During the United States's second war with Great Britain, before the British set fire to public buildings in Washington, D.C., the president's wife saved a significant portrait of the nation's first president: George Washington. adapted from Letter from Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States, to Her SisterAugust 23, 1814 My husband left me yesterday morning to join General Winder. He inquired anxiously whether I had courage or firmness to remain in the President's house until his return on the morrow, or succeeding day, and on my assurance that I had no fear but for him, and the success of our army, he left, beseeching me to take care of myself, and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I have since received two dispatches from him, written with a pencil. The last is alarming, because he desires I should be ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage and leave the city, because the enemy seemed strong than had at first been reported, and it might happen that they would reach the city with the intention of destroying it. I am accordingly ready as I have pressed as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage; our private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation. Three o'clock. Will you believe it, my sister? We have had a battle, or skirmish, near Bladensburg, and here I am still, within sound of the cannon! Mr. Madison comes not. Two messengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly; but here I mean to wait for him. At this late hour a wagon has been procured, and I have had it filled with the most valuable portable articles belonging to the house. Whether it will reach its destination or fall into the hands of British soldiery, events must determine. Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure and is 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. This 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! The precious portrait has been placed in the hands of two gentlemen of New York for safekeeping. And now, dear sister, I must leave this house. 9 Which evidence does the author use to support the idea that she felt fearless? A. Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure and is in a very bad humor with me . . . B. Whether it will reach its destination or fall into the hands of British soldiery, events must determine. C. Two messengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly; but here I mean to wait for him. D. At this late hour a wagon has been procured, and I have had it filled with the most valuable portable articles belonging to the house.
During the United States's second war with Great Britain, before the British set fire to public buildings in Washington, D.C., the president's wife saved a significant portrait of the nation's first president: George Washington.
adapted from Letter from Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States, to Her Sister
August 23, 1814
My husband left me yesterday morning to join General Winder. He inquired anxiously whether I had courage or firmness to remain in the President's house until his return on the morrow, or succeeding day, and on my assurance that I had no fear but for him, and the success of our army, he left, beseeching me to take care of myself, and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I have since received two dispatches from him, written with a pencil. The last is alarming, because he desires I should be ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage and leave the city, because the enemy seemed strong than had at first been reported, and it might happen that they would reach the city with the intention of destroying it. I am accordingly ready as I have pressed as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage; our private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation.
Three o'clock. Will you believe it, my sister? We have had a battle, or skirmish, near Bladensburg, and here I am still, within sound of the cannon! Mr. Madison comes not. Two messengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly; but here I mean to wait for him. At this late hour a wagon has been procured, and I have had it filled with the most valuable portable articles belonging to the house. Whether it will reach its destination or fall into the hands of British soldiery, events must determine. Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure and is 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. This 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! The precious portrait has been placed in the hands of two gentlemen of New York for safekeeping. And now, dear sister, I must leave this house.
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