Existing comment:
Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
A Refuge
Many Washington residents fleeing the British invasion in August 1814 converged on this quiet village. Brookeville also provided a haven for hungry soldiers as they headed for Baltimore following the American Defeat at Bladensburg.
On August 26, an exhausted President Madison arrived at the home of postmaster Caleb Bentley, where "all hands went to work to prepare supper and lodging for him" and his companions.
President Madison's guards stood watch as he worked through the night at the Bentley home.
The home of local Quakers Caleb and Henrietta Bentley where the president stayed is called "Madison House," and Brookeville became known as "United States Capitol for a Day."
"It is against our principles to have anything to do with war, but we receive and relieve all who come to us."
-- Henrietta Bentley, quoted by Margaret Bayard Smith, August 1814
Safekeeping:
The message "You had better remove the records," alerted President Madison that an attack was imminent and the nation's important documents should be secured outside the city. Senate papers and money from Washington banks were sent to Brookeville. |