by Peter Snow
American Constitution: role of James Madison
American War of Independence: US victory in; death of Cochrane’s brother during; Barney’s privateering during; Monroe’s fighting in; surrender of Saratoga during; devastating of the Hunter family’s estate during; mementoes in Washington War Office; Sam Smith’s fighting during; flags made by Mary Pickersgill’s mother during; Stricker’s fighting during
Amey, Lieutenant Colonel
Amputation: importance of
‘Anacreon in heaven’ (tune)
Andrei, Giovanni
Anna Maria, HMS
Annapolis: as possible target of attack; march of Maryland militia from
Annual Register
Argus (US sloop)
Armistead, Major George
Armstrong, Brigadier General John (US Secretary of War): ineptitude of; warned of British invasion; appointment and early career; tension with James Monroe; councils of war with President Madison and military commanders; urging of retreat to Washington; message to Thomas Tingey; censure and dismissal; commending of James Gordon’s military skill; Sam Smith’s complaints to; Winder’s complaint to concerning Sam Smith
artillery: small size of British land artillery; Joshua Barney’s; US superiority in land artillery; US guns hurried from Eastern Branch Bridge to Bladensburg; at Battle of Bladensburg; at Battle of North Point; Navy bombardment of Fort McHenry and Baltimore forts; Fort McHenry’s; see also bomb ships; Congreve rockets
Back River
Badajoz, Spain
Ball, Charles
Baltimore: successful defence of; as possible target of attack; Winder appointed commander of military district embracing; Maryland (Baltimore) militia; reservations concerning attacking; British preparations for attack on; run on banks; preparations for defence of; Ross’s advance towards; Brooke appointed to replace Ross; Battle of North Point; abandoning of assault on; aftermath of defeat at; see also Fort McHenry
Baltimore militia
Baltimore Patriot
Bank of Washington: spared
Banks: run on in Baltimore and Philadelphia
Barbary pirates
Barney, Commodore Joshua: early privateering career; at Battle of Bladensburg; wounding and capture at Battle of Bladensburg; and construction of flag at Fort McHenry; death; see also flotilla: Barney’s; flotillamen, Barney’s
Barney, Mary
Barrett, Robert (midshipman)
Bathurst, Lord (Secretary of War)
battalions, US: Major Pinkney’s rifle battalion; 5th Baltimore volunteer regiment; General Stansbury’s; Ragan’s and Schutz’s; 27th; 39th; see also militia
Bayard Smith, Margaret: on President Madison; and Dolley Madison; on slaves; on panic in Washington; abandoning of Washington; on Cockburn; return to Washington
bayonet charge: effectiveness
Beal, Major
Beall, Colonel William
Beanes, Dr William
Bear Creek
Belmore, Lord
Benedict, Maryland: as landing site for British troops; scouted by Monroe; British fleet moored at; Charles Ball on US failure to engage British in woods from; William Beanes taken to
Bently, Mrs
Bermuda
Blackrock: British raid
Bladensburg, Maryland: preparations for defence of; vulnerability of bridge at; ford; British advance to; Congreve rockets used at; first phase of Battle; British reckless crossing bridge; Joshua Barney’s last stand at Battle of; reaction to British victory; British advance from; dead-strewn battlefield; US treatment of British officers at; Brooke’s role at; Sterett’s 5th Regiment at; odds of victory at
‘Bladensburg Races’ (poem)
Bladensburg, Kathleen Ross of
Blair, Tony
blockade of US trade by Royal Navy
Bluett, John
bomb ships
bombardment of Fort McHenry and Baltimore forts
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Booth, Mordecai
Boston
Boston Gazette
Bowlby, Captain Peter
Boyne, Battle of the
Bradley, Willie
Bread and Cheese Creek
Brigades: Ross’s division of men into
Britain: response to sacking of Washington
British Regiments: 4th King’s Own Regiment; 21st North British (later Scots) Fusiliers; 44th East Essex Regiment; 85th Light Infantry (Buckinghamshire Volunteers)
