going back to bladensburg, three problems the brits had at bladensburg.pproached bladensburg in an apprehensive way. they were worried about the battle of bladensburg. 50 miles from the ship, approaching the capital of america. a large army on the west bank of the eastern potomac, the anacostia. he had to face the three big problems. one was heat. now you have no idea -- but you have an idea, like britain today. the heat was unbelievable. guys in their red woollen opportuwoollentunics were falling down because of the heat. bridge which they started crossing -- my understanding they went across the bridge and then started to get used to the idea of the forge. anacostia was there. so they had to face this extremely impressive canon fire from the american artillery on the front line which did severe damage. that was a big, big problem. and the third problem, of course, was the problem of the guy on that monument, joshua barely. one cannot detract, whatever one says things about the battle of bladensburg one cannot detract from the fact that joshua barney fac

it's known as the bladensburg races. we laugh and joke about the soldiers who fought here, how fast they were and all that. i have to think, these were primarily citizen soldiers. these were militia. they were not particularly well trained. they were not well equipped and they certainly were not well led. yet they showed up. they were here. i sometimes wonder how many of us today would show up if an invading army was moving towards the capitol. i think we need to give them credit for that and honor their bravery. the other point i want to make here at the start is that bladensburg is also a story of missed opportunities. because despite the fact that the americans were going against very veterans troops, well led by general ross with the able admiral coburn at his side, there were opportunities for the americans to turn this attack back. before bladensburg, we certainly missed opportunities where even a modest attack on the british advance could have turned the british back. ross was rightfully quite nervous of advancing

going back to bladensburg, three problems the brits had at bladensburg.. they were worried about the battle of bladensburg. 50 miles from the ship, approaching the capital of america. a large army on the west bank of the eastern potomac, the anacostia. he had to face the three big problems. one was heat. now you have no idea -- but you have an idea, like britain today. the heat was unbelievable. guys in their red woollen opportuwoollentunics were falling down because of the heat. bridge which they started crossing -- my understanding they went across the bridge and then started to get used to the idea of the forge. anacostia was there. so they had to face this extremely impressive canon fire from the american artillery on the front line which did severe damage. that was a big, big problem. and the third problem, of course, was the problem of the guy on that monument, joshua barely. one cannot detract, whatever one says things about the battle of bladensburg one cannot detract from the fact that joshua barney facing the entire victorious british army which

going back to bladensburg, three problems the brits had at bladensburg. they approached bladensburg in an apprehensive way. they were worried about the battle of bladensburg. for ross was 50 miles from the fac ships, very small force, approaching the capital of america. a large army on the west bank of the eastern potomac, the anacostia. heat. he had to face the three big problems.a -- y one was heat. now you have no idea -- but you have an idea, because you live in -- today is unbelievable. the heat was unbelievable.of the guys in their red woollen ly, th tunics were falling down, even r some of them dying of the heat, british soldiers.across t secondly, the width of the bri bridge, which they started a crossing -- they didn't go to the fort immediately. my understanding is they went across the bridge and then ross started to get the idea of goina to the fort. the bridge that crossed the anacostia was there.mage. so they had to face this extremely impressive canon fire from the american artillery on the front line which did severe damage. that was a big,

going back to bladensburg, three problems the brits had at bladensburg.nsive way. they were worried about the battle of bladensburg. 50 miles from the ship, approaching the capital of america. a large army on the west bank of the eastern potomac, the anacostia. he had to face the three big problems. one was heat. now you have no idea -- but you have an idea, like britain today. the heat was unbelievable. guys in their red woollen opportuwoollentunics were falling down because of the heat. bridge which they started crossing -- my understanding they went across the bridge and then started to get used to the idea of the forge. anacostia was there. so they had to face this extremely impressive canon fire from the american artillery on the front line which did severe damage. that was a big, big problem. and the third problem, of course, was the problem of the guy on that monument, joshua barely. one cannot detract, whatever one says things about the battle of bladensburg one cannot detract from the fact that joshua barney facing the entire victorious british a

