of the united states has been attacked before 9/11. so, again, it is a very significant moment in history. i think it provides a real lesson on military preparedness. the governments of jefferson and madison were reluctant to have a big, standing army, and relied on the militia. you can see directly what happened at bladensburg. the militia, for the most part, land and are successful, the navy flotilla, and this shows you why you need a standing army. i would say that this is what now makes the united states probably the primary military ofion in the world, because the strength of the military. >> that is a good point to end on. can we give the panel around of applause?

[applause] thank you for being in bladensburg and prince george's county, but continue the conversation. thank you very much.

greg's even watch this entire discussion again tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span3. american history tv. >> 200 years ago on august we fourth, 1814, british forces andred washington dc, burned the capitol building, the presidents house, and most of the federal buildings. oft, steve vogel, author "through the perilous fight -- six weeks that saved the nation ," texas on a river truer of washington. his program is about 90 minutes. ipad a boat on the potomac for about 30 years. it is a great way to see the city. it is a different city.

i think of the potomac is an obstacle on the way you have to cross on your way to d.c. is the reason the city is where it is. it's one of the most remarkable urban rivers in the country. we are in the middle of the potomac river, right off for washington, maryland. maybe eight or nine miles south of washington. waterway anything, the really to find the attack on washington come on the ultimate attack on baltimore. makingtish were really good use of the waterways, chesapeake bay, and all of the rivers that feed into the bay, including the potomac.

by 1813, the chesapeake had pretty much turned into a british lake. the real navy squadron, under the command of her admiral george cockburn had established domain over the water. was a veryburn effective officer, who served under nelson in the wars with france. he had been sent over here to pep things up her. he was a very capable officer, ruthless without being vicious. determinesuickly that the americans are not capable of providing much in the way of a real defense. start, he sees washington as being vulnerable. his quickly, as he spreads

terror up and down the bay, he becomes not only the most feared man in america, but also the most hated. he is compared to a till of the han and satan -- attila the hun, and satan among others. who showsnyone resistance, can be expected to taken in chains to halifax. the chesapeake provided access to the richest and most important land in america at this time. certainly, in addition to being the home of the capital of washington dc, some of the most important cities like baltimore in norfolk were on the water, and within easy access of the british. establishing control of the bay, the british were able to put a lot of pressure on united

states. it is important to remember that foughtr was primarily along the canadian frontier. the united states was trying to take over some of the territory that belong to great britain in british america, today ontario and québec. they weren't having a great deal of success. in order to relieve the pressure on the frontier area, the british had sent george cockburn and his squadron here in 1813 with the idea of causing some trouble. this is exactly what george cockburn does. whoe is a british historian is in the united states at the time that the war breaks out, and he later says that until george cockburn showed up,

people in the chest only knew by hearsay that there was a war going on. that changes very quickly. he goes and what is best described as a reign of terror up and down the bay, burning a number of towns and plantations, any sort of place he might see any resistance whatsoever. rule, that was good enough for burning the place. a town at the top of the chesapeake day was burned. half of the townhouses were burned down. virginiaof hampton in was very brutally burned. some of the inhabitants were killed by army troops, including some french prisoners that were with the british. this terrorismll was to really paralyze both the

militia units, which are supposed to be protecting this area, and the american government. , no one was really sure where he would strike next. the british make use of a weakness in american society, that was our reliance on slavery. a number of plantations all up and down the shore lines of the bay, and the rivers feeding into it. the british encouraged american slaves to come over to the other side, to escape. they promise them freedom and the opportunity to fight against their former masters. a lot of them do. they come down to the waterways, like the potomac, on makeshift rafts. they make their way out to the british fleet. sets of a base of operations on tangier island, which is in the middle of the bay. for is a perfect place

running this expeditionary operation. a number of the slaves that have been encouraged to come over to the british side are trained re as marines. they former regiment of colonial marines as they were known. they turned out to be very effective fighters, and also provide the british with a lot of intelligence. and knew these waterways, the back roads, in many cases better than their masters did. the british make excellent use of this information. they pretty much are coming up these rivers, and spreading terror wherever they go. news of this is coming back to washington. that is enormous fear washington or other cities like baltimore could be targets. also some confidence

that the british can't make it that far. the rivers, including the potomac, had some shoals in them that would make it hard for large ships such as the british guns,aden down with heavy to make it as far as washington. maybe too muchas complacency in some ways, about what the dangers were in the highest seats of the government. ,adison's own secretary of war john armstrong, is dismissive of the idea that washington would be a target for the british. the rest of the cabinet was equally skeptical that the british had the adjustable wherewithal with a relatively small force to make their way to washington. from the start, cockburn had thought that washington could be taken.

