“From the Archives” — Saint Mary Parish and The War Of 1812

In 1814, in the midst of the War of 1812, a British squadron sailed up the Potomac River, past Fort Washington, toward Alexandria. The Alexandria militia was ordered to defend the city but was unsuccessful. On August 25, a group of Alexandria citizens went to the British commander, offering to surrender the city if the British did not attack. The Alexandrians were likely worried they would suffer the same fate as Washington, C, when British troops set fire to that city on August 23.

The British arrived in Alexandria on August 29 and easily occupied the city until September 2, without public opposition. British troops looted stores and warehouses, taking grain, cotton, tobacco and other valuable commodities. Some waterfront property was damaged or destroyed. Fortunately, the marauders were ordered to leave after five days. Although Saint Mary Church was not physically damaged, many parishioners lost their businesses.

There were two known veterans of the War of 1812 among Saint Mary’s parishioners, both members of the First Regiment of the DC Militia. Pvt. William Ball Glasscock, a convert baptized by Father Enoch Fenwick, S.J., in 1810, is believed to have been a cousin of Mary Ball Washington, mother of George Washington. William and Jane Glasscock’s children were baptized at Saint Mary. They joined the great migration of people from this area to Kentucky, perhaps receiving a land warrant for Glasscock’s military service. Pvt. John Tatsapaugh was from an old, Catholic family in Maryland. After the war he was a “baker of cakes” at the corner of Royal and Cameron Streets here in Old Town. When he died in 1855, the Alexandria Gazette reported he “was one of our oldest and most respected citizens.” He is buried in Saint Mary Cemetery, as are his wife, Elizabeth Jane O’Neale Tatsapaugh, and one of their two daughters. The inscription on John’s tombstone reads: “A kind husband, an affectionate father, a true citizen and an honest man, he enjoyed through life all who knew him.”