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WORK TITLE: The Man Who Captured Washington
WORK NOTES: with John McCavitt
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.historynet.com/book-review-the-man-who-captured-washington.htm * http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/MR-Book-Reviews/March-2017/Book-Review-037/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1948, in Liverpool, England; immigrated to the United States, 1955; naturalized U.S. citizen; married; wife’s name Donna.
EDUCATION:Attended Loyola College, Baltimore, and College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, medical editor, and military historian. Havre de Grace Bicentennial Project, historian; advisor to other Baltimore-area bicentennial projects. Appeared in television documentary, First Invasion: The War of 1812, broadcast by History Channel; public speaker on the history of the Chesapeake Bay area and the War of 1812.
WRITINGS
Lyricist for Jack: The Musical, composed by Erik Sitbon. Work represented in anthologies, including Poets Gone Wild: An Internet Anthology, Wild Poetry Press, 2005. Contributor of articles and poems to magazines and newspapers. Founding editor, then coeditor, Journal of the War of 1812; editor, Desert Moon Review; past editor, Ripper Notes and Ripperologist; editorial associate, Maryland Historical.
SIDELIGHTS
Christopher T. George was born in England, but he immigrated to the United States as a child and then returned permanently in 1968. He worked as a medical editor until retirement but continued to pursue his longtime secondary interest in history. His specialty is the War of 1812.
From his home in Baltimore, Maryland, George has been active in the preservation of local battlegrounds and other historic sites. According to his website, he was a supporter of the 290-mile Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail established in 2008 by the National Park Service to commemorate the Chesapeake campaign of the War of 1812. He was also a participant in the effort that led to the creation of the North Point State Battlefield by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 2015. George is a public speaker throughout the Chesapeake Bay area and appeared in the History Channel television special First Invasion: The War of 1812. George also published local histories of his adopted hometown of Baltimore. When he turned his scholarly attention to the War of 1812, the British-born American approached his research from both sides.
Terror on the Chesapeake
George is the author of Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay. On one side of the Chesapeake campaign was the hastily assembled but experienced Royal Navy; on the other, the fledgling American militias and volunteers. American military leaders had concentrated their most experienced troops on the northern border with Canada. The new capital city of Washington offered comparatively little military value, they thought. The British, however, reasoned that military incursions along the Chesapeake would draw American forces away from the Canadian theater of operations; they would also support the eventual capture of the strategically important port of Baltimore.
In Terror on the Chesapeake, George profiles all of the military skirmishes on the bay and adjacent land areas, from the bloody American defeat at Bladensburg and the humiliating capture of Washington to the heroic American defense of Fort McHenry. He also covers the minor engagements in which the British harried American militia units on land, and the American privateers who raided British supply vessels in return. Ultimately Baltimore was saved, and the British abandoned the Chesapeake initiative.
Reviewers commended George for his research, both in the United States and abroad. In Military History, Blaine Taylor called the account “a gripping new rendering” of a “long-neglected conflict.” According to Booklist contributor Roland Green, “George’s writing is plain, but his judgments are balanced.”
The Man Who Captured Washington
Some historians believe that the man who captured Washington might have taken Baltimore, too, had he lived. Instead his name faded into obscurity. George and coauthor John McCavitt aim to revive his legacy in The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812. Ross began his career in the British Army in 1789 and served his country well during the Napoleonic Wars between 1801 and 1814. After winning victories in the Netherlands, Egypt, Spain, and France, and earning respect for his leadership, his bravery on the battlefield, and his integrity, Ross was sent to North America. He was assigned to lead all British land troops in the Chesapeake campaign of the War of 1812. He spent only a few weeks on American soil, but he made his mark on the young nation.
Ross is remembered, if at all, as the man who burned Washington. George and McCavitt emphasize that he entered the city on August 24, 1814, with orders to burn it to the ground. Ross set fire to most of the government structures, including the Capitol and the presidential residence, but he spared the private property surrounding them. Following the devastating rout of American militias at Bladensburg earlier that day, the fall of the city represented mainly a psychological victory, for the young capital city had little else to offer. Twenty-four hours after his seizure of the city, Ross led his forces toward the ultimate prize: the wealthy, strategic port of Baltimore. His journey ended five miles from the city on September 12, when he was fatally wounded at the Battle of North Point. One day later, the powerful British naval force bombarded Fort McHenry, only to be repulsed by an unexpectedly tenacious American defense. The failure of British forces by both land and sea marked the end of the Chesapeake campaign.
