To Annoy or Destroy the Enemy: The Battle of the White House after the Burning of Washington

By Patrick L. O'Neill

The initial American response to the British invasion of Washington allowed the British to burn and destroy many of the public buildings. The Potomac Squadron arrived in Alexandria after the British land forces had returned to their ships. President Madison and members of his cabinet returned to Washington and made plans. Acting Secretary of War James Monroe (a Virginian) and Secretary of Navy William Jones devised a plan to send American forces down both sides of the Potomac to try and “annoy or destroy the enemy” while they were at Alexandria, using the crews of Captains David Porter and Oliver Hazard Perry on land, and Commodore Rodgers on the river. They would be assisted by militias from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Captain Porter was assisted by Brigadier General John P. Hungerford, commander of the Northern Neck Virginia militia, who had assembled almost 3,000 Virginia militia. Hungerford had already been following the squadron up the Potomac for two weeks, engaging them when possible. Together, they built the largest of the American positions above White House Landing on Belvoir Neck. The presence of such a large military force on the bluffs situated where the ships had to pass close to the shore below greatly intimidated the squadron. The squadron threw mortar shells at the batteries day and night, even rockets, for five days, making it one of the longest battles of the war. These are the same ships that lobbed the “bombs bursting in air” and fired the rockets with “red glare” at Fort McHenry two weeks later. Two attempted landings were also repelled. The Virginia militia fired back with some small field pieces, but their biggest weapons were their muskets and skill. Several militia units had special forces of riflemen, which greatly enhanced their ability to damage the ships and keep the British below deck. Three ship captains were wounded by musket fire. 68 slaves escaped to the British ships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781631920707

Patrick L. O'Neill

Author Patrick L. O�Neill is a professional historian and archaeologist, and he is the president of the Archeological Society of Virginia. He conducts research in the Virginia and Washington, D.C. region with projects including an overseer�s house at George Washington�s Union Farm near Mount Vernon, a well in the basement of Arlington House, the truncated 1785 foundation of Virginia�s State Capitol, Kittiewan Plantation in Charles City County, and Confederate graves at Bristow Station.

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Copyright©2014

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Patrick L. O'Neill

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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-631-92068-4

Cover Image courtesy of the

Cartographic and Architectural Records Division

National Archives Records Administration

College Park, Maryland

from

Plan of that part of Potowmack River which applies to the first report on defencible positions

William Tatham, 1813

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ABSTRACT

In the summer of 1814, it would have been difficult to imagine that seven British warships could sail up the Potomac River to the national capital city of Washington. Yet, in August 1814, two years into the War of 1812, two 36-gun frigates, three bomb vessels, a rocket ship, and a brig, all referred to as the Potomac Squadron, entered the Potomac on their way to the Washington area. As part of the plans of British Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, they were designed as a feint, assault assistance, and a retreat option for the British Army down the Potomac to their ships after the attack on Washington if the return road was blocked.

Simultaneous to the squadron's ascent, British land forces marched across southern Maryland and clashed with the Americans at Bladensburg, Maryland. After routing the Americans, the British were able to enter Washington and wreak havoc on several the Federal buildings, including the President's mansion. The British Army left three days prior to the arrival of the squadron, who were slowed by sailing 150 miles up the difficult Potomac and encountering Virginia and Maryland militia en route.

After taking Alexandria, Virginia, essentially hostage, and loading 21 prize ships of captured goods, the squadron tried to sail past defenses above a place called the White House in Virginia just south of Mount Vernon, and Indian Head Point in Maryland, in what would become known as the Battle of the White House and Battle of Indian Head, respectively.

This White House was not the President's Mansion burned the week earlier in Washington, but an old customs house on the Potomac just south of Mount Vernon on Belvoir Neck. The setting was the site of a five day battle that helped change the course of the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay and has been largely overlooked by history.

In what became one of the longest battles of the war, British and American forces engaged from September 1-5, 1814, in the first American offense caused by the burning of Washington. The battle involved 2500-3000 Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia militia, over 500 American Navy seamen, three American naval legends, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of State (and Acting Secretary of War), an internationally known inventor, seven British warships, and several hundred seasoned British seamen and marines.

The American attack on the Potomac Squadron caused the entire British fleet in the Chesapeake to change their course. The attack also played a significant role in compelling the British to attack Baltimore more than seven weeks earlier than Vice Admiral Cochrane's intended target date, which ultimately led to the British defeat.

