1. After reading the result of the congressional committee’s investigation into the British attack on Washington (for the report, see JM to George W. Campbell, 2 Nov. 1814, and n. 1), Brig. Gen. William Winder wrote Monroe on 17 and 28 Dec. 1814, requesting a court of inquiry into his conduct with regard to the defense of the capital (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, W-148:8). The court, consisting of Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, Col. John Fenwick, and Col. William Drayton, began its proceedings on 30 Jan. 1815. The report (3 pp.), published in the Daily National Intelligencer on 14 Feb. 1815, stated the court’s opinion that Winder had done everything he could to protect the city. Attributing his failure to “the complicated difficulties and embarrassments under which he laboured,” which included fielding and commanding an army of poorly trained militia while attempting to predict the enemy’s well-disguised point of attack, the court concluded that Winder should be commended rather than censured for his performance (DNA: RG 153, General Court Martial Case Files, G-11).