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Military History Companion:
War of 1812
Known at the time as ‘Madison's war’ after the US president who prosecuted it so badly.
This war was a failed attempt by the young USA to seize Canada while Britain was engaged
fighting Napoleon in Europe. It might better have been called ‘the Republicans' war’, for it
was this party, and in particular the ‘war hawks’ who dominated the House of
Representatives thanks to the leadership of Henry Clay of Kentucky, that most wanted it. It
was remarkable in that the alleged reason for the war, the British Orders in Council
designed to counter Napoleon's Continental System, had been repealed before the USA
declared war, and the principal victory won by American arms, by Andrew Jackson at New
Orleans in January 1815, was won after peace terms had been agreed. Many attribute this
to slow communications, but what the episodes underline is that the US government was
determined on war in 1812 and desperate for peace in 1815. It is, finally, a classic
illustration of the principle of political economy that wars are fought to increase the
domestic power of those who wage it, because the Republicans, while achieving none of
their stated war objectives, decisively won the political battle with their opponents the
Federalists.
The flashpoint was the stopping of US shipping by the Royal Navy, allegedly to recover
deserters but actually impressment by captains desperate for seamen, as they always were
—there were five sailors admitted to be American on board HMS Victory at Trafalgar, as
there were French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and Italian, and we may be sure that few of
them were there voluntarily. Thus it was fitting that the war was decided at sea by an
imperfect blockade that nonetheless strangled US commerce, bankrupting among others expresident Thomas Jefferson, who was in many ways the grandfather of the war. He it was
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who reversed the prudent policy of accommodation with the ocean-dominating British that
permitted US exports to treble 1794-1801, who rejected a British offer of what would now
be called ‘most favoured nation’ status in 1806 and imposed his own ‘continental system’
that had no significant impact on Britain but reduced US exports from $108 million in 1807
to $22 million in 1808.
On paper it was no contest. The USA had a population of about 7.5 million and a regular
army of 12, 000 against 500, 000 and less than 7, 000 in Canada. Her navy, now with seven
‘super frigates’ that outgunned their British equivalents, had acquitted itself well in an
undeclared naval war with the French in 1794-1801, the national debt was minuscule
thanks to the Federalists, and her flanks were covered. Indeed the one territorial gain to
come from the war was West Florida, acquired by sending in agents to proclaim
independence from Spain and then request US protection, a technique that also nearly
worked in Texas in 1813. This was part of Secretary of State Monroe's forward policy in the
matter of western expansion, later to be called ‘manifest destiny’. The USA had ample
supplies of powder and two efficient arsenals at Harpers Ferry and Springfield. What it did
not have was functional systems of recruitment or supply, the former based on short-term
volunteers because of the collapse of the militia and the latter based on notably corrupt
contracts with sutlers who added insult to injury by providing short-weight and condemned
food to troops already restive because their inadequate pay was invariably months in
arrears. Additionally, since 1808 they had been fighting a guerrilla war with Indian tribes
loosely confederated by the great Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Although the westerners
blamed them for this uprising, in fact one of the greatest lost opportunities of the war was
that the British once again failed to exploit the usefulness of Indian allies as systematically
as they easily could have.
This does not mean that the role of the Indians was minor; to the contrary, both in the
battles along the Canadian border and in tying down US troops all along the western
frontier their contribution ensured that the land war started very badly for the USA. A
three-pronged invasion of Canada ended with the surrender of armies at Detroit,
Frenchtown, and Queenston, while the capitulation of Fort Dearborn was followed by a
massacre of the defenders by the Potawatomi, who had some scores to settle. By contrast,
the war at sea went spectacularly well, with USS Constitution sinking HMS Guerrière and
HMS Java, and the USS United States capturing HMS Macedonian. The US navy also took 50
merchant ships, while privateers took a further 450. As both Theodore Roosevelt and Mahan
were later to point out in their outstanding studies of the war, the python-like effect of
British sea power was slow to make itself felt, but even so 150 of the fast commerce
raiders were taken, writing on the wall for those who could read it.
The year 1813 saw a more sober US strategy of winning control of the Great Lakes, the key
to their defeats of the previous year. A US force took York (modern Toronto) and Newark,
looted them, and burned the government buildings, something they were to regret. In
September under Cdre Perry they won by far the most significant naval engagement of the
war against a British flotilla of equal strength on Lake Erie, enabling them to reverse the
land results of the previous year. Two British invasions of Ohio failed and at the battle of
the Thames east of Detroit, the Americans caught up with the retreating Anglo-Indian army
and trounced it, killing (and skinning) Tecumseh, who had earlier suggested that the British
commander should wear petticoats. Elsewhere skirmishing characterized by incompetence
when not treasonable corruption left the British controlling much of the frontier.
In the south, with little assistance from the British save for the use of Pensacola as a base
of operations for escaped slaves and Indians, later to be called Seminoles, some of the
Creek people fought their own war 1813-14 until Andrew Jackson instilled some order in
the militia rabble under his command by executing one of them, and destroyed the Creeks
at Horseshoe Bend in March 1814. Among those under his command were Crockett and Sam
Houston, later heroes of Texas independence.
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But 1813 had witnessed the turning point at sea, with the British sailing in convoys and
sending several new squadrons, one of which ravaged the Chesapeake Bay area. The
blockade began to bite and unleashed violent inflation in the USA, while the commander of
the USS Chesapeake chose to accept a challenge to single combat by HMS Shannon, which
unknown to him had been up-gunned, and was defeated and killed in a 15-minute
engagement. The USS Essex was also tracked down and captured in the Pacifics after a very
successful year of commerce-raiding, but it was the privateers who kept the stars and
stripes on the high seas, boldly sailing around the British Isles and capturing merchant ships
by the hundred and even defeating the occasional small warship.
With the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, the British were able to release more ships
and regular troops for the war in America, their numbers rising to about 40, 000. But the
US army was able to match these numbers and, under the pressure of war, had shed
incompetent commanders and promoted able ones such as Winfield Scott who, although he
was nearly killed at Lundy's Lane in July, had drilled his men so well that they fought the
British regulars to a standstill. Things went less well elsewhere, with a punitive amphibious
operation in the Chesapeake returning the favour for Newark and York by burning
Washington and then bombarding Baltimore. More significant was the capture of eastern
Maine and the unilateral surrender of a number of New England islands and ports, which
were delighted to be able to resume trade in exchange for swearing an oath of allegiance
to the crown or otherwise betraying their country. US public finance had collapsed and the
Royal Navy, paying in cash, was better able to supply itself from American farmers and
merchants than were the US forces offering promissory notes.
