The American-British friendship has been close and special for generations. But 210 years ago this month, British troops set fire to the White House, gutting it from the inside − the last time another nation invaded the continental United States. The story of that epic night during the War of 1812 and the restoration that followed is one of our nation’s greatest moments of resilience.

The U.S. declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812 capped off years of tensions, in part over seizures of American ships and sailors as Britain fought a string of wars with France. For the first two years of hostilities, American and British troops battled largely in the Mississippi River valley and near the Canadian border − including the Battle of York (now Toronto), where Americans plundered the city and burned public buildings and businesses, sowing a British desire for revenge.

In August 1814, the British brought the war to Washington, D.C., which had barely 8,000 residents. (President James Madison’s Attorney General Richard Rush called it “a meager village with a few bed houses and extensive swamps.”)

After landing more than 4,000 British troops in southern Maryland, the British routed American volunteers at Bladensburg, Maryland, just a few miles outside of the District’s northeast border.

President Madison (who was nearly captured on the battlefield) fled back to the city with the retreating troops and escaped from the city via ferry to Virginia.

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As the British entered the capital, roads clogged with refugees hauling their possessions. A clerk at the State Department sewed bags of linen to hide the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution so they could be slipped out.

“We entered Washington for the barbarous purpose of destroying the city,” wrote British Captain Harry Smith.

But even after militiamen guarding the White House had fled, first lady Dolley Madison stayed to salvage treasures with a handful of White House staff, including a steward, a gardener and an enslaved 15-year-old valet named Paul Jennings.

“Since sunrise, I have been turning my spyglass in every direction and watching with unwearied anxiety,” the first lady wrote to her sister. “When I shall again write to you, or where I shall be tomorrow, I cannot tell!!”

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