British Attack Washington – Excerpt 22 AUGUST 1814, GENERAL WINDER’S HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON CITY . . . . “The British spent last night at Nottingham, twenty-two miles to the southeast, and are probably marching as I speak.” James Monroe pointed to a large map, then to a chart she and Sukey drew up earlier: – […]
Delay – Excerpt 24 August 1814 – 1615 hours, Washington City Dolley rode down the center of Pennsylvania avenue, Sukey and Mr. Smith riding on her flanks, pulling street signs from the rain-softened ground. Pierre L’Enfant’s magnificent plan called for Washington City’s great avenues to be named for states, each 160 feet wide, including […]
Washington Burns – Excerpt 24 August 1814, 2100 Hours Dolley stood alone in the grass, atop the small knoll before Arlington house, unable to look away from the destruction of Washington City. The Dragoon sergeant had continued to the house to request lodging from Anne while Sukey took Abigail and Wally to the stables. Dolley […]
Finger of God – Excerpt 25 August 1814, Arlington House, Virginia Bobby first noticed the dark cloud, far to the east, when he’d sat in his favorite grassy spot, just after lunch, to observe the stinking red-coated filth strut about his city. He didn’t want to play, or talk, or read. He wanted to kill […]
Mansion Visit – Excerpt 25 August 1814, Arlington House, Virginia Dolley startled awake and sat up. Anne’s house. Light outside. How long have I been asleep? She’d watched the storm with Bobby, then returned to her room and removed her wet clothing. While waiting for Sukey to fetch something dry, she lay in bed […]
Commandress in Chief – Excerpt 28 August 1814 – 1400 Hours, Alexandria, Virginia Dolley and Sukey sat within the Great Room of the Wayward Boar tavern, finishing a late lunch and eavesdropping on nearby conversations. The people were scared and spoke in quiet, nervous voices with none of the laughter normally heard in the […]
Banished to Baltimore – Excerpt 1 September 1814, Fort McHenry Baltimore Harbor lay southeast of the city, formed by a long peninsula that started at the city’s southern edge and jutted two miles southeast into the Patapsco River. On the peninsula’s tip stood Fort McHenry, guarding the quarter-mile-wide harbor entrance to the northeast as […]
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Concerning Quakers Since the first part of Invasion! seems to go out of its way to bash Quakers, I had better set the record straight before a howling mob of blood relatives—led by my mother!—storms into my office. I was born a Quaker, and my first memories are of sitting in the front pew of […]
These were indispensable throughout the writing of Invasion!, Subversion!, and Retribution! I highly recommend them all, especially since this is the bicentennial of The War of 1812. The complete list will be posted as an appendix of Retribution! The War of 1812, The History Channel Presents DVD Compilation, 2005. This compilation is built around […]
