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The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812
It's unimaginable today, even for a generation that saw the Twin Towers fall and the Pentagon attacked. It's unimaginable because in 1814, enemies didn't fly overhead; they marched through the streets, and for 26 hours in August, the British enemy marched through Washington, D.C. and set fire to government buildings, including the U.S. Capitol and the White House.
Relying on first-hand accounts, historian Jane Hampton Cook weaves together several different narratives to create a vivid, multidimensional account of the burning of Washington, including the escalation that led to it and the immediate aftermath. From James and Dolly Madison to the British admiral who ordered the White House set aflame, historical figures are brought to life through their experience of this unprecedented attack. The Burning of the White House is the story of a city invaded, a presidential family displaced, a nation humbled, and an American spirit that somehow remained unbroken.
Relying on first-hand accounts, historian Jane Hampton Cook weaves together several different narratives to create a vivid, multidimensional account of the burning of Washington, including the escalation that led to it and the immediate aftermath. From James and Dolly Madison to the British admiral who ordered the White House set aflame, historical figures are brought to life through their experience of this unprecedented attack. The Burning of the White House is the story of a city invaded, a presidential family displaced, a nation humbled, and an American spirit that somehow remained unbroken.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2016
34 people are currently reading
780 people want to read
About the author
Jane Hampton Cook
20 books53 followersJane Hampton Cook makes history relevant to news, politics, current events, and modern life. She is the award-winning author of nine books, including her newest The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812 (2016), America’s Star-Spangled Story (Aug. 2014) and Pulitzer-nominated American Phoenix (Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins, 2013), which brings to life the international side of the War of 1812 through the diplomacy of John Quincy and Louisa Adams. A contributor to The Hill, national media commentator and former White House webmaster, Jane is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel and other television and radio outlets. She also will be featured on the History Channel’s sister network, H2, on United Stuff of America in early summer 2014. Launching her passion for history and writing through a research fellowship from the Organization of American Historians and White House Historical Association in 2003, Jane and her husband, Dr. John Kim Cook, live with their children in the Washington DC area in Fairfax, Virginia.
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March 21, 2022
Audible.com 10 hours 43 min. Narrated by Marguerite Gavin(B)
In my attempt to refocus my reading from the two World Wars back to biographies of the presidents, I decided to read this book on James and Dolly Madison. This is a interesting introduction to many of the key players of the most unpopular and most overlooked war in American history. This isn't a biography of James or Dolley, but I learned about her curious name, Dolley's (26) chemistry withJames(43) and the role she played in his presidency, her love for fashionable evening wear and turbans (her daytime dress was Quaker plain,) and her unusual pet macaw. She out-lived James by a decade, but she was even more popular in Washington City society after his death although she was destitute. If I hed time, I'm sure her biography would be as interesting as was James's. The focus of the author's work was on the failure of an untrained militia to protect the two wings of Capitol that had been completed and the Executive Mansion from .being burned by an English Admiral bent on humiliating Madison and the Americans. I knew of the Burning but had never really comtemplated its affect on a young country. I can't imagine the U.S. without the city I know and love.
Note: I've found a short history of the War of 1812 read by George C. Scott (Yes, that George! ) that I'll listen to before moving on to John Quincy Adams.
In my attempt to refocus my reading from the two World Wars back to biographies of the presidents, I decided to read this book on James and Dolly Madison. This is a interesting introduction to many of the key players of the most unpopular and most overlooked war in American history. This isn't a biography of James or Dolley, but I learned about her curious name, Dolley's (26) chemistry withJames(43) and the role she played in his presidency, her love for fashionable evening wear and turbans (her daytime dress was Quaker plain,) and her unusual pet macaw. She out-lived James by a decade, but she was even more popular in Washington City society after his death although she was destitute. If I hed time, I'm sure her biography would be as interesting as was James's. The focus of the author's work was on the failure of an untrained militia to protect the two wings of Capitol that had been completed and the Executive Mansion from .being burned by an English Admiral bent on humiliating Madison and the Americans. I knew of the Burning but had never really comtemplated its affect on a young country. I can't imagine the U.S. without the city I know and love.
Note: I've found a short history of the War of 1812 read by George C. Scott (Yes, that George! ) that I'll listen to before moving on to John Quincy Adams.
April 11, 2017
I recall when I first moved to Washington, there was a persistent rumor that the columns of the “original” White House were preserved at the National Arboretum. My office at The Washington Times abuts the Arboretum, but I had never had a chance to go there until recently.
I found said columns, but they were, in fact, from the Capitol, not the White House. [http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/coll...] This was but one of many misconceptions I had about the War of 1812, now over 200 years in the rearview of American history.