Brooke, Colonel Arthur: command of the 44th in France; at Battle of Bladensburg; on US capitulation at Washington; placed in command after death of Ross; at Battle of North Point; planned offensive at Baltimore and aborting of; subsequent career
Brooke, Field Marshal Alan
Brooke, Juliana
Brooke, Lieutenant Colonel Francis
Brooke, Marianne
Brookeborough, Lord
Buffalo: British raid on
Burch, Captain Benjamin
Burrell (sentry)
Bush, George, Jr
Bussaco, Battle of
Cameron, David
Campbell, George (Treasury Secretary)
Canada: US raids on; burning of York (modern-day Toronto); British reinforcing of; Treaty of Ghent provisions on; final British thrust from
canister: US use of
Cape St Vincent, Battle of
Capitol: design and building of; rescuing of papers from; Armstrong’s recommended retreat to; falling back to; abandoning of; British advance on; torching of; flames doused by storm; burnt-out shell of; rebuilding of
Capitol Hill
Carbery, Colonel
Carroll, Daniel
Castlereagh, Lord
casualty figures: at Battle of Bladensburg; during voyage back down Potomac; at Battle of North Point; of US troops’ forts defending Baltimore; at New Orleans
cavalry: despatched to track British landing party; British lack of; at Battle of Bladensburg; allowing British army to fall back after sack of Washington; tracking British advance towards Baltimore
Chamier, Frederick
Chesapeake Bay: British fleet’s arrival at; heat and storms of; and possible attack on Baltimore; Peter Parker’s naval thrust in; Gordon’s squadron rejoining fleet at; fleet’s movement in prior to advance on Baltimore; see also Patuxent River; Potomac River
Chesterton, George
Christ’s Church, Baltimore
Churchill, Winston
Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain
Clagett, Levi
Clemm, Sergeant John
Cochrane, Vice Admiral Sir Alexander: leading of British invasion into the Chesapeake; pros and cons concerning campaign; reservations concerning attack on Washington; reports back to; order to abandon attack on Washington; letter to Monroe; and Napier; and successful assault on Washington; and possible attack on Baltimore; and possible attack on New Orleans; impact of dithering following assault on Washington; anchoring of fleet at North Point; and navigating the Potomac; and death of Ross; and assault on Baltimore; failure at Baltimore; defeat at New Orleans; appointed Commander in Chief at Plymouth
Cockburn, Rear Admiral George: fearsome reputation and early Chesapeake campaign; and rules of engagement; advocating of assault on Washington; and Barney’s flotilla; advance up the Patuxent; on President Madison; and recruiting of blacks; picking up of spies; advance towards Washington; Malcolm’s jealousy of; ignoring of Cochrane’s orders; shots fired at; at Bladensburg; and assault on Washington; and burning of White House; and burning of Treasury Building; and destroying of National Intelligencer building; US praise of his restraint; first night in Washington; and torching of Navy Yard; conversation with William Gardner; and delegation from Alexandria; return of to ships; advocating attack on Baltimore; accuses Beanes of betrayal; landing at Benedict and advance towards Baltimore; and Battle of North Point; and assault on Baltimore; and failure of assault on Baltimore; subsequent career; see also discipline: British
Cockburn, Sir James
Codrington, Jane
Colebrooke estate
Coles, Catherine
Coles, Sally
collaboration: accusations of
Collins, Elizabeth
Columbia (US frigate)
Committee of Vigilance and Safety
Congress see Library of Congress; House of Representatives; Senate
Congreve rockets: at Bladensburg; in Washington; in assault on Baltimore
cotton gin: patenting of
Creek Indians
Creighton, Captain John
Crimean War
Crofton, Captain Edward
Culloden
Cutts, Anna
Cutts, Lucy
Cutts, Mary
dancing pumps: worn into battle by John Pendleton Kennedy
Davies, Samuel (midshipman)
de Jomini, Baron
