CHAPTER 28

“We’ve found the president!” Colonel George Minor called out, as soon as he entered the tavern where John Armstrong had spent some of the worst hours of his life.

Weary as he was, the secretary of war came to his feet immediately. “Where?”

“He was at Salona, sir.” The colonel came striding over. “Imagine! And here we’ve been looking for him as far afield—”

“Never mind that!” Armstrong snapped. “Is he coming here?” The estate owned by Reverend Maffitt at Salona was but a few miles away.

Colonel Minor’s face grew stiff. “Yes, sir. Of course he’s coming. Be here in less than an hour, I should think.”

Armstrong silently cursed his own abrasive manner. Now he’d offended the commander of the Sixtieth Virginia militia regiment, too.

But he couldn’t bring himself to offer an apology. Minor’s men hadn’t made it to the battle of Bladensburg at all—because Minor had allowed an officious junior clerk at the armory to delay him endlessly with pettifogging accounting procedures before he’d release the arms and munitions the regiment needed. Armstrong’s career was sinking fast, in part because of men like this.

So the secretary swiveled his head and brought the figure of General William Winder into his view. Much the same way a ship of the line brings its guns to bear for a broadside.

Winder had finally tired of planning Houston’s execution, so he’d spent the rest of the night issuing plans and directives that contradicted themselves from one moment to the next. Just as well, though, because the confusion he’d created had kept most of the military units from leaving the area. It was utterly laughable. Armstrong thought Winder might be the first commander in the history of the world who had to keep his army from a headlong rout—even though all of his directives had had precipitous retreat as their sole unvarying element—by confusing them into sheer paralysis.

However that might be, the forces were still at hand. And Armstrong had had enough of Winder. Respect for protocol be damned. Once the president arrived, Armstrong could leave all other matters in his hands and take direct and personal control of the army as the secretary of war.

It was now—Armstrong checked his watch—almost daybreak. If the Capitol was still standing . . .

No way to know that for sure. So rumor had it, but rumor was rumor. Armstrong needed direct and certain confirmation before he could finalize his plans. Unfortunately, on top of everything else, Winder had created such hurly-burly on the part of his subordinates that Armstrong had been forced to enlist a civilian to scout the matter for him.

At that, Armstrong had more confidence in the civilian he’d sent than he did in most of the officers who hovered around Winder. Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown lawyer to whom Armstrong had been introduced by Congressman John Randolph. A solid and reliable man, Key, even if he did fancy himself something of a poet. In the time since the British landing, most of Washington’s population—military and civilian alike—had fluttered about in panic like leaves in the wind. Key, however, had efficiently organized the evacuation of his family and personal possessions, taking them to a place of safety, and then had come back into the city to see what use he might be to the republic. He’d wound up guiding General Smith and his First Columbian Brigade to the battle of Bladensburg, even helped him map deployments.

If the Capitol was still standing . . .

Francis Scott Key hadn’t arrived at his post of observation in sufficient time to witness the British assault on the Capitol, nor its repulsion. But the excited inhabitants of the town house from whose roof he’d been able to watch everything since had described it to him well enough. They’d even possessed a telescope with which he’d been able to examine details of the dramatic aftermath.

So, although he hadn’t been an actual eyewitness, Key was able to write a good report. It helped, of course, that he was a poet, and thus fluent with a pen.

. . . can observe many bodies of British soldiers still strewn about the ground to the east of the Capitol. The attack which occur’d was most clearly injurious to the enemy, & they have now retired from the scene. The battle seems to have settled into an exchange of fire at a distance, which the sturdy walls of our Capitol should withstand readily enough. I think it unlikely the British will renew their efforts before tomorrow at the earliest, & they may have been repulsed entirely.

I am, your obedient servant,
F. Key

The report done, Key handed it to the teenage son of the family who owned the town house. The lad had already agreed to take the message to the secretary of war, since Key didn’t want to leave his post, lest something else occur.

“He should still be at the tavern in Georgetown. It’s located—”

“I know where it is!” cried the boy, and he was already racing off. Whatever reluctance he had to miss any of the action, it was more than offset by the excitement of being directly involved in such momentous events.

His duty done, Key could now indulge himself in his most heartfelt wish—to craft a patriotic poem that would suitably commemorate the dramatic occasion.

Dramatic it was, too, all that a poet could ask for! Fortunately, the light cast by the burning Navy Yard would be enough that he’d be able to see the words he’d be scribbling in his notebook.

Scratching more often than scribbling, he realized with dismay, some time later.

Alas, “Marble Liberty” was a well-nigh impossible phrase to fit into proper verse. For perhaps the hundredth time that night he cursed the soldiery holding the Capitol—yes, yes, gallant fellows, but he had a poem to write—because they hadn’t thought to raise a flag over it to replace the one which had been carried away by a Congreve rocket.

Blast it! Something as simple as that. Key had long ago figured out how he could have fit “star-spangled banner” into the poem.

True enough, the first two lines worked splendidly:

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

Excellent meter, which fit the well-known tune of “Anacreon in Heaven” to perfection.

But then what?

Whose broad wings and fierce eyes, through the perilous fight,

In the doorways we watched, were so gallantly . . .

Gallantly what?

Yes, yes, “gleaming” would work—but he’d already used the word in the previous sentence, and he would not give up “twilight’s last gleaming.” No poet in his right mind would.

The cretins! Were there a banner, he could have it streaming. But “streaming eyes” wouldn’t do at all! And “streaming wings” was simply meaningless.

An explosion from the Navy Yard distracted him for a moment. Key glanced back over his shoulder. Another store of munitions must have been set off, although the conflagration on the river to the south was finally starting to burn itself out.

No business of a poet’s, though.

He turned back to the notebook, beginning to despair. From the look of the skies, the first light of dawn was beginning to appear, and a fierce storm was in the offing. Once that storm broke, poetry would have to seek prosaic shelter.

Perhaps . . .

He was gripped by sudden excitement, and began scribbling hastily again. If he went back and changed . . .

Yes! Forget the eagle entirely. The bird was mostly a scavenger anyway. Concentrate on the statue.

Whose bold gaze and sure brow, through the perilous fight,

At the gates as we watched, were so gallantly standing?

Yes, that’d work! From there . . .

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

He hadn’t seen that himself, but the inhabitants had described it. Now . . . a bit of fudging . . .

Gave proof through the night that our dame was still there.

He could get away with that, surely. True, the British had stopped the bombardment of the Capitol hours earlier, but they’d fired off an occasional rocket now and then. More for show than anything else, obviously, but that was a pedestrian matter that a poet could safely ignore.

Then . . .

Oh, those mindless soldiers and their imbecile Captain Houston! Key had the perfect closing couplet for the first stanza.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

No banner, alas.

Key sighed. Nothing for it—once a poet begins with an image, he has to remain true to the thing, bloody awkward though it be. So . . . a little scratching and scribbling here and there . . .

O say, does she stand still, our belov’d Liberty,

In the doorway of the brave and the home of the free?

Yes, that worked, although the meter was damnably awkward in the first line of the couplet. He’d have to work on that some more. But at least he’d kept the high Cs in the tune.

A gleam of light struck his eye.

The first ray of the sun, just now peeking over the horizon. With a guilty start, Key realized he’d tarried a bit. His messenger would be back from Georgetown soon, and it was time he got started on a second report.

Francis Scott Key stood up, tucking away his pen and notebook for the moment while he stretched his arms and legs. He gazed at the Capitol, its eastern walls now showing clearly—including the scars left on it by the British bombardment. The American battery was still there; so, in the doorways of the House, were the eagle and the statue.

Key doffed his hat in salute. “You are a poet’s despair, Captain Houston. But a patriot’s delight.”

“Get the men ready to move out,” Ross commanded. “I want us well out of the city before that storm breaks.”

“But we’d planned—”

“I know what we’d planned, Admiral. But among those plans we did not include being bloodied and repulsed at the Capitol. Now did we?”

Cockburn looked mulish, but said nothing.

Ross was relentless. “Boldness is one thing, recklessness another. As soon as the news spreads, the Americans will rally quickly enough. Be sure of it. Our plans to spend a day here, wrecking every public building to demonstrate the U.S. government’s fecklessness are now moot, Admiral. Moot, d’you hear?

“For that matter, so are our plans to attack Baltimore. We can’t afford any more such losses, if we’re to take New Orleans later in the year—and New Orleans is the key to the war. So. It is now time to extricate ourselves from Washington before the Americans can bring enough might to bear to force our surrender. I have less than four thousand men left. Enough for a bold raid, if all had gone well. Not enough—not nearly enough—for anything further.

“We shall retreat, then. Immediately. We’re in a trap that’s about to be closed. You and Colonel Brooke will lead the retreat, Admiral. I’ll stay behind until the last moment, to keep the men steady.”

Headstrong as he was, Cockburn wasn’t actually a fool. He took a breath, held it, then sighed. He even managed something of a rueful smile.

“As you wish, General. I do regret not having the opportunity to wreck the National Intelligencer. The foul slanderers!”

Ross nodded, graciously enough. He had no desire to get into any further disputes with the admiral. They had to get out of Washington, and quickly enough that they’d be too far out of the city for Cockburn to commit any further mischief, once Ross gave his final order.

Thinking of that final order, he had to repress his own sigh.

The commander of an army had many responsibilities, some of which were unpleasant in the extreme. But Robert Ross had never shirked his duty, since the day he’d enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Foot right after graduating from Trinity College in Dublin. Nineteen years old, he’d been then, and a professional soldier ever since. Wounded in battle three times—make that four, now—and the veteran of campaigns in Spain, Egypt, Italy, and the Netherlands before he came to North America. One of the very few men in the British army who had worked his way up the ranks to major general by sheer professional skill, without family influence.

Ross reminded himself that honors enough had been showered upon him, in the course of it all. Three Gold Medals, the Peninsula Gold Medal, and a Sword of Honor. So he could hardly complain, now that duty was knocking on the door, bearing the bill.

Cockburn left the surgeon’s tent. As soon as he was gone, Colonel Brooke turned to the general.

“Are you certain about this, sir?”

Ross nodded toward the surgeon. “Ask him.”

The surgeon shook his head. “The only chance for the general’s survival now lies with the Americans. Delaying the surgery as he did”—the surgeon still sounded aggrieved—“I can’t possibly do the work well enough in the course of a retreat. I doubt the general would survive the rigors of the march, in any event.”

Brooke still looked dubious.

“Just get the men out of here, Colonel,” Ross said. “Once the march is well under way, you can inform the admiral—no, I’ll send an aide myself, so you can pretend you didn’t know—that I was forced to remain behind. By then, not even Cockburn will be rash enough to turn around.

“Damnation, Arthur, I will get my men out of here, whatever else.”

That braced the colonel. “As you wish, sir. I’ll see to it.”

Then he was gone, leaving only the surgeon and young Captain Smith still with Ross in the tent.

“I’ll let you choose the aide in question, Harry, if you’d do me the pleasure of remaining behind until the transfer is done.”

“Of course, sir.” But the captain also looked dubious. “Are you so sure the Americans will behave properly, though?”

Ross waved his hand. Very weakly, now. “They will or they won’t, as it may be. I have no great fears on the matter. Cousin Jonathan’s manners may be rough at times, but he’s hardly a brute. Captain Houston has certainly conducted himself gallantly enough—and we’ll surrender me into his hands when the time comes.”

As chance would have it, President Madison entered the tavern not two minutes after Armstrong finished reading Key’s report. Finally, the secretary of war had all he needed to take action.

General Winder came over to say something to Madison, but Armstrong’s quick steps blocked his path.

“Mr. President, I’ve just gotten the word,” the secretary stated. “The Capitol is still in our hands. I propose to rally the men and begin a counterattack.”

Over his shoulder, Armstrong could hear Winder’s gathering protest. He drove right over the first blustering sentences. “General Winder here, of course, is needed immediately in Baltimore. To prepare the city’s defenses.”

Madison stared up at him. The diminutive president—he stood not much over five feet tall, and weighed perhaps one hundred pounds—had no expression whatsoever on his face. But he knew perfectly well that the commander of the troops in Baltimore was Samuel Smith, who was both a senator and a major general—which meant he outranked Winder, as well as despising him.

“A splendid plan,” the president stated. “General Winder, you must be off at once. Baltimore must be protected at all costs.”

Whatever protest Winder might have made died aborning.

“At once,” Madison repeated.

As soon as Winder left, the president turned to Armstrong. “And do you have a plan, John?”

The secretary of war shrugged. “That word would be too grandiose, perhaps. But I don’t really think any complex schemes are needed here, Mr. President. We still hold the Capitol, and have since the British arrived in the city. Mr. Monroe is there himself, in fact.”

Madison’s eyes widened at this unexpected news, but he simply inclined his head, inviting Armstrong to continue.

“That gives us the rock we need around which to rally our men, Mr. President. No better rock possible. There are still enough soldiers in and around Washington to turn the day. More than enough—some of them still intact units and ready to fight.” His eyes flicked across the room, looking for—

There he was. Armstrong pointed to a young naval officer, seated in the corner.

“That’s Captain David Porter, Mr. President. He rushed down here from New York at the secretary of the navy’s behest, as soon as word came of the British landing. Brought all his surviving crew with him, too. I spoke to him earlier this evening, and he volunteered to lead a relief column to the Capitol.”

Madison nodded respectfully at the captain. Porter was one of the young heroes whom the navy had produced in the war. The many heroes, where, alas, the army had produced precious few. Porter’s frigate Essex had ravaged British shipping until the British had finally destroyed it with overwhelming force off the coast of Chile. He and the surviving crewmen had just returned in April, after a prisoner exchange.

If apologies were difficult for Armstrong, he was willing enough to make amends in other ways. “And I’m sure Colonel Minor and his Sixtieth Virginia will volunteer to join the sailors. Valiant men, those.”

In another corner, the colonel in question straightened his shoulders. “Most certainly, Mr. President! I’ve six hundred infantry and a hundred cavalrymen under my command, all present and accounted for.”

Even armed, now, Armstrong thought sarcastically. Let’s hope they don’t run afoul of another officious clerk who might disarm them.

But he didn’t say it aloud, of course. Besides, even if they did run across such a fearsome foe, Armstrong could rely on Porter to deal with the matter. Porter had fought the Barbary pirates, after all, who were not much less rapacious than clerks.

Since the president still seemed a bit hesitant, Armstrong quickly ran through the roster of forces he knew to be present, willing, and able to fight. Added together, it was quite an impressive list—even if more than half of the units were still in disarray and often enough absent their commanding officers.

“One great push now, Mr. President,” Armstrong concluded softly. “That’ll do it—because we still hold the Capitol.”

Madison nodded. “Yes, I understand. The Capitol will do, where our generals didn’t. Speaking of which . . .” The president stopped himself and waved his hand. “Never mind. Now is not the time for that, I suppose. Very well, John. You have my approval. For that matter—”

“That would be most unwise, sir. There’s always the possibility you might be captured. Best you remain here, I think, and use this tavern for your temporary headquarters. And . . .”

Bad news was best dealt with promptly.

“I’m afraid your own home is now destroyed, sir. The British bypassed the Capitol after their repulse, and burned the executive complex. Everything. Your mansion, the War and State Departments—according to the report, about the only thing the bastards didn’t set fire to was the Patent Office.”

Madison winced. “Dolley will be most upset. But at least she managed to salvage the most valuable items. I . . . think.”

The president started to run fingers through his hair, but stopped the thoughtless motion halfway through. He was old-fashioned in some ways, one of them being his insistence on still powdering his hair. Whatever dignity that might have added to his appearance, it made certain ways of quelling nervousness rather difficult.

He satisfied the urge with a simple profanity. Even muttered as it was, that spoke to the president’s distress.

“So be it. Very well, John. I shall remain here while you take charge of the matter. You will send word, though, as soon as the Capitol is secured?”

“Yes, Mr. President. As soon as it’s safe for you to come, I’ll let you know.”

“They’re leaving, Captain,” Driscol pronounced.

Houston leaned out of the window and examined the distant British army. The enemy force was going through the complicated evolutions of a well-trained professional army preparing to leave the field. Driscol knew full well that to Sam’s inexperienced eye, it would just look like . . .

Well, anything.

“You’re certain of that? No chance this is a feint of some kind?”

By now, the soldier from County Antrim had developed a profound respect and liking for the young officer from Tennessee. Fortunately—or he’d have been tempted to reply sarcastically.

I’ve fought battles and engagements across half of Europe. D’you think I can’t recognize a retreat when it’s under way? Not to mention that fancy clever stunts like the Trojan Horse work only in fables. Try that in the real world, ha! If I’d been in Troy—any Scots-Irishman; even a bloody Sassenach, for that matter—the first thing I’d have done is order the thing burned where it stood. See how clever Odysseus is when he’s roasting.

But he left it all unspoken, where it belonged. Houston had earned the right to display a little anxiety, now that it was all over. Earned it, and then some.

“Yes, I’m certain, Captain.”

Houston would never twitch for long. “Call me ‘Sam,’ would you? I’m a rude frontiersman, y’know. We’re not prone to formalities.”

Driscol smiled. “Not on the field, sir. Besides, if the reports I hear are accurate, you informal westerners are prone to dueling at the drop of a hat. I’d be afraid I might offend that very fine-tuned sense of honor.”

“I’ve never fought a duel in my life,” Houston protested.

“And you are—what? Twenty-one years old?” Driscol’s smile widened. “Give it another year or two, and who knows? They might be laying your victims—honorable foes, sorry—down in rows. But modest and humble Patrick Driscol will not be one of them.”

Houston started to grin, but the easy expression faded. “It has been a great pleasure and honor to make your acquaintance, Patrick,” he said softly. “Do not ever think my sentiments otherwise.”

There seemed no ready answer to that, so Driscol simply nodded and remained silent. The only appropriate answer, in any event, would have been to reciprocate the words—which Driscol would do willingly enough, but not until the battle was over and done. The British were retreating, yes, but they were not gone. In fact, one of their tents was still on the field.

Anthony McParland, along with James and John Rogers, had been studying that field while Driscol and Houston had been talking. Now, McParland turned away from the window and spoke.

“There’s someone coming out of that tent, Lieutenant. He’s waving a white flag.”

Driscol understood what that meant immediately.

“Damnation,” he growled. “This is exactly why I refused a commission.” Glumly, he examined his left stump. “Until I had no choice.”

Houston was clearly lost. Grimacing, Driscol nodded toward the window. “It’ll be General Ross in that tent, sir. He’ll have been too badly wounded to join the retreat.”

Houston looked at the window. “Well. In that case, we shall have to provide him with good medical care.”

The rest was a foregone conclusion. “Patrick . . . I’d go out there myself, but . . .”

“Yes, I know. A commanding officer does not leave his post.” Driscol sighed, accepting the inevitable. “I’ll handle the matter, sir.”

As he headed for the door, a cheery thought came to him. “As it happens, Captain, I know just the doctor to recommend for a Sassenach general. Very fine fellow. Studied under Benjamin Rush himself.”