Thank goodness, then, that in the course of my job, I came across Jane Hampton Cook's scholarly, entertaining and ultimately informative “The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812.” I get pitched almost daily on new books hitting store shelves and virtual “book” sellers, but with scarcely any time in my day for pleasure reading, I pass on almost all of them. But being a resident of the capital region for nigh on three years, and being a history buff who, incidentally, has been inside the White House not less than four times, I requested a copy from the publisher.
I am grateful I did so.
Cook sifted through an incredible amount of documents, letters and other sources to paint a picture of the city at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers not as the booming, multinational modern city with impossible gridlock that we know (and love?) today, but as the infant U.S. capital city sited in the all-but-literal swamp that our current chief executive has pledged to drain—or something.
What many who now live or visit D.C. fail to realize is that, at the time of the War of 1812, Washington City was not only in its infancy as the capital of America, but also as the brain of a very, very nascent experiment in modern democracy. But 30 years removed from the Treaty of Paris, which officially recognized the U.S. by Great Britain, British privateers roamed the East Coast, not only plundering American vessels for supplies and impressing Americans into service, but vying with the infant rebel-populated country for coastal fishing rights as well as territory to the north in Canada. (By this point, the French and British had tangled for centuries, and their first military alliance in World War I was still a century away.)
Enter Admiral Sir George Cockburn, an ambitious career sailor intent on not only making a name for himself with the admiralty back in London, but, just perhaps, serving up the Yanks some payback for handing the Crown the most embarrassing military defeat in their history. “The Burning of the White House” opens on Cockburn's daring raid on Havre de Grace, Maryland, in which the admiral's forces plundered the hamlet on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, burning homes and taking treasure as they pleased.
Not far to the south, President James Madison walks a delicate line between honoring the wishes of his constituents to stay out of war with England while also trying to appease the hawks in his Cabinet and in Congress. How will the war be paid for, Madison ponders, with so much debt still left over from the war for independence? And with England already at war with Napoleon, might it make more sense to “wait it out”?
As Cook so admirably renders in her book, Madison trusted Dolley's counsel more than any other person. Cook spices in her recreation of the Madison White House with letters between husband and wife, during their courtship (Dolley's first husband had died) and leading up to and including the tense, chaotic days when Cockburn's forces invaded Washington City intent on starting a conflagration.
The respect and love between James and Dolley forms the heart of the book, the humanistic side, even as all about the Madisons is chaos, political skullduggery, internecine Cabinet conflicts and the greatest military power in world history intent on a rematch of the 1770s-'80s.
Beyond the first couple, Cook has indeed done her homework, bringing to vivid life the events and figures on both the American and British sides as the two powers stood at the precipice of their second war in less than a half-century. Cook goes into great detail to discover that America's professional armed forces were disorganized, and more respect was given to disparate, disorganized local militias than to government forces. This almost certainly presaged the Americans' handy defeat at the Battle of Bladensburg, after which Cockburn and his forces had but a hop-skip into the heart of the District and his ultimate objective.
(I must pause here to say that I moved to Bladensburg from Southwest D.C. nearly a year ago, and I was none the wiser that there was a battlefield but a mile from my apartment. Thanks to Cook, I absolutely must make a pilgrimage there—and soon.)
My only complaint with the book is that it perhaps gets a tad too rah-rah near the end. Cook applies the metaphor of the phoenix rising from the ashes—not especially original, but apropos notwithstanding—after the Capitol and the White House had been torched and Americans found their will to fight back. Some of the later chapters felt a bit draggy, and trips to New Orleans and other divergents were perhaps unneeded, but I see why this was included to bring the reader to the ultimate end of the conflict. Francis Scott Key, of course, pops up during the failed British siege of Fort McHenry, during which he wrote a famous poem later set to music that became our National Anthem.
A work like “The Burning of the White House,” I believe, is the best type of scholarly study from a professional writer and historian: a gateway into a lesser-studied part of American history, but one that, through Cook's exemplary prose, renders the subject graspable and thoroughly to the lay student, but without getting lost in the minutea that avid historical writers, desperate to convey their passions, frequently find themselves bogged down in—the quicksand of their own pens.
Writings on the Madisons, the War of 1812 (a misnomer if ever there were, as Washington was in fact sacked in 1814), English-American relations and the expansion of the U.S. frontier could fill volumes, as could how this seemingly confusing conflict set the stage for the 19th century destinies of both powers. What Cook has done, so admirably, is render a small slice of American history that shows how this infant republic took its first major stand—and, if not won, certainly came out stronger.
(Jane Hampton Cook and I will be sitting down next week for an interview. Stay tuned for my article in The Times.)