de Staël, Madame
Delaware River
Devastation, HMS; see also bomb ships
discipline, British; see also private property: British respect for
District of Columbia militia
‘diversionary attack’ on Fort McHenry
Douglas, George
Downing Street
dressing room: Madison’s in White House
Dylan, Bob
dysentery
Dyson, Captain Samuel
Eastern Branch Bridge
Edmondson (British soldier)
Egypt: military campaign in
18th Street, Washington
Elba, island of
engagement, rules of; see also discipline: British; private property: British respect for
Erebus, HMS
Euryalus, HMS
Evans, George de Lacy: early career; advocating assault on Washington; on Upper Marlborough; on Ross’s tactics in advancing to Bladensburg; spotting of sharpshooters; in advance towards Washington; and attack on Washington; advocating assault on Baltimore; Ross’s appeal for double promotion of; on death of Ross; on Brooke’s Council of War concerning Baltimore; subsequent career
Ewell, Dr James: fears of prior to British invasion; cooperation with British troops; on panic in Alexandria; on Greenleaf Point accident; after British withdrawal
Ewell, Mrs
expansionism of US: following victory at New Orleans
Fairy, HMS
Faunce, Major
Federal Hill
Federal Republican
Federalists
5th Baltimore volunteer regiment
51st Militia
fireships
flags: Mary Pickersgill’s making of for Fort McHenry
flotilla, Barney’s: creation of and harrying of British fleet by; destruction of
flotillamen, Barney’s: at Long Old Fields; at Eastern Branch Bridge; at Battle of Bladensburg
ford, at Bladensburg
Fort Babcock
Fort Covington
Fort George
Fort McHenry: design; reinforcing defence of; preparations for attack on; bombardment of; as federal prison
Fort Mifflin
Fort Stevens
Fort Washington
Franzoni, Giuseppe
Frazier, Lieutenant Solomon
French embassy, Washington: sparing of
Fuentes d’Oñoro, Battle of
Furlong, Charles
Galba, Emperor
Gales, Joseph
Ganges (US warship)
gangrene: danger of
Gardner, William
George II, King
George III, King
Georgetown, Washington: government papers and documents taken to; US retreat through; home of Thornton family; sparing of university in; fears of British invasion; home of the Scott Keys
Gerry, Vice President Elbridge, Jr
Ghent peace talks and treaty
Gleig, George: diary; early career; enthusiasm for British invasion; on start of voyage up the Patuxent; on landing at Benedict; foraging; on advance towards Washington; on Upper Marlborough; on William Beanes; and delay in committing to assault on Washington; posting to ‘chateau’ near British camp; on US militia; on Bladensburg; on assault on Washington; on storm after assault on Washington; on US treatment of injured; rejoining of fleet in the Patuxent; on advance towards Baltimore; on death of Ross; on Brooke; on Battle of North Point; on assault on Baltimore; on defeat at Baltimore; in defeat at New Orleans; subsequent career
Goldsborough, Senator Robert Henry
Goliath, HMS
Gordon, Captain James Alexander
Gordon, Lydia
Gorsuch, Robert
grapeshot
Grassi, Father
Greenleaf Point
Greville, Lord
Hampstead Hill, Baltimore
harbour, Baltimore: sinking of ships to block entrance
Hardy, Captain Sir Thomas
Harrismith, South Africa
heat: effect on troops
heated shot, US
Hebrus, HMS
Hoban, James
House of Commons
House of Representatives; see also Capitol
Howard, Colonel John
Huffington (flotillaman)
Hunter, Reverend Dr Andrew
Hunter, Mary
impressments: Royal Navy practice of
India: Evans’ fighting in
Indians, American
Intrépide (captured French ship)
Iphigenia, HMS
Irving, Washington
Jackson, General Andrew
Jacobite rebellions
Jamaica: British West Indies base in
Java (US frigate)
Jefferson, Thomas
Jennings, Paul
‘Jonathan’ (British nickname for US enemy)
Jones, Colonel
Jones, William (US Navy Secretary)
Jones, Mrs (wife of William)
Kains, Archibald
Kennedy, John Pendleton
Kentucky: joining of the US
Kettle Bottom shoals
Key, Francis Scott
Key, Polly Scott
Kildrummy Castle
