THE STORM THAT SAVED THE DAY

THE STORM THAT SAVED THE DAY

Sometimes Truth is indeed stranger than Fiction and this story has always captured my imagination and I have often wondered why this has not been made into a Movie. This is a true Historical event that is very interesting indeed!

In August the summer of 1814, the new Capital of Washington DC was one of the hottest summers on record, with temperatures soaring into 100 degrees. With the intense heat and the surrounding marshland, it was a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and exhausted Settlers.

During the War of 1812 the British soldiers were called to attack the American colonies after American troops had invaded Canada, burning various governmental buildings and attacking Upper Canada. The Settlers were used to warring with the British, as the colonies had been fighting the British Empire for nearly two years, but mainly in the Great lakes region. This British invasion was set upon the United States New capital city and it was payback time for attacking Canadian province of York and Upper Canada now known as Toronto. They decided on Washington DC as a symbolic target with easy access from the Sea that made it easily accessible.

On Wednesday August 24th, 1814 the President, James Madison received word to evacuate the city; He had learned the British Army was marching in from Chesapeake Bay. American troops moved in ready for this inevitable confrontation.

The exhausted 8,000 townspeople prepared themselves for this battle and many fled the city. The president had already been made aware of this potential retaliation and He and his wife Dolly had already hatched an elaborate escape Plan, leaving the White house with little more than a painting of George Washington.

The occupation of the British lasted only 26 hours, Led by Admiral George Cockburn, The British easily defeated the American army of volunteers. Following the Battle of Bladensburg the British marched into the New Capital city of Washington, because the summer was so dry it was a perfect setting for brush fires and the British began burning many Governmental Buildings, Including the Capital Building. As the buildings were set a flame the British were confident in their glory and Admiral Cockburn smiled triumphantly!

Admiral Cockburn and his men crowded into the White house and found food still set out perfectly on a buffet table. Cockburn sitting down in pride and toasts to his men and begins to eat the lavish food,” Here’s to ole Madison! Ha let’s enjoy some wine and cheese gentlemen.”

A platter of beans, squash and wet sweetmeats pies lies elegantly on a large buffet table, some diced Mutton and venison lay amongst corn, cabbage and salted pork, and hard apple cider was set on the table in tall golden jugs as was various wine, rum and apple jack.

Cockburn lifts up his glass in triumph” We have shown these peasants who the true Kings really are, now men enjoy this good food and rest and tomorrow lets Burn this shoddy mansion to the ground!”

He fills up on Mince pies and cheese platter and roast pork, He swigs on some Presidential Whiskey and takes some fine silver out of a nearby drawer and continues to gorge on various foods of the day. His men delight in the table of food and in their great glory of their seemingly easy takeover of the new capital city. Some put their dirty boots up on the table and smoke hand rolled cigars. The men eat and rest upon the floors of the White house content in their apparent victory. Come early morning the sounds of rain hitting glass windows awaken the Admiral and he stares out the white house’s large Pane window into a rainstorm.

He smiles to himself and gets up and drinks a stiff glass of rum. "Wake up Men" he yells and still tired, his men awake.

“Tis time to Burn this crap House to the ground” He laughs swinging his toddy, “Eat for your strength and Grab some torches let this bitch burn”

Some walk from room to room destroying paintings and artifacts and stifling through drawers looking for jewelry or gold. Admiral Cockburn Looks at a presidential painting Of James and Dolly Madison and yells' ' Torch the fools' ' and his first sergeant jumps up and lights the 12 feet tall hand painted portrait and all cheer as it begins to burn. Others with pieces of meat in one hand and a torch in the other go to various rooms alighting ablaze the fine linen curtains. A roar of laughter from the men ensues and they grab sterling silver candlesticks and other trinkets and shove them into their old ransacks.

The White house begins to burn and the Men roar in laughter and pride.

But outside darkness in the sky began brewing and storm clouds began billowing in from the east. The townsfolk were familiar with the harsh weather that affected the area and many hunkered down for a storm. But the British had no idea what was coming. In their assumed triumphant bliss they continued pillaging and plummeting the various buildings. The new capital lay burning in flames and smoke hovered in blackness into the air, but a silent darkness came billowing from the north and a blanket of rain fell hard as a cold storm was brewing and winds from the North came ushering in! The British continued on their rampage completely unawares.