According to Jonathon Hooks in a review for the Journal of Southern History, George and McCavitt “shed new light on General Ross and the significance of his triumph.” The authors portray him “as a popular leader who demonstrated efficiency and personal bravery in battle,” Hooks wrote. Mike Oppenheim observed in an online review for HistoryNet: “This biography will … preserve the memory of the dynamic if largely forgotten general of a forgotten war.”
George’s other academic specialty revolves around the Whitechapel murders of 1888 attributed to the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. He once edited the periodicals Ripper Notes and Ripperologist, and he continues to post material at his casebook blog. He even penned the lyrics for Jack: The Musical, a stage play devoted to the Ripper. George also organized the RipperCon convention scheduled for the city of Baltimore in 2018.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2001, Roland Green, review of Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay, p. 1112.
Journal of Southern History, August, 2017, Jonathon Hooks, review of The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812, p. 670.
Military History, October, 2001, Blaine Taylor, review of Terror on the Chesapeake, p. 72.
ONLINE
Christopher T. George Website, http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net (January 10, 2018).
Desert Moon Review, http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com/ (January 14, 2018), author profile.
HistoryNet, http://www.historynet.com/ (October 27, 2016), Mike Oppenheim, review of The Man Who Captured Washington.
hristopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England in 1948 and first emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1955. He went back to Liverpool for a refresher on his Scouse accent, living with his grandparents while attending Rose Lane and Quarry Bank Schools. Chris returned to the U.S.A. in 1968 and has lived there ever since. He now lives in Baltimore, Maryland, near Johns Hopkins University with his wife Donna and two cats. He is a retired medical editor.
As a historian, Chris is active in two areas, the War of 1812 and the Whitechapel murders of 1888 committed by the unknown murderer known as Jack the Ripper.
He is a past editor of the magazines Ripper Notes and Ripperologist. He maintains a blog on the Ripper case at http://blog.casebook.org/chrisgeorge/. At present, he is organizing RipperCon to be held in Baltimore on the weekend of April 7-8, 2018. See http://www.rippercon.com.
Chris is the founding editor of the Journal of the War of 1812 published by the War of 1812 Consortium and an organizer of the Consortium’s National War of 1812 Symposium series, now in its 21st year. He is the author of Baltimore Close Up (Arcadia Publishers, 1998), Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay (White Mane Publishers, 2000), Scots in Maryland & a History of the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore, 1806-2006 (St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore, 2007), and, with Dr. John McCavitt, The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812 (Oklahoma University Press, 2016).
Chris has a blog on the war at http://chrisgeorgewarof1812.blogspot.com/. Along with Robert Reyes, he was an early promoter of the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, tracing the American and British movements in the Washington-Baltimore campaign of Aug-Sept 1814. Reyes and George also helped save land at the heart the battleground at North Point in Dundalk, Baltimore County. This land is now safely in the hands of the State of Maryland and has been designated North Point State Battlefield.
Chris’s poetry has been published in newspapers and magazines around the world. Chris is the Editor at the Desert Moon Review poetry workshop. Chris has an esoteric personal blog at http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ and a Flickr site. He is on Facebook and active on Twitter where his handle is "CThompsonGeorge". New followers always welcome.
Chris’s poetry is featured in Poets Gone Wild: An Internet Anthology from Wild Poetry Press (2005) and at The Hypertexts.
He is also the lyricist for Jack — The Musical, written with French composer Erik Sitbon. A CD with highlights of the show is available from CD Baby.
No bio.
