Arrive in washington. Theyre so great. They had a fire in the middle of the 19th century but you can see what remains of them in curved bookcases at the library of congress and its incredible. This man, this renaissance man, every subject you can think of is there. Archaeology. History. Art. Farming. Its all there in different languages. That was thomas jefferson. Amazing. Well, two days before the british arrived, the commandant ordered the navy clerk to get a hold of transport to take 124 barrels of gun powder out of the navy yard into the safety of virginia. Booth settled up across into georgetown and saw a wagon outside a store. He rode up and told the two apparent owners he was impounding it for the department of navy. This is wartime. And so some citizens who might normally have buckled to bureaucratic pressure bustled chasing off government officials with abuse and profanities. This is exactly what happened to booth. In a vivid chronicle written two weeks after the departure of the british, he described what happened next. And its got my fingerprints all over it at the National Archives. I dismounted and followed them into the store. Where they made use of such language as was degrading to gentlemen. He didnt have any backup power. He didnt get the wagon. But booth was one of the last to free the city before the british arrived. And before he did so, he decided to check at the white house to see if anybody was there and to get reliable information. When he rode up, he saw an american colonel on horseback near the front door. The colonel dismounted, walked over to the locked front door of the white house, pulled hard on the bell rope and banged on the name of chief john the chief of the household staff but wrote booth all was as silent as a church and only then did he realize in his words, quote, the metropolis of the country was abandoned to his horrid fate. He represented america at that moment. And then a note arrived at the Sate Department scribbled by secretary of state james monroe who was then on horseback spying on the British Advance east of washington. He ordered his staff to secure as best they could the precious National Documents in the departmental records. One of the clerks, Stephen Pleasanton, remember that name, stephen with a ph and pleasanton. This is one of the bravest men ill talk about tonight. He and others but pleasanton described himself as chiefly instrumental in this. Very gently put the originals believe it or not of the declaration of independence, the constitution, International Treaties and George Washingtons correspondence into bags that he had made up into book bags that were linen. Whilst this is being done, none other than the secretary of war passed by and armstrong rebuked him for being alarmist and thinking the british were on the way to washington. Pleasanton was intimidated. Thats amazing. Imagine. He stood up to the secretary of war and said its more prudent to try and protect the documents of the revolutionary government so he loaded them on to carts, crossed the Potomac River and drove two miles7n upstream of georgetown where he put them in an abandoned mill but then he immediately had second thoughts. He was now opposite fox holes foundry, the largest manufacturer of munitions in the country and certain to be targeted by the british. A spy or turncoat could leave an enemy to the nearby hiding place. So he went further into virginia. Got some wagons, came back and loaded them up. And he drove 35 miles west to leesburg, virginia. Put them in an empty house. Locked the door. And gave the key to the collector of Internal Revenue and then he checked into a hotel. That night, the residence of leesburg went into the streets and they could see the fiery glow over the burning city of washington. Pleasanton was not amongst them. He was too tired and fast asleep. Now, i know this happened because 39 years later, excuse me. I have a slight sinus problem. 39 years later, pleasanton thought that he was going to be he was going to lose his job because he3 department kno anybody and the Incoming Administration and in those days you had to know people. So, he wrote a letter to his eminent friend James Buchanan who became president just before lincoln and he outlined everything he had done, that memorable 24th of august, 1814, and he said, i could have been rewarded by thousands of pound sterling by the british if id given them the documents and i didnt. And the letter is in the papers in the library of congress. Now, i was always upset by the condition of president s grave. I had been to Congressional Cemetery many times, about a mile behind the u. S. Capitol. And it was at an angle and you couldnt read his name too well so i held a fund raising walk to restore the tombstone. And we walked from the capitol to the white house. As we passed the National Archives, i was telling stories all the time from the war of 1812 and i said, if it were not for Stephen Pleasanton you probably would not be able to see those documents in the National Archives today. And of course, i raised the money and we got an expert and restored the tombstone. Up right now and the man got the credit so long overdue. Now, i want to tell you about a woman who was equally as brave safety of her own life. Her name is Dolly Madison. She is without a doubt the most beloved first lady ever to live in the white house. Jackie kennedy was admired but dolly was beloved and people said that when she wore her jewelry it was outshown by her personality. She was a marvelous woman. Look how she risked her life or captivity to save a painting. None of us would do that. Ikxez certainly wouldnt. But she did. And its not surprising that people paid courtesy calls on her until her death on lafayette square, new years day in particular. Courtesy calls from the president onwards down. What shelkqwe does was this. Gilbert stewarts full length portrait of George Washington hung in the west hall of the large dining room. It had been acquired by the federal government in 1800 for the white house at a cost of 800. And at that moment, two new yorkers, friends of herls, came in to the white house and they asked if they could do anything to help. This is jacob barker and according to a historian who interviewed them later, she said fall into the hands of the british. When she saw that her slave Paul Jennings was taking too long to unscrew the giant frame from the wall, she told him to break the canvas. And fortunately at that moment, french john came in. It becomes murky. Did]aen french john tell jennio stop and with dollys approval took out the knife and cut the fabric from its frame . 