The peace negotiations at Ghent that ran from August until Christmas Eve 1814 were a
game of bluff and counter-bluff. Wellington, asked to command the forces in America, put
his finger on the loss of control of the Great Lakes as the Achilles' heel of the British
position, so naturally the British mounted their last big offensive in the south under the
command of his brother-in-law Pakenham, who launched a frontal attack across a river and
into field fortifications manned by men who could shoot, and was killed along with 1, 500
of his men (a further 500 surrendered) at the battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815. On
21 February the last men to die in the war were the ringleaders of a mutiny by Tennessee
militia in September the previous year, shot by the implacable Jackson, although by that
time Congress had hastily ratified the Treaty of Ghent, which restored the status quo ante
bellum.
Bibliography
Hickey, Donald R., The War of 1812: A Short History (Urbana, Ill., 1995)
— Hugh Bicheno
War of 1812
US Military History Companion: War of 1812
The War of 1812 is often referred to as the United States's second war of independence
because, like the Revolutionary War, it was fought against Great Britain. The Conflict
resulted from the clash between American nationalism and the war Britain and its allies
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were waging against the empire of Napoleonic France. Many Americans believed that
England sought to humiliate the United States, limit its growth, and perhaps even impose a
quasi-colonial status upon its former colonies. Throughout the wars between Revolutionary
and Napoleonic France and Great Britain (1793–1801 and 1803–15), the belligerent powers
of Europe repeatedly violated the maritime rights of neutral nations. The United States,
endeavoring to market its own produce while also asserting the right to profit as an
important neutral carrier in the Atlantic commercial system, was particularly hard hit. In
order to man the Royal Navy, British naval officers impressed seamen from American
vessels, claiming that they were either deserters from British service or British subjects,
irrespective of whether they had been naturalized by the United States. The United States
defended its right to naturalize foreigners and rejected Britain's claim that it could
legitimately practice impressment on the high seas. Relations between the two countries
reached breaking point on this issue in June 1807, when the frigate HMS Leopard fired on
the USS Chesapeake inside American territorial waters in order to remove, and later
execute, four of its crew.The exact number of Americans affected by impressment is
difficult to ascertain—American newspapers on the eve of the war claimed that it was in
excess of 6,000—and Great Britain and the United States were never able to resolve the
dispute. Over time the issue became the most flagrant example of Great Britain's
reluctance to respect the sovereignty of the United States, and this was one of the reasons
why President James Madison cited impressment in his 1 June 1812 message to Congress as
the first major grievance that had to be settled by war.
Equally offensive to the United States was the British practice of issuing executive orders in
council, particularly those of November 1807 and April 1809, in order to establish blockades
of the European coast. The Royal Navy then seized neutral vessels bound for the Continent
that did not first call at a British port to pay duties and unload cargo. By these means,
Great Britain could simultaneously wage economic warfare against France and control
American trade to its advantage. British ministries justified these tactics as fair retaliation
against Napoleon's equally antineutral Berlin and Milan decrees, promulgated in December
1806 and December 1807, respectively; but American merchantmen suffered more heavily
from British seizures than from French, and the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison never accepted British blockading practices as valid under the law of
nations. It was the seriousness of this dispute that ultimately raised the question of
whether the United States should go to war to defend its neutral rights.
At first, the United States responded with policies of economic coercion rather than war. At
the suggestion of President Jefferson, Congress passed a series of embargo laws between
December 1807 and January 1809. These laws prohibited virtually all American ships from
putting to sea and eventually banned any overland trade with British and Spanish colonial
possessions in Canada and Florida. Because the legislation failed to change British policy
and seriously harmed the U.S. economy as well, it was replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act
in March 1809. This measure forbade trade with European belligerents until it was replaced
in May 1810 by Macon's Bill No. 2. This law reopened American trade with all nations
subject to the proviso that in the event of either France or Great Britain repealing its
antineutral policies, the United States would then enforce nonintercourse against whichever
nation failed to follow suit by lifting the remaining restrictions on trade.
In August 1810, Napoleon announced he would repeal the Berlin and Milan decrees on the
understanding that the United States would also force Great Britain to respect its neutral
rights. President Madison accepted this as proof that French policy had changed, and in
November 1810 he imposed nonintercourse against Great Britain. He then demanded the
repeal of the orders in council as a condition for the resumption of Anglo-American trade.
When Great Britain refused to comply, Madison, in July 1811, summoned the Twelfth
Congress into an early session in November to prepare for war. After eight months of
debate, Congress responded to the president's initiatives by declaring war on 18 June 1812.
The decision was bitterly controversial and was carried by Republican Party majorities
alone. In the House of Representatives, the vote was 79 to 49 for war; in the Senate, 19 to
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3. The Federalists, whose constituents (especially in New England) depended heavily on
trade with Great Britain, believed that France had equally offended against American
neutrality; they opposed the declaration of war and, thereafter, its prosecution.
Military and Naval Events
The principal theater of operations in the war was the American-Canadian frontier between
Detroit and Lake Champlain. Upper and Lower Canada were the closest British imperial
possessions that were vulnerable to U.S. military and naval power. The rapid growth of
their economies in the early nineteenth century, particularly in the timber trade, had
transformed them into a significant resource for Great Britain during its protracted
maritime struggle against France; this reinforced the American desire to seize them, and
fostered a strategy of invasion. To the extent that the British were able to carry the war to
the Americans, it was by sea; thus, especially after the summer of 1814, the theater of
operations expanded to include the mid-Atlantic coast and the American territories around
the Gulf of Mexico. For this reason, a war that commenced as an invasion of Canada in
1812 concluded in a defense of the city of New Orleans in the early months of 1815.
Over the summer and fall of 1812, U.S. forces, under the commands of Brigs. Gen. William
Hull, Alexander Smyth, and Stephen Van Rensselaer, and Maj. Gen. Henry Dearborn, were
directed to invade Canada at Detroit, Niagara, and Montréal; but inadequate preparations,
poor leadership, and untrained troops undermined the invasions. The British general Sir
Isaac Brock, together with Tecumseh and the Shawnee, Delaware, and other northwestern
Indians who had their own complaints about American territorial expansion, captured
Detroit in August 1812. In September and October, Brock and Maj. Gen. Roger Sheaffe
defeated two American invading armies on the Niagara peninsula, while Dearborn's invasion
of Lower Canada was called off after only one minor engagement in November. American
efforts made at the same time by Maj. Gen. William Henry Harrison and Brig. Gen. James
Winchester to retake Detroit were also unsuccessful; the latter officer surrendered his
army to British and Indian forces on the Raisin River in Michigan Territory in January 1813.