Two hundred years have passed since the Potomac Squadron fought their way past the White House batteries, eclipsed by the burning of Washington and the bombarding of Fort McHenry. This book will reveal what history has forgotten; about America's first response to the attack on the nation's capital and the events that truly led to the penning of the Star Spangled Banner in what British naval historian William James wrote in 1837:

Of the many expeditions up the bays and rivers of the United States during the late war, none equaled in brilliancy of execution that of the Potomac to Alexandria.¹

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special recognition goes out to a few people and places. Lt. Colonel Sherman Pratt, Retired, of Arlington County, surprised me by showing up at the Historian's office at Fort Belvoir one day and telling me he knew about the Battle of the White House! Kristen McMasters of the American Battlefield Protection Program, National Park Service, provided me with valuable assistance in setting up a timeline, which became the basis for the entire project, guiding the research in ways I never imagined.

Great praise goes to the National Archives of Great Britain where the ship logs are filed. Without the information from the logs, the majority of the book would not have been feasible. The staff of the Manuscript, Prints and Photographs, Geography and Map, and Main Reference Reading Room Divisions of the Library of Congress was very helpful in providing me access to records and books directly relating to the research in this book.

Maya Davis, Maryland State Archives, and Jenny Masur, National Park Service, for their help in providing me with information and support on the slaves escaping to the squadron and finding descendants. Ralph Eshelman, Glenn Williams, John Kelsey edited early versions of the book to keep me on the right path and giving my project support along the way.

Thanks go out to Aaron Marcavitch of Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, Jim Mackay of the Lyceum, Bill Dickinson of Alexandria Historical Society, all at Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA), Sallie Lyons of Friends of Fairfax Archaeology (FOFA), Susan Levy (retired) of Fairfax County Public Library, the late Edith Sprouse, Ed Redmond of the Library of Congress and Washington Map Society, authors Christopher George and Andrew McCavitt, David Stringfellow of the DC War of 1812 Society, Martin Gordon from the Council on America's Military Past, Dave Turner of the Broad Creek Conservancy, David Furgol of the Naval History and Heritage Command, Ted Pulliam from Alexandria Historical Society, and Wesley Gant, National Park Service.

C.K. Gailey, from the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia, from the early start of my research gave me the enthusiastic feedback I so much needed to carry on, and to tell me when I was talking in non-military terms. Thanks to my extended family at Burke Staples Store 651, including Lynn Moore, who don't have a clue how much they have helped me over the past eight years to conduct the research and write this book! THAT WAS EASY!

Special thanks go to Stuart Butler and Steven Vogel for citing and incorporating my work into their books before mine was published, and sharing your insights. Other thanks to Stuart for editing my final product and always providing me with encouragement.

Christine Hughes, of the Naval Heritage and History Command, knew from the first time we met in 2003 that I had the dedication and enthusiasm to write a book on the Battle of the White House. When you see the number of references from The Naval War of 1812 – A Documentary History, Volume III, you will know how much her support lent to this book.

And finally, I would like to thank the long term support of my wife, Diane SchugO'Neill, and the girls, Bridget and Elizabeth, for their vast patience and support. This book was tough on them and they gave me the computer time, travel time, and life time to make it possible! Bridget even had me give a special War of 1812 talk to her 3rd grade class at Terra Centre Elementary in Burke, Virginia, because her textbook for Virginia history only had one paragraph on the entire war!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Introduction

Chapter 1 – A Battery up on the Hill

Chapter 2 – A Tolerably Good Division... should be sent up the Potomac

Chapter 3 – Should the enemy ascend the former (Potomac), his object is unmasked

Chapter 4 - The crisis, I presume, will be of short duration

Chapter 5 – To Annoy or Destroy the Enemy

Chapter 6 – A severe fire of musketry opened upon Fairy

Chapter 7 – I think we might demolish them

Chapter 8 – This part of the country will become the seat of war

Chapter 9 – The firing from his vessels continued without any considerable cessation

Chapter 10 – The cannon shot, grape, canister, etc. fell like hail

Chapter 11 – The enemy has passed the battery

Chapter 12 – Made sail up the Potomack, Fleet in Co

Chapter 13 – His ships were much crippled

Chapter 14 – This little band had been able to keep up the fight for 5 successive days without faltering.