I found said columns, but they were, in fact, from the Capitol, not the White House. [http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/coll...] This was but one of many misconceptions I had about the War of 1812, now over 200 years in the rearview of American history.
Thank goodness, then, that in the course of my job, I came across Jane Hampton Cook's scholarly, entertaining and ultimately informative “The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812.” I get pitched almost daily on new books hitting store shelves and virtual “book” sellers, but with scarcely any time in my day for pleasure reading, I pass on almost all of them. But being a resident of the capital region for nigh on three years, and being a history buff who, incidentally, has been inside the White House not less than four times, I requested a copy from the publisher.
I am grateful I did so.
Cook sifted through an incredible amount of documents, letters and other sources to paint a picture of the city at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers not as the booming, multinational modern city with impossible gridlock that we know (and love?) today, but as the infant U.S. capital city sited in the all-but-literal swamp that our current chief executive has pledged to drain—or something.
What many who now live or visit D.C. fail to realize is that, at the time of the War of 1812, Washington City was not only in its infancy as the capital of America, but also as the brain of a very, very nascent experiment in modern democracy. But 30 years removed from the Treaty of Paris, which officially recognized the U.S. by Great Britain, British privateers roamed the East Coast, not only plundering American vessels for supplies and impressing Americans into service, but vying with the infant rebel-populated country for coastal fishing rights as well as territory to the north in Canada. (By this point, the French and British had tangled for centuries, and their first military alliance in World War I was still a century away.)
Enter Admiral Sir George Cockburn, an ambitious career sailor intent on not only making a name for himself with the admiralty back in London, but, just perhaps, serving up the Yanks some payback for handing the Crown the most embarrassing military defeat in their history. “The Burning of the White House” opens on Cockburn's daring raid on Havre de Grace, Maryland, in which the admiral's forces plundered the hamlet on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, burning homes and taking treasure as they pleased.
Not far to the south, President James Madison walks a delicate line between honoring the wishes of his constituents to stay out of war with England while also trying to appease the hawks in his Cabinet and in Congress. How will the war be paid for, Madison ponders, with so much debt still left over from the war for independence? And with England already at war with Napoleon, might it make more sense to “wait it out”?
As Cook so admirably renders in her book, Madison trusted Dolley's counsel more than any other person. Cook spices in her recreation of the Madison White House with letters between husband and wife, during their courtship (Dolley's first husband had died) and leading up to and including the tense, chaotic days when Cockburn's forces invaded Washington City intent on starting a conflagration.
The respect and love between James and Dolley forms the heart of the book, the humanistic side, even as all about the Madisons is chaos, political skullduggery, internecine Cabinet conflicts and the greatest military power in world history intent on a rematch of the 1770s-'80s.
Beyond the first couple, Cook has indeed done her homework, bringing to vivid life the events and figures on both the American and British sides as the two powers stood at the precipice of their second war in less than a half-century. Cook goes into great detail to discover that America's professional armed forces were disorganized, and more respect was given to disparate, disorganized local militias than to government forces. This almost certainly presaged the Americans' handy defeat at the Battle of Bladensburg, after which Cockburn and his forces had but a hop-skip into the heart of the District and his ultimate objective.
(I must pause here to say that I moved to Bladensburg from Southwest D.C. nearly a year ago, and I was none the wiser that there was a battlefield but a mile from my apartment. Thanks to Cook, I absolutely must make a pilgrimage there—and soon.)
My only complaint with the book is that it perhaps gets a tad too rah-rah near the end. Cook applies the metaphor of the phoenix rising from the ashes—not especially original, but apropos notwithstanding—after the Capitol and the White House had been torched and Americans found their will to fight back. Some of the later chapters felt a bit draggy, and trips to New Orleans and other divergents were perhaps unneeded, but I see why this was included to bring the reader to the ultimate end of the conflict. Francis Scott Key, of course, pops up during the failed British siege of Fort McHenry, during which he wrote a famous poem later set to music that became our National Anthem.
A work like “The Burning of the White House,” I believe, is the best type of scholarly study from a professional writer and historian: a gateway into a lesser-studied part of American history, but one that, through Cook's exemplary prose, renders the subject graspable and thoroughly to the lay student, but without getting lost in the minutea that avid historical writers, desperate to convey their passions, frequently find themselves bogged down in—the quicksand of their own pens.
Writings on the Madisons, the War of 1812 (a misnomer if ever there were, as Washington was in fact sacked in 1814), English-American relations and the expansion of the U.S. frontier could fill volumes, as could how this seemingly confusing conflict set the stage for the 19th century destinies of both powers. What Cook has done, so admirably, is render a small slice of American history that shows how this infant republic took its first major stand—and, if not won, certainly came out stronger.
