Ralph J. Bunche Library to begin a collection of laws of the states, and $25 for the purchase of foreign gazettes and subscriptions to American newspapers that would be sent to American representatives overseas. In that same year, the Library also became, by law, the office of record to receive laws, public documents, and copyrights. During the War of 1812, the invading British burned the Capital, the White House, and other government buildings including that which housed the State Department and its library on August 24, 1814. While Dolley Madison famously saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington hanging in the White House,
USS Viper (1814) USS Viper (1814) USS "Viper" was a heavily armed row galley commissioned by the United States Navy for service in the War of 1812. She was successful in her operations against the British on Lake Champlain, and was retired after the war. The second ship to be so named by the Navy, "Viper" was one of six large row galleys hastily built and commissioned in the mid-1814 at Vergennes, Vermont, for use by Commodore Thomas Macdonough against the British on Lake Champlain. Under the command of Lieutenant Francis Mitchell, "Viper" participated in the capture of the British squadron, under Commodore