Significant Events
Featured Collection
State Dinners
A State Dinner honoring a visiting head of government or reigning monarch is one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs. It is part of an official State Visit and provides the president and first lady the opportunity to honor the visiting head of state and his or her spouse. In this collection, explore the history of
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The Octagon
On September 8, 1814, the Madisons moved into the Octagon, second in size only to the burned President's House, and the only private home in Washington with the requisite elegance and scale for grand entertaining. Designed by William Thornton, the Octagon was built in 1800-01 as a winter townhouse for Colonel John Tayloe III, a wealthy Virginia planter and horse breeder. An
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The Navy Yard, Treasury Department & Other Buildings
Washington awoke to a humid, cloudy day as an occupied city on August 25. Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn and Captain John Wainwright of Cockburn's flagship, the HMS Tonnant, went to the Navy Yard to supervise the ignition of several structures that had survived American attempts to burn them the day before. British troops set fire to the three ropewalks of
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The Naval War of 1812
Britain's navy began its war in North Atlantic waters with a crushing advantage over the United States in numbers of both ships and sailors, but events were to prove that the U.S. Navy's pluck and resourcefulness would inflict punishing setbacks on its larger opponent.Wartime successes of the U.S. Navy included a victory by the USS Constitution ("Old
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The Chesapeake & Canadian Campaigns
The British decided in 1814 to relieve pressure on their forces in Canada by launching diversionary assaults in the Chesapeake Bay area, with Washington and Baltimore as targets. Admiral Alexander Cochrane's orders to Admiral Sir George Cockburn were "to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts upon the coast as you may find assailable." The British assembled their forces at
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The Battle of New Orleans
Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, and took charge of the city's defense, commanding that waterways be obstructed and placing guns, soldiers, militia, volunteers (including free African Americans), and Jean Laffite's Baratarian Pirates (who Jackson called "hellish banditti") at approaches to the city. The Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815, was a remarkable American victory. The British
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Tensions in the Capital
President James Madison arrived back in Washington about 5:00 p.m. on August 27, 1814 and took up temporary lodgings at the F Street home of his brother-in-law, Richard Cutts. James and Dolley Madison had lived there during 1801-1809 when he was secretary of state. On August 28 Dolley Madison returned to Washington, disguised in another woman's clothing (as directed by her husband), dejected
