Volume 12, Issue 09
The PEACEKEEPER
Page 9
Trivia From the Library Computer
RADM
Thomas Pawelczak
Security
&
Morale
Officer
DID THE BRITISH DINE AT THE WHITE HOUSE?
Most accounts of the burning of Washington report that before torching the White House the
Bri sh high command ate a meal there that had
been prepared for the president. Following Major
General Robert Ross’s lead, Bri sh accounts usually portray the meal as a “victory dinner” that had
been prepared for Madison and his generals in ancipa on of success over the advancing Bri sh army. This en re story has been challenged by some
historians, who cite the tes mony of Madison’s White House steward, “French John” Sioussat,
who later claimed that “no prepara ons for dinner or ea ng” had been made that a ernoon,
and that if any meal had been prepared, the Bri sh would not have eaten it because of a fear of
poisoning.
There is no evidence to suggest that a “victory dinner” had been prepared. The White
House o en entertained, and this was probably just a typical dinner to which local dignitaries
and well-connected visitors were invited. Many years later, Paul Jennings, the president’s black
valet, remembered that “all the Cabinet and several military gentlemen and strangers were expected.”
The Bri sh almost surely drank and probably ate in the White House. While it is true that
Bri sh o?cers feared poisoning, this fear was con?ned to the ?eld. From American leaders, the
Bri sh expected — and usually got — much be er treatment. At the me, a resident of Washington reported that the Bri sh found a silver cup and some wine and then drank a toast:
“Peace with America, & down with Madison.” In addi on, many Bri sh o?cers reported ea ng
in the White House. Lending further credence to the story is the tes mony of Madison’s valet.
“Mrs. Madison ordered dinner to be ready at 3, as usual,” Jennings recalled in 1965. “I set the
table myself, and brought up the ale cider, and wine, and placed them in the coolers.”