Podcast St. John’s, the Church of the Presidents
Since the James Madison presidency, St. John’s Church has been an important part of the life of Lafayette Square an...
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Britain's navy began its war in North Atlantic waters with a crushing advantage over the United States in numbers of both ships and sailors, but events were to prove that the U.S. Navy's pluck and resourcefulness would inflict punishing setbacks on its larger opponent.
Wartime successes of the U.S. Navy included a victory by the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") over HMS Guerriere; winning the Battle of Lake Erie, ensuring U.S. control of Lake Erie and diminishing the prospect of British attacks on western New York; and winning the Battle of Lake Champlain, spoiling British invasion plans.
Commodore Stephen Decatur, a hero of the Tripolitan wars, burnished his fame on October 25, 1812, when his 56-gun frigate USS United States captured the 49-gun frigate HMS Macedonian. Decatur and his officers and crew were acclaimed as heroes when they returned home, and all were awarded a portion of the Macedonian's $200,000 prize value. Decatur's share came to $30,000, and after the war he and his wife Susan invested the money in land near the President's House. In 1818 they erected an elegant square three-story red brick Federal-style town house on the northwest corner of the President's Square (today's Lafayette Square).
USS United States battles the HMS Macedonian, October 25, 1812. 1880 painting by Fred Pansing (1844-1912).
Since the James Madison presidency, St. John’s Church has been an important part of the life of Lafayette Square an...
In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With...
The young national capital at Washington, D.C. became the epicenter of The War of 1812 with Great Britain during the...
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For two hundred years, Decatur House has stood as a near neighbor to the White House across Lafayette Square. Stewart...
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For more than two hundred years, Lafayette Square has been home to a wide variety of historical figures, from diplomats...
From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White...