Military history of Canada Washington, DC, in September at the Battle of Bladensburg, the British troops burned down the White House and other government buildings, only to be repulsed as they moved north for the Battle of Baltimore, while the forces attacking during the Battle of New Orleans were routed after suffering severe casualties. During the War of 1812, Nova Scotia’s contribution to the war effort was made by communities either purchasing or building various privateer ships to lay siege to American vessels. Three members of the community of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia purchased a privateer schooner and named it "Lunenburg" on August 8, 1814.
General Post Office (Washington, D.C.) War of 1812, William Thornton, Superintendent of the Patent Office, convinced British troops to spare the building. Because the United States Capitol had been burned down, Congress temporarily met in the building. In 1836, a fireplace accident set the building on fire, destroying thousands of patent models and records. President Andrew Jackson sought to rebuild the General Post Office (and to build a new Patent Office on the block just north of the site), and Robert Mills designed and oversaw construction, with the new General Post Office completed in 1842. The original building was a U-shape, extending along E Street