08/24/2026
For one remarkable night in 1814, Montgomery County briefly carried a title no one could have imagined: the nation’s capital. When President James Madison sought safety in Brookeville after Washington was engulfed in flames, this quiet crossroads town became the temporary seat of American leadership.
Just days earlier, on August 24, the Battle of Bladensburg had gone disastrously wrong for the United States. American forces collapsed under the British assault, a rout so swift it became known as the “Bladensburg Races.” American defenses crumbled under the British advance, clearing the way straight into Washington. By evening, British forces were inside the capital, and the city was soon ablaze. The destruction of federal buildings, known as the Burning of Washington, sent officials fleeing and left the young nation shaken. It was the only time since the Revolutionary War that a foreign power had captured and occupied the United States capital.
General Winder had all the American Militias, those that had been at Bladensburg and those that hadn’t, rendezvous at Montgomery Court House (Rockville). They had few supplies and reportedly burned the wood that was being used to build Upton Beall’s (Clerk of the Court) mansion house for their cooking fires.
Madison spent nearly three days riding from place to place, including Rockville, coordinating American militia and keeping the government functioning while staying ahead of the invading troops. His path led north into Montgomery County, where Brookeville sat along well traveled post roads linking Washington with the interior of the state and Baltimore. The town was overflowing with soldiers, civil servants, and families who had escaped the fires in Washington.
There, Madison found refuge with Caleb and Henrietta Bentley, prominent Quaker residents whose home offered the president both shelter and a momentary command center in a time of crisis. For that single night, national leadership operated from their parlor—giving Brookeville its enduring claim as “U.S. Capital for a Day.” The Bentley home, now known as the Madison House, still stands as a witness to that extraordinary moment.
On this anniversary of August 24, we remember not only the Burning of Washington and the Battle of Bladensburg, but also Montgomery County’s unexpected place in the story, when a small town became the nation’s anchor in a moment of upheaval.
Images: Beall-Dawson House in Rockville, Credit: Library of Congress; Madison House in Brookville, Credit: Maryland State Archives