The only American victories in the opening months of the war occurred on the ocean as the
heavy frigates of the tiny U.S. Navy took to the seas to protect American trade and to
harass the vastly superior naval forces of their enemy. In August 1812, the USS
Constitution, under Capt. Isaac Hull, destroyed HMS Guerrière; in October, Capt. Stephen
Decatur's USS United States captured HMS Macedonian; and in December, the Constitution,
now under Capt. William Bainbridge, defeated HMS Java in an engagement off the coast of
Brazil.
Between May and November 1813, the U.S. Army attempted to invade Canada across the
Great Lakes and down the St. Lawrence River. American forces were successful inasmuch as
they captured Fort George and York (now Toronto) in Upper Canada in May, but subsequent
efforts to extend American control in the province were thwarted by British victories at
Stony Creek and Beaver Dams in June. A major thrust from Sacketts Harbor down the St.
Lawrence toward Montréal under Maj. Gen. James Wilkinson was also aborted, first by
British resistance at Crysler's Farm in November 1813, then by Wilkinson's decision to end
his offensive after learning that he would be unable to join forces with U.S. troops below
Montréal. On the northwest frontier, American naval forces under Commodore Oliver
Hazard Perry defeated a British squadron at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie in September.
Thereafter, Harrison and his U.S. and Kentucky troops were able first to retake Detroit, and
then, in October, to destroy the alliance between the British and the Indians with a victory
at the Battle of the Thames.
There were no other major American victories in 1813. The Royal Navy avenged the defeats
of 1812 by capturing the USS Chesapeake in June 1813, and throughout the year British
frigates steadily extended their blockade of U.S. ports, annoying coastal communities and
disrupting trade. Yet another setback for the American war effort came in the fall of 1813
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when “Redstick” factions in the Creek Nation, who like the Shawnees and Delawares had
ample grievances against the United States, attacked forts and settlements on the
southwestern frontier. Georgia and Tennessee mobilized troops in response and Tennessee
forces under Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson eventually defeated the Creeks at Horsehoe Bend,
Mississippi Territory, in March 1814.
By 1814, American land forces had improved in both quality and leadership. Disciplined
troops under Maj. Gen. Jacob Brown and Brig. Gen. Winfield Scott resumed efforts from the
previous year to expel the British from Niagara, and between July and September they
fought the enemy on even terms in three major engagements at Chippewa, Lundy's Lane,
and Fort Erie. But the defeat of Napoleon in Europe in the spring of 1814 allowed Great
Britain to send more troops to North America, and by late summer, the United States had
to contend with invasions by combined army and navy forces at Lake Champlain and in
Chesapeake Bay. Capt. Thomas Macdonough's victory over a British squadron on Lake
Champlain in September compelled one invading army to withdraw to Canada. Meanwhile,
another British force had taken and burned the White House, the U.S. capitol, and most
other government buildings in Washington, D.C. (in August), and a third had occupied the
northeastern section of the District of Maine. Efforts to seize Baltimore failed as Maryland
militiamen inflicted heavy losses on the British regulars of Gen. Robert Ross, and the
harbor defenses of Baltimore withstood a heavy naval bombardment. It was during the
shelling of Fort McHenry on 13–14 September that the poet Francis Scott Key composed the
work that became The Star-Spangled Banner as a tribute to the American defense.
Conclusion
Efforts to end the war lasted almost as long as the conflict itself. Great Britain, in fact,
repealed its orders in council in June 1812 before it had learned of the declaration of war,
but President Madison decided to continue the struggle in order to obtain a comprehensive
settlement of American grievances. For this purpose, he accepted in March 1813 a Russian
offer to mediate the conflict and dispatched a five-man negotiating team to St. Petersburg.
Britain rejected mediation in July, but later offered to open separate peace negotiations.
Madison accepted this offer in January 1814; the opening of the talks was delayed until
July, however, because of changes in venue resulting from the defeat of Napoleon. At
Ghent, Belgium, Great Britain initially made unrealistic demands, seeking not only to
establish a neutral Indian buffer state in the American Northwest but to revise both the
Canadian-American boundary and the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris that had
established the United States as an independent nation. The United States, which had
originally wanted an end to all objectionable British maritime practices and cessions of
Canadian territory as well, forbore to press any claims at this time. Its diplomats parried
Great Britain's demands until the British ministry, rebuffed by the duke of Wellington (who
refused to take command in Canada) and fearing the expense of a long continuation in
hostilities decided to settle for a peace based on the status quo ante bellum. Between the
signing of the treaty, on 24 December 1814 and the time the news arrived in the United
States, the last major battle, the Battle of New Orleans, had been fought on 7–8 January
1815.
Neither the War of 1812 nor the Treaty of Ghent secured American maritime rights on a
firm basis; but a century of peace in Europe after 1815 meant that they were not seriously
threatened again until World War I. Nor did Great Britain pursue its future disputes with
the United States to the point of risking war. And though the United States failed to obtain
any Canadian territory, the campaigns of the war destroyed Indian opposition to U.S.
expansion on the northwestern and southwestern frontiers. Both the United States and
Canada emerged from the war with a heightened sense of national purpose and awareness,
and particularly in the American case, the war consolidated the nation's military and naval
establishments on more secure bases than before 1812.
In other respects, though, the war was as much a mixed blessing as an unqualified gain for
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the United States. The immediate domestic impact of the conflict was to heighten tensions
between the northern and the southern states, on the one hand, and the Federalist and
Republican parties, on the other. These strains became so serious that in November 1814,
New England Federalists met in convention at Hartford, Connecticut, to consider measures
to nullify the war effort. The ending of the war shortly afterwards left the Federalists
marked with the stigma of disloyalty, and this undoubtedly contributed to the party's rapid
demise after 1815.
The economic impact of the war was equally complex. The disruptions it entailed on
America's international commerce were, to some extent, offset by greater governmental
expenditures, an increased demand for domestic manufacturing, and the deflection of
capital from shipping to the first large-scale American industries, especially in New
England. Yet not all of the resulting gains survived the unstable economic conditions of the
postwar period; and even the American belief that the war marked a significant stride
toward cultural, economic, and political independence would ultimately be overshadowed
by the Civil War, which profoundly altered the meaning of all America's earlier conflicts in
the shaping of the nation's identity and purposes.
[See also Neutrality; Rush-Bagot Agreement; Trade, Foreign.]
Bibliography
Henry Adams, The History of the United States During the Administrations of
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 9 vols., 1891; 1986.
Alfred T. Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812, 2 vols., 1905.
Frank Updyke, The Diplomacy of the War of 1812, 1915.
Bradford Perkins, Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805–1812 , 1961.
Bradford Perkins, Castlereagh and Adams: England and the United States, 1812–
1823, 1964.
J. C. A. Stagg, Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early
American Republic, 1783–1830, 1983.
George F. Stanley, The War of 1812: Land Operations, 1983.
