Star-Spangled Banner WASHINGTON, D.C., REGION Disgrace & Devastation: THE CAPITAL BURNS August 24, 1814 – Two days after destroying his U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla instead of surrendering it to the British, Commodore Joshua Barney links up with other American troops in a brave but futile defense of Bladensburg. August 25, 1814 – Having already set the Library of Congress, White House and unfinished U.S. Capitol on fire the night before, British troops burn more government buildings. The U.S. Navy destroys the Washington Navy Yard rather than have it fall into enemy hands. August 26, 1814 – President James Madison sets up a temporary office in Brookeville, Md., making it “The United States Capital for a Day.” August 27, 1814 – As the British navy approaches, Fort Washington is destroyed by its own garrison without a shot being fired. The next day, a defenseless Alexandria, Va., surrenders. August 30, 1814 – A victorious British force, having pulled back to Nottingham and Benedict following its foray into Washington, boards ships on the Patuxent River. In August 1814, residents of the small riverfront town of Benedict saw a startling sight: nearly 4,400 enemy troops were disembarking from more than 50 warships and other vessels. The force grew even larger after the British Army and Navy linked up in Upper Marlboro, creating a truly imposing force set on invading America’s fledgling federal city. Thousands of American militiamen and soldiers, including some that had served nobly as part of Commodore Joshua Barney’s recently scuttled U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla, confronted the British at Bladensburg, just a few miles east of the Capital. However, the American forces proved too inexperienced and disorganized to put up much of a fight. The road to Washington, D.C., was left wide open. Before long, the U.S. Capitol and White House were set aflame. President James Madison and his wife Dolley, along with hundreds of frightened citizens, fled the city, while the Declaration of Independence and other important documents were rushed to safety in the surrounding countryside. With morale ebbing, the young nation licked its wounds. WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ecretary of War John Armstrong was convinced that Washington, D.C., would not be an enemy target because of its minor strategic value when compared to cities such as Portsmouth and Baltimore. The District was left poorly defended and, as a result, the Capital became occupied by a foreign power for the first and only time in America’s history. But first, the invaders had to fight their way to it. Quaint country roads in the southern part of this region are, in some cases, the very ones used by British troops in August 1814 during their march northward toward Washington. Soldiers, sailors and Royal Marines laden with artillery disembarked Washington, D.C., Region 18 | nps.gov/stsp
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