Bibliography

Epilogue

Index

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Tangier Islands

Figure 2: William Tatham's map of the Potomac

Figure 3: William Tatham's map detail showing Belvoir, White House, and Mount Vernon

Figure 4: Commodore John Rodgers, Captain Oliver Perry, Captain David Porter

Figure 5: Rear Admiral George Cockburn

Figure 6: Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane

Figure 7: The 10th Military District

Figure 8: Laidler's Ferry on Tatham's 1813 map

Figure 9: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Parker

Figure 10: General Philip Stuart

Figure 11: Location of selected Virginia and Maryland militia units by end of July 1814

Figure 12: From left to right: Secretaries Monroe, Jones, and Armstrong

Figure 13: Two routes to Washington

Figure 14: Captain James Gordon

Figure 15: Charles Black Charlie Napier

Figure 16: clockwise from top left: Seahorse, rocket ship, Euryalus, and bomb vessel

Figure 17: sketch of sloop Starr converted to bomb vessel Meteor

Figure 18: Landmarks associated with the squadron

Figure 19: First engagement between the squadron and Virginia militia near Kettle Bottoms

Figure 20: Location of Virginia and Maryland militias while engaging squadron

Figure 21: Original note for advertisement for Porter's crew

Figure 22: Camp Selden and Belle Plain landing on Potomac Creek

Figure 23: British observed glow in night sky, August 24th

Figure 24: The Navy Yard burning

Figure 25: The only remaining fragment of Columbia

Figure 26: The squadron approaches Fort Washington

Figure 27: Location of militia and President Madison's group on August 27th

Figure 28: Flag of truce coming down from Alexandria

Figure 29: View of squadron from Greenleaf Point

Figure 30: Defensive locations planned by Madison and Monroe on August 28th

Figure 31: Windmill Point (proposed fort site) and Mason's Island

Figure 32: Captain Henry Baker

Figure 33: Fairy entered the Potomac River on August 28th

Figure 34: 2,000 Virginia militia camped on Shuter's Hill

Figure 35: Thomas Brown, Aide-de-Camp of Brigadier General Hungerford

Figure 36: Porter arrived and Anna Maria dropped down on August 30th

Figure 37: Defensive and Offensive measures against the Potomac Squadron

Figure 38: Belvoir Neck depicted in 1814

Figure 39: Fairy's cutter reached the squadron

Figure 40: The battle begins

Figure 41: Collage showing White House landing in the early 20th century

Figure 42: White House landing in the spring of 1919; Mount Vernon Neck is at top left

Figure 43: Hadley's Creek

Figure 44: Keane's wooden house used as headquarters by Captain Porter

Figure 45: Bomb vessel firing mortar

Figure 46: Virginia and Maryland county militias at the White House and Indian Head

Figure 47: Rozier's Bluff

Figure 48: The Potomac Squadron starts to drop down

Figure 49: White House batteries

Figure 50: Greenway Flats and White House

Figure 51: Rodgers sent down fire boats

Figure 52: Location of trenches in the battle field

Figure 53: The Potomac Squadron between Fort Washington and the White House batteries

Figure 54: Day time events on September 4th

Figure 55: Captain Porter's battle flag

Figure 56: Newcomb's flotilla

Figure 57: War ships line up and fire at the White House batteries

Figure 58: The squadron passing the batteries with prizes

Figure 59: Lossing's copy of the torpedo sketch

Figure 60: Torpedo references

Figure 61: Rodger's fire vessel grounds at Point Pamunkey

Figure 62: Location of Indian Head batteries

Figure 63: Slave pickup locations for Potomac Squadron

Figure 64: Outside flap of letter from Camp White House

Figure 65: The fleet started to disperse on September 4th

Figure 66: The rescue mission

Figure 67: Political cartoon showing the capitulation of Alexandria

Figure 68: Detail of political cartoon mentioning Porter and Perry

Figure 69: Bombardment of Fort McHenry

Figure 70: White House Landing in the 1850s

Figure 71: Corbett's 1861 map with rebel batteries

Figure 72: Potomac Squadron medal

Figure 73: Mortar Punch Bowl presented to General Armistad

Figure 74: The author and an intact 13-inch mortar shell

Figure 75: fragment of 10-inch mortar shell showing fuse hole and tong imprint

Figure 76: Wood fuse from a 13 inch mortar shell

Figure 77: Bayonet from Brown Bess musket

Figure 78: Samples of solid shot ranging from 0.5 – 6 inches in diameter

Figure 79: Fellow historians in gun pit from the Battle of the White House left to right:

Patrick O'Neill, Stuart Butler, Derek Manning, Glenn Williams, and Ralph Eshelman

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: List of prizes taken from Alexandria by the Potomac Squadron

Table 2: Virginia militia regiments fighting at the White House

Table 3: Slaves escaping to the Potomac Squadron

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Lt. Colonel Sherman Pratt, retired, and the late Jerry Lyons. They never gave up on me!