Steven Watts, The Republic Reborn: War and the Making of Liberal America, 1790–
1820, 1987.
Donald Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, 1989
US Military Dictionary: War of 1812
(1812-15) Often called the “second war of independence” because it, too, was fought
against Great Britain, this war yielded no territorial gain, but it did carry sharp political
and economic ramifications. Its origins were partly political but primarily economic. During
the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1801, 1803-15), Great Britain impressed a considerable number
of American seamen into the Royal Navy, claiming they were either deserters or British
subjects and refusing to recognize their naturalized status. Equally offensive to U.S.
sovereignty and more damaging to its economy was that its maritime neutrality was being
repeatedly violated by both Great Britain and France. The administrations of Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison were particularly piqued by British orders of council in 1807
and 1809, which authorized the seizure of neutral vessels bound for the Continent if they
did not pay duties and unload cargo at a British port. Jefferson's retaliatory embargoes in
1807 and 1809 not only failed to influence the British but also crippled the U.S. economy.
Subsequent legislation issued under Madison demanded the end of antineutrality on the
part of both European powers. In August 1810, Napoleon announced that he would repeal
his Berlin and Milan decrees, to which the British had long been pointing as justification for
their orders of council. But Great Britain did not follow suit and repeal their orders, and
after months-long deliberation, Congress responded to Madison's request and declared war
on June 18, 1812.
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Most of the fighting took place on the American-Canadian frontier between Detroit and
Lake Champlain. This area was both the nearest British possessions that the U.S. army and
navy could attack and a significant resource of timber for both countries. But in the
opening months of the war, the U.S. lost every battle it waged there, due to poor
preparation, inadequate leadership, and untrained soldiers, as well as to a staunch defense
by the British aided by northwestern Indians who had been feeling the brunt of American
westward expansion. The only battles the U.S. won were while protecting trade routes in
the Atlantic, where its inferior navy managed to sink or capture three British ships.
The U.S. was somewhat more successful in the middle months of 1813, capturing Fort
George and York in Upper Canada in May, retaking Detroit in September, and from there
embarking on the Battle of the Thames, which destroyed the British-Indian alliance in
November. But further incursions into Upper and Lower Canada were either thwarted or
aborted. Moreover, the Royal Navy began to assert its superiority by extending its blockade
of trade routes throughout the year, to the great frustration of coastal communities and
overseas traders. In the South, meanwhile, “Redstick” factions of the Creek Nation took out
their frustration on garrisons and settlements, but were eventually repelled by Maj. Gen.
Andrew Jackson at Horseshoe Bend in March, 1814.
The improvement of both training and leadership led to greater military success in 1814.
But Napoleon's defeat in the spring also meant that Britain could commit more troops to
North America and thus stretch U.S. defenses. While Capt. Thomas Macdonough repelled
the British on Lake Champlain, other British forces occupied northeastern Maine and still
others torched Washington, including the White House and the Capitol. The Maryland
militia and the Fort McHenry cannons managed to fend off an attempt to capture
Baltimore, the battle in which Francis Scott Key composed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The last major battle was a U.S. victory in New Orleans, fought two weeks after peace had
officially been reached with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814.
The treaty was long in the making. Though the British had repealed the orders of council as
soon as Congress declared war, Madison wanted to use the war to settle larger grievances.
Attempts at Russian mediation in 1813 were rebuffed by Britain, and then, after it opened
separate negotiations in July, 1814, demanded a neutral independent buffer Indian state
and to revise the American-Canadian border established by the 1783 Treaty of Paris. In the
face of these exaggerated demands, the U.S. did not press its own for Canadian territory
and an end to British maritime practices that were hurting American trade. Both sides
eventually settled for the prewar status quo. Thus, while maritime rights were not
finalized, nor were they threatened again until World War I. And while Canadian territory
was not gained, Indian opposition to westward expansion was considerably quelled in the
north- and southwest. More troubling, however, were the increasing tensions between
Federalists and Republicans and between northern and southern states. The Federalists had
opposed the war, and after meeting to nullify the war in late 1814, appeared as disloyal,
which greatly contributed to the party's demise after 1815. In the long term, the postwar
economic recovery sharpened the rift between North and South, as federal expenditures
rose, demand for domestic manufacturing grew, and large-scale industries, especially in
New England, reaped the bulk of the rewards. And when the economy proved still unstable,
it gradually became clearer that the war was an important stand against the British Empire,
but not the final step toward cultural, economic, and political independence for the U.S.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: War of 1812
U.S.-British conflict arising from U.S. grievances over oppressive British maritime practices
in the Napoleonic Wars. To enforce its blockade of French ports, the British boarded U.S.
and other neutral ships to check cargo they suspected was being sent to France and to
impress seamen alleged to be British navy deserters. The U.S. reacted by passing legislation
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such as the Embargo Act (1807); Congress's War Hawks called for expulsion of the British
from Canada to ensure frontier security. When the U.S. demanded an end to the
interference, Britain refused, and the U.S. declared war on June 18, 1812. Despite early
U.S. naval victories, notably the duel between the Constitution and the Guerrière, Britain
maintained its blockade of eastern U.S. ports. A British force burned public buildings in
Washington, D.C., including the White House, in retaliation for similar U.S. acts in York
(Toronto), Can. The war became increasingly unpopular, especially in New England, where
a separatist movement originated at the Hartford Convention. On Dec. 24, 1814, both sides
signed the Treaty of Ghent, which essentially restored territories captured by each side.
Before news of the treaty reached the U.S., its victory in the Battle of New Orleans led it
to later proclaim the war a U.S. victory. See also Battle of Châteauguay; Chippewa;
Thames; Isaac Hull; Francis Scott Key; Oliver Perry.
For more information on War of 1812, visit Britannica.com.
British History: War of 1812
The last conflict between Britain and the USA began when the British blockade of
Napoleonic Europe and naval impressment of American sailors inflamed relations. Western
American politicians campaigned for conquest of Canada to open land for settlement and
eliminate Indian resistance. Congress declared war on 16 June 1812. The Americans failed
to overrun Canada, despite battles including Queenston Heights (1812). The British
retaliated for the destruction of York (later Toronto) in April 1813 by occupying Washington
in August 1814 and burning the White House. The war was ended by the treaty of Ghent,
with its causes unresolved.
US History Encyclopedia: War of 1812
War of 1812, fought under the motto "free trade and sailor's rights," was the result of
British maritime policies during the wars between Great Britain and France, the desire of
President James Madison to strengthen republicanism, and the American belief that it could
secure possession of Canada as a bargaining chip against Great Britain.
