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Dancing Later

John Pendleton Kennedy was a private in the 5th Maryland Militia Regiment. Fully equipped, Kennedy had in his backpack a blanket, several shirts, socks and a pair of dancing shoes. According to Mr. Kennedy: "after we had beaten the British army … Mr. Madison would very likely invite us to a ball at the White House, and I wanted to be ready for it."

Sadly Mr. Kennedy was marching off to Bladensburg after he wrote the above letter. There would be no ball.