37.So far as regards: Ibid., 414.
> 38.I shall not be: Ibid., 411.
39.Where Congress will meet: Ibid., 414.
40.Philadelphia should be: Ibid.
41.In the present alarm: Ibid., 411.
42.We have no tidings: Ibid., 415.
43.nothing favorable to peace: Georgetown Federal Republican, September 5, 1814.
44.Your letter of this: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 261–62.
45.I can assure you: Ibid.
CHAPTER 28—WHITE HOUSE PHOENIX
1.The spirit of the: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 216–17.
2.As soon as the: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 269.
3.the most democratic town: Ibid.
4.this town ought: Ibid.
5.when he is better: Ibid.
6.He looks shaken: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 216.
7.Mrs. M. seem’d much: Smith, The First Forty Years, 110.
8.in short, it would: Ethel Stephens Arnett, Mrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley (Greensboro: Piedmont Press, 1972), 249.
9.We stepped in to see: Ibid., 248.
10.She had better: Ibid.
11.Never was a man: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 216.
12.Dr. Beanes shall be released: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 132.
13.Dr. Beanes having: Ibid.
14.The friendly treatment: Ibid.
15.I shall accordingly: Ibid.
16.Ah, Mr. Skinner: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 256.
17.Sometimes when I: F.S. Key-Smith, “How Francis Scott Key Wrote ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’” The Literary Digest, April 29, 1911, www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/preservation/epochs/vol5/pg90.htm.
18.To make my feelings: Ibid.
19.I reached here the: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 263.
20.Forts, redoubts and: Ibid.
21.It is understood: Ibid.
22.I hope to leave: Ibid.
CHAPTER 29—DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT
1.I’ll eat in Baltimore: Lord, The Dawn’s Early Light, 262.
2.They are mainly militia: Ibid., 261.
3.I don’t care if it: George, Terror on the Chesapeake, 137.
4.I’ll bring up the column: Scott, Recollections of a Naval Life, 334.
5.it is with the most: Dudley, The Naval War of 1812, 279.
6.that whilst his wounds: Ibid.
7.It is impossible for: Ibid., 277.
8.It is for Colonel Brook: Ibid.
9.without this can be: Ibid.
10.At any rate a very: Ibid.
11.have a flag so large: “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Fort McHenry, www.nps.gov/fomc/learn/historyculture/the-star-spangled-banner.htm.
12.Whose broad stripes: Ibid.
13.O’er the ramparts: Ibid.
14.Gave proof through: Ibid.
The Burning of the White House Page 38