Neither Britain nor France cared much about the rights of neutrals in their struggle, which
lasted with only short interruptions from 1793 to 1815. Britain's major asset was its navy,
which contained France by closing off large stretches of the European coastline. The British
blockade from Brest to the mouth of the Elbe River; Napoleon's Berlin Decree of 21
November 1806, declaring a blockade of the British Isles and prohibiting ships from entering
French harbors if they previously had been in British waters; the British Orders in Council of
1807 that all neutral ships coming from France would be seized if they had not previously
visited British harbors; and Napoleon's Milan Decree of 17 December 1807 that all neutral
ships that concurred with the British demands would be seized had little impact on the war
in Europe but affected the United States and its profitable maritime trade. Americans were
in no position to do anything about this sort of war. Great Britain, straining for sailors on
their warships, insisted on the right of its naval officers to "impress" from American ships
deserters from the Royal Navy or other British subjects liable to naval service. British
sailors had deserted by the thousands to the American merchant marine. Many who had
taken out naturalization papers were nonetheless the victims of the British policy.
Anger over the British practices reached a climax on 22 June 1807, when the USS
Chesapeake was stopped by the British frigate Leopard. When the American captain denied
the British request to search his ship for deserters, the Leopard shelled the American
vessel. Not prepared for a military engagement, the Chesapeake suffered casualties
quickly. After firing one shot, the American captain allowed the British to board his ship.
They took four sailors prisoner and put out to sea again. This arrogant provocation injured
American national pride. Although President Thomas Jefferson seemed ready to go to war,
he resorted to economic warfare. At his request, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807,
which was intended to prevent additional entanglement in European affairs by prohibiting
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the export of American goods on both American and foreign vessels. While the British and
French embargoes had led to seizures of American merchantmen, they had provided an
opportunity for traders to reap huge profits by counting on the fast and sleek American
ships to run the blockades. Prohibiting the ships from leaving harbor prevented seizure and
impressment, but it also put an end to a lucrative situation. Although smuggling became
routine, the Embargo Act severely hurt communities in New England and cotton planters
and farmers in the West and South who depended on the European markets, particularly
the British markets.
The embargo had little impact on Great Britain and France. Amidst growing protests against
the embargo, under the impression of election victories by the rival Federalists, and with
New Englanders airing secessionist ideas, President Jefferson asked for a modification of
the Embargo Act shortly before he left office. Congress repealed the act and on 1 March
1809 passed the Nonintercourse Act. The new law prohibited trade with Great Britain and
France and banned British and French ships from U.S. waters, but it permitted trade with
the rest of the world. Great Britain had found ready suppliers in Central and Latin America,
and like the embargo, nonintercourse did not change British naval conduct. Having
accomplished nothing, the United States backed down and replaced the Nonintercourse Act
with Macon's Bill No. 2, a bill introduced by Representative Nathaniel Macon that barred
armed vessels of the belligerents from entering American ports but reopened trade with
France and Great Britain. Macon's Bill promised that, if either England or France revoked
the blockade, nonintercourse would be imposed against the other.
Napoleon reacted swiftly. He instructed his foreign minister, Jean-Baptiste Nompère de
Champagny, duc de Cadore, to notify the Americans that the Milan and Berlin Decrees were
revoked. Although the note the Americans received from Cadore was vague and stated that
repeal of the decrees was contingent on resumption of American nonintercourse with Great
Britain, President James Madison proclaimed the French in compliance with Macon's Bill.
This gave the British until February 1811 to revoke the Orders in Council.
Great Britain remained intractable, and by the time Congress assembled in November,
Madison was ready to put the nation on a war footing. Many members of Congress,
however, were reluctant to go to war with the mightiest naval power on the globe. The
most vocal group calling for war or at least some action was called the War Hawks. They
were for the most part a group of young Jeffersonian Republicans from the West and the
South who had recently been voted into office. Among them was Henry Clay of Kentucky,
who had never served in the House of Representatives before and was only thirty-four years
old but was nonetheless elected to the influential position of speaker of the House. Clay
made sure that a number of his colleagues willing to go to war were appointed to
important committees.
The War Hawks argued that British crimes were not confined to the high seas. On the
northwestern frontier, in Ohio and the territories of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, Native
Americans, led by the Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh and
supported by the British in Canada, resisted the relentless white encroachment on their
lands. Tenskwatawa preached a return to the customary way of living, Native American
brotherhood, and abstinence. Strongly opposed to the extensive land cessions secured by
the Americans and using anti-white rhetoric, he attracted many young warriors. After the
Treaty of Fort Wayne, in which chiefs opposed to Tenskwatawa ceded 3 million acres of
land to the United States, Tenskwatawa threatened to prevent settlement of the land by
force. Tecumseh would supply the necessary military and political leadership. Americans
suspected that Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh were agents of British interests, and while
Tecumseh traveled into the South to enlist other Native American nations, the Indiana
governor William Henry Harrison moved against what he perceived to be a threatening
Native American coalition. He destroyed their town at the Tippecanoe River, providing an
additional incentive for the Native Americans to seek support from the British in Canada.
The attacks against white settlers did not end, and the War Hawks, holding Great Britain
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responsible for those attacks, advocated ousting the British from North America by
conquering Canada. Others from the Southwest and the South saw an opportunity to
conquer East and West Florida. The United States had long claimed that West Florida was
part of the Louisiana Purchase and had begun absorbing it piecemeal.
Frontier grievances and ambitions were debated in Congress, but they were hardly
sufficient by themselves to bring about war with Great Britain. Some may have hoped to
incorporate Canada into the United States, but most members of Congress simply perceived
Canada as an easy target because Britain was too occupied with France to divert men and
arms to defend its dominion in North America. Canada was to serve as a bargaining chip to
force Great Britain to change its conduct on the high seas.
After more than half a year of deliberations and persuasion, Congress declared war on 18
June 1812. The House voted 79 to 49 on 4 June 1812, with 17 Republicans voting against
war and 10 abstaining. Not one Federalist voted for war. The Senate approved the
declaration by a narrow margin of 19 to 13 on 17 June. Madison signed it the following day.
Two days before and unknown to the members of Congress, the British Parliament had
repealed the Orders in Council. When the news reached the United States, it was already
too late.
Invasion of Canada
Despite the long period of debates in Congress, the nation was hardly prepared to actually
wage the war it declared on a formidable enemy. Inadequate military, naval, and financial
preparation resulted in insufficient and illtrained troops. Military incompetence and
defective strategy led to a series of military disasters, particularly during the first year of
the war, when American troops tried to invade Canada. The army was additionally
hampered by a militia that generally defined itself as a defensive force and was unwilling
to partake in a war of conquest and by obstruction of the war effort in the Federalistcontrolled New England states. General William Hull had to surrender Detroit on 16 August
1812, Generals Stephen van Rensselaer and Alexander Smyth failed dismally on the Niagara
River in October, and General Henry Dearborn broke off a feeble attempt to march on
Montreal in November. On Lake Erie, U.S. forces achieved their greatest success under the
command of Oliver H. Perry in September 1813. Detroit was recovered the following year,
and Harrison defeated the British at the Thames River on 5 October 1813, a battle in which
Tecumseh was killed, breaking Native American resistance. The year closed, however, with
the complete failure of a renewed campaign against Montreal by General James Wilkinson
on 11 November 1813, the British capture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813, and the
destruction of a number of towns, including Buffalo, New York, by the British during
December 1813.