1814,e comes back in after wintering in bermuda, he decides he will push even harder for this. he sends messages back to london urging them that more force be sent over. he writes that if he was given even a small number of army troops, he could have within his possession the capital of the united states in pretty short order. 1814, he will get his wish. the key developments in europe is that napoleon advocates -- abdicates. in great britain, and would been locked in this war with france for more than 20 years, is suddenly freed up to send more force over here. they agree to send several thousand troops. 4000 are sent here to the chesapeake to join the forces

that are already here with the royal navy. some of the troops are sent up to canada to bolster the british position up there. uses the time while he is waiting for these troops to arrive to further scout the rivers here. checking out the depths of the potomac river, trying to figure out just how navigable they are. he decides it will be possible to send ships of the potomac. -- up the potomac. in august of 1814, some 4000 troops arrive in the chesapeake under the command of major general robert ross. he had been one of wellington's most able tenets -- lieutenants in the financial awards that have been fought in spain and

portugal and france. wellington had chosen ross had this expedition to america. 4000 troops, by the scope of things that have been going on in europe, was tiny. you had armies of over 100,000 fighting in europe in recent years. 4000 troops didn't sound like much to some of the royal navy commanders here. george cockburn pushes ahead. his idea is to make use of several different waterways on an attack on washington. if the british forcibly sailed up the potomac, everybody would know that washington was the

ultimate target. that one squadron sailed up the potomac river, and threatened the capital and the city of alexandria. going to goce is the other river into southern maryland. advantage of this was it would shield the ultimate british intention. the room -- the move up that river could mean an attack on washington, or an overland attack on baltimore or an attack on annapolis. that the british were simply chasing after, or joshua barney, who was the american commander of the chesapeake flotilla, who had a boats.a of shallow draft of 1814,y the summer

further upapped river than the british. the british could use his presence in this river to more or less shield their movements towards the capital. whathat is exactly cockburn recommends. what alexandery cochrane, who is in charge of the entire fleet, agreed to do. on august 19, of 1814, the army lands in benedict, which is about halfway up the river from the bay towards washington. meanwhile, you have the other squadron underneath captain james gordon, sailing up the potomac. and still other ships moving up

the chesapeake bay to threaten baltimore. they had this three pronged operation. the main attack is accompanied by 4000 troops. admirable -- admiral cockburn and the marines. by water, andntly succeeded by traveling -- in trapping barney. he scuttled the flotilla, and escapes with his neck. this isresult of all of int american commanders washington were utterly paralyzed as to what they should be doing. they had one squadron coming up the potomac, a force they ,eren't quite sure how large

with forces that have been landed. there was a lot of hope they were just after barney, and that after destroying arteries flotilla, they would reboard their ships and move back into the bay. one of the results of all of this in decision was that the general commanders, william winder, doesn't do a very effective job of doing setting up terms of defenses around washington, in terms of mustering much of a force. he is getting very little support from the secretary of war, john armstrong, who even at this late date, with british troops on the ground in maryland and moving in the direction of the capital, still maintains that washington is under no threat whatsoever. he think's is much more likely that the british are after barney, or will go up to baltimore. at the time, it was a much bigger city than washington.

baltimore had 40,000 people, the third-largest city in the united states. one of the really important ports in the country. where is washington at this time was really not much more than a village. 8000 people in the city. it is home to the federal government, with the white house and the capitol. it didn't seem like much of a target to armstrong. areresult is the british able to play on the american and decision and move closer to washington, they move up the upper marlboro, about 15 or 20 miles from the city. skeptical about the idea of capturing washington. for londontions don't say anything about trying to capture the capital of the united states. he is there to create a

diversion, and not to do anything that will risk of this force. , it's intended for an attack on new orleans. the ross is persuaded by cockburn that the american defenses are very light, that having aia, fearful of slave uprising were slaves escape, have been reluctant to leave their homes. another very little defenses on the way to washington. by the persuaded largely fact that he has met very little resistance as he moves from benedict to upper marlboro. they have had look on sector all with american forces at all. no defenses were set up along the way, no ambushes. there were many positions where the americans could have slowed down the british advance. he was astonished that nothing of the sort had been done. this encourages him.

suspicious of being lured into an ambush because of the lack of american resistance. general winder is moving his forces back and forth. he moves them from washington into maryland and at a point where he can position himself between the attacking force in the capital. but then he loses his nerve, marches back to washington. his force gradually is getting larger. about 2100 when the british land that benedict. for five days, enough forces had been together that they now outnumber the british force. faints --series of feints, ross continues to move towards the capital. he feints strictly towards the city, and then moves north

towards the city of bladensburg. this is what is today known as the anacostia river. then, 200 years ago, it was known as the eastern branch of the potomac. it is a tributary of the potomac. this plays a key part in everything that happens at bladensburg. this used to be a deepwater river, back when bladensburg was founded in 1749. port, withdeepwater ships coming from around the globe. they took away tobacco that was grown in the country around here. by 1812, silt had really filled eastern branch. bladensburg was no longer any kind of a major port.