INTRODUCTION

Raised in northwest Oklahoma, I grew up where the concept of U.S. history takes on a much different meaning than in the eastern part of the country. Native Americans have been in the Americas for thousands of years, and European contact came with the Vikings and Christopher Columbus. Yet, Oklahomans only recently celebrated their state's centennial, the same year of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia.

In 1986, I traveled east of the Mississippi River for the very first time, vacationing to the Smoky Mountains and was amazed at the historical markers of older events the further east I travelled. In Russellville, Kentucky, I observed a historical marker in a courthouse square about Reverend John Littlejohn, who placed the United States' archives in a trunk in his house in Leesburg, Virginia, during the burning of Washington in August 1814.² Coming from a state with still 20 years until their centennial celebration, it was hard for me to imagine I was reading about someone who had been in Washington 180 years earlier with the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in a trunk in his house!

Two years later, and working across the country doing archaeology, I worked on an archaeological project at the Addison Plantation in Oxon Hill, Maryland, outside of Washington D.C., where I was thoroughly exposed to the rich colonial history of the United States and Virginia. I read a copy of Walter Lord's The Dawn's Early Light, only because I was an avid fan of his book, Night to Remember (I am still a confirmed Titanic enthusiast). I was unaware of what Lord's book was about, but Lord was able to unfold the events of the burning of Washington in my mind as if I was actually there. I imagined how eerie and surreal it would have been to see British soldiers walking the streets of the fledgling capital after it had been deserted on the evening August 24, 1814, torching the government buildings and the President's mansion after they ate the dinner abandoned by Dolly Madison.

Several years passed, and I traveled from coast to coast and top to bottom of the U.S., and finally moved east to be near my then fiancee, now my wife of 16 years. She lived in Fairfax County, Virginia, and I became involved with the local history through archaeology as well as volunteer work with the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia.

In 2001, I helped develop signage for a historic walking trail along the Potomac River next to the Belvoir Manor at Fort Belvoir. One of the panels included the Battle of the White House, occurring there in September 1814, just after the burning of Washington. After briefly researching the battle, it became obvious to me few people knew much about the engagement, or really understood its intensity and national implications.

Some of the facts regarding the Battle of the White House did not add up in my mind. What was said to last only a few hours was also stated to span several days, and what was to have involved only a few soldiers was also stated to have over 2500 soldiers and several British ships. Who was right, who was wrong? Furthermore, because the battle occurred between the burning of Washington, the bombarding of Fort McHenry, and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, did it have any effect on the outcome of the British attack on Baltimore?

That was over 12 long years ago. Since that time, intense (and I mean intense!) research has led to the detailed book you are about to read. The gripping story of what unfolded on Belvoir Neck at a small place called the White House among seven British war ships, three American naval heroes, the brave Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia militia and American Navy seamen can now be told. As the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the writing of the poem that became our national anthem is here, the telling of this story and the effect the small event had on the attack on Baltimore after the burning of Washington and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner will fill a pivotal gap in our nation's history.

Enjoy!

Patrick O'Neill

Burke, Virginia

CHAPTER 1

A BATTERY UP ON THE HILL³

The fighting and politicking of the American Revolution was conducted fairly distant from Alexandria, Virginia, on the Potomac River. Trade vessels loaded with flour, tobacco, and other exports travelled freely down the river from Alexandria, considered the oldest continuous marketplace in the nation. Twelve miles south of Alexandria was Mount Vernon, the home of the head of the revolutionary army, General George Washington. In April, 1781, British warships sailed to Alexandria and Mount Vernon, creating a sequence of events that would ironically repeat over 33 years later during the War of 1812.

The Northern Proprietary of Virginia was granted by King Charles I of England to a group of English gentlemen including the Culpeper family in 1649.⁴ The land was handed down through the generations to Thomas, Fifth Lord Fairfax, when he married Lady Catherine Culpeper in 1690. Their son, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, took an active interest in the Virginia lands and came to America in the 1730s. Trying to facilitate the selling of land tracts, Thomas asked his cousin, William Fairfax, to come to the region and help him operate the family business. William was also given an incentive to come, as he would be the customs official for the Upper Potomac River.