By the summer of 1814 many incompetent officers had been replaced, and under the
command of Generals Jacob Brown and Winfield Scott, the northern army, although failing
to conquer any substantial territory, stood its ground at Chippewa River on 5 July 1814,
Lundy's Lane on 25 July 1814, and the siege of Fort Erie in August 1814. In September,
despite an overwhelming majority, the British broke off an attack against upper New York
when their naval support was defeated on Lake Champlain.
British Landing Operations
After Napoleon's abdication in April 1814, Britain was free to transfer battle-hardened
troops from Europe to North America, which made landing operations in Maine and the
Chesapeake Bay possible. The British were successful in Maine, and their attack against
Washington, D.C., brought about the infamous routing of the American militia and troops at
Bladensburg, Maryland, and the burning of official buildings in the nation's capital,
including the White House and the Capitol on 24 and 25 August 1814. In early September,
the British moved against Baltimore, but there they were driven off. That battle inspired
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Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Blockade of the American Seaboard
During the first six months after the declaration of war, the Royal Navy was slow to use its
superiority, but by the end of 1813, the American East Coast was under blockade. Only the
New England states were exempted by Admiral John B. Warren until May 1814, because
they opposed the war and supplied the British in Canada and the West Indies. American
exports dropped sharply, and even coastal trade became increasingly dangerous. Harbor
towns were affected severely, but farmers and planters in the West and the South also
suffered heavily. Most American ships, navy and merchant marine, were bottled up in port,
and single-ship actions on the high seas failed to affect the overwhelming superiority of
the British fleet. Even privateers, who had been quite successful in previous years, found
few prizes because most British ships now sailed in convoys.
Peace
Both the Americans and the British were eager to enter into negotiations. Russia offered to
mediate the conflict, and American and British peace commissioners met in Ghent,
Belgium, in August 1814. The American delegation had hoped to put impressment on the
negotiation table but soon found that the British would not be moved on this issue. Anxious
to protect Canada and their Native American allies, the British first demanded territory, a
Native American buffer state, and demilitarization of the Great Lakes. In view of little
encouraging news from
North America and increasing opposition at home to war taxes, they agreed to end the war
on the basis of a status quo ante bellum. The British navigation rights on the Mississippi
River and the American rights to fish in Canadian waters, both guaranteed in 1783, were
left out of the Treaty of Ghent, signed on 24 December 1814.
Although the United States had not achieved one thing it had gone to war for, the news
that the war was over was received joyously in all parts of the United States. For the
United States, it seemed that not to have been defeated by Britain was a victory. News
about the most important battle victory of the war arrived almost simultaneously with
word about peace and added immensely to an impression of achievement. It did not matter
that the Battle of New Orleans, where, on 8 January 1815, General Andrew Jackson
inflicted the most crushing military defeat of the war on a British army, took place two
weeks after the war was over.
The peace treaty, unanimously ratified by the Senate, led to the final demise of the
Federalists and any secession ideas harbored in New England. The years after 1815 saw a
sense of national identity in the United States and in Canada that had not existed before or
during the war. Capital that lay dormant during the embargo, nonintercourse, and the
British blockade found a new outlet in the developing industry in the United States, now
protected by high tariffs. Americans learned not to rely too heavily on a militia, making
way for a reorganized army that enabled future expansion. The Second War of
Independence, as the War of 1812 has been called, was the first step in establishing the
United States as a serious, permanent player in international politics.
Bibliography
Benn, Carl. The Iroquois in the War of 1812. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Egan, Clifford L. Neither Peace nor War: Franco-American Relations, 1803–1812. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1983.
Elting, John R. Amateurs to Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812. Chapel Hill, N.C.:
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Algonquin Books, 1991.
Fredriksen, John C., comp. War of 1812 Eyewitness Accounts: An Annotated Bibliography.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwod Press, 1997.
Gardiner, Robert, ed. The Naval War of 1812. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. Santa
Barbara, Calif.: ABC–CLIO, 1997.
Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 1989.
———. "The War of 1812: Still a Forgotten Conflict?" Journal of Military History 65, no. 3
(2001): 741–769.
Lord, Walter. The Dawn's Early Light. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
Skeen, C. Edward. Citizen Soldiers in the War of 1812. Lexington: University Press of
Kentucky, 1999.
Columbia Encyclopedia: War of 1812,
armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. It followed a period
of great stress between the two nations as a result of the treatment of neutral countries by
both France and England during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, in which
the latter two were antagonists (1793–1801, 1803–14).
Causes of the War
American shippers took advantage of the hostilities in Europe to absorb the carrying trade
between Europe and the French and Spanish islands in the West Indies. By breaking the
passage with a stop in a U.S. port, they evaded seizure under the British rule of 1756,
which forbade to neutrals in wartime any trade that was not allowed in peacetime. In
1805, however, in the Essex Case, a British court ruled that U.S. ships breaking passage at
an American port did not circumvent the prohibitions set out in the rule of 1756. As a
result the seizure of American ships by Great Britain increased.
The following year Great Britain instituted a partial blockade of the European coast. The
French emperor, Napoleon I, retaliated with a blockade of the British Isles. Napoleon's
Continental System, which was intended to exclude British goods or goods cleared through
Britain from countries under French control, and the British orders in council (1807), which
forbade trade with France except after touching at English ports, threatened the American
merchant fleet with confiscation by one side or the other. Although the French subjected
American ships to considerable arbitrary treatment, the difficulties with England were more
apparent. The impressment of sailors alleged to be British from U.S. vessels was a
particularly great source of anti-British feeling, a famous incident of impressment being the
Chesapeake affair of 1807.
Despite the infringement of U.S. rights, President Jefferson hoped to achieve a peaceful
settlement with the British. Toward this end he supported a total embargo on trade in the
hope that economic pressure would force the belligerents to negotiate with the United
States. The Nonimportation Act of 1806 was followed by the Embargo Act of 1807.
Difficulty of enforcement and economic conditions that rendered England and the Continent
more or less independent of America made the embargo ineffective, and in 1809 it gave
way to a Nonintercourse Act. This in turn was superseded by Macon's Bill No. 2, which
repealed the trade restrictions against Britain and France with the proviso that if one
country withdrew its offensive decrees or orders, nonintercourse would be reimposed with
the other.