but it was still important by virtue of all the roads across it. river up there was quite shallow and easily affordable -- fordable. the eastern branch downriver from here is a pretty major river that you need to have a bridge to be able to cross it. certainly, the british wouldn't have been able to cross it without a bridge. this first bridge that we see right in front of us is the location of what was then known as the eastern branch bridge. it was not that far from the washington navy yard. in order to get into washington from a more direct approach, the british would have to cross the river at this bridge. the american commanders had set up forces and explosives

underneath the bridge, ready to blow it. when the british approach. opted to cross the river of it bladensburg, still a couple of miles up the river from where we are now. august 24, at noon, when he sense his forces across the river, the first ones cross on the bridge at bladensburg, which the americans had neglected to blow in the chaos and confusion of the moment. thorton,lonel william one of ross's brigade commanders, they hit the maryland militia head on. they took some initial casualties, but pretty quickly were able to envelop the americans. get around them, and force the militia to start retreating pretty quickly. the militia retreated to a

second line of defense. and the british kept on coming. they also had congress rockets. this was a relatively new weapon at the time. had used them in his chesapeake campaign with quite a bit of effectiveness. most of the american militia troops had not seen him before. these rockets were notoriously difficult to aim, but they were really weapons of terror. they were a most like huge skyrockets that would flareup in the sky, and come down and cause quite ablaze and quite a bit of damage where they hit. but because they were so difficult to aim, they were difficult -- they weren't a very reliable weapon for the british. but they were good at frightening the american troops. the british were able to use them with great effectiveness at bladensburg for that reason.

they started firing these. many of them were going over the heads of the militia troops, but that was enough to cause some of them to start turning and running. madison hassident written up from washington. his headquarters was down here near the navy yard, or the general winder had convened on the morning of august 24. madison and most of the cabinet had come there as well. madison had written out my horse out to bladensburg, mostly to observe and to make sure his secretary of war, john armstrong, would give general winder the support he needed. toison, when he gets bladensburg before the fighting us started, almost runs directly in to british lines. the british are just arriving as medicine gets there.

madison actually rides across the bridge, into britain's berg -- bladensburg, before being told by a scout who was upfront that -- mr. madison, the british are in bladensburg. madison and richard rush turn around and head back to american lines, where they are observing the battle. out,the fight starts madison is initially encouraged by the first resistance of the american melissa -- militia. when the british fire rockets, they fire one that goes right into the head of madison and his cabinet articles. becomesat this point the first american president to come under fire on a battlefield. pointn moved back at that to a somewhat safer distance. in the meantime, the american lines are starting to collapse.

the british start crossing the river in force, some are using the bridge, others are waiting across the water -- wading across the water. pretty soon they have enough of a force that the second line of militia defense is collapsing. that thee problems americans were encountering here was commanded of ference. monroe, who was secretary of state. he is come to scout out the lines. been serving as a scout for several days for madison, even though he was secretary of state. he was pretty much throwing himself into dangers way. he directs some of the militia troops to move further back from the frontline, and that leaves them out of support for each other. monroe didn't really do the american troops at bladensburg much of a favor by his attempts

to reorganize them. now ofe two lines militia that are collapsing. they are all starting to retreat. but with no fixed point in mind. hadn't designated any kind of rally point. winder already had a lot of experience at retreating now, advancedhe british had on washington. he had ordered his troops back in number of times. he really botches this retreat. as the men of the militia are falling back, a lot start heading northwards towards baltimore. others had towards georgetown. really, none of them are heading back to the third line of defense, which has been formed by joshua barney and his navy flotilla men, and the district militia which had raced up from washington during the course of the morning in the terrible heat.

fact, the maryland militia commanders hadn't even been informed that there was a third line. no one had told him that joshua barney and the district militia had formed behind them. they are retreating in a chaotic fashion. winder is losing his nerve. he ends up ordering a general retreat. british are the starting to approach the third line of defense. barney and thef district of militia. bladensburg have to move uphill to attack this third line. barney is situated on a strong position, right on the district .aryland line gri you had big guns, and u.s. marines from the u.s. marine barracks in washington. they had come up to support the

flotilla men serving as infantry for them. the british are trying to move into the face of these guns, and they take quite significant casualties. the frontline troops from the 85th light infantry were taking one quarter casualties. very significant bloodshed. it appeared to barney and to some of the district militia commanders that they were on the verge of maybe turning the tide here. winder, with the american militia in retreat, ordered a general retreat. barney doesn't get this word. he and his men keep on fighting. he sees that the district militia has pulled back under orders from winder. manages to get high ground over barney and his flotilla men. some of the british sharpshooters are able to take down a number of the flotilla

men, including some of the gun crews. and barney himself is hit in the hip, severely wounded. he tries to disguise his wounded his the british, and from own men, because he doesn't want them to lose faith. but very quickly, barney is also running out of ammunition. all of the crews that were bring his ammunition, civilian crews, they had joined to the general retreat. so barney was running out of ammunition. it was pretty clear he was surrounded, or close to it at this point. so barney than orders his men to surrender and retreat. he orders them to leave him on the battlefield. one of his officer stays with him. most of the flagella men are able to escape act towards washington. -- flotilla men are able to escape towards washington. barney is left on the battlefield, and pretty soon he is found by the british shoulders, who run and get

