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British capture Washington, D.C: one of the very best of accounts...
British capture Washington, D.C: one of the very best of accounts...
Item # 707290
September 28, 1814
THE STAR, London, England, Sept. 28, 1814
* British forces capture Washington D.C.
* Battle of Bladensburg - Maryland
Taking fully half of the front page is the very historic reporty of the capture of Washington, D.C., by the British during the War of 1812.
Taken from the 'London Gazette Extraordinary', the is signed: Rob. Ross, Major-Gen. and begins: "My Lord--I have the honour to communicate to your Lordship, that on the night of the 24th instant, after defeating the army of the United States on that day, the troops under my command entered and took possession of the city of Washington...". What follows is the considerable detail of the battle resulting in the capture--a horrific loss by the American to have the nation's capital taken by the British.
Included as well is the list of: "Return of the Killed, Wounded, and missing of the troops..." as well as the various armaments, etc.
And the content is even better on pages 2 and 3, with further detail, some eye-witness accounts, and just a great amount of detail, too much to list here. A few bits include: "The enemy's army have evacuated the Capital, and have gone on board o their shipping...must have but few accounts...respecting our forlorn situation...that the enemy re-emarked...after destroying the Navy Yard, Capitol, President's house...all the Public Offices...They have left their wounded to the mercy of the inhabitants of Bladensburg..." with much more.
Another account includes: "I arrived at Washington...Wednesday night I witnessed the most melancholy event that I hagve ever seen, the destruction, by fire, of the edifices at Washington City; namely the Capitol, the President's House, Treasury and State Offices, the Navy Yard, Barracks, frigate Essex..." with much more. Other accounts as well.
This is likely the most detailed account of the capture of Washington we have seen in a single newspaper, taking half of the front page and almost all of pages 2 and 3. And great to have have this content in a London newspaper.
Four pages, partial red tax stamp in the masthead, minor archival mend at the blank spine, nice condition.
background: The reporting in this 1814 edition of The Star serves as a chilling, real-time ledger of the only time a foreign power has successfully captured and occupied the United States capital. By reprinting the "London Gazette Extraordinary," the paper provides a clinical yet devastating account of the Battle of Bladensburg and the subsequent systematic arson of the city's symbolic heart. The inclusion of Major-General Robert Ross's signed dispatch alongside harrowing eyewitness descriptions of the "melancholy" destruction of the Capitol, the President’s House, and the Treasury highlights the sheer efficiency of the British raid. For a London audience, this wasn't just a tactical update; it was a triumphant declaration of British naval and land supremacy, underscored by the grim "Return of the Killed and Wounded" and the detailed list of captured armaments that signaled a total collapse of American defenses in the Chesapeake.
Category: War of 1812
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