– which included the burning of the White House – occurred during the so–called War of 1812, but on 24 August 1814. Wikipedia says that the burning of Washington was in retaliation to the Raid on Port Dover (on 14–16 May 1814), but it also says that the burning of the White House was in retaliation to the burning of Upper Canada's Parliament Buildings in the Battle of York (27 April 1813).
In other words – they started it!
(Port Dover was, and still is, a village on the shores of Lake Erie, where American troops, without proper sanction, destroyed private houses and other property, after destroying the mills that were used to provide flour for British troops stationed on the Niagara Peninsula. Upper Canada is what's now known as Ontario; York is now known as Toronto.)
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