(Jane Hampton Cook and I will be sitting down next week for an interview. Stay tuned for my article in The Times.)
January 8, 2017
Imagine an invading army sweeping in on Washington D.C., looting our Capitol Building, destroying books and archives of the Library of Congress, then moving on to the White House and repeating the same drill. It's not science fiction. This is what happened on August 24, 1814 (during the War of 1812). The British commander George Cockburn plundered our country. President James Madison Click here for info on Madison (4th President of the U.S. and architect of our glorious U.S. Constitution) and his wife Dolley had to take refuge in the countryside to avoid being captured.
The War of 1812 is one I knew little about. The bravery and patriotism of James and Dolley Madison make me proud of our country and our heritage. God had His hand over our nation 203 years ago and He continues to watch over us, through His providence today. The Madison's were people of faith and it was that faith which bolstered them in our country's time of need.
The book was interesting, however the writing lagged at times. Nevertheless, the author did an adequate job of portraying the war, primarily from the point of view of the British. May God protect our nation from invaders in future years!
The War of 1812 is one I knew little about. The bravery and patriotism of James and Dolley Madison make me proud of our country and our heritage. God had His hand over our nation 203 years ago and He continues to watch over us, through His providence today. The Madison's were people of faith and it was that faith which bolstered them in our country's time of need.
The book was interesting, however the writing lagged at times. Nevertheless, the author did an adequate job of portraying the war, primarily from the point of view of the British. May God protect our nation from invaders in future years!
March 7, 2022
A decent, if a little narratively jumbled, history with some bright spots.
Cook's 2016 "The Burning of the White House" has all the markings of an author that really enjoys her subject(s), has clearly written about them extensively, yet struggles to put it all together in a single volume with a clear narrative/theme.
Here, we get a little bit of everything but not enough to make a consistent work. Ostensibly it's about the war of 1812 and "The Burning of the White House" -- so the extended look at British Admiral George Cockburn -- the man that actually directed the firing of the White House is particularly interesting and Cook does a great job with sources taking us into the White House as British troops piled high the wooden furniture before setting it ablaze. So, as a mini-bio of Cockburn, this is excellent.
Obviously as the torching of the WH involves Dolly Madison's efforts to secure/save items of historical import, her role is also featured prominently and Cook does a great job of giving character and color to an already colorful character. As a mini-bio of Dolly Madison, it is also excellent. We also get a lovely little extended section on the Siege of Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key's writing of the Star Spangled Banner. Where Cook focuses on James Madison, however, it feels like padding as we get largely unnecessary sections on the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan, etc.
And that's the major downside to "The Burning of the White House" -- it's not really consistent. Cook's author's note/introduction indicates that she's written on all of these topics (Dolly, James, Cockburn, Key) separately. But, a 350-page book is different than seven 50-page monographs somewhat sporadically spliced together. That's the overall effect of "Burning" -- the sense that the reader is getting "Section 2.X" from one paper/article immediately followed by Section 7.Y from another paper/article.
While there are definite bright spots, "The Burning of the White House" is a little too disconnected in its narrative focus.
Cook's 2016 "The Burning of the White House" has all the markings of an author that really enjoys her subject(s), has clearly written about them extensively, yet struggles to put it all together in a single volume with a clear narrative/theme.
Here, we get a little bit of everything but not enough to make a consistent work. Ostensibly it's about the war of 1812 and "The Burning of the White House" -- so the extended look at British Admiral George Cockburn -- the man that actually directed the firing of the White House is particularly interesting and Cook does a great job with sources taking us into the White House as British troops piled high the wooden furniture before setting it ablaze. So, as a mini-bio of Cockburn, this is excellent.
Obviously as the torching of the WH involves Dolly Madison's efforts to secure/save items of historical import, her role is also featured prominently and Cook does a great job of giving character and color to an already colorful character. As a mini-bio of Dolly Madison, it is also excellent. We also get a lovely little extended section on the Siege of Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key's writing of the Star Spangled Banner. Where Cook focuses on James Madison, however, it feels like padding as we get largely unnecessary sections on the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan, etc.
And that's the major downside to "The Burning of the White House" -- it's not really consistent. Cook's author's note/introduction indicates that she's written on all of these topics (Dolly, James, Cockburn, Key) separately. But, a 350-page book is different than seven 50-page monographs somewhat sporadically spliced together. That's the overall effect of "Burning" -- the sense that the reader is getting "Section 2.X" from one paper/article immediately followed by Section 7.Y from another paper/article.
While there are definite bright spots, "The Burning of the White House" is a little too disconnected in its narrative focus.
