Two hundred years ago this year, during the War of 1812,  the British army occupied Washington, setting fire to many public buildings, including  the White House and the Capitol. It was on  August 24, 1814, that approximately 4.000 troops entered the city, causing most of the residents to flee. A warning was dispatched to First Lady Dolley Madison who managed to escape across the Potomac River with a portrait of George Washington in tow. This was the only time since the American Revolution that a foreign power has captured the United States capital.
 

The burning of Washington: the British invasion of 1814 by Anthony S. Pitch

Washington burning: how a Frenchman's vision of our nation's capital survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the invading British Army by Les Standiford

Through the perilous fight: six weeks that saved the nation by Steve Vogel