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 Spitfire (1814) USS Spitfire (1814) USS "Spitfire" (1814) was a heavily armed schooner in the United States Navy. She was built for service in the War of 1812, but did not see service until the Barbary Wars when she was sent with the American fleet to the Mediterranean to force an end to piracy of American ships. The third ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, "Spitfire" was purchased at Baltimore, Maryland, between October and December 1814 for service in a squadron commanded by Commodore David Porter which was to operate out of southern American ports against British shipping in