admiral cockburn. barney, over the course of the several previous months, had been the one american officer who had really offered strong resistance to the british. both cockburn and ross were impressed with him. ross comes up as well. they agree to pardon barney on the spot, meaning he wouldn't be officially held in british custody. he was out of the war this point. until he could be traded for another prisoner. the americans are now in full retreat back towards washington. the british owned the field at bladensburg. after several hours of combat. called theetimes bladensburg races, because of the way the militia retreated so chaotically. in a sense, that is an accurate term. but it also does discredit to a

lot of the brave fighting the did happen here. particularly from barney's flotilla men and the marines who fought bravely, took heavy casualties, and it one point seemed like they might be able to turn the tide of the battle. certainly, the british fought bravely. fighting uphill against those guns, and that type of heat. but these guys were known as wellingtons invisibles for a reason. they had fought the french in europe, and the forces they met here at bladensburg were not a match for them come ultimately. the british are left with an open road into washington. madison's retreating back to the city ahead of the troops, and he sends word back to washington that the british are coming. has been rigged to blow by the americans.

the british don't waste much time in bladensburg before they start coming down the bladensburg road into the district of columbia. it is getting to be not quite dark at this point. it is evening time. as the british enter the district of columbia, orders are given to blow the bridge. it is kind of ironic, because the british are already on the side of the river. they are already in washington. but for whatever reason, the americans decide to blow this bridge anyways. bridge, it was really a fairly substantial bridge. it took a fair amount of explosives to take down. the wood, when it blew up, just went sky high into the air.

entremed's black cloud of smoke -- a tremendous black cloud of smoke. winder wanted to make sure that it blew up, and it certainly did. yard, a commodore in charge of the navy yard sees the bridge blowing, and starts burningreparations for the washington navy yard. ross and cockburn had been left with an open path into washington. downey are moving bladensburg road, entering the halt noty come to a very far from the capital. it is getting dark by now. , about twohome

blocks or so from the capital. the evidence to me is pretty hadr that ross and cockburn already agreed that washington's federal buildings should be burned. in the reports that they send back to london afterwards, they describe this as the object of the expedition. 's hope in all of this was that by capturing the capital, they would so humiliate the government of james madison, or jimmy as he calls them, that they could force the government to collapse. force the united states to make peace on british terms. possibly even causing the dissolution of the american union. ross had come to see it that way as well. he was quite eager to end this war.

he wanted to get back to his wife, who was sending him -- indicatingbing she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. she had not expected her husband, after fighting with wellington in the financial luck, to now have to go fight another war in america. believes that capturing washington will be the stroke that ends the war. as they were approaching the capital, they do make some effort at parlay. rolling, and men are sent forward to see if there's anyone to negotiate with. are very nearurn the capital, when suddenly shots ring out. and ross has come under fire. house,rom inside the

actually strike his horse and hit several soldiers. because of some casualties. ross quickly orders that the house be surrounded. some of the people inside the house have artie escaped. -- already escaped. the best evidence is that these are some of barney's flotilla men who didn't want to surrender , and took some shots of the british. some british officers would later claim that the fact that the british came under fire in this manner is what prompted capital and the white house. indications are that this made, and thisen is what very quickly happened. british are making lights onns, they see the horizon, not very far away.

that is from the washington navy yard. it looks like the washington navy yard is going up in flames. the battle of bladensburg, the secretary of the navy, william jones, had come up to madison that morning and asked for permission to burn the navy yard if the british were to capture washington. yard was then navy oldest military installation in the country. ineally key facility addition to holding vast amounts of naval goods, there was a frigate that was under construction here. as well as a schooner. and other ships being repaired. allowing this material to fall into british hands would have been a disaster in itself.

thomas kenji, who was a british born officer that was a commandant of the washington navy yard. instructionsis from jones to not let it fall into british hands. as the british are coming into bridgehe eastern branch blows up. he starts making preparations to blow up and to burn the washington navy yard. some of the residence of the area that lived right around the navy yard came up and implored him not to burn it. a wind was blowing, and the fear was that if you burn the navy yard, the neighborhood surrounding the washington navy yard would go up in flames as well. he agrees to at least wait until we can get more scouting reports

about with the british are up to. one of the navy clerks at the navy yard volunteers to go scouting with the british are up to. by captainpany creighton, one of the senior officers at the navy yard. they ride through town and encounter the british on capitol hill, and they actually come in --, under fire for british centuries knew the capital. and they ride back and give this and give this update to tingey. tingey then gives orders for the navy yard to blow. stocked with is so timber, char, all sorts of supplies. tingey has powder laid out. he and william taylor, sailing

master at the yard, start putting torches to these lines of powder. very quickly, much of the navy yard is up in flames. including some of the ships that are here. it makes a tremendous conflagration, that is of course very visible to the british on capitol hill. but also visible for many miles around. there would later be complaints that the americans shouldn't timber in the navy yard -- the navy have burned i yard. but it is pretty clear that the british would have done it if the americans hadn't. and they probably would have captured supplies that would have been useful to them. sits about one mile or so from the capital.

