THE STORMING OF THE CAPITOL RESULTED IN OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM

The final stages of The War of 1812 turned in America’s favor by weather and tides.

The burning of our nation’s capitol and the staging area of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ all happened within 20 days of each other only 50 miles apart.

With the tragic events that occurred at the Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021, it is fitting to trace back to the last time Washington, D.C. was violently attacked.  There is much history to pour through to compare similarities, symbolism, and scenarios.  Britain’s motivation was a response to America’s declaration of war; however, in my opinion, it may very well have been an act of revenge at the hand of one very influential British aristocrat.   Let’s begin our track of the 31 days of this extraordinary saga.

As soon as Napoleon’s French Fleet was decimated by the British in 1814, the Royal Navy was free to send its armada across the Atlantic to answer America’s declaration of War on Great Britain.  The naval strength of more than 130 battle ships, with 1800 guns of various caliber, was assembled and now in sight of the Chesapeake Bay.

 

But the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, was anxious to finally unleash his pride and joy on the seat of government of the former British Colonies in America.  In addition to frigates and mortar ships, the H.M.S. Erebus was the rocket ship carrying his proprietary weaponry. Wellesley was a hardened military man who fell victim to these very rockets three decades earlier at the hands of Tipu Sultan of India.  Wellesley never recovered from the terror that rained down around him over several campaigns to overthrow the Indian Sultan.  Wellesley finally defeated Tipu Sultan in 1799 and, as a trophy of war, brought the Asian manufactured arsenal back to Britain.  William Congreve harnessed the rocket technology and outfitted it on the Erebus.

 

British Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane orchestrated the invasion.  British blockades were in place up and down the entire U.S. coastline. An attack on the U.S. Capitol was in the works months in advance.  Cochrane planned the destruction of the U.S. Capitol along with the surrounding major port cities along the Chesapeake Bay. Cochrane saw the strategic significance of Tangiers Island in the heart if the Chesapeake.  For a brief moment in history, it served as important of a naval military center as Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

In advance of the attack, Cochrane took advantage of the political tensions that were evident in America.  Once again, there were British sympathizers who feared the American experiment was not long for.  British agents targeted properties bordering the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia.  In an attempt to entice local blacks to join the British fight on U.S. soil, Vice Admiral Cochrane formed the Corps of Colonial Marines a year earlier.  British loyalists recruited slaves and promised them and their families freedom.  Many blacks in the region accepted the offer.  The British trained them as equals and the former slaves received pay, uniforms, and the promise of a pension.  They became Britain’s newest mercenaries.

 

DAY THREE: August 17th, 1814. Ships Enter the Mouth of the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers.

DAY FIVE: August 19th, 1814.  British Navy Lands at Benedict, Maryland on the Patuxent River.

With minimal resistance aside from the brutal summer temperature, Rear Admiral George Cockburn and Ross marched 4,500 men in the sweltering heat toward Washington, D.C.   Over the next two days, the American mariners making up the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla was assigned the protection of Washington from approaching British warships up the Patuxent; however, the Americans set ablaze their own gunboats as the British land and sea forces neared.

The  future 5th President, James Monroe, acted as a scout to detect the landing and thwart the advance of Admiral Cochrane’s campaign.  Meanwhile, back on the Potomac, British Captain Gordon’s mortar bombardment squadron found a scanty presence of a garrison manning Fort Washington approximately 50 miles downriver from the U.S. Capitol.

President Madison was almost shot by the British as it was reported he rode aimlessly through the countryside on horseback attempting to organize defenses.  At a critical juncture, British General Ross’s intentions confused the American forces.  It was unknown which direction the British troops were going to march.

Baltimore was in range to the north where Britain’s dreaded American foes, the Privateers, called home.  Privateer maritime operations on open waters maneuvered regularly from the Chesapeake, stealthily breaking the blockades and plundering British ships in the Mid-Atlantic.  In addition, Baltimore was known as a vital shipbuilding center where America’s future frigate fleet was under construction. Therefore, Baltimore was a choice target.

Meanwhile, Washington was directly west. Symbolically, Washington, D.C. was of equal value as a target.   U.S. politicians and military tacticians knew that Britain was driven to take revenge for America’s short-lived occupation of Toronto, Canada the previous year as the U.S. invasion forces attempted to annex Lower Canada.  During the American incursion, the Parliament building was set ablaze and looters took symbolic British ‘trophies of war’ as they retreated.

