Episode 2 of 4

Burning of Public Buildings

When: August 24, 1814
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: Event of 1814: Burning of Washington during the War of 1812, British troops set fire to landmar

British soldiers and sailors set fire to the Capitol, White House, and Navy Yard on the evening of August 24, 1814.

After entering Washington, British forces set fire to multiple public buildings. The destruction included the Capitol, the presidential mansion, and the Washington Navy Yard. The damage was estimated at £365,000, affecting key government structures.

Sources

Burning of Washington Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.