it is still of course an active navy base. the british see the navy yard in flames, and if they had had any compunctions about burning the capital before that, they certainly didn't at this point. some of the british troops lined up in front of the capital, point, wasn't the capital that we see today. the dome did not yet exist. wo separately had t buildings, the house chamber in the senate chamber. courthousing the supreme and the library of congress. quite a bit of importance for the end nation in those two buildings that were connected i again way -- a gangway.

the british fired a volley of shots in the building. basically to make sure there were no troops lying in ambush. they broke through into the cockburn came in personally and started rummaging through, and found one of madison's congressional books, which he took as a souvenir. a lot of the british were quite impressed by the grantor of the building. the house chamber in particular to last for the history of the republic. it was probably the most impressive room in america at that time. ornate sculptures and beautiful marble. pilingtish went to work desks into the middle of the chamber and other flammable material. all of the books from the library of congress made quite

good tender for lighting fires. they put gunpowder paste around windows, and also fired some rockets from inside the building up into the ceiling and the roof of the building. but before too, long, the building was up in flames. they started on the south side, and then moved up to the north. pretty soon, both chambers were completely engulfed in flames. there was fire whipping up in a spiral above the building. see, as he was riding off into virginia, this very dismal sight. this great building of american democracy and going up in flames. and some of his party were out on the water where we

are now, and the side of the navy yard and the capital in awees just fill them with and absolute despair. it was a site that no one who saw it would ever forget. we are on the potomac river approaching georgetown. watergate and the kennedy centers. far from the white house. afternoon of august when he fourth, as the battle of hedensburg is winding down,

receives a note sent by james madison, that things are going very badly. the militia has collapsed, and washington is in grave danger. he recommends that she leave at once. dolly had been making preparations. a number of the belongings had already been packed up into wagons and carriages. at the same time, she had insisted on not conveying a sense of panic. she had ordered that dinner be set for the president, and any officers and other visitors who might be coming back to the white house later in the day. up thevants were setting dining room for a large dinner.

in the meantime, there is panic out in the streets. word of what is going on in bladensburg spreads. the streets are starting to fill up with refugees trying to get out of town. dolly madison makes some last preparations at the white house, once she gets the message from president madison. among the things she spots of the last minute, the portrait of george washington. ,ilbert stuart's portrait life-sized. it had already taken on something of an iconic status in the united states. beendent washington had dead for about 15 years at this point. already, visitors would often come to look at this portrait of the first president. dolly madison grasped at once that to allow the portrait to

fall into british hands would be adding insult to injury. and so she instructs several servants, including the medicines how slaves -- house slave and gardener to get the portrait down off the wall. this proves to be quite different -- difficult. left at this also point, being urged by some citizens and others who were saying she was in great danger and needed to leave immediately. silver andome of the other belongings with her, and gets in the carriage and rides up to georgetown, leaving jennings and some of the other servants to get the portrait down. they finally managed to do it with the help of a hatchet. savedrtrait would then be by several businessmen from new

york who came by and secured a wagon, and to get away into maryland for safekeeping. georgetown --d to into georgetown, and goes to the home of one of the madisons friends. word fromting for president madison. he arrives at the white house around 4:00 in the afternoon. left, and he takes sort of a last look around at the place. he is accompanied by a couple of aides. he is exhausted, a 50-year-old man who has been riding on horseback after the battlefield. yet, under rocket fire,. you can only imagine what his thoughts were at this moment. this was a nation he helped conceive.

he had been the guiding light behind the constitution. enemy,, america's great great britain, had a clear path and was on its way into washington. wine,ses for a glass of collect his thoughts, and then he gets on horseback and why it's -- and rides down here to georgetown where the sun is setting at this point. there is a fairy, known as carrys ferry, that could people, as well as horses across the river. over here to masons island. it is next to the virginia shore. today is known as theodore roosevelt island. from there, madison, who is jennings,d by paul the madisons house slave, and several aides, rides by causeway

to virginia. he would spend the next three days as a refugee. there is no air force one or marine one helicopter to take them away. madison is basically on his own. they are no guards with him. -- the streets of georgetown are so clogged that she can't read and i with the president. she ends up going further up river and crossing into virginia. it would be the better part of a day before she and the president are reunited. after burning the capital, ross and cockburn moved the troops down in sweeney avenue to the white house. -- down pennsylvania avenue to the white house. dolly and james madison had left a number of hours earlier.

