When we traveled to Washington, DC last summer we were lucky enough to get a White House tour. Back in the mid-nineties when we lived in DC, this wasn’t such a big deal, but in the post-9/11 era it’s become a bit more difficult and mired in a bit of bureaucratic bullshit.

Since we were going to tour, oh, one of the most historically significant buildings in the United States the wife, son, and I all dressed in business casual. Which was apparently more than most could handle, as the number of NASCAR t-shirts, baseball caps, and sweatpants with text across the rump proclaiming that the wearer was “juicy”. But I digress.

The biggest highlight for me was seeing the Stuart portrait of George Washington that was spirited out of the White House at the request of Dolley Madison (I know – there is some historical muddiness here, but I like to think of Dolley as being involved here) as the British Army advanced on the capital.

“Our kind friend Mr. Carroll has come to hasten my departure, and in a very bad humor with me, because I insist on waiting until the large picture of General Washington is secured, and it requires to be unscrewed from the wall. The process was found too tedious for these perilous moments; I have ordered the frame to be broken and the canvas taken out”….. “It is done, and the precious portrait placed in the hands of two gentlemen from New York for safe keeping. On handing the canvas to the gentlemen in question, Messrs. Barker and Depeyster, Mr. Sioussat cautioned them against rolling it up, saying that it would destroy the portrait. He was moved to this because Mr. Barker started to roll it up for greater convenience for carrying.”

Now that’s a bit of history.

For today’s Memorial Day edition of Poetry Monday, I’m going to go with this unattributed poem from the War of 1812. American heroes don’t always carry rifles; sometimes they carry a painting to help preserve the history of a young nation and give it’s citizens something to believe in, even 200 years later.

“The Burning of Washington”

A veteran host, by veterans led,
With Ross and Cockburn at their head,
They came–they saw–they burned–and fled!
They left our Congress naked walls–
Farewell to towers and capitols!
To lofty roofs and splendid halls!
To conquer armies in the field
Was, once, the surest method held
To make a hostile country yield.
The warfare now the invaders make
Must surely keep us all awake,
Or life is lost for freedom’s sake.

-- Anonymous