Burned Quotes
At the time Cockburn was the 2nd in command of the British Fleet and had attacked Washington in the War of 1812. The British troops had taken the capitol and Cockburn was seated in the chair of the Speaker of the House with the British officers in the House itself. The reason he raised the question is that the attack on Washington was in retaliation of the American invasion of Canada and the attack on York (Toronto). The American troops were somewhat out of control and burned private and government non-armed buildings which was against the then rules of civilized warfare. The British fleet was ordered to attack Washington to retaliate, but the specifics of the retaliation were left to the officers discretion. The officers responded in the affirmative, and Washington buildings including the White House was burned. Most Americans are unaware that we invaded Canada and do not know why Washington was burned.
