In August 1814, as the British Army approached Washington, two sergeants of the detachment at Marine Headquarters (then located at the Marine Barracks) were, so the story goes, charged with the safety of a chest containing a considerable amount of Marine Corps funds. The Marines were supposed to have buried the chest on the grounds of the barracks or to have hidden it within the walls of the Commandant’s House. They then rejoined their comrades on the battlefield of Bladensburg where they were killed in the fighting, taking the secret of the money’s location with them to the grave.
In another version of this story, the two NCO’s were killed in a rugged floor-to-floor defense of the Commandant’s House when the British invaders reached Washington. Treasure seekers still eye the walled barracks and hoary house with longing, for the money has never been found and may still be, as legend has it, waiting for the persistent hunter.
