In the south wing, soldiers ignited a giant bonfire of furniture slathered with gunpowder paste in the Hall of the House of Representatives (now National Statuary Hall). The British focused their destructive work on the principal rooms, foregoing the lobbies, halls and staircases, thus securing their escape route. As a result, the exterior structure survived and many of the interior spaces remained intact. His extensive use of masonry vaulting also proved to be practical as well as aesthetic. Damage to parts of the wings was severe, but the building was not completely destroyed.įortunately, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe had used fire-proof building materials, such as sheet iron, marble, sandstone, zinc and copper. Capitol was still being constructed and consisted of only the north and south wings connected by a wooden walkway spanning the area intended for the center building. The White House, the navy yard and several American warships were also burned however, most private property was spared.Īt the time, the U.S. The British torched major rooms in the Capitol, which then housed the Library of Congress, as well as the House, Senate and Supreme Court. Those who remained on the evening of August 24, 1814, were witness to a horrifying spectacle. Meeting little to no resistance, British troops set fire to much of the city, in retaliation for the Americans' burning of the Canadian capital at York on April 27, 1813. Word of the approaching forces sent most of the population fleeing, leaving the capital vulnerable. Around 8 p.m., on the evening of August 24, 1814, British troops under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross marched into Washington, D.C., after a victory over American forces at Bladensburg, Maryland, earlier in the day.
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