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96 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
regular troops, and he returned to Washington to urge the inquiry by a
competent military tribunal, of his conduct in the command of the 10th
military district. He had not ceased to demand this vindication from the
moment that he found that attempts had been made, and persevered in, to
misrepresent his actions and injure his reputation. At his urgent request a
Court of Inquiry, of which Major General Winfield Scott was president, and
Colonel John R. Fenwick and Colonel Wm. Drayton, members, was ordered
on the 21st of January, 1815, and on the 25th of February, 1815, they made
the following report which not only acquitted him with the highest honor,
but established the propriety of the views he had given to the War Department when he took command of the 10th military district, and of his
subsequent conduct by the sanction of the highest military authority.
" The Court of Inquiry ordered to examine into and report upon the conduct of
Brigadier General Winder, so far as it is connected with the capture and destruction of
the City of Washington in August, 1814, unanimously submit the following as the result
of their investigations.
" The Court, with great attention and much labor, have perused the numerous papers
and documents referred to them, from whence they collect—that Brigadier General
Winder was appointed to the command of the 10th Military District, of which Washington was a part, on the 2d of July, 1814; that immediately thereafter he took every means
in his power to put that District into a proper state of defence ; that from the period when
well-grounded apprehensions were entertained that the enemy meditated an attack upon
the Capital, his exertions were great and unremitted; that through these exertions he was
enabled to bring into the field, on the 24th of August, 1814, the day on which the battle of
Bladensburg was fought, about five or six thousand men, all of whom, excepting four
hundred, were militia; that he-could not collect much more than one-half of this force
until a day or two previously to the engagement, and six or seven hundred of them did
not arrive until fifteen minutes before its commencement; that from the uncertainty
whether Baltimore, the City of Washington, or Fort Washington would be selected as the
point of attack, it was necessary that Brigadier General Winder's troops should frequently
change their positions, owing to which, and alarms causelessly excited on the night of the
23d of August, they were all much fatigued, and many of them nearly exhausted at the
time when the hostile army was crossing the bridge at Bladensburg; that the officers-
commanding the troops were generally unknown to General Winder, and but a small
number of them had enjoyed the benefit of military instruction or experience.
" The members of this Court, in common with their fellow-citizens, lament deeply the
capture of the Capital; and they regard with no ordinary indignation the spoliation of
its edifices, those public monuments of art and science, always deemed sacred by a brave
and generous foe ; but amidst these mingled and conflicting sensations, they nevertheless feel it to be their duty to separate the individual from the calamities surrounding himr
and to declare that to the officer upon whose conduct they are to determine, no censure is
attributable. On the contrary, when thay take into consideration the complicated difficulties and embarrassments under which he labored, they are of opinion, notwithstanding
the result, that he is entitled to no little commendation; before the action he exhibited
industry, zeal and talent, and during its continuance a coolness, a promptitude, and a.
personal valour highly honorable to himself, and worthy of a better fate."
" W. SCOTT, Major Gen. and President.
" Attest: G. L. NICHOLAS, Lieut, and Recorder:'
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000123 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 96 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. regular troops, and he returned to Washington to urge the inquiry by a competent military tribunal, of his conduct in the command of the 10th military district. He had not ceased to demand this vindication from the moment that he found that attempts had been made, and persevered in, to misrepresent his actions and injure his reputation. At his urgent request a Court of Inquiry, of which Major General Winfield Scott was president, and Colonel John R. Fenwick and Colonel Wm. Drayton, members, was ordered on the 21st of January, 1815, and on the 25th of February, 1815, they made the following report which not only acquitted him with the highest honor, but established the propriety of the views he had given to the War Department when he took command of the 10th military district, and of his subsequent conduct by the sanction of the highest military authority. " The Court of Inquiry ordered to examine into and report upon the conduct of Brigadier General Winder, so far as it is connected with the capture and destruction of the City of Washington in August, 1814, unanimously submit the following as the result of their investigations. " The Court, with great attention and much labor, have perused the numerous papers and documents referred to them, from whence they collect—that Brigadier General Winder was appointed to the command of the 10th Military District, of which Washington was a part, on the 2d of July, 1814; that immediately thereafter he took every means in his power to put that District into a proper state of defence ; that from the period when well-grounded apprehensions were entertained that the enemy meditated an attack upon the Capital, his exertions were great and unremitted; that through these exertions he was enabled to bring into the field, on the 24th of August, 1814, the day on which the battle of Bladensburg was fought, about five or six thousand men, all of whom, excepting four hundred, were militia; that he-could not collect much more than one-half of this force until a day or two previously to the engagement, and six or seven hundred of them did not arrive until fifteen minutes before its commencement; that from the uncertainty whether Baltimore, the City of Washington, or Fort Washington would be selected as the point of attack, it was necessary that Brigadier General Winder's troops should frequently change their positions, owing to which, and alarms causelessly excited on the night of the 23d of August, they were all much fatigued, and many of them nearly exhausted at the time when the hostile army was crossing the bridge at Bladensburg; that the officers- commanding the troops were generally unknown to General Winder, and but a small number of them had enjoyed the benefit of military instruction or experience. " The members of this Court, in common with their fellow-citizens, lament deeply the capture of the Capital; and they regard with no ordinary indignation the spoliation of its edifices, those public monuments of art and science, always deemed sacred by a brave and generous foe ; but amidst these mingled and conflicting sensations, they nevertheless feel it to be their duty to separate the individual from the calamities surrounding himr and to declare that to the officer upon whose conduct they are to determine, no censure is attributable. On the contrary, when thay take into consideration the complicated difficulties and embarrassments under which he labored, they are of opinion, notwithstanding the result, that he is entitled to no little commendation; before the action he exhibited industry, zeal and talent, and during its continuance a coolness, a promptitude, and a. personal valour highly honorable to himself, and worthy of a better fate." " W. SCOTT, Major Gen. and President. " Attest: G. L. NICHOLAS, Lieut, and Recorder:' |