William moved his family to Virginia from Massachusetts in 1734. He built a substantial brick manor house along the Potomac between Dogue and Accotink creeks and purchased several tracts of land to create a new plantation called Belvoir, French for beautiful to see. William Fairfax died in 1757, and his son, George William Fairfax, became the customs collector for the South Potomac River Naval District.⁵

Belvoir had a commanding view up and down the Potomac, situated along the edge of the bluff overlooking the river. A tobacco barn/warehouse, as well as a customs house, was located about 1/2 mile north of the manor house on the edge of the river below the bluff on a narrow river terrace.⁶ The customs house was also known as the White House because it was painted white, and was a prominent feature along the river used as a navigation point. A light was kept on a pole at the river's edge for navigation.

George Fairfax was a very good friend of young neighbor George Washington, owner of Mount Vernon estate, becoming an older brother figure. Washington helped with the fish seines on the river at the White House and spent much of his happier youth at Belvoir. Fairfax left Belvoir and traveled to England in 1773, to settle claims to receive part of his inheritance. Fairfax was still in England the following year when he asked Washington to sell his household belongings at Belvoir and rent out the estate and buildings.⁷ Washington purchased many of the furnishings at the sale, and advertised the land for rent.

The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington Green in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. On June 15, Washington was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.⁸ In late October, 1775, rumors reached Alexandria, the largest town on the Upper Potomac, that Lord Dunmore was coming up the Potomac with nearly four thousand men to destroy the town.⁹ The residents began to move their belongings out of town, and the plantation owners prepared for the worst. However, the rumor proved to be false.

General Washington was with his troops in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November, 1775, yet, he was still concerned about Mount Vernon and the Upper Potomac and a possible British invasion. Being intimately familiar with the shipping channels along the Potomac, particularly at Belvoir Neck, he knew the best location for obstructing river traffic along the Potomac was at the southeastern tip of Belvoir Neck. The deep river channel came directly next to the bluffs below the manor. Washington realized batteries could also be erected near the Indian Highlands (Indian Head), across the river from Belvoir and a little further downriver where the river narrowed. Washington, however, was hesitant to expose personal property to British attack if the local people would not fully support the defensive plans.¹⁰

On November 10, 1775, Washington wrote to William Ramsay of Alexandria, describing several locations along the river where the channels were close to shore and navigation could be readily blocked, including Colonel Fairfax's Belvoir estate. Washington knew the ships would have to pass so close to the bluffs that the ships could be raked stem to stern by gun fire from the high elevation.

In Delaware they have attempted it by sinking of Chevaux de Frieze¹¹, and Row Gallies. In Potomack I think it might be done by Chevaux de Frieze (or sinking of Vessels) and Batteries on one or both sides of the River as Circumstances might require. I have often heard, that somewhere below Quantico the Channel was so narrow as to [ ] so, and the Land adjoining is proper, what [ ] the attempt? Highland is the [ ] these kind of Batteries; because [ ] from thence [ ] at the same time [ ] it [ ] receive no kind of Injury; where Batteries upon a Level are [ ] Silenced. Guns dismounted by the ships.

If Such a Situation [ ] Colo. Fairfax could be found [ ] it would be impassible; because [ ] Vessel is Raked from Stern to Stern from the time she gets within reach) of your Guns, till she is directly under them; and from Stem to Stern till she is out of reach of them, after passing; and this without bringing more than one or two guns to bear on you, without heaving too which would protract her passage. I mention this matter, because I am very willing to have my property taxed to its proportionate amount to effect a Plan of defence to it, with sincere regard for Mrs. Ramsay, yr. Family, and all friends I remain Dr. Sir¹²

A month later, Washington again wrote to Ramsay about the possibility of building battery locations on the Potomac. Washington knew the bluffs at Belvoir Neck, in particularly in front of the Belvoir Manor, was one of the best location where field pieces could be placed to stop the enemy ships from passing, as well as Indian Head.

Dear Sir: ...Ulto. that there is so little prospect of stopping the Navigation of the Potomack, by sinking of Vessels, or Cheveaux de Frieze; the Channel being not only deep but wide in those places which you judged most likely to admit of these obstructions. What ever plan you adopt, if executed at the expence of Individuals, should be as extensive as possible in its operation; for you will not be able to get Men to contribute to a Work of defence, from which they derive no advantage, immediate or remote; this is, my objection to Colo. Fairfax's, otherwise I do not know a more advantageous Situation, as a Battery up on the Hill, in Front of the House, could never be hurt by any Ship in the World and would sink any Ship before she could pass it, having the full rake of a Vessel from the time it comes within reach of its Guns, till it had got out of shot above.

