Great Bakery

“The Great Bakery for the United States Army at the Capitol, Washington, D. C.- sketched by our special artist. The public buildings in Washington, during the threatened invasion by the Confederates, were barricaded and fortified. So great was the apprehension of a raid upon the city, that the passageways of the Treasury and the Captiol wre defended by howitzers. The iron plates cast for the dome of the Capitol were set up as breastworks between the columns, where they were supported by heavy timbers. The statuary and the pictures were protected by heaving planking; and the basement of the building was used as a kitchen. When the regiments began to pour in, the public buildings were given as quarters to the troops which came to defend them. The basement of the Capitol, which we illustrate, became first a storehouse, and then a bakery.” — Frank Leslie, 1896

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