January 28, 2020
This is three biographies melted into one book, particularly that of James and Dolly Madison, and George Cockburn. It's fair to say that Cockburn contributed as much to the story as the other two.
One of the main contributing factors to the war of 1812 was the British military impressing/forcing US citizens or other British military deserters on US territory to join the British ranks. This was seen as an insult to US sovereignty and independence.
I didn't like how the author jumps around from subject to subject constantly. For example, she will be discussing battle formations and troop withdrawal, then, for no reason she will immediately change the subject to James and Dolley Madison's romance, and then to an event 12 years prior. At times it felt like the author and a group of women gossiping at a tea party. The entire story seemed scattered and only loosely followed a sequential timeline of events.
One of the main contributing factors to the war of 1812 was the British military impressing/forcing US citizens or other British military deserters on US territory to join the British ranks. This was seen as an insult to US sovereignty and independence.
I didn't like how the author jumps around from subject to subject constantly. For example, she will be discussing battle formations and troop withdrawal, then, for no reason she will immediately change the subject to James and Dolley Madison's romance, and then to an event 12 years prior. At times it felt like the author and a group of women gossiping at a tea party. The entire story seemed scattered and only loosely followed a sequential timeline of events.
April 21, 2020
A book which describes not only this part of the War Of 1812 but how the political and social situations were at the time. How was it like for the North and South at the time? Why did the militia system fail? Who were the key players in and out of Washington? What was the financial system like? What was it like for France and Britain with Napoleon's empire collapsing? And finally, why was Washington burned, and what were the results afterward?
This book will provide surprises for the layman and quash a few myths, such as how the Northern states were not quite so ready to secede from the USA after all, and that the British did not necessarily expect their former colonies back.
This book will provide surprises for the layman and quash a few myths, such as how the Northern states were not quite so ready to secede from the USA after all, and that the British did not necessarily expect their former colonies back.
May 27, 2017
Passages of this book brought me to tears. I was so touched by the passion of the patriots. Jane Hampton Cook clearly shows the growth of President Madison and the strength of Mrs. Madison during a national crisis. I love reading history and feeling anticipation of the next action in the storyline even though I know the outcome. The way Cook tells about the British advances on Washington and Baltimore, my heart was racing. I loved it!
physical_to-read_stack
August 26, 2016I received a copy free from the publisher through Goodreads Firstreads.
March 21, 2017
Along the Canadian border, American armies stumbled into ruinous defeats. A huge British naval squadron blockaded the American coast. In Congress, New Englanders sneered at “Mr. Madison’s War,” and the governor of Massachusetts refused to allow any of the state’s militiamen to join the campaign in Canada. Madison fell ill with malaria and the aged vice president, Elbridge Gerry, grew so feeble that Congress began arguing about who would become president if both men died. The only good news came from victories over lone British warships by the tiny American Navy.
Dolley Madison’s White House was one of the few places in the nation where hope and determination continued to flourish. Although she was born a Quaker, Dolley saw herself as a fighter. “I have always been an advocate for fighting when assailed,” she wrote to her cousin, Edward Coles, in a May 1813 letter discussing the possibility of a British attack on the city. An attack the Sec. of War vowed would never happen.
The author, the former webmaster for former president George W. Bush, is clearly a fan of Dolly Madison. She describes how at social events, Dolley strived, in the words of one observer, “to destroy rancorous feelings, then so bitter between Federalists and Republicans.” Members of Congress, weary of flinging curses at each other during the day, seemed to relax in her presence and were even willing to discuss compromise and conciliation. Almost all their wives and daughters were Dolley’s allies. By day Dolley was a tireless visitor, leaving her calling cards all over the city.
The author also clearly dislikes British Rear Admiral George Cockburn. She often refers to him as a pirate and characterizes him as a totally bad person, plotting pirate raids against the newly independent nation's young capital. Pirate raids resulting in the looting and burning of public and private property, and outrages against women.
The biggest fault I found with this book is how the main characters are often one dimensionable, either heroes or villains.
Hardly a pirate, Cockburn played a major role in the War of 1812 as he cruised relentlessly up and down the Chesapeake Bay and other parts of the Atlantic coast in 1813 and 1814, seizing American shipping, disrupting commerce, and raiding the ports. The most important of Cockburn's actions was the capture and burning of Washington on August 24, 1814, undertaken as an advisor to Major General Robert Ross.
On August 17, 1814, a large British fleet dropped anchor at the mouth of the Patuxent River, only 35 miles from the nation’s capital. Aboard were 4,000 veteran troops under the command of a tough professional soldier, Maj. Gen. Robert Ross. They soon came ashore in Maryland without a shot being fired and began a slow, cautious advance on Washington. There was not a single trained American soldier in the vicinity to oppose them. All President Madison could do was call out thousands of militia.