I am not acquainted with the Situation of the Ground, or bearings of the River at the Indian highlands [Indian Head], so that I can give no opinion of that particular spot; but think the Method you propose of fitting out two Privateers under the Conduct of those Gentlemen you have named aided by a couple of Row- Gallies (upon the Philadelphia plan) not a bad one; but then, I would have these again supported by Land Batteries in some advantageous spot, where the whole might co-operate against any considerable Force, if need be; this stand of defence I would have as low down the River as a convenient Situation could be found on account of the number of Inhabitants it will cover, and the benefits that will result from it; for I have no expectation that the Committee of Safety will take this matter up, upon a contracted Plan; if they give in to it at all, it must be upon a larger Scale...¹³

On December 9, 1775, a group known as the Fairfax County Committee wrote a letter to George Mason IV of Gunston Hall, and Charles Broadwater, their local delegates to the State Convention, to suggest a shift of the military stores in Norfolk to the interior of the colony.¹⁴ The letter also suggested they move cannons from the western frontier to the Alexandria area to be used for navigation protection.

Major Connolly, a captured British officer, was being held at Frederick Town, Maryland.¹⁵ He told officials Lord Dunmore was to meet up with forces he was to raise in the spring and attempt to capture Alexandria. In late January 1776, the Alexandrians again were worried about an invasion by the British coming up the Potomac River. The British did not attack the region during the early years of the war, and subsequently, they lost their fear of such an attack, and the Potomac batteries were never built.

In early 1781, Washington and his young French associate General Marquis de Lafayette were planning to encircle Cornwallis near Yorktown, Virginia, and the British sent American traitor Benedict Arnold up the James River to pillage and sack Richmond.¹⁶ By late March, Washington sent Lafayette to Virginia to stop and, if possible, capture Benedict Arnold, who was conducting raids along both the James and Potomac rivers.¹⁷

Lafayette visited Mount Vernon in early April, but only Washington's nephew/manager, Lund Washington, was home. The Frenchman had wanted to meet some of the General's family and see his home. Within two weeks after Lafayette visited Mount Vernon, the British 14-gun sloop Savage, under the command of Captain Thomas Graves, was plundering plantations along the Potomac and chasing General Lafayette.¹⁸ Savage, accompanied by several other ships, sailed upriver past the Mount Vernon area just a few days after Lafayette left, and Alexandria and Georgetown went on high alert.¹⁹

[Pet. Wagener Alexandria to Colo William Deakins, George Town] We have information here, that the Enemies vessels are proceeding up the river, that they have got as high up as Port tobacco plundered and burnt Priest Hunter's House — Wat Hanson's & Pyes — It is generally believed they intend up to this place and that General Washington's Houses — Belvoir & Colo Masons²⁰ will be destroyed, we are putting ourselves here in the best posture of defence, that the nature of our situation will admit and my Dear Col. I hope that in case of an Attack upon this Town that you will give us your assistance from George Town our signal here (if the Enemy shou'd approach) will be the firing of three distinct Cannon — we are badly armed, but the Inhabitant of this Town and the Vessenage are determined not to give up the Town, without such a force comes up, that we cannot oppose, I make no doubt if Col. Murdock has notice of this that he will order his Militia to hold themselves in readiness, and give us his Assistance.²¹

On April 11, 1781, the British ships approached Alexandria, and Savage, the 20-gun sloop General Monk and the 10-gun cutter Rambler anchored 11/2 miles downriver below town. The 14-gun sloop Hope and 14-gun sloop Swift grounded just below Alexandria, probably near Rozier's Bluff.²² The next afternoon, Savage and Rambler went down to assist Hope and Swift, but Rambler grounded in the same area. The British removed the guns from Swift and she floated off around 5 a. m. the next morning.

Once the ships were towed free, they sailed down to Piscataway Creek on the Maryland shore about 1/4 mile east northeast of Mount Vernon.²³ About 100 American riflemen were observed on shore, firing at the ships. In the afternoon, under a flag of truce, all British boats were armed and sent ashore. But soon, something went wrong for the British, and the ships fired several guns to cover the landing party, and the American forces fired back with muskets. The British returned to their ships with 13 slaves listed as refugees.²⁴

On April 14th, boats were sent ashore at Mount Vernon for wood, again under a flag of truce.²⁵ Lund Washington, Washington's nephew and then manager of Mount Vernon, watched as the British ships approached. He had witnessed the engagement the day before across the river at Piscataway Creek, and was wary of the British intentions for Mount Vernon.