the british on the way stopped and talked to some civilians, asking where madison was. they were somewhat disappointed to learn he had already left the city. as they approached the white house, they passed a tavern on the corner near the treasury building. they actually went in to order dinner. proprietor tried to send them to another establishment, but that didn't work. they ordered some chicken, and then continued down pennsylvania avenue, and enter the white house. they found it unlocked, it'd have course been abandoned. the previous servants had all left. entering it in the dining room, they found it the great feast that dolly madison had ordered

set for the evening. needless to say, they didn't hesitate to help themselves to it. this is one of those remarkable stories that is actually quite true. were wined and dined at the white house. and then set the place on fire. through with at gun powder paste and rubbed that on the doorframes and around the windows. of chairsred a number and other flammable material, and created little bonfires. they set the drapes afire. pretty soon, the entire building was up in flames. some of the british soldiers actually felt a sense of regret about it. this was such a beautiful building. to feel someot

regret that seeing such a place go up in flames. british antipathy towards madison was so great that any regrets were pretty much overshadowed by the hope that this would force the united states to make a quick piece -- peace. the british, who had been locked in this credible struggle with france for two decades at this point, the u.s. declaration of war in 1812 against great britain was an act of enormous treasury. they felt they were trying to save the world, save civilization from napoleon. and for the united states to stab them in the back was on for big -- unforgivable. for the first two years of the war, they had been tied up in the fight with napoleon.

over,hat war seems to be they have more forces to send over. there was certainly an element of revenge that flowed through the minds of many of the soldiers and sailors that marched into washington 200 years ago. for madison, as he is riding into the virginia countryside, he is able to see glimpses of the fires back in washington. pretty soon, they are lighting up the entire night. it is evident late in the night that the white house is also in flames. moment for the president, and for the nation. we are practically right beneath

the francis scott key bridge. key, who, named for lived exactly where the bridge enters the d.c. sure there. in fact, right near where the ramp leading up to the bridge is , for the whitehurst freeway is where key's home used to stand. homes a nice brick overlooking the river, with a garden cascading down to the shore. she was an interesting guy. first washed the and attorney -- washington attorney. he was in his mid-30's during the war. ironically, for someone that we associate with this most patriotic of all songs, "the

star single banner," he was deeply opposed to the war. insane for theas united states to declare war on britain. he was a very religious guy. somewhat of a pacifist by nature. he actually celebrates with some of the u.s. attempts to invade canada fail. he writes to his friend john read off the virginia -- that while virginia, this may be treason, i embrace the name traitor. that just goes to show the depth of emotion against this war. alone in excess and sentiments like that. differently when his home, when maryland and washington were being attacked. volunteered for the militia, and served in the georgetown artillery during some of cockburn's raids.

at bladensburg, he is actually out there as a civilian volunteer to the district militia. he doesn't really help things out particularly, but after the fight, he comes back to his home. and from his home here in georgetown, he witnesses the burning of washington. he is in something of a state of shock. he had sent his family, which included six children by then, awayis wife -- in way -- to the family home in maryland. he is nonetheless quite fearful that georgetown will be attacked. if you days later, it is from this home that he would a few days later, it is from this home where he will launch a mission to try to gain freedom for a doctor from maryland who has been taken prisoner by the british.

ultimately lead to his witnessing of the bombardment of fort mchenry in baltimore and lead to the writing of the national anthem. a big rainstorm hits the city that night after the british had stopped for the evening, gone back to camp and extinguishes some of the flames, including at the treasury. rides upe next morning to the white house for the satisfaction of seeing the burned building still lying in ruins. all of the interior of the white house had been destroyed. the british court standing out parties to finish up buildings that had not completely burned or been extinguished by the rain.

one party set up to the navy yards. cockburn remarks that he is americans save him the trouble of burning the place, but he sends some of his sailors and royal marines to take care of some of the remaining buildings that had not been burned. here toparty comes down the federal arsenal at greenleaf point. this is the southern tip of the city at that point. the federal government had a large arsenal of weapons and gunpowder that were being stored here, for cannons and hundreds of tags of powder. of royal marines gets to work on it and they throw a lot of the powder cakes into a well-- powder kegs intoa

and they also try to destroy some of the cannons left behind. ofy are in the process firing one canon at another, breach of the other gun in order to destroy. they are having trouble. another storm is starting to blow up. the fuse from one of the attempts lands on the ground in by the account of one of the royal marines who was involved in this episode, the winds picked up the fuse and blew into the well where all the powder had been dumped. suddenly, there is an enormous explosion with flames, debris, and bodies going flying in the air. it absolutely shook the city. it caused dozens of british casualties. one of the witness accounts from the royal marines described

bodies being flown over the trees and into the water. this causes quite a bit of ,amage both to british morale but also shakes up the city even further. the marines very some of the bodies here and they march back to join the rest of the british force on capitol hill. thate meantime, the storm has been blowing up becomes worse and worse. one or more tornadoes that, unbelievably enough, run through town. in the midst of the catastrophe of the city being burned, you have a tremendously destructive storm that comes through the city. some witness accounts describe them as approaching from the northwest and running through virginia and then into the capital and down into maryland,

southern maryland. todid a lot of damage both the city, a lot of homes that had been spared by the british ended up losing the roof. one federal building that has been left untouched by the british, the patent office, loses part of its roof to the storm. there is one woman who was living here in washington at the time who described the storm hitting after the city had been burned. it is almost like the vengeance of god being delivered on washington. this is now fort mcnair. it is the national defense university -- the national defense university is headquartered here. it is an important army installation. it is the spot where some of the in the lincoln assassination were hung.