As Cockburn and Ross stood eight miles northeast of Washington, D.C. the British advance met the first organized U.S. militia in the campaign.  Maryland slave-owners must have been shocked to see their runaway slaves return in British uniform with muskets aimed waiting for the order to open fire.   However, other blacks refused the British offer of freedom and remained on the side of America.

The Battle of Blandensburg did not last long.  The U.S. forces quickly disbanded when the casualties became heavy.  The British easily won and turned to the west marching unimpeded to the nation’s Capitol.  After the Chesapeake campaign, the British kept their word and the blacks were transported to Halifax, Nova Scotia where they started their new life.

The paltry response of local militia paled in comparison to the bravery of Dolly Madison’s heroic actions, with the help of her 15 year old enslaved servant Paul Jennings to sneak the life-size portrait of George Washington out of the Presidential Mansion.  Absence of any organized U.S. force remains a stunning fact with the only plausible military explanation was that the British would not waste their time attacking Washington, D.C. because it had no tactical value.  Instead, all attention, troops, and weaponry was directed to the defense of Baltimore instead.

The British mortar ships and the H.M.S. Erasmus never made it up the Potomac to shell and rocket Washington, D.C. but they were certainly within striking distance of Alexandria, Virginia.  Seeing the U.S. Capitol ablaze from across the Potomac, a delegation representing the citizens of Alexandria offered their surrender of the city to the British. Cockburn was surprised by the news Captain Gordon’s squadron was well south of their destination. The naval bombardment of Washington never happened. Wellesley’s rockets never flew over the capitol.

At that moment, it is reported a tornado spun viciously toward Washington, D.C. spawning furious lightening strikes.  The tornado halted Cockburn’s devastation and Ross’s troops quickly departed Washington, D.C. with a few choice trophies of war that included a grandfather clock and Madison’s personal accounting ledger of the U.S. revenue. Perhaps with Thomas’s sermon filling Cockburns head, the burning abruptly ended. Was it Devine Intervention?

As Cockburn and Ross traversed across the Maryland countryside back to Benedict where their ships were anchored, many patriotic citizens took arms or shouted disapproval of the Redcoat pestilence.  The American countryside was encouraged to hurl rocks or hurl insults.  Dr. William Beanes was one such patriot who reportedly did both.  He was summarily taken prisoner by the British.

President Madison was alerted to such actions and he immediately dispatched local attorneys to appeal for prisoner release arrangements.  Francis Scott Key was one such attorney.  U.S. officials approached the British military authorities and Key was notified he would subsequently be allowed audience before the British authorities on the H.M.S. Minden in hopes of releasing his client and friend, Dr. William Beanes.

Back on the Potomac, U.S. defenses were quickly gathered at Fort Washington to meet the British mortar squadron.  Captain Gordon ordered the warships to open fire on the fort.  Americans fled the fortification leaving Alexandria, Virginia completely vulnerable.  The British entered the city and in exchange for not lighting the city on fire, troops were allowed access to plunder stores of tobacco, flour, and cotton.

As the British bombardment squadron retreated, they continued to eliminate U.S. fortifications as they moved down the Potomac.  The British retreat was hampered by unfavorable winds leaving them anchored in the Potomac for days.

The British mortar ship, Devastation, was grounded in the shallows of the Potomac.  U.S. gunboats unsuccessfully attempted to capture the ship as the rest of the British squadron propelled the attack.  The skirmishes lasted for another 3-4 days. Erebus suffered the single death of a British seaman although there were reports of at least a dozen more with shrapnel wounds.

The British captured merchant vessels and sailed into the safety of the Chesapeake where they reassembled and planned their full attack on the city of Baltimore and Fort McHenry.  There wasn’t a single U.S. warship in the vicinity.  Two frigates that were supposed to be dispatched to protect the cities along the mid-Atlantic were blockaded by the British in New London, Connecticut for the duration of the British invasion of the Chesapeake Bay.  It was known that anti-Federalist pro-British support groups aided the British in many places along the U.S. coastline.  U.S. Senator Henry Clay led the WarHawks who demanded a stronger militarization of the U.S. Navy; however, the lack of American warships spoke for itself.  Cochrane turned his sights to Baltimore.

