The White House in ruins:
The Capitol:
August 24, 2014
200 years ago today: The British burned Washington.
"On August 24, 1814, after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross occupied Washington City and set fire to many public buildings, including the White House and the Capitol, as well as other facilities of the U.S. government."
The White House in ruins:
The Capitol:
The White House in ruins:
The Capitol:
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51 comments:
The first thing that caught my eye was the expanse of vacant land around the buildings.
When do we invite them back???
WH continues in ruins.
I thought that war was in 1812.
"The War Needs Re-Branding... the name is a misnomer that makes the conflict sound like a mere wisp of a war that began and ended the same year. In reality, it lasted 32 months following the U.S. declaration of war on Britain in June 1812. That’s longer than the Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, and U.S. involvement in World War I. Also confusing is the Battle of New Orleans, the largest of the war and a resounding U.S. victory. The battle occurred in January, 1815—two weeks after U.S. and British envoys signed a peace treaty in Ghent, Belgium. News traveled slowly then. ... For roughly a century, the conflict didn’t merit so much as a capital W in its name and was often called 'the war of 1812.' The British were even more dismissive. They termed it 'the American War of 1812,' to distinguish the conflict from the much great Napoleonic War in progress at the same time."
The retreating Americans had burned all Naval stores and ships at the Navy Yard before the British showed up. They also removed the nations's government documents that the British had tried to find and take.
The American General was blamed for defending Baltimore and not DC because he assumed the British Army would want Baltimore's commercial operations.
Then a Scots-Irish Tennessean named Jackson caught up to the British at a town called New Orleans. Killing the British Army after the war was over just made it that much sweeter.
200 years ago today: The British burned Washington
And do you know we've NEVER sent them a thank-you note? Tsk.
"200 years ago today: The British burned Washington."
Has Obama apologized yet?
I don't know about you, but I'm still mad. I refuse to use Worcestershire sauce. Wars have consequences.
This is a moment Canadians like to take credit for some reason.
The war started in much the same way it ended; Congress declared war after the British government in London had agreed to the conditions Congress had set for not declaring war - the principal being that the "warhawks" wanted the British to get out of the way so that the Americans could dispossess the southeastern Indian tribes of their lands.
"When do we invite them back?"
Already did. Some Brit squaddies showed up at one of our support the troops rallies. They politely declined so we directed them to a nicelocal bar.
It was the the night they burned old DC down
and all the bells were ringing
the night they burned old DC down and all the people were singing
They went "nah, nah, nah, nah nah nah.
At the time, it wasn't called the White House. It was the presidential (or executive) mansion. It got the name White House from the whitewash that was used to cover up the burn marks on the walls of the building. The marks are still there, and can be seen when the White House is renovated.
And to think ... we could'a left it like that.
We name our aircraft carriers Lexington and Yorktown for a reason. Too bad, Brits. Your little foray changed nothing.
In 1814 the President of the United States would not have fiddled during the burning times.
Oh my, how times have changed.
And the British are continuing to "burn" Washington by exporting jihadis to kill our nationals abroad more quickly than we can export corn syrup.
I'm starting to wonder if it's just too boring a place to offer anything better.
"the principal being that the "warhawks" wanted the British to get out of the way so that the Americans could dispossess the southeastern Indian tribes of their lands."
Wrong. The Warhawks wanted Canada. Maybe you should stop reading people like Zinn.
We had burned Canadian government buildings in York (now Toronto) in 1813. The Brits were just retaliating.
-Don't give up the ship.
-We have met the enemy and they are ours.
-I believe that in four weeks from the time a declaration of war is heard on our frontier, the whole of Upper Canada and a part of Lower Canada will be in our power.- James Madison.
Thanks, Ann, for a reminder that there are some disasters that can't be blamed on Obama -- although I bet Obama would blame it on Bush if asked.
In addition to this 200th anniversary, we are just days away from celebrating the 150th anniversary of General Sherman "liberating" Atlanta before the start of his march to sea.
For some reason, my southern co-workers don't appreciate my referring to it as the "liberation" of Atlanta. I wonder why?
while helping with genealogical research on my wife's side of the family, I recently learned about towns in upstate New York which were burned by the Canadians during that war. The Canadians considered it a punitive expedition.
One thing renaming the war might accomplish is helping disabuse 4th of July celebrants of the notion that the 1812 Overture has anything to do with it.
