Featured The Life and Presidency of Herbert Hoover
The 2016 White House Christmas ornament honors the administration of the thirty-first president of the United States Herbert Hoover, who served...
The Naval War of 1812
How Long? 1 minute
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).
You Might Also Like
-
-
Collection The President's Neighborhood
Since the White House was first occupied by President John Adams in 1800, influential people and organizations—or those who hoped to...
-
Sicilian Salvador Catalano
Few people today know the story of a Sicilian-born sailor named Salvadore Catalano who became an early American naval hero....
-
Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...
-
Hoover Easter Egg Rolls
The annual White House Easter egg roll was a well-established tradition when President Herbert Hoover took office, and the Hoovers...
-
Commodore Stephen Decatur: An Early American Naval War Hero
In President Theodore Roosevelt’s description of the capture of the HMS Macedonian by the USS United States in his 1882 bo...
-
Civil War Veterans Visit the White House
In May 1865, at the close of hostilities, a Grand Review throughout Washington, D.C., exhibited parading Union troops from the...
-
Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington
In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay began to sail up the Patuxent River in Maryland. Fearing an attack...
-
The Dolley Madison House on Lafayette Square
The Dolley Madison House, a yellow structure on the corner of H Street and Madison Place in “The President’s Neig...
-
The Presidential Sweet Tooth
As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to sugar plums, gingerbread, and all of the other delectable treats that season...
-
Monuments to the American Revolution in Lafayette Park
In 1853, Clark Mills’ statue of President Andrew Jackson on horseback is in the center of Lafayette Park. The park’s four...
-
African Americans & The Decatur House
Few people know the story of a brave woman named Charlotte Dupuy who was enslaved in Decatur House, the large...