At this point, Dolly Madison took command of the White House and packed a wagon with the red silk velvet draperies of the Oval Room, the silver service and the blue and gold Lowestoft china she had purchased for the state dining room. She didn't leave without the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington in the state dining room. She could not abandon it to the enemy to be mocked and desecrated.
There follows a chapter on the burning of the capital that is followed by a chapter of how the nation rose like a phoenix and became united due to the outrage unequaled until the attack on Pearl Harbor. And for those still reading there is an epilogue that include details afteer the War of 1812 of the main characters, e.g., Dolly founded a charity, and Admiral Cockburn became the jailer of Napoleon.
Dolley Madison’s White House was one of the few places in the nation where hope and determination continued to flourish. Although she was born a Quaker, Dolley saw herself as a fighter. “I have always been an advocate for fighting when assailed,” she wrote to her cousin, Edward Coles, in a May 1813 letter discussing the possibility of a British attack on the city. An attack the Sec. of War vowed would never happen.
The author, the former webmaster for former president George W. Bush, is clearly a fan of Dolly Madison. She describes how at social events, Dolley strived, in the words of one observer, “to destroy rancorous feelings, then so bitter between Federalists and Republicans.” Members of Congress, weary of flinging curses at each other during the day, seemed to relax in her presence and were even willing to discuss compromise and conciliation. Almost all their wives and daughters were Dolley’s allies. By day Dolley was a tireless visitor, leaving her calling cards all over the city.
The author also clearly dislikes British Rear Admiral George Cockburn. She often refers to him as a pirate and characterizes him as a totally bad person, plotting pirate raids against the newly independent nation's young capital. Pirate raids resulting in the looting and burning of public and private property, and outrages against women.
The biggest fault I found with this book is how the main characters are often one dimensionable, either heroes or villains.
Hardly a pirate, Cockburn played a major role in the War of 1812 as he cruised relentlessly up and down the Chesapeake Bay and other parts of the Atlantic coast in 1813 and 1814, seizing American shipping, disrupting commerce, and raiding the ports. The most important of Cockburn's actions was the capture and burning of Washington on August 24, 1814, undertaken as an advisor to Major General Robert Ross.
On August 17, 1814, a large British fleet dropped anchor at the mouth of the Patuxent River, only 35 miles from the nation’s capital. Aboard were 4,000 veteran troops under the command of a tough professional soldier, Maj. Gen. Robert Ross. They soon came ashore in Maryland without a shot being fired and began a slow, cautious advance on Washington. There was not a single trained American soldier in the vicinity to oppose them. All President Madison could do was call out thousands of militia.
At this point, Dolly Madison took command of the White House and packed a wagon with the red silk velvet draperies of the Oval Room, the silver service and the blue and gold Lowestoft china she had purchased for the state dining room. She didn't leave without the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington in the state dining room. She could not abandon it to the enemy to be mocked and desecrated.
There follows a chapter on the burning of the capital that is followed by a chapter of how the nation rose like a phoenix and became united due to the outrage unequaled until the attack on Pearl Harbor. And for those still reading there is an epilogue that include details afteer the War of 1812 of the main characters, e.g., Dolly founded a charity, and Admiral Cockburn became the jailer of Napoleon.
September 19, 2025
The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812 by Jane Hampton Cook is the story of how the British fleet marauded the east coast of the United States during the War of 1812, and in the process managed to burn the White House, Capitol Building, The Treasury Building, and The War Office after sailing up the Patuxent River and marching overland through Blandensburg, Maryland with very little resistance from the US government. In addition to the destruction of Washington, this book relates the efforts to keep the US capitol in Washington, James and Dolley Madison's roles in guiding the country during the time of the war, efforts by others in support of and against the war, and the roles played by some of the key historical figures during the war, culminating in the repulsion of the British at Baltimore and New Orleans and the signing of the peace Treaty of Ghent that ended the war.
Cook brings to life the events in Washington during the War of 1812 in an entertaining manner that proves that history can be an interesting topic when not just a presentation of dates, places, and historical names. Some famous names that make extended appearances in the book include Washington Irving, Francis Scott Key, James Monroe, Benjamin Latrobe, British Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn, and of course James and Dolley Madison, the president and first lady at the time of the war, plus a host of others. Dolley Madison in particular is given star treatment, seeing one of her gowns in the Smithsonian having been the inspiration for Cook to write this book. The birth of “The Star-Spangled Banner" is explained by Cook, and dramatic stories regarding the saving of important US government historical documents and paintings during the British invasion of Washington are also presented. The failure of government officials to adequately protect Washington from the British invasion is also thoroughly discussed.
