DOLLEY MADISON SAVES THE DAY

Checked by an American naval victory on Lake Erie on September io, 1813, and the defeat of their Indian allies in the West, almost a month later, the British concentrated their assault on the coastline from Florida to Delaware Bay Again and again their landing parties swarmed ashore to pillage homes, rape women, and burn public and private property The commander of these operations was Sir George Cockburn, a strutting, red-faced rear admiral, widely considered to be as arrogant as he was ruthless. [...] the president had been less than thrilled by Carroll's document, which offered little more than an end to the fighting and dying.