Credit: Library of Congress With concern of the British troop movements nearing Washington, D.C., the tiny U.S. government bureaucracy tapped junior officials to transfer federal records to safety in the surrounding countryside. Supply wagons assigned to the army were quickly reassigned to the new task. While others worked to secure Congressional records, Supreme Court books, and Patent Office papers, Pleasanton and his companions were charged with some of the most precious government documents. The group stuffed the Declaration of Independence, probably the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, the Bill of Rights, much of George Washington’s correspondence, treaties, and laws into coarse linen bags and loaded them in carts that were waiting outside of the Executive Office building near the President’s House. Pleasonton led the caravan in search of a safe haven. The first stop was a grist mill on the Virginia side of Chain Bridge. Deciding this was too close to a cannon foundry, a likely British target, Pleasonton secured wagons from nearby farms, loaded the bags a second time, and rolled another thirty miles to a brick vault in deserted Rokeby Mansion near Leesburg, Virginia. As the humble State Department employee successfully completed his assignment, the fire from burning buildings in the national capital glowed in the night sky. After the war, in 1820, Pleasonton was appointed to oversee the operations of the Treasury's Lighthouse Establishment despite not having maritime experience. Pleasonton lived until the age of 78 when he died on January 31, 1855. He is buried in the Congressional cemetery, Washington, D.C. |
Last updated: July 25, 2022