95 inches long, 59 3 4 inches wide. Or, did dolly tell the slave to break it from the wood and take it out . We dont know for sure. But the conservators didnt find any cut marks on the canvas. And so, were not quite sure. ÷ whatever happened, they gave it to barker one of the new yorkers who started to roll it up. Until he was stopped by the frenchman. They put a flat in the wagon and drove through georgetown into the countryside and left wit a farmer they lodged with overnight and a few weeks latter, they returned it to dolly. Now, today, it hangs in the east room of the white house. When the president is giving a press conference there in the east room or hes awarding medals of honor, et cetera, you will see it behind his shoulders. And when my book came out, it was invited to lunch at the white house. They took me to rooms off limits. We passed through the map room, socalled because theres a map of europe over the mantlepiece and it3m njuj the swastika symbols which plot the nazis advance in world war ii. Theres a Little Medicine chest nearby about so big. And its got holes for viles of medicine and you can pull out the drawers. In 1939, a canadian wrote to president roosevelt and his name was archibald canes. And he said, my grandfather was a paymaster aboard the british warship devastation which came up the Potomac River at that time and laid siege to alexandria and oversaw the raiding of the warehouses of Agricultural Produce. But i checked it up. Thomas canes was the huqoepayma of the devastation but none of the crew set foot in washington. So either henexchange d booty with another briton or archibald canes the canadian is mistaken as is the white house. Well, we then went to see the portrait of George Washington. They took away the rope that keeps you about 20 feet away and then for the first of countless times i saw the artists amazing mistake. In the painting George Washington is standing up facing you. There is a table next to his right leg, under the table are some books and the title painted on one of the books cbqps la and constitution of the United States sates. Can i believe it . Gill birth stewart made a spelling mistake. Extraordinary. Well, when the british arrived on capitol hill, they confronte÷ by the twinm senate in the north, the south and covered wooden walkway. As they entered, theyw3fqz expe to find signs of republican simplicity. But instead, they found evidence of splendor. Now, i go to town in this book on what the building was like because it wasnt a normal building. It was like those great cathedrals in Medieval Europe built with a lot of money and the finest artisans. They want to glorify something capitol. It represented the hopes and aspirations of the young republic. And when it was restored, it would represent resilience and unity. Now, of course, its a beacon of democracy. But they saw this now created a colas sal. He was an architect, latrobe. There were no sculptors of note in america so latrobe looked to the land of don tell lo, davinci and finding two worthy tuscans, he hired them. They began to sculpt the columns and he exasperated latrobe with the slow pace and finishing the first one, latrobe exalted, called him an artist of firstrace excellence and the other, began modeling a bald eagle until he was stopped by latrobe for fear it didnt resemble the bird of prey and latrobe didnt want any criticism, least of all from congressmen from the western states who knew what the bird looked like. He wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Artist peel asking for a drawing of the head and claws of a bald eagle. When the stagecoach arrived with mail from philadelphia, latrobe was in for a surprise. He opened the package to find the perfect head and neck of a baldjw eagle. And a dra c and a coverleter followed saying shoot the bird of prey to look at the arrangement of the feathers. He set to with an obsessive passion. It was a sick man. Wouldnt live a year beyond the departure of the british. He pulled all the Creative Energy into this. If you have ever created anything, quilting, gardening, a book, anything, you know what im talking about. And when he had finished, latrobe marvelled. He called it the finest eagle in the history of sculpture. He said the wingspan of 12 feet and was hoisted high above the speakers chair in the awesome hall of the house of representatives. But now sadly it would be destroyed. Along with all the other works Junior Officers in the british army saying we dont mind destroying ordinances and ammunition and weapons and everything like that. But why artwork . Well, they followed orders. And the british bonfires with furniture, they hacked at the window and door frames and spread the wood with the rockets. The flames were so great that night that i have correspondence that you could see it in baltimore. You could even see it in the ships logs of british warships on the river 50 miles east. Thats extraordinary. And so, thats what they did in the u. S. Capitol. Now, 100 soldiers and sailors, thiss all, the rest of them remained on capitol hill at the headquarters. 