Welcome
Above: Views of the Ross Monument, Rostrevor, County
Down, Northern Ireland ('where the mountains of Mourne sweep down
to the sea' on the shores of Carlingford Lough) - almost on the
exact spot where General Robert Ross had planned to build his retirement
home had he returned safely from his expedition to America in 1814.
(Photographs courtesy of Louis McNally).
The
bicentennial of the 'War of 1812' is fast approaching, a conflict
which witnessed the capture of Washington and the burning of the
public buildings by the British, not least the 'White House',
the U.S. Capitol (including the Supreme Court and Library of Congress)
and the Washington Navy Yard. Against this background, the restoration
in 2008 of a monument to General Robert Ross (the man who captured
Washington) in his home village of Rostrevor, County Down, Northern
Ireland (pictured above) has been timely. Commemorations of key
historical events afford opportunities to throw fresh light on what
happened.
That
Ross was an Irishman (of Scots Irish descent) and that his key regimental
commanders at the
Battle
of Bladensburg were fellow countrymen bears testimony to the
so-called Irish military tradition at the time, reflected in the
webpages relating to
Irish/Ulster
connections to the War of 1812 (which includes details of
the American Irish who resisted Ross' forces) and
Irishmen in the British, French and Spanish armies. In terms
of the
Death and
burial of Ross, Dianne Graves has been kind enough to provide
a transcription from the record of an eyewitness to the funeral
of the general in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Information
is also provided herein about less well known
Monuments to General Ross
in St Paul’s Cathedral, London and Kilbroney Parish Church, Rostrevor,
County Down, Northern Ireland. Ross’ historical legacy in relation
to the city of Baltimore is treated in
Ross and ‘Monumental
City' [Baltimore]
while the link between
Ross and
the Star Spangled Banner details the manner in which his
failed attack on Baltimore played a 'Key' role in inspiring the lyrics of the US National
Anthem.
Ross and
the White House considers the popular perception that his
most famous legacy of all to history has been the renaming of the
‘President’s Mansion’ or 'President's House'(designed by an Irishman,
James Hoban) as the White House when the building was repainted
after it was burnt by Ross and his forces.
Finally,
Washington Witnesses
details the views of three American eyewitnesses to the fateful
events of August 1814, including those of Mary Clemner and a young
slave boy, Michael Shiner. Most interestingly of all are the recollections
of the First Lady, Dolley Madison, on the events of 24th
August 1814 when she and her husband were forced to abandon Washington,
an event which has been termed by some as ‘the Flight of the Madisons’,
evoking parallels with the Flight to Varennes in French history
(1791) and the earlier Flight of the Earls in Irish history (1607).
See
www.theflightoftheearls.net
Also
included is the account of a British soldier, G.R.Gleig, who claims
that the British had not captured Washington with the deliberate
aim of burning the public buildings. In Gleig's view the attack
on General Ross as he approached the Capitol under a flag
of truce (in which his horse was shot dead from under him and several
British soldiers were killed and wounded) led to the abandonment
of the original plan to secure a ransom for the city in lieu of
burning the public buildings.
With
time it is hoped to develop this website further, not least in the
area of assisting educational initiatives by including other extracts
from key historical documents of the period. Listing bicentennial
commemorations of events marking the two hundredth anniversary of
Ross’ campaign in America in 2014 may be included. Interestingly
in this regard, Dr Edward Furgol, Curator of the National
Museum of the United States Navy located at the Washington Navy
Yard, is already planning to stage a symbolic re-enactment of the
burning of the Washington Navy Yard.