Wow, you forget about the British burning the White House. It kind of makes me want to reconsider my genial feelings for the British. I think I'll boycott Roger Waters.
I was disappointed when I found out that the 1812 Overture was about some Russian war instead of ours.
Cool cannons though.
We name our aircraft carriers Lexington and Yorktown for a reason.
Actually we don't anymore. We now name our aircraft carriers after presidents and secretarys of the Navy. The sole exception is the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Today Lexington and Yorktown would be an amphibious assault ship (legacy carrier names) or a cruiser (battle names).
When President Madison requested a declaration of war from Congress for the War of 1812, or "Mr. Madison's War," he cited the British impressment of American seamen (though the Brits said they only impressed those with British accents), the British blockade of American ports, and "inciting the Indians on the frontier" as the casus belli, and the incidents he was referring to were mainly those in the southeastern territories claimed by the southeastern states.
As for Canada, the United States have made numerous more or less serious military excursions into Canada from the time of the American Revolution until today, but does not seem to ever have had any intention of "conquering" Canada, though a lot of people seem to still be wondering when the Canadians are going to come to their senses and join up voluntarily.
Fortunately, president James Madison was playing golf, so he avoided capture.
In fact the last U.S.S. Yorktown was a cruiser comissioned in 1984, and currently being scrapped.
The last U.S.S. Lexington was a WW II era Essex carrier which retired as a training ship in 1991, when she became a museum, so there probably won't be another one on active duty.
The Godfather said...
Thanks, Ann, for a reminder that there are some disasters that can't be blamed on Obama -- although I bet Obama would blame it on Bush if asked
It seems like only yesterday that the left (in Robert Cook conspiracy fashion) was blaming the Bush family for "financing Hitler".
Blaming the burning of the White House on W or the entire Bush family? Small potatoes for the left.
I'm from Buffalo, NY. As many polacks from the region, I've got many relatives who, by default, are Canadian Nationals.
Family part time business was Customs / Immigration (Don't get folks started about DHS. Just Don't.)
My mom and my godfather were both full time staff at the Peace Bridge. I worked there Summers as a translator college years.
The nomenclature of Peace Bridge, I think, isto calm down the historic tensions between the British and Americans (with brief French incursions at around Lewiston, NY).
My Dad, second generation American from Denmark, explained things as such: "During the War of 1812, The Canucks would come burn down Buffalo, then Buffalo would burn down Fort Erie. This went on for a while. Finally, we're taking a rest."
OK forget the part about no new U.S.S. Lexingtons. The WW II Essex class version of the U.S.S Yorktown has been a museum since 1975.
Four out of the five aircraft carrier museums are Essex class carriers from WW II. ( Hornet, Lexington, Yorktown and Intrepid) The exception is U.S.S Midway, lead ship in her class, comissioned just after WW II.
CatherineM said...
This is a moment Canadians like to take credit for some reason.
=================
Until the Vietnamese and Bush and the Neocons "noble Muslim Freedom Lovers" gave us lost wars....
The Canadians were the only ones that were 1-0 against us.
The War of 1812 had militias and northern states agitating to invade Canada and take considerable amounts of territory. And despite that Sacred Parchment drivel about America having no standing Army....the 1812 militias proved about as worthless against regular British Army as the ones in the Revolutionary War.
The militias invaded, next thing they knew the Brits, the regular Army people from British N America (weren't called Canadians back then), and Tecumseh's Confederacy of Indian Tribes handed the militia their heads. Then counter-invaded and burned down several northern American towns..
Aside from the awful war-loving National Anthem Edith Wilson stuck us with, the good of Andrew Jackson coming into office and trashing the elites then in power....we got some common sense about the stupidity of the Sacred Parchments bar on "No Standing Army", ignoring that ever since..
Old Ironsides sailed around Boston Harbor this week before being put into drydock for the next couple of years.
I remember taking the bus up to Marblehead, MA to attend her 200th birthday party back about 1997 ish. As the bus took the shore route, Had Mme Ironsides on my right shoulder all the way up. That and the Birthday Ceremony were major events.
http://www.universalhub.com/2014/another-voyage-she-goes-drydock
Cedarford: Johnson. You can say the name. Come on: John-son...
Oh, yeah, Democrat. Gave us Vietnam.
