Here are some of the highlights of this film from History Channel.
DOLLY MADISON - WASHINGTON D.C.
Dolly Madison, the First Lady, was beloved by Americans. Her outgoing nature was a balance to that of her husband, President James Madison, who was more intellectual. She was the last hold out in the White House when the British troops were advancing on Washington. She'd been warned to leave but she and a servant remained. She ordered that servant to break the frame of the painting of George Washington, roll up the canvas, and take it with them! When the troops got to the White House they found a gourmet meal left out for them. They feasted, they looted, and took all that had been left, including the love letters between Dolly and the President. Then the British threw lit torches through the windows and the White House burned to the ground.
Oddly, a hurricane struck Washington D.C. soon after and if that were not enough a tornado struck. This weather scared the British troops away and some people think God was behind it.
In order to prevent the British from getting near the city by harbor, citizens sunk a row of merchant boats to block the harbor. It worked. The British had to go around another way. American troops quickly built an earthen fort. From the water the British used the most powerful weapon technology provided at the time which was 500-pound cannon balls. They were firing these cannon balls into the fort from their ships. The fort contained a massive amount of gun powder and one of these balls made it right to the place in the fort where the gun powder was stored.
By some miracle that particular cannon ball was a dud, and the fort didn't blow up!
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER WAS WRITTEN by FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
I thought this song was written for the American Revolution, but the fact is the songwriter began to write the song while watching the battle for Baltimore from a British ship in the harbor where he was held captive. Two massive American flags that could be seen from that far were waving. The flags had been commissioned and handsewn by women. He wrote the first two lines aboard. When he was released, he wrote the rest. It was set to a popular beer drinking song and published in small papers around the country.
Because communications in those days was so slow, troops didn't know that there had actually been a truce signed in Belgium. So the Battle of New Orleans went on anyway. Here is where Andew Jackson, a southern frontier boy who'd been orphaned, triumphed. The heroic leader of an assembly of troops, some standard army, some volunteers from as far away as Kentucky, and one troop that included the pirate Jean LaFitte and other outlaws, fought their hardest. The United States lost about 13 souls - the British 2000.
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