at 8:00, it's a panel discussion on the battle of bladensburg. burning of washington: the british invasion of 1814." and later, steve vogel, author of "through the perilous fight: six weeks that saved the nation" tells the story of the burning of washington through a river tour on his boat. that all gets under way tonight at 8:00 eastern here on c-span3. >>> 200 years ago british soldiers invaded washington, d.c., and burned down the white house and u.s. capitol while president james madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city. this week, live coverage of the two-day forum with historians and authors marking the anniversary of the british burning of washington and war of 1812. all starting tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. and day two of the conference on the war of 1812 also live thursday here on "american history tv." the white house historical association and the u.s. capitol historical society starting at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. >>> each week, "american history tv's" "reel america" brings you archival films that help tell the story of th

and the british don't waste much time at bladensburg before they start coming down the bladensburg road into the district of columbia. it's getting to be not quite dark at this point, but it's

now, the british at bladensburg have to moveup hill to attack this third line. barney is situated on a strong position right on the district/maryland line. he had big guns, 18-pound weapons that he'd brought with him. he also had some of the u.s. marines from the marine corps barrack in washington which had come up to support the flotilla men serving as infantry for them. and the british, as they're trying to move into the face of these guns, take quite significant casualties. the front line troops from the 85th light infantry were taking one-quarter casualties. so very significant bloodshed and it appeared to barney and to some of the district militia commanders that they were on the verge of maybe turning the tide here. but winder with the maryland militia in retreat has ordered a general retreat. barney doesn't get this word. he and his men keep on fighting and then he sees that the district militia has pulled back under orders from winder. ross manages to get high ground over barney and his flotilla men and some of the british sharpshooters are able to take

it's a tributary of the at tpot and it plays a key part in everything that happens at bladensburg. this used to be a deep water river. in fact, when bladensburg was founded in 1749, this was a deep water port with ships coming from around the globe to take away tobacco that was grown in the country around here, but by 1812 silt had really filled in a lot of the eastern branch. so bladensburg was no longer any kind of a major port, but it was still important by virtue of all the roads that crossed there. and the river up there was quite shallow and easily fordable whereas the eastern branch down river from here is a pretty major river still that you need to have a bridge pretty much to be able to cross it. certainly the british wouldn't have been capable of crossing it without a bridge. this first bridge that we see right in front of us was the location of what was then known as the eastern branch bridge. it was not that far from the washington navy yard, and nosin order to get into washington from a more direct approach, the british would have to cross the river at this bridge, and

the british don't waste much time at bladensburg before they start coming down bladensburg road to theict of columbia. it's getting to be not quite dark at this point, but it's evening time and as the british enter the district of columbia, orders are given to blow the bridge. it's kind of ironic that the british are already on this side of the river. they're already in washington. but for whatever reason the americans decide to blow this bridge anyway. it was a wooden bridge. it was really fairly substantial bridge. that was clearing out of explosives to take down. the wood, when it blew up, just went sky-high into the air. and it was a tremendous black cloud of smoke. wind her wanted to make sure that it blew up and it certainly did. at the navy yard, commodore thomas hingey in charge of the navy yard, sees the bridge blowing and starts making preparations for burning the washington navy yard. roth and coburn had been left with an open path into washington. so as they're moving down bladensburg road entering the city, they come to a halt not very far from the capital. it's getting da

madison, the british are in bladensburg. madison and his attorney general richard rush turn around and head back to american lines where they're observing the battle. once the fight starts out madison is initially encouraged by the first resistance that the militia is showing. the british when they start firing rockets actually fire one that goes right over the head of madison and the rest of his cabinet officers. it was -- sailed high harmlessly but madison becomes the first american president to come under fire on a battlefield. madison moved back at that point to a somewhat safer distance. in the meantime, the american lines are starting to collapse as the british start crossing the river in force. some are using the bridge, others arewadeing across the river and pretty soon they have enough of a force that the second line of militia defense is collapsing. one of the problems that the americans are encountering here was command interference. you had james monroe who was secretary of state. he had come to scout out the lin