Twelve British sailing ships were spotted off Annapolis, Maryland that confirmed the all-out assault of Baltimore.  Additional American scouting parties reported smaller craft well up the Chesapeake Bay heading toward Baltimore.  Local city and state militias were fortified with federal regular Army troops.  Major George Armistead served as a commander the previous year at Fort Niagara where he defeated the British thereby allowing the Americans to enter Canada.  President Madison ordered Armistead to take command of Fort McHenry.  Knowing the inevitability of the naval attack, he reinforced gun positions around the harbor and along the Chesapeake.

Canon blasts alerted the city of Baltimore on a Sunday morning of the arrival of the British fleet.  General Ross and Cockburn landed their 5,000 troops at North Point, Maryland on the far eastern reaches well beyond the protection of Fort McHenry.  To Admiral Cochrane’s shock, 12,000 Americans were ready.  General Ross was killed by sharpshooters and the advance was halted.

U.S. Commanders successfully sunk merchant ships to block the entrance to the Patapsco River leading into Baltimore.  But the shallow waters kept the bulk of the British Fleet 5 miles away from Fort McHenry.  Erebus successfully positioned itself 2.5 miles away.  It was as close as the rocket ship would get to Fort McHenry or the port of Baltimore.

Armistead’s gunners shot burning cannonballs fired from Fort McHenry that skipped a half mile across the harbor successfully striking the wooden hulls of the British ships.  24 pounders rained down on the British ships with a range of 1800 yards.  36 pounders rained down on the British ships with a range of 2800 yards.  Royal Navy retreated to safety after the first 3 hours of the attack.  With news of the American heroism, Yankee Doodle could be heard from the inner harbor of Baltimore.

Captain Gordon and the British Commanders executed a Mortar ship assault.  Among the second wave included the  H.M.S. Volcano and H.M.S. Devastation.  They moved closer to Fort McHenry.  These ships were designed to volley with a massive recoil as they were built with heavy construction on the decks and in the hulls.  The 200 pounders had a range of 4200 yards.  Armistead later estimated 1500 British shells were fired upon the fort but only 400 struck the grounds, ramparts, or buildings.

H.M.S. Erebus also was part of the attack flotilla.  The Congreve rockets launched and streamed with blood red brilliance.  As the shells whistled overhead, the Fort McHenry garrison watched the rockets fall short into the water, well short of the ramparts.  Amistead ordered a cease fire at the 25th hour knowing it was best to save his ammunition.  At the end of the attack, only four Americans were killed.

The British amassed one last fail-safe plan that was devised well in advance.  A landing attack of 3 bayonette regiments where Commodore Cochrane, aboard his H.M.S. Surprise, initiated a diversion to cover the ground attack on Baltimore.  An assembled fleet of rowboats and barges that would stealthily oar up the Patapsco Ferry Branch.

Shelling commenced at midnight and the silent oars moved the force into position.  As the dragoons lit their gun matches, their position was given away.  The Baltimore militias took advantage of the situation and commenced firing their muskets.  The British attack quickly fell apart as they were caught in the crossfire.

Francis Scott Key was still aboard the British treaty ship, H.M.S. Minden after successfully arranging his client’s release.  As the naval attack was already underway, Key was instructed to remain on the ship until the naval battle’s conclusion.  At dawn’s early light, the awesome spectacle of Erebus’s rockets was so shocking, Key was inspired to write his now famous poem that ultimately came to be known as ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.

Back in Great Britain, Arthur Wellesley would learn that his rocket hellfire that won him fame in the Anglo-Russian War in the Baltic and the victory in Algiers over Napoleon failed in the Battle of Baltimore.

The British Fleet sailed south and eventually participated in the Battle of New Orleans even though the treaty was signed between Britain and the United States weeks earlier.

Within months, Washington, D.C. began restoration of the burned buildings.  The scorch marks on the walls of the Presidential mansion were quickly covered with white paint.  This renovation gave the mansion its familiar appearance that is known from that day forth as The White House.

The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ remains America’s national anthem and foremost hymn sung at every major venue and public event.

The Chesapeake Bay continues its position as one of America’s premiere bodies of water essential to the port of Baltimore and local professional and recreational sailing communities.  It is well on its way to returning oysters to their once pristine stature.