At first, Lund rebuffed the British request for supplies, then, quickly reconsidered when it appeared Mount Vernon would be laid to waste. He then, actually, went onto the ship bringing refreshments, telling the British they could help themselves to what they wanted as long as they left the buildings alone.²⁶

The largest loss suffered by Mount Vernon during the incident was the loss of slaves. Savage took a very valuable Boat: 24 feet Keel, and several slaves.²⁷ Washington was not happy at all with Lund's actions. He told Lund he would have rather seen Mount Vernon burned to the ground in protest than to have him entertain them with refreshments.

New Windsor, April 30, 1781. Dear Lund: Your letter of the 18th. came to me by the last Post. I am very sorry to hear of your loss; I am a little sorry to hear of my own; but that which gives me most concern, is, that you should go on board the enemy's Vessels, and furnish them with refreshments. It would have been a less painful circumstance to me, to have heard, that in consequence of your noncompliance with their request, they had burnt my House, and laid the Plantation in ruins. You ought to have considered yourself as my representative, and should have reflected on the bad example of communicating with the enemy, and making a voluntary offer of refreshments to them with a view to prevent a conflagration.

It was not in your power, I acknowledge, to prevent them from sending a flag on shore, and you did right to meet it; but you should, in the same instant that the business of it was unfolded, have declared, explicitly, that it was improper for you to yield to the request; after which, if they had proceeded to help themselves, by force, you could but have submitted (and being unprovided for defence) this was to be preferred to a feeble opposition which only serves as a pretext to burn and destroy.²⁸

Colonel Henry Lee II, father of Harry Light Horse Lee, lived near Dumfries, Virginia, in Prince William County, just a few miles south of Mount Vernon. Lee wrote to Thomas Jefferson about the invasion of Alexandria and Mount Vernon, and expressed his pleasure that he and George Mason IV, at nearby Gunston Hall, had been spared.

If the Enemy had Succeeded at Alexandria they intended; one of the Prisoners say, to have burnt General Washington's Houses, Plundered Col. Mason and myself and endeavored to have made me a prisoner.²⁹

The Belvoir manor house burned in early 1783, leaving only a brick shell towering over the Potomac River.³⁰ The American Revolution ended a few months later on September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The British would not return to the upper part of the Potomac for 42 years.

In 1787, Ferdinando Fairfax inherited his Uncle George Fairfax's property, including the Belvoir estate, the White House, and tracts of land in Berkeley County (later changed to Jefferson County). After 1800, Ferdinando moved from his Shannon Hill estate in Berkeley County, Virginia, (later Jefferson County, West Virginia) and moved to Belvoir, declaring it his official residence.³¹ At this time, he built a large wooden house in the middle of Belvoir Neck, but soon moved to a more substantial brick house, Mount Eagle, located just south of Alexandria, his last residence. The Belvoir land was worked and/or rented for several years by Mr. Francis Keene/Keane beginning in the early 1800s.

By August 1814, the Belvoir tract included the large wooden tobacco barn and long brick building called the White House on the narrow floodplain of the Potomac River which locals frequently used as a navigation landmark. The brick ruins of Belvoir still stood as ruined reminder of earlier magnificence, and the substantial wooden house that Ferdinando had built in the middle of the neck was occupied by caretaker Keane.

CHAPTER 2

A TOLERABLY GOOD DIVISION... SHOULD BE SENT UP THE POTOMAC ³²

Defense for the Capital

The United States emerged as a victorious new independent nation in 1783, after many years of war with the British. The Compromise of 1790 placed the need for a capital city in the southern states if the national government assumed the state debts from the revolution. The city was plotted within a 100 square mile area to be later called the District of Columbia, straddling the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia and called Washington. The country needed to defend itself and the new capital. The first fort system to protect the capital was authorized by Congress in 1794, and Secretary of War Henry Knox cited President Washington's ideas for the defenses of the new national city.

The president of the United States, who is well acquainted with the River Potomac, conceived that a certain bluff of land on the Maryland side near Mr. Digges; a point formed by an eastern branch of the Potomac, would be a proper situation for a fortification to be erected.³³

Protecting the new and undeveloped Federal city, however, was not a top priority. In 1798, then-retired President Washington urged a fort be built at Digges Point, but no work was done. When Congress contemplated a fort system again in 1805, Secretary of War Henry Dearborn directed Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams to evaluate Digges Point for a circular battery, say of twelve cannon.³⁴

Constructed between 1808 and 1809, Fort Warburton had to be modified to fit into a small 4 acre parcel and did not resemble the model of Fort Madison after which it had supposedly been designed.³⁵ The fort was an enclosed masonry compound with a semi-elliptical face and circular flank next to the Potomac River. The fort contained quarters for two companies, 15 cannon, and a masonry tower on the bluff above that could house one company and six additional cannons. The capital would be protected.