robert lyles is live in bladensburg with the story. robert, any new information from the police at this hour? >> there is. we know the victim is barely out of her teens, attached on the path where i stand. she knew this path because this is the way to bladensburg elementary and high school on the other side. we also learned this young victim was scared out of her wits and has moved out of the neighborhood. her attacker may have lived here as well. detectives with the sex assault unit are on a mission. it has been four days since a young woman was sexually assaulted in this bladensburg elementary playground. in broad daylight at 6:00 in the evening. >> i got home shortly after that. it could have been me. >> the more time that he lapses, the greater the possibility this suspect pushes on. some the weights are the police appear onnot want to camera, but off camera say the victim is just 20 years old and was far away from the playground. the attacker may be known to the neighborhood. >> i think i have seen a gentleman who looked like this

and the british don't waste much bladensburg road to the district of columbia.ut evening time and as the british enter the district of columbia, the orders are given to blow the bridge. it is ironic, because the british are already on this side of the river. they are already in washington, but for whatever reason, the americans decide to blow this bridge anyway. it was a wooden bridge. it is really a fairly substantial bridge that, you know, too a fair amount of explosives to take down. the wood, when itá blew up, it went sky high into the air, and tremendous black cloud of smoke. winder had wanted to make sure that it blew up, and it certainly did. at the navy yard, commodore stingy who is in charge of the navy yard sees the bridge blowing, and starts to make preparations for burning the washington navy yard. ross and coburn had been left with an open pass into washington. so, as they are moving down bladensburg road entering the city, they come to a halt, not very far from the capital. there is a home, the belmont home that is known today as two blocks or so f

british occupied bladensburg.re was minor resistance from maybe a couple of guys that fire a couple of guns. but other than that, they came right into this town and took it without any defense whatsoever. so the real battle took to the west across the anacosta river. >> i think one of the great things about this wonderful country is the way you discuss so uninhibitedly with so openness and frankness, one of the most embarrassing moments in american history! next year we are dreading in britain when we commemorate the battle of waterloo. june 1815. which hugely overshadows the war of 1812. the reason it was in britain, during the war of 1812, we were fighting napoleon. waterloo, the victory in june, 1815, sort of nine months from now as it were, was far more important to us. but we greatly dread the moment when the battle of waterloo is commemorated because the french are not likely to turn up and they're not likely to come along to the things like this and chat away and say, well, we did make a cock of this and th

august 24th, there is a battle at bladensburg. speaking of marines, this shows some of the marines fighting at bladensburg. a couple of points, i don't want to talk too much, but we always talk about the bladensburg races and how the militia just scattered and the british cut through them. all that is true to a point. i think the first place we have to remember that the militia that shows up, these are civilians who have not been well trained. not well equipped, very poorly led by winder and very poorly supported by armstrong, the federal government. and yet they showed up. they -- these are citizen soldiers showing up to fight a very formidable force, maybe not in numbers, but certainly in terms of experience. and had they been better led or had they been used earlier to show any resistance, i think ross would have turned around. and there is also very strong showing by the marines, who are serving as infantry to barney and his flotilla men who form a third line of defense. after the first two lines of maryland militia are scatte

they put up a fight at bladensburg. they were part of a -- the only troops at bladensburg that put up a decent fight before the british ore ran them, and then occupied the city. but the british, i think, did not know this was a marine corps barracks. they didn't realize it. pardon me? who is edmond pendleton? i don't know what he was doing during the war of 1812. can you tell me? >> do you know what he did? >> in the back they said he was dead. okay. what else? yes, sir? >> we've been learning much more these last few weeks as the war of 1812 is in the national public eye. and we talk about how the navy, the u.s. navy came out of the war of 1812, with a much clearer picture of what they needed to have for national defense. and also the need for the united states to have a standing army. not to rely solely on a militia called up in time of need. so if the war of 1812 had never happened, can you give us kind of a picture of our own self as we approach the time period when we went to our own civil war, if we had not had th

august 24th, there is a battle at bladensburg. speaking of marines, this shows some of the marines fighting at bladensburg. a couple of points, i don't want to talk too much, but we always talk about the bladensburg races and how the militia just scattered and the british cut through them. all that is true to a point. i think the first place we have to remember that the militia that shows up, these are civilians who have not been well trained. not well equipped, very poorly led by winder and very poorly supported by armstrong, the federal government. and yet they showed up. they -- these are citizen soldiers showing up to fight a very formidable force, maybe not in numbers, but certainly in terms of experience. and had they been better led or had they been used earlier to show any resistance, i think ross would have turned around. and there is also very strong showing by the marines, who are serving as infantry to barney and his flotilla men who form a third line of defense. after the first two lines of maryland militia are scatte

