James Madison speaks, the burning of the white house.
Created | Updated Jun 19, 2006
You Americans had very little entries on the subject of the burning of your own capital, so I thought i would set a few things straight. On the afternoon of Augest 24th, mearly hours after the defeat at Bladensburg I recived word that the British were on the move, not only to capture the city, but ti destroy it. I decided to remove myself from the capital. I saw the people leaving, my staff was gone, I rode out into the country thinking my wife was safe. By now, the British had stormed into the grate captial, and burned the house that had been my home. I watched the fires from Virginia. After many long hours wandering through the countryside I found my wife's carrige at a rodeside tavern. When we returned to the city with my wife, we saw the burned rubble that was once my home. I knew then that we would never live their again.