About me
Gender MALE
Industry Publishing
Occupation Medical editor, historian, freelance writer
Location Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Links Audio Clip, Wishlist
Introduction Christopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England in 1948. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, near Johns Hopkins University with his wife Donna. Chris is the author of Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay and co-editor of the Journal of the War of 1812. He is featured in the History Channel's "First Invasion: The War of 1812." He is working with Dr. John McCavitt on a biography of Major General Robert Ross. See The Man Who Captured Washington - General Robert Ross. He is historian for the Havre de Grace Bicentennial project and is an advisor to both the Maryland and Baltimore County Bicentennial projects. He regularly gives talks on the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay region. Chris tweets at hashtag @cthompsongeorge
Interests Poetry, art, history
Favourite Films Citizen Kane, Random Harvest, Tom's Midnight Garden, Galaxy Quest, John Adams, Stolen, Fatal Desire
Favourite Music Eric Burdon, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Doors, Jethro Tull
Favourite Books Anything by Graham Greene, Francis Clifford, Jack Higgins, John Grisham; Poetry by Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Randall Jarrell, Denise Levertov, D. J. Enright, Louise Glück, Louis Simpson, Dylan Thomas
About me
Gender MALE
Industry Publishing
Occupation Medical editor, historian, freelance writer
Location Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Links Audio Clip, Wishlist
Introduction Christopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England in 1948. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, near Johns Hopkins University with his wife Donna. Chris is the author of Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay and co-editor of the Journal of the War of 1812. He is featured in the History Channel's "First Invasion: The War of 1812." He is working with Dr. John McCavitt on a biography of Major General Robert Ross. See The Man Who Captured Washington - General Robert Ross. He is historian for the Havre de Grace Bicentennial project and is an advisor to both the Maryland and Baltimore County Bicentennial projects. He regularly gives talks on the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay region. Chris tweets at hashtag @cthompsongeorge
Interests Poetry, art, history
Favourite Films Citizen Kane, Random Harvest, Tom's Midnight Garden, Galaxy Quest, John Adams, Stolen, Fatal Desire
Favourite Music Eric Burdon, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Doors, Jethro Tull
Favourite Books Anything by Graham Greene, Francis Clifford, Jack Higgins, John Grisham; Poetry by Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Randall Jarrell, Denise Levertov, D. J. Enright, Louise Glück, Louis Simpson, Dylan Thomas
Christopher T. George is the Editor of Desert Moon Review and brings his vision - he believes a poem can be written about any subject and that the mission of poets should be to entertain, to enlighten, and to humanize the world.
Christopher T. George, Editor
Chris George was born in Liverpool, England, in 1948. He is now a U.S. citizen and a 34-year resident of Baltimore, Maryland, where he lives with his wife Donna and two cats, Mamie and Leonard, near the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus.
Chris works full-time as a medical editor in Washington, DC. He has been writing and publishing poetry since he attended Loyola College, Baltimore, and studied with Sister Maura Eichner at the College of Notre Dame, as well as with poets Elliot Coleman and Marion Buchman. His poems have appeared in numerous publications in the United States and Great Britain. He is also a published historian and a lyricist for a new musical, Jack-The Musical, about Jack the Ripper.
Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay
Blaine Taylor
18.4 (Oct. 2001): p72.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2001 World History Group, LLC
http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history
As the bicentennial of the Napoleonic Wars slowly but steadily approaches coinciding with that of its New World sideshow, the War of 1812, interest in that <
Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay, by Christopher T. George, White Mane Publishing Co., Shippensburg, Pa., 2001, $39.95.
Formerly a British subject and now an American citizen, author Christopher George is the editor of the Journal of the War of 1812 and the Era 1800 to 1840, published by the War of 1812 Consortium, and an editorial associate of the Maryland Historical Magazine. In the course of his on-site research, he visited many museums and archives on both sides of the Atlantic,
General readers will find George's writing style crisp and easy to read, and the text is fully footnoted for mote scholarly readers. The illustrations provide a good mix of contemporary and period art. In sum, Terror on the Chesapeake is<< a gripping new rendering>> of a colorful period in American and British history.
Taylor, Blaine
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Taylor, Blaine. "Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay." Military History, Oct. 2001, p. 72. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A78175150/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=91d628e6. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A78175150
Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay
Roland Green
97.12 (Feb. 15, 2001): p1112.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2001 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
George, Christopher T. Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay. Mar. 2001. 256p. illus. index. White Mane, $39.95 (1-57249-058-6). 973.5.
George's modest monograph is a detailed account of the War of 1812 as it was conducted on the waters of Chesapeake Bay. In contention were the British Royal Navy under Admiral Cockburn and American gunboats and militia. For most of 1813, the British prevailed by using their superior naval power effectively and ruthlessly, to the point of serious atrocity in the burning of Havre du Grace, Maryland. In 1814 the British returned with enough Napoleonic veterans to essay full-scale invasion, which led to the burning of Washington and, eventually, to being repulsed at Baltimore. The campaign was waged by somewhat scratch forces on both sides. Indeed, most of the Americans were amateurs, yet they learned better than the British to fight on their home ground and achieve a useful victory. <
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Green, Roland. "Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay." Booklist, 15 Feb. 2001, p. 1112. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A71705161/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f7d644a9. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A71705161
The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812
Jonathon Hooks
83.3 (Aug. 2017): p670+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Southern Historical Association
http://www.uga.edu/~sha
The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812. By John McCavitt and Christopher T. George. Campaigns and Commanders. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. Pp. xiv, 297. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-8061-5164-9.)