-- sex assault suspect in bladensburg. virginia in northern are familiar with raccoons and coyotes, but a cougar? >> reports of some kind of a large cat, possibly a cougar, prompted a principal in fairfax county to send a letter home to the parents. >> the sightings are the talk of the town. they have animal control officials on alert and on the prowl. >> jeff goldberg is live with the details of this cougar search. tell us about this. talk of the the town. that is all anybody is talking about by riverside elementary and mount vernon high school. no sighting of the big cat today. these are the wooded areas next to riverside elementary and behind it, wildlife officials have cameras set up here at no signs of the big cat on video. that doesn't mean people are not taking the situation seriously. >> of all the tngs teenagers typically talk about at mount vernon high, a cougar sighting -- >> pre-scary. >> -- pretty scary. >> is probably not one of them. >> i'm shocked. a lot of people did not think there actually could have bee

looking with a telescope to the southeastern horizon where smoke from kevin arose fromnon fire bladensburg in maryland and marking the dance of the british soldiers. adviserto her, ross' was traveling up the potomac with his soldiers from alexandria, which they had looted. the house was stripped bare for summer. lampslay -- silverplate were drained and rapped in gauze. the fancy rug was in the attic leaving floors uncovered. slipcovers hid the chairs and stools. mrs. madison's beloved red velvet curtains were taken down and packed for summer, protected from the heat, humidity, moths, and flies. traditionally, the white house was shut down after the fourth of july reception to the presidents returning in september or october. this summer with the threat of the british invasion, no time could be spent away from the capital for the presidential vacation. congress was casting hellfire at the president on every point. more than a dozen and the house called for impeachment. made a returns to the president's blue ridge home little more than a dream at this time. madison himself was not a warrior

next historians discuss the history jake defeat of american forces at the battle of bladensburg.n anthony pitch talks about the burning of washington by british troops. and later a boat tour of historic sites in and around washington along the potomac and anacostia rivers. >>> on august 24th, 1814, british soldiers routed american troops at the battle of bladensburg just outside of washington, d.c. the victory allowed british forces to march into the city and burn

he meets some of the british wounded who were taken at the battle of bladensburg and recovered at bladensburg and by other doctors. american doctors in good faith, nurse, wounded on both sides. letters, he was able to go back to negotiate with the that, hey, maybe this doctor misrepresented himself, but other american here, s certainly helped guys. in early september, key and skinner sail right. look at the bottle of water behind me, this is the patasco river the of flows into the harbor baltimore city. if you were standing here, you ship, a packetall ship bearing key and skinner going down the river to british.s with the a few years later, they endezvous with a huge british armada with 50 ships coming up he bay under a flag of truce, the british negotiate what the british high command. allowed in ner are the admiral's cabin. there's an negotiation, no over some fine meal and some port wine for dessert. n the course of negotiation, perhaps the british gave key and skinner a hard time. but they ultimately relented and beans go free. however, on one condition -- hat they had to witness the bomb

key's combat experience comes on august 24 at the battle of bladensburg. in august of 1814, the british have sent reinforcements against the united states to turn the heat up a bit. at that time, there were negotiators meeting in belgium to find common ground to end the war of 1812. on the united states side, we really wanted to get out of the war with our honor intact. by this time, the treasury was running out of money. the invasions into canada all seemed to be failures. we lost a lot of men. it was unlikely that we were going to take over canada. however, we did not want to retreat from our demands about the british laying off our sailors and confiscating our merchant ships. so we could not back off on that one. the british were also intimating that they wanted us to give up the indiana territory. we were not going to let that happen. by the same token, the reddish in the way of turning up the heat realizing that by 1814 napoleon had been defeated in europe, were able to send some reinforcements from europe to shore up the defense to canada and also tu

