August 24, 1814 -- the day that the British came to Washington and lit it ablaze. Certainly the most memorable moment of the War of 1812, the Burning of Washington was conducted by British forces in retaliation for Americans' burning of the city of York (now Toronto) in 1813, and remains the only time since the 1780s that the American capital has been occupied under a foreign flag. more ›

Such being the intention of General Ross, he did not march the troops immediately into the city, but halted them upon a plain in its immediate vicinity, whilst a flag of truce was sent in with terms. But whatever his proposal might have been, it was not so much as heard, for scarcely had the party bearing the flag entered the street, than they were fired upon from the windows of one of the houses, and the horse of the General himself, who accompanied them, killed. You will easily believe that conduct so unjustifiable, so direct a breach of the law of nations, roused the indignation of every individual, from the General himself down to the private soldier.