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When they were all assembled, he looked out over the assortment of Yankee privateers and their British doctor and said, “Men, I have news from home.”

He waited for the murmurs to die down.

“I received correspondence on St. Martin that I wish to share with you. Last August, while we were at sea fighting for the rights of sailors and free Americans, the British burned our nation’s capitol, Washington City.”

Now the mutters from the men were angry as they shifted their feet and looked at one another. The Americans had burned York in Canada, and Great Britain might be justified in saying it’s tit for tat to burn the Americans’ capitol, but Charley just scratched her ear and wisely refrained from pointing that out.
--SEA CHANGE


Today is the anniversary of the burning of Washington, DC and the White House in 1814.  But I don't think we can blame the Brits for the earthquake.

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