a live picture from quincy street in bladensburg. detectives are canvassing the area. somewhat attacked a woman monday night as she walked on a wooded trail. a new also released composite sketch of the suspect. he is described as between 40 and 50 years of age, about five foot 10, tall, with black and gray facial hair. we will have more on the search tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00. of more than a dozen u.s. senators is calling on the nfl to toughen penalties against players connected to domestic violence. this comes days after that video showed former ravens running back ray rice punching his fiancÉe inside an elevator. rebecca cooper is in our newsroom with why some feel it may lead to a slippery slope. rebecca? >> now that there are other cases of domestic violence coming to light that also involves nfl players, these female lawmakers told nfl officials they want a real policy when it comes to domestic abuse. the letter was signed by all 16 women now serving in the senate, 13 democrats and two republicans. the senators said they were shocked and disgusted by these se

hyattsville, bladensburg, mt. rainier, landover hills, glenarden, brentwood, a big area, about 1 # 00,000 people, you're asked to bring your water to a rolling boil for one hint before drinking it or using to cook with. before brushing your teeth. if you're wondering whether you're among those that have to boil your water, go to nbcwashington.com and we have a link, type in your address. i typed in tangle wood drive, this is the area where the water main actually broke, and you can see that it will pop up exactly the location within the zone. that address is within the red zone, so that means that i would have to boil my water. they're sayi about 48 hours is the estimate, although that is not an exact time frame. really you should continue to boil your water in these areas until you hear that it's all clear. they will have to do testing before they allow people to just drink water straight out of the tap. back to you. >> thanks, megan. and during the storm last night, there was also a brief radio outage for montgo

they put up a fight at bladensburg. they were part of a -- the only troops at bladensburg that put up a decent fight before the british ore ran them, and then occupied the city. but the british, i think, did not know this was a marine corps barracks. they didn't realize it. pardon me? who is edmond pendleton? i don't know what he was doing during the war of 1812. can you tell me? >> do you know what he did? >> in the back they said he was dead. okay. what else? yes, sir? >> we've been learning much more these last few weeks as the war of 1812 is in the national public eye. and we talk about how the navy, the u.s. navy came out of the war of 1812, with a much clearer picture of what they needed to have for national defense. and also the need for the united states to have a standing army. not to rely solely on a militia called up in time of need. so if the war of 1812 had never happened, can you give us kind of a picture of our own self as we approach the time period when we went to our own civil war, if we had not had th

lose pressure and increased the risk of contamination. 100,000 county residents in hyattsville, bladensburg, mount rainier, chillum, glenarden, fairmount heights, seat pleasant and brentwood are under a boil water advisory. >> we have a water tank that basically was drained last night. we have to fill that back up with water and the appropriate level of pressure. once that happens, we can start sampling the water and each water sample test takes many hours to run to make sure there is no contamination. >> reporter: the advisory will be in place for at least 48 hours and whether you buy or boil, don't forget about your pets [ inaudible ] >> reporter: no customers lost water service. vanessa herring, wusa9. >> we have a link to the wssc's interactive map on our website wusa9.com. you can plug in your address to find out if you're under the boil water alert. the wssc says the water main won't be repaired immediately because water service as vanessa just said was not interrupted. >>> we're getting a break from the heat and humidity. maybe just the heat. there's still humidity out there. clouds

in ward 6 as topping the list of needed high risk natural gas repairs followed by a site along bladensburg road northeast in ward 5 and along 13th street northeast in ward 4. washington gas prioritizes the sites saying they represent the top three projects ranked solely by main risk. in d.c. a usa today/wusa9 review identified 418 miles of aging cast iron gas pipelines. d.c. and many of the nation's gas systems are over 100 years old. accident investigators and federal regulators consider the aging cast iron pipes more likely to fail and have linked them to destructive and deadly accidents across the country. washington gas issued a statement saying washington gas is a highly regulated regional utility. the welfare of our customers, the public and their property is fundamental to the proper management and repair of leaks. the top three d.c. risky projects are identified on a list approved for repair that our investigation on washington's aging underground natural gas time lines obtained a much larger list under the freedom of information act. that list remains secret, most of the document