explosion andnal the storm that hits town on the 25th, the british made plans for a quick departure. they never intended to stay for long. this, we always have to remember, is a very small force. general ross was concerned about american counterattack. the next target would be baltimore. ross and cockburn gave serious consideration from going from washington to baltimore, but ultimately the decision was made. admiral cockburn wanted them back at the flea. they were low on provision and ammunition. -- at the fleet. there were low on provisions and ammunition. on the night of august 25, they covered their retreat by making fires in ordering a curfew. they left the city that night

and go back to the ships the same way they came. washingtonians woke up the next morning to find the city abandoned, every vestige of federal power essentially destroyed. british force gone, another coming up the potomac river. all this time, as the attack on washington has unfolded, you have had the royal navy squadron under captain gordon moving up the potomac. this turns out to be an epic attack in its own right. many in washington thought it would be impossible for british

warships to make it up the potomac. further down river from where we are now, there is an area known as the kennel bottom, which is a shipious shoal that no carrying have her guns had -- carrying heavy guns had ever been able to sail through. by enormous labor, they are able to use anchors to pull themselves through the mud. all of the ships and of going aground at least 20 times each d- all of these ships anenmd up going aground at least 20 times. it slows them down. they get to the kennel bottom, they are 20 miles or so from washington on the august of 24th. they see a red glow in the sky.

it is washington burning. it is a stunning site, even from that distance. the flames were such that the night was being lit up. in some ways this was a disappointment because gordon and his sailors were hoping to put the torches to the city themselves. they really had a couple of different missions. this squadron by coming up the potomac was going to be a safety valve for the army forces in washington. if the army came under counterattack, having the royal squadron coming up the potomac would relieve pressure and perhaps they could carry out some of the army forces down the potomac if they were to get trapped in washington. beyond that, there were important targets still up river

from where they stood. this primarily included the city of alexandria, which was then, although in the state of virginia, it was then part of the land making up the part of district columbia. this was a wealthy port on the columbia -- on the potomac. they could pose a threat to other targets in washington that had not been taken by the british army, though they do not know this at this point. georgetown at this point had been left alone by the british and there is an important foundry that makes weapons for the u.s. navy that is still sitting untouched. in any event, they are proceeding up river when they are hit by the huge storm, the remarkable storm that comes through washington on august 25.

it sweeps down river and severely damages several of the ships in gordon's squadron. they have to stop and make repairs. they almost considered turning back at that point. they keep coming up river. they sail past mount vernon, which is just down river from here. 27, they comeust in site of fort washington, which is the last fortress onrding the potomac river the approach to alexandria in washington. that georgert washington, who lived across the river, urged to be billed. it is a strategic point on the potomac river. the force that is built here in thatarly 1800s -- the fort

is built here in the early 1800s is not that impressive. one newspaper account describes it as little more than a pigpen. it is basically some earthworks and gun platforms up on the high ground. because of the channel coming so close to the shoreline here, height,ns, from that would have enormous affect on any ships trying to sail by. it could have been a much stronger position if the u.s. government had done more to fortify it. recommendations had been made the previous year that the fort , moreuilt into a stronger effective position. that had not been done. even so, it is an obstacle that the british officers estimated would probably cost them at

least 50 men to try to take. bit ofd have caused a damage to these valuable ships if there had been a real fight here. the british -- gordon and his men were expecting to have a real fight on their hands to get by this fort. they had just lobbed the first of their shells towards the fort on the evening of august 27 when gordon, watching from the deck , could see what looked like the garrison retreating from the fort. then there is a terrific explosion in the entire fort just goes sky high. gordon and his men are not sure what happened. they are not sure whether one of their shells, a lucky shot that

hit the fort's magazine and the whole thing is blown up, or if the americans had destroyed before themselves. it is not until the next morning that they send a landing oddity -- landing party on short and they discover, to their amazement, that this fort, which was in position to do quite a up of harm, had been blown by the americans themselves and the american garrison had retreated. what had happened is that captain samuel dyson, the commander of the garrison, he was an artillery officer and had been held as a prisoner of war and assigned command here. he did not have a lot of faith or confidence in the his garrison or the equipment that he had. he had instructions not to let the place fall into british hands. he decided, based on his position, he could see the smoke

still rising over washington. has the royal navy squadron approaching him. he thinks perhaps he is going to be attacked by land at the same time, by british army troops. he has decided to abandon the fort. the fort without a shot being fired. he would be court-martialed for that decision. with the destruction of fort havengton, the british now an open path to alexandria, as well as to washington. right off of alexandria, virginia, about where captain

gordon positioned his royal navy 1814.on on august 29, fort washington is destroyed. everyone in alexandria new that -- knew there was no way to defend the city. they had been left completely defenseless by the federal government. alexandria's militia has been taken and pretty much squandered. they were up near fort washington for a while and now that washington had and burned, they had been marched away. the city fathers essentially had no defenses. town, most ofs in the canon save for a couple had been taken away as well. mayor and others had gone to madison the previous year and said, we do not have any defenses.

