Combat· War of 1812
Battle of the White House
After the British squadron that had occupied Alexandria turned back down the Potomac laden with plunder, the Americans tried to make them pay for it.
Captain David Porter and Captain Oliver Hazard Perry led a force of seamen and Marines, with several thousand Virginia militia, to fortify the bluffs at the old Fairfax estate known as the White House, below Mount Vernon, and contest the river. For several days they threw up batteries and exchanged fire with the passing warships, aided by an unfavorable wind that delayed the British escape. The guns did some damage and wounded several British officers, but the squadron eventually fought its way past and rejoined the fleet. American losses in the affair were very light. The action was the United States' first organized response after the burning of Washington, more defiant than decisive.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 232