. >>> tonight police in bladensburg passed out a sketch of a sex assault suspect. officers canvassed the area around a wooded trail on quincy street where the victim was walking when she was attacked monday around 6:45 p.m. the suspect was described as a black man between 40 and 50 years old, slim build, black and gray facial hair, betw 5' 8 to 5' 10 wearing blue jeans and a bauble cap. >>> sometimes someone is sent -- baseball cap. >>> sometimes someone is sent to prison for something they didn't do. >> as mola lenghi tells us, d.c. prosecutors are stepping up trying to even out those scales of justice. >> it's not that common, but when it does happen, a wrongful conviction is extremely difficult to find, determine and then prove. most u.s. attorneys offices say they simply don't have the staff to dedicate to the effort, but now u.s. attorneys office in d.c. objects. what is a prosecutor's worse nightmare? >> to learn that somebody has been incarcerated for a crime they didn't commit. >> it's not common, but it happens. >> in each of those cases where the innocent

gallon at the shell on minnesota avenue near blaine street 3.29 and it's 28 cents more at the bp on bladensburg road on m street, 3.57 for a gallon of regular. >>> it's harder to save at the grocery store right now especially if you're looking at breakfast items which is my favorite meal of the day. >> most of morning staples are on the rise including milk, dairy, fruits, veggie and coffee. this year -- veggies and coffee. this year alone most coffee raised by 10% and bacon is at a 30 year high and orange juice isn't doing much better after bacteria hit the florida crop. analysts say more health conscious shoppers are part of the reasons for those increased prices. >> more people are having now. it's really every category the consumer shops for has been under price pressure. >> analysts blame the higher prices in part on the weather, especially drought conditions and cereal seems to be the one item where the price is going up. it might actually go down because corn production has soared this year. go get some cereal. >> i still eat bacon. i don't care. >>> a fairly new atlantic casino, odds tha

eastern, historians discuss the battle of bladensburg and the burning of washington and war of 1812.nd live coverage of the symposium marking the 200th anniversary of the war. find our television schedule at c-span.org. let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. call us at 202-626-3400. twitter use the hash tag c123. or e-mail us at comments @c-span.org. >>> each week american history tv's "reel america" brings arc eiffel films that help tell the story of the 20th century. at the end of 1963 the united states had about 16,000 military advisers in south vietnam sent to help the army of the republic of vietnam in their war against hoe chi min and the communist north. next, from 1963, a 30-minute u.s. army film documenting the activities of captain william johnston who trains and assists south vietnamese troops while they are constantly being attacked and harassed by vietcong. 50 years ago on august 10th 1964 the situation in vietnam was transformed when lyndon johnson signed the resolution to grant the president broad powers to increase american involvement in the

the story was about how madison had gone missing since the battle of bladensburg and contended and here i quote, he does not even know where he is himself entirely lost and bewildered. in other words, the president hadn't just lost washington, he had lost his mind. so if you think politics is bad today, it isn't any better. now, we have to -- i think several of the presenters have returned to this question, does the burning of washington turn madison into a failed president? a simple sound bite would fly today. but it misses the larger historical context. the british torched the capital to humiliate the president and actually to humiliate more than one president in reducing washington, the city, they were symbolically reducing washington the general who reduced lord corn wallace at york town 30 years before. you should read british newspapers, they rallied because they fqxçyresented american politicians chest thumping and macho posturing. they thought of america as an undisciplined adolescent who needed a good drubbing. and what we have to remember is that the war itself reflected the n

we drove out here to the 2800 block of bladensburg road for a report of that shooting. police closed several streets around the area with crime scene tape. we saw this crash, two cars collided. police questioned people nearby and then a few blocks away on south dakota avenue, northeast and 31 place. we found another scene. this one had police taking photos of an officer and a honda crv. we waited fo a then around 10:15 tonight, d.c. police told us around 5:30 this evening, police tried to arrest a man in a vehicle. we say vehicle because they won't tell us if it is the crv or the cars at the other scene them say the suspect put his vehicle in reverse, hit an officer and that officer fired a shot at the suspect. the suspect left the scene but policet him not too far away. people in this neighborhood are concerned. >> what's your reaction when you see that scene right outside your house? >> kind of scary. yeah. i have my kids and they walk home from school so it is kind of scary. >> reporter: the suspect and that officer are going to be okay them don't have serious injuri

