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The Burning of the White House

Page 38

by Jane Hampton Cook


  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.

 

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