if the british make it past the cattle bottoms -- cattle bottoms, we are pretty much defenseless. kettle bottoms, we are pretty much defenseless. madison said they could not defend every turn up at. toy quickly surrendered captain gordon and they wrote out a delegation the day before. captain gordon said wait until i position myself off of alexandria. then you can surrender. by august 29, he had positioned in alexandria. his arm ships, and --bomb ships theluding his meteor and vietnam, they were capable of -- and the etna,

these chips were capable of setting the city on fire after a few well-directed shells. it is more or less george washington's hometown. he had worshiped here. the city had been one of the largest ports in america. it was beyond its heyday now but still it will be city with warehouses stocked full of goods. tobacco, flower, cotton. -- flour, cotton. the city fathers wrote out on the morning of august 29 and offered their surrender. captain gordon took it but he .ffered pretty harsh terms the city had to surrender all

valuables and materials held in warehouses. all the ships in the city that had not been sunk were taken away and would be turned over to the british. all of the vessels that had been sunk were to be raised and handed over to the british. these were not exactly easy terms, but the city did not hesitate to accept them. spreads across the river to washington, there is great outrage that the city has surrendered so easily. there are some thoughts that alexander should have put up a defense before surrendering like this. youink one of the reasons still have many beautiful old colonial brick homes in alexandria is because they decided that it would be foolhardy to adopt resistance without any real means to protect the city against very

powerful british ships. bombritish, with their ships anchored to fire, they anchored at the foot of king us,et, right across from where the lot of the warehouses were situated. over the course of the next four days, it took that long to empty all the warehouses and raise the ships that had been sunk. the british deported themselves quite well. the mayor of alexandria was quite delighted any time that any sort of hint of resistance was offered, he quickly tried to squelch it. at one point, captain david porter of the u.s. navy came to scout out the situation and he

was situated up on souter's hill at the high point overlooking the city, and he and another officer came down trying to gather intelligence. they essentially try to kidnap a young british midshipmen to try to get information. they ran down on horseback, himbed it him -- grabbed and tries to pull them away but escape and atd to that point, alexandria was almost put into flames. all of the warships raise their flags and prepared to fire. the mayor managed to convince gordon that no offense had been meant by the city. the british continue to empty the city. they were not able to fit everything on board, even with ships cap give -- captive

they are taking away. they had to leave some stuff back here on the docks to their dismay. by september 1, the british were ready to leave. at this point, captain gordon has received word that the americans are trying to set up an ambush for him. in fact, david porter and all of her hazard perry -- all over -- upver hazard perry had set batteries down the potomac river. terry is on the maryland side at indianhead. the idea is when these ships laden with booty sale by, they --l get pummelled

pummeled with fire. they're coming down river with fire boats. these are boats that have been laden with flammable material and they will be set afire. they will try to set the british ships on fire as they depart. gordon realizes it is time for him to leave and he sails out on september 1. one of his ships goes aground just beyond where the wilson bridge sits today. captain rogers tried to set it afire with one of his fire boats, but the british managed to fend it off. as the british continue to make their way down river past fort washington, they run into captain porter's battery at the shore. porter is set up their at

belfour -- there at belvior. four days they exchange fire. there are casualties on both sides. eventually the wind changes and allows gordon to blast his way past the american position and blast his way past perry as well, who runs out of ammunition pretty quickly. this squadron is is delayed getting downriver and this will ultimately delay the attack on baltimore, which has some consequences for the british. when madison, after three days as a refugee, comes back to immediatelyhe realizes the importance of not surrendering the city again and to moves off efforts

the capital away. he directed congress -- he insists that congress reconvene ,n the city and that the news he realized, needed to get on the ships that carried the news of washington's capture back to europe in the same newspapers that carry the news of washington's capture around the country. he wants to send out a message as quickly as possible that despite the british capture, the united states had not surrendered and the government was going to stay in washington and the united states was going to fight on. fight to get the capital restored and rebuilt. there is a big debate in congress. the vote for rebuilding

washington as the capital is very close, but it passes, ultimately. that thee reasons is british, by leaving one federal building untouched in washington, left a place for congress to reconvene while the city is restored. the decision to restore washington is made early in 1815. almost simultaneously, news two great developments. one is the american victory at new orleans, where andrew jackson defeats the same british force that attacked washington and baltimore and continues down to new orleans. and then word comes from europe that a treaty has been signed between american negotiators and ghent. negotiators in

the war still continues until madison and congress agree to ratify the treaty. that happens very quickly. the combination of all these events, the victory at new orleans, word of peace, the great sense of unity that emerges from the victory of baltimore, allows madison and the country to escape from this war with a sense of victory. overlookednds to be in this moment in history tends to be forgotten. i think it is important for people to understand what a precarious moment this was an , how close they united states came to disaster. this time right after the -- it was washington certainly possible that the united states would have ceased to exist as we know it today.

to me, anyone who listens to the star-spangled banner or sings it that thiserstand first verse that we all sing at baseball games, you listen to during the super bowl, you have to remember that that verse and senate? questionends in a mark. what the future held. anyone who is alive at that time understood what a turning point this was for united states. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by