The rains came first putting out some of the fires and a smoky haze billowed into the air as Dark storm clouds formed in the South. A huge wind got stronger and the trees began to slash about. The British soldiers continued to try to light more fires but the rain became torrential and the fires one by one were being put out. A British soldier yells into the darkened Night

“Where is the admiral?”

The winds grew heavy and a thundering noise began to grow sounding like the devil himself or a train getting larger and larger .The post office roof blew off its hinges and through the dark skies a giant tornado came thundering in!

The British soldiers look in horror at a huge cyclical body beginning to roar and coming towards them in the greyish green early morning haze. Trees began flying, uprooted high into the air. “Get the admiral” They scream running to take cover. A soldier, terrified, crawls behind the cannon but that too goes hovering into the darkened early morning sky. Two soldiers run but the storm is fierce and a thicket of glass pierces the soldier and he falls to the ground in a sickly slump, The other screams in terror and crouch’s down to the ground grasping fiercely onto the grass but is lifted high into the air and dropped far onto the ground.

The admiral enthralled in the burning curtains and pillaging in the drawers of the various bedrooms is oblivious to the Storm that has begun attacking his men. He swigs delighted from a small silver bottle, The apple jack is tart and first class. His drunken merriment and hearing loss keeps him oblivious.

“Admiral” a soldier screams up through the house, the thundering sound was deafening and the winds were so torrential roofs of the buildings were flying in the grey black sky.

“Admiral “another screams this time shooting off a pistol “Admiral!”

Cockburn looks confused and tilts his large head into the air, grabs some trinkets from a large dresser drawer. He carefully looks at a few small gilt gold rings putting one on his pinky.

Two soldiers had scurried up the stairs

“Sir there is a monster in the city and it is headed straight for us” Cockburn cocks his squat fat little head, His blue eyes bulge in rage and confused he laughs off this preposterous suggestion.

“Sir, we are not telling tales, this is true there is a monster outside, many men are dead!”

Admiral Cockburn laughs in mocking disdain and swigs his liqueur, lighting a curtain and

Kicking over a small wooden dressing table that crumbles to the flood, before he heads down the stairs to hear what the ruckus is all about.

He opens the door of the White house to see a tree stump flying over the veranda. “Burn the building down” He screams He stares out into the blackened skies and the deafening sound of a roar approaches but the sky is so dark he sees nothing. The Fires illuminate the darkened ridge and he can see British soldiers dead and bleeding lying in the center of the New Capital city.

“Retreat” He screams into the building blowing his hand horn. “Retreat” British soldiers scramble from the burning building, their eyes white with confusion into the rain swept storm. Large branches flew haphazardly through the air and a thundering sound like a train rumbles the structure of the Capitol building, glass shatters and the terrified soldiers begin to run. “Retreat” Cockburn blows his horn “retreat!”

Looked to the left and Looked to the right soon the patent office was in shambles and parts of the building hovered high into the sky and crashed hard to the ground. Trees became uprooted and began soaring into the darkened sky. Cockburn can see the cyclical demon twirling in a slow languish towards him. He blows hard on his horn unable to scream. He watches in horror as the huge tornado touches down in the center of the Capital, its bulging darkness emits a low thunder that shakes Cockburn as his boots begin to rattle. “Run” He screams “Retreat” Cockburn shoots from his pistol into the black twirling monster again he fires. He runs stomping on dead bodies that are now strewed like broken dolls in the street. A sharp piece of glass cuts into Cockburn’s calf and he winches in pain and pisses himself in terror as a cannon uprooted comes crashing down before him in a thundering blast.

The soldiers run for their lives, trampling the dead ,sickening sound of boots stomping on dead bodies below. Fires burn in the distance and the rain falls heavily causing the red of the flame to extinguish into a terrible smoke. The air is soot filled and rumbling, the storm covering twirls and twirls, the cyclone bends and emerges bigger and bigger and the trees swirl in the air like little matchsticks. Admiral Cockburn holds tight to his rosary tucked in his underpinnings and thinks I have been defeated by the devil as he is swirled into the air over again and again.

The British soldiers were indeed defeated by a storm and fierce tornado that protected The New Capital city of Washington DC on August 25 1814. And yes sometimes even when all hope is long gone a miracle can come and save the day in the most unexpected ways and sometimes in the guise of a storm.