Knox, Captain John
Ladysmith, South Africa
Latrobe, Henry
Lavall, Lieutenant Colonel Jacint
Lazaretto battery
L’Enfant, Pierre
Lewis, John
Lewiston: British raid on
Library of Congress
Lincoln, Abraham
Liverpool, Lord
Liverpool Mercury
London Statesman
Long Old Fields, Maryland
Longford, Lord
looters: American; British
looting: British ban on; see also discipline: British; engagement: rules of
Louisiana: British designs on; see also New Orleans
Love, Matilda
Lower Marlborough, Maryland
Lowndes Hill, Bladensburg
Lynx (US schooner)
McComas, Private Henry
McElroy, Reverend John
McHenry, James
McKenney, Major Thomas
McLane, Allen
Macleod’s Tavern
Madeira wine: drinking of in White House
Madison, Dolley: acclaimed for conduct during crisis; first husband; furnishing of White House; fears concerning British raids; on measures to defend America; on slaves; amid scenes of panic in White House; letter from James concerning troops in the field; urged by James to leave White House; letter from Mrs Jones to; preparations for meal in White House; friendship with the Ewells; remains at White House as British advance; flight from White House; cushion of taken from White House as trophy; delayed return to Washington; return to Washington; and restoration o
f James’s reputation; move to Octagon House; in contrast to Elizabeth Monroe; retirement to Montpelier estate
Madison, President James: role in formulating American constitution; and restoration of American self-belief; declaration of war on Britain (June 1812); censured in British press; unprepossessing character; marriage to Dolley; treatment of White House slaves; enlisting help of Joshua Barney; appointment of key defence staff; and defence of Washington; Cockburn’s challenge concerning; fears concerning attack on Washington; disenchantment with; instructions to Monroe concerning British fleet; warned by Monroe to destroy bridges to Washington; decision to join troops in the field; Winder’s report to concerning troops in the field; review of troops; impatience with Armstrong; approval of Barney and his flotillamen’s redeployment at Bladensburg; flight from Bladensburg; friendship with the Ewells; brief return to White House; flight from Washington; meeting with military commanders; Cochrane’s demand to for compensation; possessions taken as trophies from White House; and White House ostentation; mocked by British officers; pleas to Winder by town council of Alexandria in presence of; return to Washington; appointment of Monroe as War Secretary; sanctioning of Scott Key’s mission to secure release of William Beanes; and peace negotiations; appointment of Sam Smith to command of 10th Military District; move to Octagon House; letter to Winder’s son; retirement to Montpelier estate; see also Ghent peace talks and treaty
Maffitt, John
Magraw, Tom
Maine: dispute over
Malcolm, Clementine
Malcolm, Rear Admiral Pulteney
Marie-Antoinette, Queen
marines: US; British
Martinique, island of; see also flotillamen: Barney’s
Maryland militia
Maryland Point
medicine chest: survives torching of White House
Meldrum: estate
Melwood: Ross and Cockburn’s dining at ‘chateau’ in
Meteor, HMS
military stores: removal from Washington’s Navy Yard
militia: US dependence on; inexperience of; Maryland militia; Virginia militia; Pennsylvania militia; Washington DC militia; District of Columbia militia; Baltimore militia; 51st Militia
Miller, Colonel Samuel
Minor, Colonel George
Mississippi river
Monroe, Elizabeth
Monroe, James: role in restoring American self-belief; tension with Armstrong; early unconcern over lack of defences; scouting of the front line; as an alternative battlefield commander; and retreat through Washington and Georgetown; lampooned in ‘Bladensburg Races’; Cochrane’s letter to; letter to James Madison concerning British withdrawal; recognition of anger of the American people; as Secretary of War; as President