#dchistory

Letter from James Monroe to President James Madison, August 22,1814. (Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives, online here)

By Miriam Kleiman, Program Director for Public Affairs.

In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay started to sail up Maryland’s Patuxent River. Then-Secretary of State James Monroe feared an attack on DC, reached out with concern to President Madison, and offered to journey to Maryland to assess the situation. When he saw the number of British troops advancing towards DC, Monroe sent an urgent note to Madison. Excerpts follow:

The enemy are advanced six miles on the road to the wood Yard, and our troops retiring.  

Our troops were on the march to meet them, but in too small a body to engage.

The enemy are in full march for Washington.

See also:

Flashback: Burning of the Capitol 1814, Part 1

P.S.: You Had Better Remove the Records: Early Federal Archives and the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812, Prologue story by NARA Historian Jessie Kratz.

Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington, White House Historical Association, by NARA Historian Jessie Kratz.

Last week I only had to walk one block north of Washingtoniana when I spotted it. Hiding behind a Rube Goldberg-like contraption of utility pipes and meters was a section of wrought iron railing painted battleship gray. Radiating out from a centered, vertically-oriented opening were lightning bolts that culminated in sunbursts.

"This is old and there has to be a story behind it," I surmised.

Arriving back at Washingtoniana, the first thing I did was to check the DC Government Office of Planning's HistoryQuest DC map. Typing in the address of the building resulted in discovering that it was constructed in 1948 and that the original owner was the Chevy Chase Radio & Electric Company. I realized immediately that this railing had to be part of the original business that opened at this address 70 years ago.

Next I conducted a search of the Evening Star newspaper database (available at any DC Public Library or remotely with a DCPL library card). Searching "4420 Connecticut" with the searched narrowed to just 1948 resulted in hits for two businesses at this address but neither of them were the Chevy Chase Radio & Electric Company.

Having recalled seeing another entrance at the south end of the building opposite the 4420 address imprinted on a canopy over an entrance at the north end, I searched for "4418 Connecticut." Quickly I found four advertisements that the Chevy Chase Radio Company ran between April and August of 1948. Next up was to search Washingtoniana’s Evening Star Photo Morgue and the Historical Image Collection to see if there were any photos of the building as it originally looked in 1948.

Nothing.

Next I consulted Forest Hills, an Images of America book published in 2006 by the Forest Hills Neighborhood Alliance. No luck there either.

Lastly, I ran a Google Images search for "Chevy Chase Radio Company" and, in addition to lots of photos of the actor Chevy Chase, found one black and white photo of a building titled Potomac Electric Power Co. But plainly visible on the building was signage that read "Dowd's Chevy Chase Radio & Electric Company." The poor quality photo was credited to Theodor Horydczak, whose photo archive (I knew) was housed in the Library of Congress.

Within seconds I was on the Library of Congress website, which had (unfortunately) the same poor quality exterior photo but included an interior image of the business as well. Both photos were taken by the photographer on April 15, 1948, the first month that Chevy Chase Radio began advertising in the "Star."

It's too bad that this nice example of wrought iron craftsmanship is not more visible to passersby on the sidewalk, but if it had been it probably would not have survived the past seven decades.

Lantern Slide of the U.S. Capitol after burning by the British in 1814, NARA ID 183514856.

The Taking of the City of Washington 1814. Copy of engraving. NARA 532909.

Ruins of the Capitol After the Fire. 1814. Copy of print, NARA ID 518221.

"Capture of the City of Washington," August 1814. Engraving from The History of England by Paul de Rapin -Thoyras. NARA ID 531090.

FLASHBACK: BURNING OF THE CAPITOL, 1814

By Miriam Kleiman, Program Director for Public Affairs.

On August 24 and 25, 1814, British troops occupied DC, and burned the Capitol, the President’s house, and other public buildings (in revenge for U.S. troops burning government buildings in Canada during the Battle of York). Despite the growing number of troops and show of force, President James Madison’s Secretary of War John Armstrong downplayed the possibility of such an attack in DC, convinced that Baltimore would be the likely target: “They certainly will not come here. What the devil will they do here? No! No! Baltimore is the place, sir. That is of so much more consequence.” 

The destruction was so extensive (an estimated $30 million then, equivalent to $586 million today) that when Congress returned in September 1814 it considered moving to another city. What saved DC from further destruction? What insurance companies call an “act of God”; a freak storm brought torrential rains that extinguished the fires. British account from George Muller’s The Darkest Day:

Of the prodigious force of the wind it is impossible for you to form any conception. Roofs of houses were torn off by it, and whisked into the air like sheets of paper; while the rain which accompanied it resembled the rushing of a mighty cataract rather than the dropping of a shower.

The darkness was as great as if the sun had long set and the last remains of twilight had come on, occasionally relieved by flashes of vivid lightning streaming through it; which, together with the noise of the wind and the thunder, the crash of falling buildings, and the tearing of roofs as they were stript from the walls, produced the most appalling effect I ever have, and probably ever shall, witness.

This lasted for nearly two hours without intermission, during which time many of the houses spared by us were blown down and thirty of our men, besides several of the inhabitants, buried beneath their ruins.

Our column was as completely dispersed as if it had received a total defeat, some of the men flying for shelter behind walls and buildings and others falling flat upon the ground to prevent themselves from being carried away by the tempest…

See also:

P.S.: You Had Better Remove the Records: Early Federal Archives and the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812, Prologue story by NARA Historian Jessie Kratz.

Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington, White House Historical Association, by NARA Historian Jessie Kratz.