Tensions between Great Britain and the United States were high in the first decade of the 19th century. Several altercations occurred between the two countries on the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean between 1803 and 1812. These actions resulted in over 10,000 American sailors seized by the British and forced into British service.³⁶

President James Madison³⁷, a founding father of the United States and only her fourth President, was under growing pressure from war hawks to declare war on Great Britain by late 1811 and early 1812. The British impressments of thousands of American seamen and the seizure of cargoes impelled Madison to give in to pressure, and on June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war.³⁸ Over the next two years, much of the military and naval action took place on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Coast; yet, there was a constant show of British Naval force along the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, which continuously prompted worries of a possible invasion of Washington.

The regular Army of the United States was only 11,744 strong in June 1812, forcing Congress to authorize the raising a militia in each state in case of emergencies.³⁹ The citizen soldier in each state militia was counted on to rally in support of a national emergency.⁴⁰ The Virginia militia mobilized on April 12, 1812.⁴¹ The threat of war coming to the area in the upper Potomac escalated. The Mayor of Alexandria, Charles Simms, was worried about the British threat on his city of 7,300 people as early as February 1813.⁴² He wrote to Secretary of War William Eustis about British ships at Lynnhaven Bay near Norfolk, and asked for protection of Alexandria against a British attack. Eustis replied that Fort Warburton near Alexandria would suffice as protection.

In early February, 1813, several British warships entered the Chesapeake Bay and began attacking merchant ships, taking what supplies and goods they could and burning vessels if needed.⁴³ Originally under the command of Vice Admiral John Warren, the squadron began a long campaign in the Chesapeake that would last until the end of the war.

Many of the slaves in the Chesapeake area understood the British were interested in taking on males to serve against the Americans, even though the British Admiralty did not condone any action that would cause slaves to rise up against their masters.⁴⁴ Panic quickly ensued in the local countryside as many tidewater plantation owners feared the British would cause an uprising amongst the slaves.

The British, intent on creating a long term blockade of the eastern seacoast, developed a plan to build Fort Albion on the Tangier Islands in the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Potomac River by April, 1813 (Figure l).⁴⁵ Built by the summer of 1814, Fort Albion became the main base for the British in the Chesapeake until the end of the war. The lengthy Chesapeake blockade inferred a plan for invasion, perhaps to the nation's capital or Baltimore, both considered great prizes in the eyes of the British.

Figure 1: Tangier Islands⁴⁶

During the summer of 1813, William Tatham⁴⁷ drafted a survey map of the defenses of the Potomac from Norfolk to Washington in response to the threat on the capital (Figure 2), but the map was never formally published. Ferdinando Fairfax, owner of the Belvoir estate, gave Tatham permission to utilize his property and freestone quarries for fortifications to help defend Washington. Tatham was thinking along the same lines as General Washington was back in 1775. The White House area on Belvoir Neck, with its high bluffs next to the deep channel, was still the best defensive position along this segment of the Potomac. On Tatham's map, Belvoir was labeled burnt house or Belvoir (Figure 3). Tatham also labeled the White House, the first known map showing the navigation building.

Figure 2: William Tatham's map of the Potomac

Figure 3: Detail of Tatham map showing Belvoir, White House, and Mount Vernon.⁴⁸

Even though Tatham recognized the value of defenses at Belvoir, the majority of the American government could not comprehend that warships could navigate that far up the Potomac. Tatham recorded the following information for the Belvoir area.

...Many blocks about the size of a tobacco hogshead have tumbled down on the shores, and these, designed for Military purposes, are estimable... the convenience of these quarries to the navigable water of Potomack, and their vicinity to several tenable positions where a marine enemy may be effectually annoyed, render them a desirable subject of Public Economy, for both foundation and superstructure of Forts, Barracks, and other military buildings...

This position is next to Mount Vernon (late seat of General Washington). It is the property of Ferdinando Fairfax, Esqr., and is in view of Fort Warburton [Washington], with which I do not conceive myself authorized to compare it. It has great advantages from the circumstance of a deep channel (said to be eight fathom) within pistol shot of the free stone heights, and not more than three hundred yards wide, from the advantage of several pure and wholesome falling springs, and in consideration that the