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The Octagon Once was the city residence of wealthy Virginia landowner Colonel John Tayloe III. After the British burned the White House and other government buildings, President James Madison accepted Tayloe's invitation to use the Octagon as a temporary Executive Mansion. He brought along 15-year-old enslaved servant Paul Jennings and other household help It was here on February 17, 1815, that the president signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.

Eyewitness

In his memoir, formerly enslaved White House servant Paul Jennings recalled the moments following the signing. "Miss Sally Coles ... cry(ed] out, 'Peace! peace!' and told John Freeman (the butler) to serve out wine liberally to the servants and others," he wrote. "I played the President's March on the violin ... and such another joyful time was never seen in Washington."

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 National History Trail reveals sites of the War of 1812 in Washington. DC., Virginia, and Maryland. Visit ChesapeakeExploreApp.com or download the Chesapeake Explorer app.

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This building known as the Octagon...
The Octagon
Gen. John A. Rawlins Memorial
John Marshall
1801 F Street
The American Red Cross
Jane Delano, a War Memorial
In Memory, a War Memorial
The American Red Cross - Harvard Field Hospital Unit
Riggs Bank Sculptural Elements

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