USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 23
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assemble at Montgomery Courthouse. This position seems to have been taken by General Winder with the view of interposing to protect Baltimore in case that city should prove to be in danger. On the 23d, General Winder had sent orders to the commanding officer at Fort Washington to place patrols in every road leading to the garri- son, and in the event of his being taken in the rear to blow up the fort and retire across the river.
From Benedict to Washington via Bladensburg is about fifty miles. The battle of Bladensburg ended at 4:00 P. M., and the British forces reached Washington about eight o'clock in the evening. The British army was under the joint command of General Ross and Admiral Cockburn. As the former was riding toward the Capitol, his horse was shot under him by some one firing from a house in the vicinity, the design being apparently to kill the General. This so enraged the troops that, after setting fire to the house containing the sharpshooter, they marched quickly to the Capitol, and fired several volleys into its windows; then maching inside the building, they collected all kinds of combustible materials, piled the books and papers in the Congres- sional Library on the floors, and set the whole mass on fire. When the clouds of smoke issued from the roofs of the wings of the build- ing, it seemed doomed to destruction, and doubtless more damage would have been done to it than was done, had it not been for the fact that in about half an hour after the fire was kindled a heavy shower set in and continned all the rest of the evening, and was the means of saving the walls, at least. While the fire was raging in the Capitol building, the British soldiers marched up Pennsylvania Avenue to set on fire the other public buildings. They did set on fire the Treasury, State, War, and Navy departments, and the President's House, destroying Mr. Sewall's house on Capitol Hill, a hotel belong- ing to Mr. Carroll, General Washington's house, and Mr. Frost's house. The public property destroyed was valued as follows: The Capitol building to its foundation was worth $787,163.28; the Presi- dent's Honse, $334,334; the other public buildings, $93,613.82; total value, $1,215,111.10.
It may be proper to add to this detail a statement of the forces engaged on either side in the engagement at Bladensburg. The strength of the several corps on the part of General Winder's army was as follows: Dragoons of the United States, 140; Maryland militia, 260; dragoons of the District of Columbia, 40; dragoons of Virginia, 100; total dragoons, 540. The Thirty-sixth Regiment of Infantry, one battalion of the Thirty-eighth, and one company of the Twelfth, 500;
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seamen and marines, 600; total, 1,100. Militia- Stansbury's brigade, 1,353; part of Stricker's, 956; Smith's brigade and Kramer's battalion, 1,800; Young's brigade, 450; Beall's regiment, 800; Minor's regiment, 600; sundry detachments of volunteers and militia, 450; total militia, 6,409. Total number, 8,049. There were in the battle twenty pieces of artillery of different caliber. The losses amounted to 10 killed and 30 wounded; total, 40.
The British forces numbered as follows: On Capitol Hill, 700; on Turnpike Hill, 2,000; wounded at Bladensburg, 300; attendants, 300; wounded and attendants at Washington, 60; killed at Bladensburg and Washington, 180; total, 3,540. The entire number in the British army was probably about 4,500.
On the evening of the 25th, after being in possession of the Capi- tal of the Nation twenty-four hours, the British made the greatest exertions to leave the city. They had about forty horses, ten or twelve carts and wagons, and several gigs, which they sent to Bla- densburg to move off the wounded; and these were preceded by a drove of sixty or seventy cattle. Arriving at Bladensburg, the surgeon was ordered to collect the wounded who could walk, and the forty horses were utilized to carry the wounded who could not walk, the carts and wagons being also used to carry the dead. About ninety of the wounded were left behind. At about midnight the British army passed through Bladensburg; parties continued to follow until morn- ing, and stragglers until midday. The retreat was made in great haste, as if the enemy were conscious of the presence of the American army at Montgomery Courthouse, and were in dread of an attack by General Winder's forces.
The capture of the city of Washington by the British forees severely wounded the pride not only of the people of the District of Columbia, but also of the entire country. That the city should have been permitted to be captured, has ever since been looked upon as a disgrace to the country and a shame to those who were entrusted with its defense. Some writers, in their impartiality, have attempted to distribute the blame all round among the various officers of the Government, from President Madison down to the immediate commanding general; while others have sought to limit it to the eom- manding general. Those who have included the President in the list, do so mainly upon the ground that it was he who was respon- sible for the selection of such an incompetent general; but it is probable that one of the reasons for the ability of the British to march upon and capture the city with but little or no opposition, was
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this; that most of the troops upon which General Winder had to depend, were raw militia. Had they been disciplined veterans, as were the British soldiers, or had they possessed confidence in them- selves and in their general, the sting and stigma of the disgrace of the capture would not have been experienced. At any rate the prowess and valor of American soldiers have since been most amply vindicated, on battlefields in Mexico, and on both sides in the war of the late Rebellion; so that so far as that particular feature of the case is concerned, there no longer remains any opportunity for criti- cism upon American soldiers, nor does there remain any reason to doubt the ability of the United States to produce competent com- manding generals.
In reviewing the events preceding the battle of Bladensburg, and the battle itself, it may, in the first place, be well to introduce the testimony of General Winder himself, with reference to the conduct of the militia from the District of Columbia. In a letter published October 8, 1814, he said: "I have no knowledge of any instance of the conduct of the militia (from Washington and Georgetown ) while under my command which is not honorable to their zeal, spirit, and subordination, and that they yielded a prompt and soldierly obedience to all my orders. My situation on the field, in the battle of Bladens- burg, with the front line, and subsequent efforts to form them on the left of the Georgetown and other militias, prevented me from witness- ing their conduct in the engagement. When I sent them orders to retreat, the enemy were turning both their right and left flanks. From the total flight of the front line and the troops posted on the right, and when I came up to them shortly after their retreat commenced, I found them retiring in order, and consequently inferred that they had not left their position before receiving my orders to retire. They were prepared and showed the utmost readiness to form again between the Capitol and the turnpike gate to renew the contest, until I found the total dispersion of the first line rendered it impossible to make another stand with a number sufficiently great to afford any hope of success. And they did, on my order, proceed through the city to Georgetown and form on the heights of Tenley Town."
Then, too, the story of the battle is perhaps best told in General Winder's own language:
"Our advanced riflemen, Pinkney's corps, now began to fire, and continued it for half a dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back to an orchard. They halted there, and seemed for a moment about returning to their original position, but in a few moments
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entirely broke, and retired to the left of Stansbury's line. The advance artillery immediately followed the riflemen, and retired on the left of the Fifth Baltimore Regiment, which had been pushed forward to sustain them.
"The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy being much above the heads of Stansbury's men, they stood them very man- fully, but the rockets having taken a more horizontal direction, a universal flight of the center and left of Stansbury's brigade was the consequence. The Fifth Regiment and the artillery still remained, and I hoped would prevent the enemy's approach, but the enemy ap- proached singly, and their fire annoyed the Fifth considerably, when I ordered it to retire, for the purpose of putting it out of reach of the enemy: This order was, however, immediately countermanded, from an aversion to retire before the enemy became stronger, and from a hope that the enemy would issue in a body and enable us to act upon him on terms of more equality.
" But his fire beginning to disturb this corps, and the Fifth Regi- ment still more by wounding some of them, and a strong column passing up the road and deploying on its left, I ordered them to retire. Their retreat became a flight of absolute and total disorder. Beall's regiment was posted on a height to the right of the road, which commanded the whole ground occupied by Stansbury's brigade. It gave one or two ineffectual fires and fled." This retreat completes the account of the fortunes and fate of the front line, which could not be rallied, and which displayed all its activity in making its way home.
