Fiery Destruction

Fiery Destruction (HM1J73)

Location: Washington, DC 20002
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 53.534', W 77° 0.217'

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Inscription

— Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail —

"[The British] put a slow match to the [Sewall] house ... and those rockets burst until ... they made the rafters fly East and West." — Eslaved African American diarist and eyewitness Michael Shiner.

As the British marched along B Street (today's Constitution Avenue) on August 24, 1814, to burn the U.S. Capitol, they passed this house, owned by Robert Sewall. Suddenly shots rang out. Two British soldiers were dead, several were wounded, and Major General Ross's horse was shot out from under him. the British rushed into Sewall's house but found no snipers. In retaliation, they set fire to the house, one of the city's finest. When the invasion ended, Sewall's was one of the few private structures destroyed by the British. The family rebuilt here after peace returned.

Torching the Capitol

After burning Sewall's house, the British resumed their march to the Capitol. There they planted the Union Jack and set fire to the not-yet-complete structure.

In the summer of 1814 the United States had been at war with Great Britain for two years. Battlefronts had erupted from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. On August 24, following their victory over the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, British troops marched on Washington with devastating results.

The Star-Spangled Banner Historic Trail reveals sites of the War of 1812 in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland. Visit ChesapeakeExplorerApp.com or download the Chesapeake Explorer App.

Details

HM Number	HM1J73
Series	This marker is part of the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail series
Tags	War Of 1812
Placed By	Cultural Tourism D.C
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at 5:02pm PST -08:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	18S E 326232 N 4306725
Decimal Degrees	38.89223333, -77.00361667
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 38° 53.534', W 77° 0.217'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	38° 53' 32.04" N, 77° 0' 13.02" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	202
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal Address	At or near 200-216 2nd St NE, Washington DC 20002, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap