Days of Destruction: The United States Capitol
Gallery
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Completed in 1811, the first Hall of the House, one of the most beautiful spaces in America, was put to the torch in 1814. Its domed vestibule (right) survived the fire. Section of the South Wing, ca. 1803-1804.
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The scene at the Capitol in a drawing before the 1814 fire. A temporary wooden structure connected the House and Senate wings at that time.
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Angry residents scribbled on the Capitol's walls, “The capital and the Union lost by cowardice” along with epithets critical of Secretary of War John Armstrong who refused to defend the capital in the face of British intentions to attack. The Capitol in Ruins, 1814-1815, by George Munger.
Library of Congress