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In 1809, after the passage of the Nonintercourse Act, a satisfactory agreement had been
reached with the British minister in Washington, David Erskine, who promised repeal of the
orders in council. The pact was disavowed by Foreign Secretary George Canning, however,
and Erskine was replaced by F. J. Jackson, who soon proved himself persona non grata to
the U.S. government. Subsequently, by a dubious commitment, Napoleon tricked James
Madison, who had succeeded Jefferson as President, into reimposing (1811) nonintercourse
on England. Negotiations with Britain for repeal of the orders in council continued without
result; just before the declaration of war, yet too late to prevent it, the orders in council
were repealed.
In reality, it was not so much the infringement of neutral rights that occasioned the actual
outbreak of hostilities as the desire of the frontiersmen for free land, which could only be
obtained at the expense of the Native Americans and the British. Moreover, the West
suspected the British, with some justification, of attempting to prevent American expansion
and of encouraging and arming the Native Americans. Matters came to a head after the
battle of Tippecanoe (1811); the radical Western group believed that the British had
supported the Native American confederacy, and they dreamed of expelling the British
from Canada. Their militancy was supported by Southerners who wished to obtain West
Florida from the Spanish (allies of Great Britain). Among the prominent “war hawks” in the
12th Congress were Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, Felix Grundy, Peter
Porter, and others, who managed to override the opposition of John Randolph and of the
moderates.
Course of the War
War was declared June 18, 1812. It was not until hostilities had begun that Madison
discovered how woefully inadequate American preparations for war were. The rash hopes of
the “war hawks,” who expected to take Canada at a blow, were soon dashed. The
American force under Gen. William Hull, far from gaining glory, disgracefully surrendered
(Aug., 1812) at Detroit to a smaller Canadian force under Isaac Brock. On the Niagara
River, an American expedition was repulsed after a successful attack on Queenston Heights,
because the militia under Stephen Van Rensselaer would not cross the New York state
boundary.
On the sea, however, the tiny American navy initially gave a good account of itself. The
victory of the Constitution, under Isaac Hull, over the Guerrière and the capture of the
Macedonian by the United States (Stephen Decatur commanding) were two outstanding
achievements of 1812. The smaller vessels also did well, and American privateers carried
the war to the very shores of England. In 1813 the British reasserted their supremacy on
the sea; the Chesapeake, under Capt. James Lawrence (“Don't give up the ship!”),
accepted a challenge from the Shannon and met with speedy defeat. Most of the American
ships were either captured or bottled up in harbor for the duration of the war.
It was on inland waters, however, that the American navy achieved its most notable
triumphs—victories that had an important bearing on the course of the war. In Jan., 1813,
at the Raisin River, S of Detroit, American troops suffered another defeat. But with the
victory of Capt. Oliver Perry on Lake Erie in Sept., 1813, American forces, under Gen.
William Henry Harrison, were able to advance against the British, who burned Detroit and
retreated into Canada. Harrison pursued and defeated them in a battle at the Thames River
(see Thames, battle of the), in which Tecumseh, the Native American chief, was killed. Yet
the feeble efforts of James Wilkinson along the St. Lawrence River did nothing to improve
the situation on the New York border.
The first months of 1814 held gloomy prospects for the Americans. The finances of the
government had been somewhat restored in 1813, but there was no guarantee of future
supplies. New England, never sympathetic with the war, now became openly hostile, and
the question of secession was taken up by the Hartford Convention. Moreover, with
Napoleon checked in Europe, Britain could devote more time and effort to the war in
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America.
In July, 1814, the American forces along the Niagara River, now under Gen. Jacob Brown,
maintained their own in engagements at Chippawa and Lundy's Lane. Shortly afterward, Sir
George Prevost led a large army into New York down the west side of Lake Champlain and
seriously threatened the Hudson valley. But when his accompanying fleet was defeated
near Plattsburgh (Sept., 1814) by Capt. Thomas Macdonough, he was forced to retreat to
Canada. In August, a British expedition to Chesapeake Bay won an easy victory at
Bladensburg and took Washington, burning the Capitol and the White House. The victorious
British, however, were halted at Fort McHenry before Baltimore.
Negotiations for Peace
The Fort McHenry setback and the American victory at Plattsburgh helped to persuade
British statesmen to agree to end the war, in which no decisive gains had been made by
either side. For some time negotiations for peace had been taking place. Although Great
Britain had refused an early Russian offer to mediate between it and the United States, the
British entered into direct peace negotiations at Ghent in mid-1814. The American
delegation to the meeting at Ghent was headed by John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and
Albert Gallatin. After long and tortuous discussions, a treaty (see Ghent, Treaty of) was
signed (Dec. 24, 1814), providing for the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of
conquered territories, and the setting up of boundary commissions.
The final action of the war took place after the signing of the treaty, when Andrew Jackson
decisively defeated the British at New Orleans on Jan. 8, 1815. This victory, although it
came after the technical end of the war, was important in restoring American confidence.
Although the peace treaty failed to deal with the matters of neutral rights and
impressment that were the ostensible cause of the conflict, the war did quicken the growth
of American nationalism. In addition, the defeats suffered by the Native Americans in the
Northwest and in the South forced them to sign treaties with the U.S. government and
opened their lands for American expansion.
Bibliography
See G. W. Cullum, Campaigns of 1812–15 (1879); T. Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812
(1882, repr. 1968); A. T. Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relation to the War of 1812 (2 vol.,
1905; repr. 1968); J. W. Pratt, Expansionists of 1812 (1925, repr. 1957); H. Adams, The
War of 1812 (ed. by H. A. DeWeerd, 1944); F. Beirne, War of 1812 (1949, repr. 1965); G.
Tucker, Poltroons and Patriots (2 vol., 1954); C. S. Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail: The
Story of the Naval War of 1812 (1956); A. H. Z. Carr, The Coming of War (1960); R.
Horsman, The Causes of the War of 1812 (1962, repr. 1972) and The War of 1812 (1969);
H. L. Coles, The War of 1812 (1965); R. V. Remini, The Battle of New Orleans (1999); A. J.
Langguth, Union 1812 (2007).
Intelligence Encyclopedia: War of 1812
The War of 1812, spawned by the European Napoleonic Wars, was the last war in which the
fledgling United States fought its former colonial power, Great Britain. After three years of
fighting on land and at sea, the United States military successfully drove the British forces
from United States soil, but not before British troops burned Washington, D.C. The War of
1812 assured the United States the independent sovereignty it claimed after victory in the
American Revolution and shaped American foreign policy for over a century.
