The most valuable portion of the public archives had been removed to a place of safety, and Mrs. Madison had managed to carry away the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, a portrait of Washington that hung in the White House, and a few other articles which could not have been replaced. The magazines and shipping at the Navy Yard had already been fired by order of the Secretary of War, and everything there was destroyed. It is said that General Ross offered to spare the city for a price; but there was no one at hand who {282}could treat with him, if the authorities had been inclined to purchase its safety. He expected to be attacked by a more formidable force than that he had met at Brudensburg, and, as he wrote to Earl Bathurst, "judging it of consequence to complete the destruction of the public buildings with the least possible delay, so that the army might retire without loss of time, he without a moment's delay burned and destroyed everything in the most distant degree connected with the government." There was one notable exception. At the intercession of Dr. Thornton, who superintended the Patent Office, the building containing that and the Post Office was spared; because, as the doctor represented, it contained great numbers of models and papers which were of value to the whole scientific world. The jail, one hotel, and a few dwellings also escaped. All else, including the President's house, the public libraries, and the new Capitol--of which only the wings had been built--was given to the flames. The commanders of the expedition distinguished themselves personally in this vandalism. Admiral Cochrane, who had a spite against the _National Intelligencer_ because of its strictures upon his marauding exploits along the coast, caused the office to be sacked and the type thrown into, the street, and with his own hand set {283}the building on fire. Admiral Cockburn is said to have led his men into the hall of the House of Representatives, where he leaped into the Speaker's chair and shouted, "Shall this harbor of Yankee democracy be burned? All for it will say, Aye!" In the night of the 25th, Ross silently withdrew from the city, leaving his camp-fires burning, for he expected and feared pursuit-, and marched with all that remained of his force to Benedict, where they reëmbarked.