Americans familiar with the sole instance of occupation of the nation's capital by a foreign power know well the role Britain's Robert Ross played in that event. After pushing aside a hastily assembled American force composed mainly of militia, Ross entered Washington, D.C., on August 24, 1814. Though in the city for only twenty-four hours, the British burned most of the public buildings while sparing almost all of the private dwellings. Ross's brief presence left its mark on the United States. Congress briefly considered relocating the capital city, the Capitol and the Executive Mansion underwent significant reconstruction, and Congress approved a program to improve coastal fortifications so that another foreign incursion would never take place. Despite the influence Ross's victory had on the United States, he has mostly been forgotten in the United States and in his home country.
John McCavitt and Christopher T. George <
The bulk of this biography focuses on Ross's three-week campaign in Maryland during the late summer of 1814. McCavitt and George portray him as a brave, decisive soldier who keenly evaluated the strength and condition of the American militia facing him at the battle of Bladensburg just outside the District of Columbia. The authors characterize Ross's behavior in Washington as somewhat chivalrous. Although he obviously ordered the destruction of public buildings, he spared civilian property and burned government structures only because his superiors ordered him to do so. Even Ross's death less than a month later outside Baltimore is depicted as another moment of gallantry, as the young general rode well ahead of his troops to determine the strength and position of American forces defending the threatened city. According to McCavitt and George, Ross's early demise cast a pall on his recently acquired fame resulting from his capture of Washington.
This biography accomplishes its goal of introducing readers to Ross's military skill and accomplishments. Using veterans' memoirs, government records, a wide anay of newspapers, and recently composed secondary sources that focus on the Chesapeake invasion, McCavitt and George have consulted a very reliable collection of sources. The result of their research familiarizes readers with the talents and personality of the British general who did what no other military leader has done since--captured the capital of the United States.
Jonathon Hooks
Mississippi University for Women
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Hooks, Jonathon. "The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812." Journal of Southern History, vol. 83, no. 3, 2017, p. 670+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A501078129/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e3f21269. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A501078129
BY HISTORYNET STAFF
10/27/2016 • MILITARY HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS
The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812, by John McCavitt and Christopher T. George, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2016, $29.95
What Americans know as the War of 1812 and the British simply call the American War had other names in its time. Among President James Madison’s detractors, it was “Mr. Madison’s War,” while his supporters called it the “Second War of Independence.” For too many present-day Americans it may as well be called the “Forgotten War.” But this sideshow to the Napoleonic wars had its share of dramatic crises, not least of which was the only time the U.S. capital fell into enemy hands. The commander of the small British expeditionary force that briefly occupied Washington after defeating the U.S. Army at Bladensburg, Md., on Aug. 24, 1814, was Irish-born Maj. Gen. Robert Ross.
World War II War Criminals Standing Trial
BY HISTORY NET
In Vol. 53 of the University of Oklahoma’s Campaigns and Commanders series, authors McCavitt and George examine the life of this career officer who had performed admirably in service against Napoléon Bonaparte before his reassignment across the Atlantic. Despite his notoriety in American history for burning such notable buildings as the Capitol and the White House, Ross reportedly treated Washington’s citizens with humanitarian regard. Nonetheless, the authors lament his failure to spare the Library of Congress—actually housed in the Capitol at the time—suggesting he could have ordered its 3,000 books transferred elsewhere.
According to the authors, the primary reason for Washington’s fall was the U.S. Army’s complete underestimation of the danger the enemy posed. Secretary of War John Armstrong said the following of the British state of readiness: “Have they artillery? No. Have they cavalry? No. Then don’t tell an old soldier that any regular army will or can come.” One challenge that took the British by surprise was the terrible summer heat the soldiers endured during their rapid march to Bladensburg (similar to the heat that bedeviled Confederates troops as they approached Washington in July 1864).
The capture of Washington put a strain on both the U.S. government and economy. Congress even discussed the possibility of choosing another city as capital. Had Ross heeded his orders and burned Washington to the ground, its days might well have been numbered—and had Ross, marching with equal determination on Baltimore, not fallen mortally wounded just before the September 12 Battle of North Point, the same might have been said of the United States.
An impressive granite obelisk dedicated to Ross’ memory stands in his native village of Rostrevor, Ireland. <
—Mike Oppenheim