100 soldiers and sailors in 2 orderly columns tramped down the broad, quiet of pennsylvania on their way to burn the white house. On either side of them were double rows of stately poplar trees planted by thomas jefferson. When one of the men started to talk, an officer shouted, silence. Ill shoot the first man who speaks. Slaves scurried ahead warning the remaining residents to flee the city because the british had just were on the way to burn the white house. Excuse me while i just have a sip. When they got to the southeast corner of pennsylvania avenue and 15th street where the White House Visitor Center stands today in the department of commerce building, they ringed what was then a long low brick building, run as a boardinghouse by a widow. Major general robert ross commanding the land forcesccx entered under the low door and began to tease the woman saying, madame, we have come to supper with you. He tried to steer them across the road but ross wouldnt have it. He said that he preferred the view of the government buildings from her boardinghouse and the frightened woman went into the back house to slaughter chickens for unwelcomed guests to return around midnight after burning the white house. The day begun with a sevenhour forced march from Upper Marlboro through woods and dense thickets and brush to bladensburg and fought an hourlong battle and the heat so intense that 18 of their men dropped dead from heat exhaustion. Then they marched 6 miles southwest to the capitol. Burned the capitol and tramped almost a mile down pennsylvania avenue to where they were now. They were famished and thirsty but when they entered the white house, they found a table laid before 40 because dolly expecting the captains of the military leaders for dinner. Admiral George Coburn was the driving force behind the assault on washington. His superior Major General robert ross had second thoughts and wanted to return and coburn forced him by the influence of his arguments to proceed. He said we have militia men ahead of us. Thats nothing. We have come so far. We have to continue. Coburn had been recognized by none other than admiral who ratio national. Coburn had been a sailor from the preteen years and nelson acknowledged coburns ability and courage and zeal. And he was thought of so highly by the british admiralty that he was chosen to take the great napoleon into exile on the island and i got a hold of the diary and he said, this man napoleon sometimes wants to play the sovereign. I wont allow it. H[j the fiber of the man who grabbed an american, who was innocent, he grabbed him and took him into the white house as a british burned it. America. The man he selected was roger choo whiteman. He was a book seller recently married and he would become a longtime mayor of the city of washington. A free wheeling mood. He taunted and mocked the madisons in the coarse lingo of a common sailor and tweaked the honor of whiteman. With mischievous relish. He said to whiteman, take a souvenir and whiteman looked for something that was valuable. And he said, oh no, thats being delivered to the flames. Take something of useless value. Monetary value. He took something that had no value at all and then copen said ill take a souvenir for myself and selected a cushion and a bra which is a hat probably belonging to the president and the british drank, poured wine from dekanters into cut glass. They told us that the health of the prince regent and success of his majestys land and naval forces and drank to peace with america and down with madison. And when one of the men found the ceremonial hat belonging to the tip of his bayonet and he said, if they could not capture the little president , madison was only 54, they would parade his hat in england. That night they burned the white house and the treasury and the next morning, the state department and the rope walks and the last because of the content of rope and tar sent columns of choking black smoke over the city. The ruins were telling commentary on a scale of the citys b1 ndegradation. Now, thats the scene as they left the capitol. And now these flames, theres they came wednesday night. And on thursday, at 2 00 p. M. , there was a twohour storm that may have been a hurricane. It was so fierce itqj1 lifted heavyweight cannons and things like feathers and dropped them at random. And it spread eagled horses and britons. They were terrified. Locals had never seen anything like it. But its mythological to say that storm extinguished the flames. I have correspondence from a number of sources that says the flames burned for several days after the storm. So now, you have this terrible sight but thats not the end of americas humiliation because washingtonians in this moment of catastrophe that did most of the looting, believe it or not. Many waited for the streets to be empty, the houses to the military out of sight. Now they were free to steal and run. No one was around to protect private property or enforce law and order. Poor jennings had been told by dollys brotherinlaw to go to 40th street to get his carriage. And from that Vantage Point that he his slave would later recollect a rabble taking advantage of the confusion ran the president s house. Thats what they called the white house then and would steal lots of silver and whatever else they could run off with. Souvenir hunting and isolated cases of robbery for which the thieves paid dearly at the hands of their own. Time and again enemy commanders reassuring the remaining residents that the property would be safe so long as they didnt take up arms against the occupying forces. And these were not promises. They even accompanied a company to patrol pennsylvania avenue to protect personal property. They would perform with two exceptions. Extraordinary. Occupying force behaving likeo that. So, excuse me while i take one more sip. Coming in from surrounding counties and from pennsylvania and virginia. History has a way of taking a humiliating moment like that and turning it into glory. And this is what happened. It was raining hard and the bulbous hills were slashed with soggyehp trenches but even tho the men were wet, damp, tired and hungry, they were itching for payback for what had happen