The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812 is an entertaining account of the events surrounding the burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812 and their aftermath. Jane Hampton Cook has written a book that should appeal to people interested in US history and also those who think that history is dull and boring.
Cook brings to life the events in Washington during the War of 1812 in an entertaining manner that proves that history can be an interesting topic when not just a presentation of dates, places, and historical names. Some famous names that make extended appearances in the book include Washington Irving, Francis Scott Key, James Monroe, Benjamin Latrobe, British Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn, and of course James and Dolley Madison, the president and first lady at the time of the war, plus a host of others. Dolley Madison in particular is given star treatment, seeing one of her gowns in the Smithsonian having been the inspiration for Cook to write this book. The birth of “The Star-Spangled Banner" is explained by Cook, and dramatic stories regarding the saving of important US government historical documents and paintings during the British invasion of Washington are also presented. The failure of government officials to adequately protect Washington from the British invasion is also thoroughly discussed.
The Burning of the White House: James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812 is an entertaining account of the events surrounding the burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812 and their aftermath. Jane Hampton Cook has written a book that should appeal to people interested in US history and also those who think that history is dull and boring.
March 24, 2025
This book gives the reader a very in depth view of the War of 1812 as it impacted James and Dolley Madison and those around them in 1814, including the British invasion of Washington city and the burning of the White House and the aftermath. It covers the reasons for the war, some actions that occurred elsewhere in the war and the ending of the war, but mostly concerns the invasion of the nations capitol. The author's research was extensive, much of the book gives us actual quotes of the people taken from books, diaries and letters. Jane Hampton Cook tells us in her introduction that she was advised to include many viewpoints in her story. Rufus King, Washington Irving, Francis Scott Key, Robert Fulton, James Monroe as well as a number of British admirals and army officers are discussed in detail. In some ways I wish the author would have stayed closer to the Madisons but all the information was interesting and informative. While the President's home was called the White House at times before the war, it became the common term after the war. The British success at Washington soon was followed by a defeat at Baltimore and a much bigger defeat at New Orleans, which occurred after the peace treaty was signed. The book shows that the political bitterness and divide of today are nothing new. The sacking of Washington city and the burning of the White House may have actually helped increase the nation's resolve. I also found how the city rebounded quite interesting. I really liked this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in American History.
July 18, 2019
At the beginning of this book, the author states that she has written several essays on Dolley Madison, the War of 1812, and other related subjects. It becomes clear in this book that it is the product of all these essays being woven together, and not always in a cohesive fashion.
Many of the "pieces" link together well, such as the mini-biography of George Cockburn, the British Admiral who famously burned the White House and Capitol buildings during the War of 1812. Also interesting are the intertwining career of Rufus King with that of President James Madison, and the role that James Monroe played under Madison, which spring boarded him into being Madison's successor in the White House. Of particular interest for me was the description of Francis Scott Key's penning of what would later become the national anthem, while watching the Battle of Baltimore from a British ship in the harbor.
Noticeably incongruous with the above narratives, though, are descriptions Dolley Madison's fashion / hosting / decorating propensities, and a history of author Washington Irving which seems entirely like a non-sequitur.
This book provides many nuggets of information the War of 1812 and the Madisons, but feels like it is incomplete as either a history of the war or an essay on the first family.
Many of the "pieces" link together well, such as the mini-biography of George Cockburn, the British Admiral who famously burned the White House and Capitol buildings during the War of 1812. Also interesting are the intertwining career of Rufus King with that of President James Madison, and the role that James Monroe played under Madison, which spring boarded him into being Madison's successor in the White House. Of particular interest for me was the description of Francis Scott Key's penning of what would later become the national anthem, while watching the Battle of Baltimore from a British ship in the harbor.
Noticeably incongruous with the above narratives, though, are descriptions Dolley Madison's fashion / hosting / decorating propensities, and a history of author Washington Irving which seems entirely like a non-sequitur.
This book provides many nuggets of information the War of 1812 and the Madisons, but feels like it is incomplete as either a history of the war or an essay on the first family.
May 24, 2019
Having read a lot about Dolly Madison's later years, it is hard to get excited or even think her "amazing" for what she did in 1812and that colors everything I read about her as a younger woman, especially this.
By all means, if this is your first introduction to Dolley Madison, go for it and learn about the war of 1812.
Side note: I've stood in the very room of the Octagon house of John Tayloe watching the light bounce off the very table where the Treaty of Ghent was signed that ended this war and the Madisons stayed in. I think because it's not on most tourist guides or maps, there was no one there other than the museum person downstairs and my friend and I. It was surreal, right in the middle of the city, and I would highly recommend you going there if you ever have the chance. I wanted to place my palm on the wall as if it could talk and tell me the stories. It's a very unique almost forgotten building in a unique city that is full of monuments and history. It was probably my most memorable stop on the trips I've taken to that area and there have been a few. You don't read me going on about Harper's Ferry when reading Jon Brown.
