Week 6

Dear family,
I am writing you this letter to let you know everything is ok and we are still fighting. It is a hot August day. The air is thick and I can smell the air as it hurts my lungs to breath. The British are coming from the Chesapeake Bay area. Four thousand British troops attacked Washington, the city we are stationed at. Though many people fled away from here I stayed and saw the troops approaching the city from a building where we are bunkered down in. Many American defenders and I went to the battle at Bladensburg to fight. President James Madison was also with us. But we did not win the battle. Dolly Madison had a portrait of George Washington which she took before leaving. She was warned about British people. Because of what she heard about them she and some other people decided to run away from the area as they knew that British troops are coming. The British troops got here three hours after she had left. Once the troops got here they began to destroy everything. First of all they destroyed our public buildings. The Senates house, the Presidents Palace, our barracks, our storehouses and everything was burning. When Mr. Madison’s house was burning I was thinking about Dolly Madison. I though what if she didn’t leave, what would be the outcome then, would she have died? I was hiding behind a bush and watching the orange flames. Our surroundings were covered by black smoke and everything was burning. The troops were adding more and more fuel to the fire. And the blazes continued throughout the whole night and the next day. These burning flame fueled Americans flame of revenge and they just wanted to take revenge of it. The British troops seized our ships. Our sailors became captive by them and they were used in British Navy. All our trades with the United States and French were restricted. The war of 1812 was the greatest misfortune of my life. After this war The Star Spangled Banner, our national theme was written by Francis Key Scott (War Of 1812,...