the battle of bladensburg, august 1814, when a very motley crew of local militia and others simply fled before a british army. it was only about two-thirds of its size. the third problem i mentioned was logistic problems. that has always been seen as a very serious problem hobbling the american war effort. now, besides -- by deciding to attack canada, the united states had committed itself to an offensive war that was to be waged over a frontier that was over 1,000 miles in length and required to supply from towns and cities in the frontier. demographic and geographic realities are more than frontier. basically the population was far too sparse. you just couldn't throw an army up there and say feed yourself and march on the british. it was much more complicated than that. the problem was the united states had very rudimentary supply agencies in the early 19th century. as a result, many had to be re-created from scratch after 1812 during the war itself. so it's not terribly surprising there were enormous efficiencies and -- inefficiencies and problems in getting these supply agencies run

tonight we look at the battle of bladensburg. it starts at eight eastern on c-span3. an >> c-span2 providing live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and key public policy events and every weekend at booktv, now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2 created by the cable tv industry and brought you as a public service by local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> nasa hopes to put humans on mars in the next two decades. that go was discussed as part of a three-day summit in washington, d.c. earlier this year. this makes them look at the importance of science and technology education, explore mars and george washington university posted the 55 minute event. >> thank you for coming back from the break in the first couple of keynote and the first panel this one was really enlightening to me. i got a lot out of it. i think what we're going to do now, we're going to leverage and continue that discussion. with me today we have james brown, julie then click,

of course, the battle of bladensburg in 1814 when a real motley crew simply had the british army of aboutwo-thirds its size. there were logistic problems. that has always been seen as a very serious problem bothering the american warhead. and it's a problem by deciding to attack canada, because the united states had committed itself to an offensive war that was over 1,000 miles in length and required to supply it from towns that were well on the frontier. demographic and geographic realities come with the frontier. the population is far too sparse to an army. you just couldn't throw an army up there and say, feed yourself and mamp on the british. it was much more complicated than that. the problem is the united states had very rudimentary such -- supplies in 1822. so it's not terribly surprising they could run problems in getting the. now, all these factors, you will find, have been discussed. >> i think we need to read the war of 1812 satisfactorily. how does madison thipg about these problems, and did he ever. well, for the war years. beyond saying, of course, that we were disappointed,

at 8:00, a panel discussion on the battle of bladensburg, followed by the book "the british invags ofs under way at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. >>> each week american history tv's "reel america" brings you films that help tell the story of the 20th century. republican herbert hoover served as president from 1929 to 1933. remembered most for his time in the oval office at the start of the great depression, hoover also served as the secretary of commerce under presidents harding and coolidge. in this hour-long 1960 nbc interview. hoover discusses his life beyond the presidency. speaking with reporter ray handily. he delves into topics including his childhood. his time in china during the boxer rebel yen and his involvement in supplying food to germans in belgium in world war 1. stanford library's special collections and university archives. >> this is the campus of stanford university. one of america's great schools. >> this is the memorial church. this is the memorial theater. >> and this is the library on war, revolution and peace. with your nbc news commentator. i'm meeting a grea

they put up a fight at bladensburg.they were part of a barney's -- the only troops that put up a decent fight before the british overran them and then occupied the city, but the british i think did not know this was the marine corps barracks. >> who is edmund pendleton? >> i don't know what he was doing. >> he already -- >> john sagg says he's dead. >> i'll take that from john. what else? yes, sir. >> we've been learning much more these last few weeks as the war of 1812 is in the national public eye. and we talk about how the navy -- the u.s. navy came out of the war of 1812 was a much more clear picture of what they needed for a national defense, and also the need for the united states to have a standing army, not to rely solely on a militia called up on a time of need. so if the war of 1812 had never happened, can you give us kind of a picture of our own self as we approach the time period where we went to our own civil war? if we had not had these national defense teams in place, maybe how that might have played out?