By all means, if this is your first introduction to Dolley Madison, go for it and learn about the war of 1812.
Side note: I've stood in the very room of the Octagon house of John Tayloe watching the light bounce off the very table where the Treaty of Ghent was signed that ended this war and the Madisons stayed in. I think because it's not on most tourist guides or maps, there was no one there other than the museum person downstairs and my friend and I. It was surreal, right in the middle of the city, and I would highly recommend you going there if you ever have the chance. I wanted to place my palm on the wall as if it could talk and tell me the stories. It's a very unique almost forgotten building in a unique city that is full of monuments and history. It was probably my most memorable stop on the trips I've taken to that area and there have been a few. You don't read me going on about Harper's Ferry when reading Jon Brown.
February 10, 2018
This was a great book to listen to in preparation for our trip to Washington DC to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We will be right there in the thick of things and I loved hearing some history behind some of the historic buildings we will see in our nation's capital! I learned a bit more about the war of 1812 and events during that war and more about the individuals participating in those events.
May 1, 2024
Listened to this so quickly because it’s leaving audible in a few days, and I’d just listened to another early American history. This one was also very fun, its focus ranged from high politics to the on the ground details of the raid on Washington and its impact on the US. A country at war so starkly divided has probable lessons for 21st century America. The fact that the main antagonist was named Cockburn, and apparently Brits pronounce it “Coburn” was kind of funny.
December 22, 2017
It is difficult to review a historical accout of events that attempts to descibe not only the events, themselves, but also the opinions and attitudes of the players. This book is a very interesting version of this period in American history, focusing on Mrs. Madison.
I enjoyed the book and the focus on the people of the events.
I enjoyed the book and the focus on the people of the events.
January 27, 2019
A decent look at the War of 1812 and what led the the burning of the White House and the aftermath. It was a little heavy handed on hero/villain worship/demonizing tho. Yes, cheers for Dolly Madison, boo for the British admiral when those are the sides you’re on, but there was more than I prefer in my educational history reads.
December 22, 2019
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
I did not know know much about these events and was amazed to learn how devastating this was.
I did not know know much about these events and was amazed to learn how devastating this was.
May 29, 2020
The story was moving fine. You could tell the author really loved Dolly and didn't like Cockburn but I couldn't handle the writing and every subchapter saying something like, "What he didn't realize was this..." Like it's going to the next episode. I'm not an author but it seems lazy and takes me away from the actual story.
May 1, 2024
A very detailed narrative of the War of 1812 and the politics leading to the burning of the White House. While very well written, there are a lot of details and maybe too much if you're not an extreme history enthusiast. It was lovely to learn more about Dolly Madison and many important points about our country's history during this time.
July 27, 2024
Wanted more information on the WH burning down and I got it. The War of 1812 receives little hype compared to the Revolutionary and Civil wars but certainly has its own unique qualities. I lived in DC for a decade, walking by the LaTrobe apartment complex that has been renamed and hearing about the streets being wonky so we couldn’t be invaded easily.
April 12, 2025
I purchased this book at the well-stocked gift shop at James Madison's Montpelier. This was an interesting history of the War of 1812. The author tends to skip around a lot even within the same chapter, and occasionally writes things that seem contradictory. Despite this, I learned a lot about this period in history and enjoyed the read.
November 25, 2017
I knew about James Madison. I did not know about Dolley Madison's important role as a First Lady and role in saving artifacts during the burning of the White House. A great read and great resource. Enjoy!
March 13, 2020
Learned a lot
It took a while to get to the heart of the matter( The Burning Of The White House ) but things got real interesting then and after. I think the prelude could have been less detailed making the entire work captivating not just the last half.
It took a while to get to the heart of the matter( The Burning Of The White House ) but things got real interesting then and after. I think the prelude could have been less detailed making the entire work captivating not just the last half.
November 28, 2025
government intrigue, disagreements, compromises and dangers are reported in the first 100 pages of the book. There is a very detailed explanation of situations and individuals involved and intrigue in the early 1800s.
July 5, 2017
I didn't know much about the war of 1812, and appreciated this very readable story of the Madisons and the president's mansion.
July 20, 2017
Thorough and interesting. Lots of "whys and hows" no previously known to me.
February 5, 2022
Chapter 13
June 29, 2023
Drags
A lot
A lot
April 23, 2024
Very detailed and illuminating read.
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