There were two Lexingtons in WWII, the one sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea and the Essex-class christened in her honor, who drove the Japanese crazy as "the Blue Ghost" since their propagandists declared her sunk more often than any other American warship.
That's the vessel moored as a museum in Corpus Christie today...
You started it...you invaded Canadia (where the Canadians live), and anyway, you should thank us - the re-build is so much prettier!
David - it wasn't meant to 'change' anything, it was to protect Canada and in that it was a success.
Rhythm and Balls - We may export them but the CIA arms them!
Drew W - Wow, you forget about the Americans invading Canada. It kind of makes you want to reconsider your genial feelings for them. Think I'll boycott the Grateful Dead.
All friends now!
Dartmoor Prison where American prisoners were taken and left to rot for years was a true extermination camp from hunger and disease. The GD British have never been our friends.
Maybe the Brits could do us a favor and burn it down again.
Hagar said: "...though a lot of people seem to still be wondering when the Canadians are going to come to their senses and join up voluntarily."
The Canadians may be wondering the opposite. We elected Barack Obama; they have Stephen Harper. They have real leadership; we have an idiot.
Speaking of the War of 1812, Kenneth Roberts wrote two books primarily about the maritime side of that was, The Lively Lady, and Captain Caution. Both are available from Amazon (I checked). One includes vivid portrayal of the conditions suffered by American seamen on a prison hulk.
Congress declared war after the British government in London had agreed to the conditions Congress had set for not declaring war...
Not entirely correct. The British reserved the right to stop and search American merchant ships for "deserters" from the Royal Navy. The Treaty of Ghent resolved this issue with the first extradition agreement the United States entered into with a foreign power. The issue was largely moot by 1814 since Napoleon was in exile on Elba, and the RN was putting ships into "ordinary," thus creating a surplus of trained seamen rather than a shortage.
For some reason, my southern co-workers don't appreciate my referring to it as the "liberation" of Atlanta. I wonder why?
Just explain to them it was Sherman liberating Atlanta of it's flammable contents. Actually the Great Fire was mostly likely caused by Confederates burning the stores which could not be evacuated for lack of mules and wagons. Some of the stored material evidently included black powder. Gone With the Wind illustrated the fire nicely. There were no torch-waving Yankee fanatics running down Peach Tree.
[It] wasn't meant to 'change' anything, it was to protect Canada and in that it was a success.
Ex post facto war aim. The largest British military effort was the Louisiana Campaign conducted by General Sir Edward Pakenham leading a force of hand-picked Peninsular veterans. (One wonders how Major Richard Sharpe failed to participate.) The purpose was restore the Louisiana Territory to the throne of Spain. When Napoleon sold the territory it was under the auspices of the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, which transferred Louisiana from Spain (which had acquired it from France after the Seven Years War) back to France, and then with a month to the United States. Britain's ally Carlos IV repudiated the Treaty of San Ildefonso. George IV as Prince Regent agreed to help "restore" the lost Spain claim in return for administrative control of the Mississippi delta. Pakenham's expedition was handily defeated by Andrew Jackson and his mixed force of Tennessee backwoodsmen, USA regulars, and buccaneers. His force was repatriated by the United States not in time to face Napoleon in June 1815. Wellington came close to losing at Waterloo for lack of those veterans.
The most important outcome of the War of 1812 was the normalization of relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. Prior to 1815 British recognition of the United States was very tentative. Only Fox and his Whigs really thought of America as an independent power. The Tories considered America to be a renegade province of the Empire. Therefore their policy was to hem in American expansion, to prevent American annexations in the Mississippi Valley and expansion northwest to the Great Lakes, and thus to strangle the United States economically. The outcome of the war made this policy unviable.
Thank you, Dolly!
"The GD British have never been our friends."
This sentiment always surprises me.
But the simple fact is, without a Britain no USA.
The colonies were British.
Paul Revere never galloped about yelling "The British are coming!" That is just Longfellow.
The word was "The Regulars are out!" and some folks were indeed passing that around, while Paul Revere rather sedately, like the respectable gentleman he was, rode up to Concord to warn Messieurs to get out of Massachussetts or get arrested.
Sheesh!
.... Adams and Hancock ...
Have we ever sued those pyromaniac bastards for reparations?
Cedarford said
You forgot the Rodrguez Canal.
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