On August 24, 1814, American and British forces clashed in Bladensburg, Maryland, before the Americans were forced to undertake a hasty retreat to Washington. The British then continued their march to Washington and burned many public buildings, including the United States Capitol, the White House, and the Treasury. I wondered how Congress reacted to the Battle of Bladensburg, which is now counted as one of the most catastrophic defeats in American military history.
To find out, I decided to look at Congressional debates on Congress.gov. The Congressional debates from this time period are located in the Annals of Congress, a compilation of Congressional debates that cover 1789-1824. The Annals of Congress was not published contemporaneously, like today’s Congressional Record. Instead, the Annals were compiled between 1834 and 1856 using various sources, including newspaper accounts.
To find reactions to the battle, I went to the Congress.gov browse page and selected the 13th Congress in the drop-down menu, which covers the years 1813-1815. I then looked under the “Debates of Congress” heading to locate the Annals of Congress. The first date listed that followed the Battle of Bladensburg was September 19, so I clicked on that volume, which is volume 28. The volume begins with President Madison requesting that Congress assemble on September 19. A subsequent message by President Madison discusses providing a meeting place for Congress, since the Capitol was in ruins, and it would be years before it could be rebuilt and occupied by Congress. The temporary meeting space for the session would be Blodget’s hotel. On page 12, you will find a message sent to Congress by President Madison that provides an interesting overview of the state of the war, including a discussion of the attack on Washington, the successful defense of Baltimore that would inspire Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, and a discussion of ongoing peace negotiations. If you continue down to page 23, you will find a discussion concerning the potential acquisition of President Jefferson’s library to rebuild the Library of Congress, which was also destroyed during the burning of the Capitol.
Since I had a date in mind when I was conducting my research, I was able to browse the Annals of Congress by date. If you are starting with a particular topic in mind, rather than a date, you could use the index to the Annals of Congress. To find the index for each Congress, simply click on the “Debates of Congress” heading in the accordion menu for your Congress of interest, and select the “Index” link.
Have you located any interesting congressional reactions to a historic moment in American history by using Congress.gov? Let us know in the comments.
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