This, it will be seen, agrees with General Winder's letter given above with respect to the conduct of the militia from the District of Columbia, and hence it seems permissible to place the most of the blame for the defeat at Bladensburg on the front line. The second line was composed of Smith's militia brigade, the Thirty-sixth Regular Regiment, one battalion of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, a detachment of the Twelfth Regiment, and Commodore Barney's corps of seamen and marines and the whole of the cavalry. General Winder did not have this line under his immediate observation. It appears that Commo- dore Barney, in the pressure upon the front line, was entirely forgotten at the Eastern Branch bridge, and would have remained there, much against his inclination, had he not accidentally met the President and Secretary of War, who advised him to hasten his march to Bladensburg and join the army. The Commodore in his report said: "We came up in a trot and took our position on the rising ground between Smith's militia and Beall's, posted our marines and seamen, and waited
15
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the approach of the enemy. During this period, the engagement con- tinued, the enemy advanced, and our army retreating apparently in much disorder. At length the enemy made his appearance before us and halted. After a few minutes I ordered an eighteen-pounder to fire upon him, which completely cleared the road. A second and third attempt were made to come forward, but all were destroyed. They then crossed over into an open field and attempted to flank us. There he was met by three twelve-pounders, the marines and seamen acting as infantry, and was again badly eut up. By this time not a vestige of the American army remained, except a body of five or six hundred on a height on my right, and from which I expected great support. The enemy now pushed up their sharpshooters and began to outflank us on the right. Our guns were that way when we pushed up the hill toward the American corps, stationed as above described, which, to my great mortification, made no resistance, giving a fire or two and retiring. Finding the enemy now in my rear, and no means of defense, I ordered my officers and men to retire."
General Smith said: "The dispersion of the front line caused a dangerous opening on our left, of which the enemy was availing himself, when I ordered Colonel Brent, with the Second Regiment, to take a position still more to our left, and he was preparing to execute this order when orders came from General Winder for the whole of the troops to retreat."
Upon receipt of orders of this kind from the commanding gen- eral, of course fighting was out of the question. The orders that followed were but little else than a repetition of orders to form and counter orders to retreat. When what was left of the army reached Washington, the Secretary of War suggested the occupation of the Capitol building, believing that the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-eighth regiments, together with those portions of Commodore Barney's corps that could be collected, would be sufficient to sustain their position therein, provided General Winder could assure them of such exterior support as would be necessary to supply them with food, water, and ammunition. The General replied that he could not give the assurance, and that he proposed to retire behind the heights at Georgetown. The Secretary of War then assented to the measure which appeared to have been previously discussed and determined upon by the com- manding general and the Secretary of State, and perceiving that no order was given to apprise the Navy Department of the determination to cross Rock Creek and to prevent the capture of the Navy Yard, he dispatched Major Bell to announce the retreat of the army. The
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garrison at Fort Washington was not more fortunate than their fellow- soldiers. The fort was destroyed and abandoned, though pressed by no enemy on either side.
It may not be improper to introduce testimony from the British side as to some of the features of this battle. An officer of the Eighty-fifth Royal Regiment, named Gleig, stated the facts in the fol- lowing language: "This battle, by which the fate of the American Capital was decided, began about one o'clock in the afternoon, and lasted till about four o'clock. The loss on the part of the English was severe, since, out of two-thirds of the army which was engaged, upward of five hundred men were killed and wounded, and what rendered it doubly severe was that among these were numbered several officers of rank and distinction. Colonel Thornton, who commanded the Light Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, commanding the Eighty- fifth Regiment, and Major Brown, who had led the advanced guard, were all severely wounded, and General Ross himself had a horse shot under him. On the side of the Americans the slaughter was not so great. Being in possession of a strong position, they were, of course, less exposed in defending than the others in storming it, and had they conducted themselves with coolness and resolution, it is not conceivable how the day could have been won. But the fact is, that with the exception of a part of the sailors from the gunboats, under the command of Commodore Barney, no troops could behave worse than they did. The skirmishers were driven in as soon as attacked. The first line gave way without offering the slightest resistance, and the left of the main body was broken within half an hour after it was seriously engaged. Of the sailors, however, it would be injustice not to speak in terms which their conduct merits. They were employed as gunners, and not only did they serve their guns with a quickness and precision which astonished their assailants, but they stood till some of them were actually bayoneted, with fuses in their hands; nor was it till their leader was wounded and taken, and they saw them- selves deserted on all sides by the soldiers, that they quit the field."
General Ross, in his dispatch of August 30, said that his loss at the battle of Bladensburg was sixty-four killed and one hundred and eighty-five wounded and missing. The numbers given by Gleig com- prised the entire loss of the British in killed, wounded, missing, and deserters, from the morning of the battle until their reembarkation, including the casualties at Washington.
"On the other hand, the citizen-militia escaped with their valuable lives, and, without forming again to impede the approach of the enemy
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or to defend the Capitol and public buildings, disappeared entirely from the District, leaving their wives and children to the merey of the victor."
The destruction of the Navy Yard followed almost immediately after the defeat at Bladensburg. The Secretary of the Navy had given orders to Commodore Tingey, that in case of defeat the shipping and store at the Navy Yard should be destroyed, to prevent their falling into the enemy's hands. At four o'clock the Secretary of War sent a messenger to the Commodore informing him that no further pro- tection could be given, and that officer forthwith proceeded to destroy the buildings and vessels, notwithstanding earnest appeals were made by the citizens to have the Navy Yard saved from destruction. At twenty minutes past eight o'clock the match was applied, and the sloop of war Argus, with ten guns mounted, five barges fully armed, two gunboats, the frigate Columbia on the stocks, and a large quantity of naval stores were consigned to the flames. The schooner and the arsenal escaped destruction.
After leaving the Capitol the British army marched up Pennsyl- vania Avenue, and taking possession of Mrs. Suter's lodging house, ordered supper. Meanwhile, they set fire to the Treasury building and the President's House. The President himself had retired from the city, with his cabinet, on horseback immediately after the close of the battle of Bladensburg, crossing the Potomac at Little Falls and recrossing it at the Great Falls. The table at the President's House was found set for forty guests, in expectation of a welcome to the victorious defenders of the city. The wine was cooling on the side- board, the plates warming at the grate, and the meats were on the spits in the kitchen. Ross and Cockburn, however, returned to Mrs. Suter's house, and, after extinguishing the lights, ate their repast by the light of the burning buildings. Later in the evening General Ross rejoined the main army, then on Capitol Hill, and Admiral Cockburn, with a few of his companions, passed the night in a brothel. During the night, in a fit of rashness, the sentries were attacked by a grandnephew of General Washington, a young sailor named John Lewis, who was shot down in the street and was found dead next morning where he fell. Had the militia at the battle of Bladensburg showed the spirit manifested by this young nephew of General Washington, the fortunes of the day would have been vastly different. On the morning of the 25th, the two commanders renewed the work of destruction by setting fire to the War and Navy depart- ments. The Post Office and the Patent Office were spared by the
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enemy on the appeal of Dr. Thornton to save private property stored in the building. General Washington's house, a dwelling owned by Robert Sewall, from behind which General Ross's horse was shot, that of Mr. Frost, and the hotel of Daniel Carroll were burned on Capitol Ilill, when the British proceeded to the Navy Yard to complete the ruin commenced under the orders of the Secretary of War. There they burned the public works, the private ropewalks of Tench Ring- gold, Heath & Company, and John Chalmers, and mutilated the monument erected by the officers of the navy to the valiant heroes who fell in the Tripolitan War:
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After setting fire to the ropewalks they threw the torch into a dry well into which the Americans had previously cast a large quantity of gunpowder and other military stores. The immediate consequence was a tremendous explosion, which caused death and destruction to all around, nearly one hundred of the British soldiers being killed and wounded, and their mutilated remains scattered in all directions. In addition to the general consternation produced by this explosion, a frightful tornado swept over the city, throwing down buildings and dealing destruction to everything in its way. The inky blackness of the sky, the howling of the storm, the cataract of rain, the fierce gleaming of the lightning, the tremendous pealing of the thunder, and the crash of falling buildings, all conspired to render the scene terrific beyond description, and, as was natural, struck terror and dismay alike to the heart of friend and foe. Trees were torn up by the roots, roofs were hurled through the air like sheets of paper, and scores of the enemy, as well as of the inhabitants of the city, were buried beneath the ruins. The elements seemed to vie with the English in making the work of destruction as complete as possible. The British, taking a needless alarm, or pretending to be apprehensive of an attack from the brave militia that fought the battle of Bladensburg, stealthily withdrew from the city and took up their line of march for the point of embarkation.