of course, the battle of bladensburg in 1814 when a real motley crew simply had the british army of aboutwo-thirds its size. there were logistic problems. that has always been seen as a very serious problem bothering the american warhead. and it's a problem by deciding to attack canada, because the united states had committed itself to an offensive war that was over 1,000 miles in length and required to supply it from towns that were well on the frontier. demographic and geographic realities come with the frontier. the population is far too sparse to an army. you just couldn't throw an army up there and say, feed yourself and mamp on the british. it was much more complicated than that. the problem is the united states had very rudimentary such -- supplies in 1822. so it's not terribly surprising they could run problems in getting the. now, all these factors, you will find, have been discussed. >> i think we need to read the war of 1812 satisfactorily. how does madison thipg about these problems, and did he ever. well, for the war years. beyond saying, of course, that we were disappointed,

they're going to be in bladensburg showing neighbors this sketch a man wanted in a sexual assault thatned monday evening, well before dark. a woman walking along a wooded trail on quincy street was attacked. you recognize this man, you are asked to call crime solvers or the prince george's county police. >>> we're watching a developing story tonight in the pacific ocean. that where the navy is searching for a pilot after two fighter jets collided and crashed. those planes were both flying off the "uss carl vincent" here. one pilot found and reported in fair condition. investigators are still looking into why those jets crashed. >>> it's a day 70 years in the making. a day when a family who lost a loved one in world war ii can finally lay him to rest. army private first class bernard gofrin declared missing in action july of 1944, after his regiment was attacked on the mariana islands. last year, a japanese group recovered the remains of four american soldiers on that island, and one of them was govrin. today he was buried at arlington national cemetery and his nephew says it's a good e

the story was about how madison had gone missing since the battle of bladensburg and contended and here i quote, he does not even know where he is himself entirely lost and bewildered. in other words, the president hadn't just lost washington, he had lost his mind. so if you think politics is bad today, it isn't any better. now, we have to -- i think several of the presenters have returned to this question, does the burning of washington turn madison into a failed president? a simple sound bite would fly today. but it misses the larger historical context. the british torched the capital to humiliate the president and actually to humiliate more than one president in reducing washington, the city, they were symbolically reducing washington the general who reduced lord corn wallace at york town 30 years before. you should read british newspapers, they rallied because they fqxçyresented american politicians chest thumping and macho posturing. they thought of america as an undisciplined adolescent who needed a good drubbing. and what we have to remember is that the war itself reflected the n

and they were able to brush aside militia resistance which it belatedly appears at bladensburg and push washington, d.c., where they famously burn the public buildings. here is a very famous image of that. and you all notice, there is not a single black face represented in this, which is all too common among representations of battles of the war of 1812. they are presented as lilly white affairs in almost all cases. the kol len yell marines were very much present in the occupation of washington, d.c., and in the burning of the white house and the capitol. now, so my argument today has been that the colonial marines and black refugees make it far more effective and destructive to the americans than had been their operation in 1813 when they did not have the same level of support and assistance from black americans. now, this is an image that is produced. i'm going to get this magic arrow out of the way, which is not part of the original image. you may recognize this structure. it's the u.s. capitol building. this was produced in 1817 by a critic of american slavery, an american critic of

he meets some of the british wounded who were taken at the getse of bladensburg, and letters of testimony saying that other american doctors in good faith nursed the wounded on both sides cared with those letters, he was able to go back to negotiate with the british, showing that, maybe this dr. representative -- mis representative self but other american doctors helped your guys. if you look at the body of water behind me, this is the upper part of the patapsco river where it flows into the inner harbor baltimore third if you were standing here in early september, 1814, you would see a bearing key and skinner going down the river to rendezvous with the british. a few days later they rendezvous with 50 ships coming up the bay. the biritish negotiate with a high command. key and skinner are allowed in the apple's cabin. there is a negotiation -- they are allowed in the admiral's cabin. in the course of negotiation, perhaps the british gave key and skinner a hard time and they ultimately let dr. beene's go free on one condition, that they had to witness the bombardment of fort mchenry and t