The United States Capitol, Washington D.C, and the White House, burned during the War of 1812.
British General Robert Ross and Admiral Alexander Cochrane arrived in Maryland on August 19, 1814 with 4500 veterans fresh from the Napoleonic campaigns. On the 24th, having muscled past 5500 U.S. militiamen, they made it to Washington, D.C. After the Battle of Bladensburg, British General Robert Ross captured the nation’s capital and burned down essential centers of American government. Specifically targeting the Executive Mansion (the White House) and the Capitol Building, which contained the Library of Congress along with the chambers used by the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. British soldiers truly set the city ablaze. The fires were put out by a massive thunderstorm less than a day later. The British held D.C. for only 26 hours; however, it is the only time a foreign enemy has captured Washington D.C.
The only government building the Brits didn't put to the torch was the U.S. Patent Office. Dr. William Thornton, Superintendent of Patents at the time, had hundreds of important documents rushed out of the city prior to the attack. Then, when the British came, he (allegedly) persuaded them not to immolate the Patent Office. Tradition has it that Thornton put himself in front of a cannon aimed at his building and shouted "Are you Englishmen or Goths and Vandals? This is the Patent Office, the depository of ingenuity of the American Nation in which the whole world is interested. Would you destroy it?" The British backed off. This event added to the iconicness of the War of 1812.