President Madison, finally awaking to the seriousness of the situ- ation, issued the following proclamation on September 1, 1814:
" WHEREAS, the enemy by a sudden incursion have succeeded in invading the Capital of the Nation, defended at the moment by troops less numerous than their own, and almost entirely of militia; during their possession of which, though for a single day only, they wan- tonly destroyed the public edifices having no relations in their structure to operations of war, nor used at the time for military
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annoyance; some of these edifices being also costly monuments of taste and of the arts, and others depositories of the public archives, not only precious to the Nation as the memorials of its origin and its early transactions, but interesting to all nations, as contributions to the general stock of historical instruction and political science; and
" WHEREAS, Advantage has been taken of the loss of the fort more immediately guarding the town of Alexandria, to place the town within the range of the naval force, too long and too much in the habit of abusing its superiority, wherever it can be applied, to require as the alternative of a general conflagration an undisturbed plunder of private property, which has been executed in a manner peculiarly distressing to the inhabitants, who had inconsiderately cast themselves upon the justice and generosity of the victor; and,
" WHEREAS, It now appears, by a direct communication with the British commander on the American Station, to be his avowed purpose to employ the force under his direction in destroying and laying waste such towns and districts upon the coast as may be found assailable, adding to his declaration the insulting pretext that it is in retaliation for a wanton destruction committed by the army of the United States in Upper Canada, when it is notorious that no de- struction has been committed which, notwithstanding the multiplied outrages previously committed by the enemy, was not unauthorized, and promptly shown to be so; and that the United States have been as constant in their endeavors to reclaim the enemy from such out- rages, by the contrast of their example, as they have been ready to terminate on reasonable conditions the war itself; and,
" WHEREAS, These proceedings and declared purposes, which ex- hibit a deliberate disregard of the principles of humanity and the rules of civilized warfare, and which must give to the existing war a character of extended devastation and barbarism at the very moment of negotiations for peace invited by the enemy himself, leave no prospect of safety to anything within the reach of his predatory and incendiary operations but in manful and universal determination to chastise and expel the invader;
"Now, therefore, I, James Madison, President of the United States, do issue this, my proclamation, exhorting all the good people thereof to unite their hearts and hands, giving effect to the ample means possessed for that purpose. I enjoin it upon all officers, civil and military, to exert themselves in executing the duties with which they are respectively charged. And more especially I require the officers commanding the respective military departments to be vigilant
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and alert in providing for the defense thereof; for the more effectual accomplishment of which they are authorized to call to the defense of exposed and frontier places portions of the militia most conven- ient thereto, whether they be or be not parts of the quotas detached for the service of the United States under requisitions of the General Government.
"On an occasion which appeals so forcibly to the proud feelings and patriotic devotion of the American people, knowing what they owe to themselves, what they owe to their country and the high destinies which await it, what to the glory acquired by their fathers in establishing the independence which is now maintained by their sons with the augmented strength and resources with which time and heaven have blessed them. JAMES MADISON."
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