tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.comments2023-07-09T01:36:11.258-07:00Lost and FoundersPubliushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08582040299024799305noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-18585508715144029152012-07-23T21:22:18.444-07:002012-07-23T21:22:18.444-07:00Also, Robin,Also, Robin,two0tenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05650712032684891739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-10155136833709358622012-06-06T11:06:42.609-07:002012-06-06T11:06:42.609-07:00Latrobe's original first floor plan of the Whi...Latrobe's original first floor plan of the White House of 1803<br /> <br />That evening, the vanguard of the British army reached Capitol Hill. Too small in number to effectively occupy the city, their intent was merely to cause havok. British General Robert Ross accompanied a truce party to negotiate with the remaining defenders but was fired upon, and his own horse was killed. All thoughts of accomodation were laid aside. All government buildings and military storehouses were burned.<br /><br />George Gelig was part of the British force that attacked Washington. While his regiment was sacking the city, the remainder of the British force marched into the American capital as night approached. Gelig wrote:<br /><br />"When the detachment sent out to destroy Mr. Madison's house entered his dining parlor, they found a dinner table spread and covers laid for forty guests. Several kinds of wine, in handsome cut glass decanters, were cooling on the sideboard; plate holders stood by the fireplace, filled with dishes and plates; knives, forks, and spoons were arranged for immediate use; in short, everything was ready for the entertainment of a ceremonious party. Such were the arrangements in the dining room, whilst in the kitchen were others answerable to them in every respect. Spits, loaded with joints of various sorts, turned before the fire; pots, saucepans, and other culinary utensils stood upon the grate; and all the other requisites for an elegant and substantial repast were exactly in a state which indicated that they had been lately and precipitately abandoned.<br /><br />You will readily imagine that these preparations were beheld by a party of hungry soldiers with no indifferent eye. An elegant dinner, even though considerably overdressed, was a luxury to which few of them, at least for some time back, had been accustomed, and which, after the dangers and fatigues of the day, appeared peculiarly inviting. They sat down to it, therefore, not indeed in the most orderly manner, but with countenances which would not have disgraced a party of aldermen at a civic feast, and, having satisfied their appetites with fewer complaints than would have probably escaped their rival gourmands, and partaken pretty freely of the wines, they finished by setting fire to the house which had so liberally entertained them.<br /><br />...Of the Senate house, the President's palace, the barracks, the dockyard, etc., nothing could be seen except heaps of smoking ruins." <br /><br /><br /><br />The Monroe bergère chair (before reupholstering) <br /> <br />General Ross was killed a few days later in the battle for Baltimore, the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.<br /><br />The Reconstruction<br />Despite architect Benjamin Latrobe's suggestions for changes, President James Madison pledged to restore the White House just as it was. Original architect James Hoban returned to supervise the reconstruction, and few architectural changes were made.<br /><br />When restoration was completed in 1817 under President James Monroe, it was furnished in fashionable style, some of which remains today in the Blue Room. He ordered a suite of French mahogany furniture through the American firm Russell and La Farge, with offices in Le Havre, France. However, the firm shipped gilded furniture instead, asserting that "mahogany is not generally admitted into the furniture of a Salon, even at private gentlemen's houses." Eight pieces of the original suite can be seen, including a bergère, an armchair with enclosed sides. A gilded bronze clock also remains.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-53644695769661425202012-06-06T11:05:02.899-07:002012-06-06T11:05:02.899-07:00you really need to examine the original source mat...you really need to examine the original source material before you make a ridiculous claim that the Badass Dolley Madison set fire to the White House in a fit over the curtains, which she took with her when she fled the British invasion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-29531251727687046142011-05-06T17:30:00.078-07:002011-05-06T17:30:00.078-07:00Actually, the "type" bit is part of his ...Actually, the "type" bit is part of his 2nd tweet. Dude messed up all sorts of ways. Thanks for reading!Publiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582040299024799305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-32153324176239882552011-05-06T13:24:02.421-07:002011-05-06T13:24:02.421-07:00I think you misspelled "typeo" in your h...I think you misspelled "typeo" in your hyperlinked reference to Ken's 2nd tweet. Ironic (in that Alanis Morissette kind of way).R. Weasleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13883135624494271081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-85190662130746088522011-04-23T19:12:41.225-07:002011-04-23T19:12:41.225-07:00If anyone had their shit together enough to recogn...If anyone had their shit together enough to recognize the threat of robotic terminators back in 1811 it was most certainly old T.J.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224490765656435838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883345239236897184.post-66689444852577346162011-03-16T21:01:40.360-07:002011-03-16T21:01:40.360-07:00Competition keeps the market strong: http://www.yo...Competition keeps the market strong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOAnoi7NpKI&feature=relatedAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01110264177596851961noreply@blogger.com