When continental Europe erupted in conflict in 1793, the United States declared itself
neutral. Not wanting to anger France or Britain, the two main rivals in the European war,
the United States tried to remain out of contentious European politics, especially in regards
to European colonial holdings in the Americas. Relations were further strained by British
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resentment of ongoing United States trade and diplomatic cooperation with France. British
ships blockaded United States ports, hoping to prevent supplies and trade goods from
reaching France. United States leaders, George Washington and John Adams, worked to
ease tensions and lift the blockade, and by 1795, the nation again conducted trade with
allies in Europe. However, by 1803, the United States government grew deeply concerned
about the presence of a strong British military force in the Great Lakes region. Negotiations
with Britain to reduce their military presence in the West and along the northern border of
New England failed. Tensions again mounted when France sold the United States significant
territories, including the Mississippi River, in the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1805, the British Navy resumed its blockade of the Unites States coast, prohibiting the
export of most goods to continental Europe. The Orders in Council of 1807 further
restricted neutral trade with Europe, and authorized British ships to take both the cargo
and crew of seized neutral ships. The practice of impressment, forcing captured seamen
into service on British ships, inflamed anti-British sentiment in the United States. The
passage of the Embargo Act, confining all United States trade to the North American coast,
the failure of continued diplomatic relations, and British-incited Indian attacks on United
States outposts, gave credence to the opinions of the "War Hawks" in the United States
government. In June 1812, the United States declared war on Britain.
The War of 1812 forced the United States to rapidly form and train military forces. After
the Revolutionary War, the federal government only reluctantly allowed provisions for
national forces. Most armies were maintained by individual states, with little
standardization of training and equipment. The war spanned the entire breadth of the
United States and its territories, from the Great Lakes region to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Regional armies facilitated troop movement and deployment, but the lack of national
infrastructure made travel and communication among the different battlefronts difficult.
Military generals attempted to create a complex communication and espionage network,
utilizing couriers on horseback and semaphore, to deliver messages. Codes were primitive
and easy to break, but both British and American forces employed invisible inks to help
conceal communications.
The vast expanses of rough and unfamiliar territory that both armies traversed required the
extensive use of scouts. Both British and American forces preferred to use Indian scouts,
who often had superior knowledge of regional terrain and could communicated in several
indigenous languages. Indian scouts also aided in the recruitment of Indians to fight rival
forces. British and United States military leaders also attempted to spark warfare between
rival tribes with varying allegiances, hoping to distract opposing forces or break their aid
network. Extensive contact with indigenous populations proved devastating, as during the
American Revolution, disease ravaged Indian villages and several thousand Indian warriors
died in battle.
From 1812 to 1814, the United States suffered numerous crushing defeats at the hands of
superior British forces. United States offensives failed to take the Great Lakes region, and
military defenses could not keep British troops from occupying Washington, D.C.
Anticipated French aid never materialized in the 1813, as the tide of war in Europe had
shifted decisively in favor of the British, and Napoleon's French Empire was in grave danger
of collapse. American diplomats in Paris maintained a small espionage network in Europe
and the Americas to monitor the British military and diplomatic corps. A French spy, posing
as a local trader, rode to the White House to inform the president and cabinet members of
the British plans to invade, occupy, and then destroy Washington, D.C. The government
fled the British invasion of the capital city, but only by a matter of hours.
Despite the grim prospects of the United States land campaign in the early years of the
war, the new United States Navy mounted surprisingly successful battles against the
powerful British Navy. The United States reluctantly formed its Navy to combat the
extortionist trade monopoly of the North African Barbary Pirates who dominated shipping in
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the Mediterranean. While wealthier European government simply paid annual tributes and
occasional ransoms to the Barbary authorities, the fledgling United States Federal
government could not afford to pay such large sums of money. The nation mounted a small
but highly effective Navy, eventually driving the Barbary authorities to capitulation. After
the conflict, the government only narrowly voted to keep naval forces.
When the British began the blockade of the American coastline, United States navy and
merchant ships successfully ran the blockade. The government employed "pirate" ships to
destroy British ships, and recapture seized cargo and Americans impressed into service.
With the outbreak of war, naval resources were increasingly devoted to strategic sea
campaigns against British vessels. The United States Navy successfully captured the British
frigate Macedonian, defeated the Java, and raided several other merchant and military
ships. Victories at sea, though limited, enforced the need for a permanent navy in the
United States and ensured its continued survival. One hundred and forty years later, the
United States Navy surpassed the British fleet to become the world's dominant sea power.
As the French were defeated in Europe, the British devoted more resources to the
battlefront in America. However, United States forces rallied, turning the tide of the war in
their favor by August 1814. Wishing to avoid clear military defeat, both sides began peace
negotiations. The British failure to capture Baltimore prompted the government to settle
their dispute with the United States, instead of continuing a lingering, expensive, and
increasingly stalemated overseas war. The Treaty of Ghent formally ended the war in 1815.
On January 8, 1815, after the signing of the treaty, United States forces, commanded by
Andrew Jackson, achieved a stunning victory against the British at the port of New Orleans.
Since communication was tedious across the Atlantic and the expansive western territory of
Louisiana, news of the Treaty of Ghent did not reach either forces in time to prevent the
engagement. The Battle of New Orleans gave the impression that the long-stalemated war
was a sound United States victory, but the new nation was successful largely because of the
failure of British offensive operations.
After the War of 1812, the United States declared firmer international policy. With the
issuance of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, the nation stated its policy of non-intervention in
European conflicts. Furthermore, the United States declared the New World closed to
further colonization, and that attempts of foreign powers to intervene in conflicts between
colonial powers and their colonies would be viewed as an act of aggression. The War of
1812 solidified the political and military preeminence of the United States in the Americas,
and began the great expansion westward toward the Pacific coast.
Further Reading
Books
Dudley, Wade G. Splintering the Wooden Wall: The British Blockade of the United States,
1812–1815, reprint ed. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute, 2000.
Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. reprint ed. Champaign, IL:
University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Katcher, Philip R. The American War, 1812–1814 (Men-at-Arms, no. 226). reprint ed.
Buffalo, MN: Osprey Publishing, 1990.
Law Encyclopedia: War of 1812
This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.
The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain was a conflict fought over the
right of neutral countries to participate in foreign trade without the interference of other
nations and the desire of many in the United States to end British occupation of Canada.
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The war, which lasted from 1812 to 1815, proved inconclusive, with both countries agreeing
to revert to their prewar status as much as possible.
The U.S. declaration of war against Great Britain that President James Madison signed on
June 18, 1812, culminated nearly a decade of antagonism between the nations. The British,
who from 1802 to 1815 were involved in the Napoleonic Wars with France, sought to
prevent the United States, a neutral, from trading with France. Britain imposed a blockade
on France and required that U.S. ships stop at British ports and pay duties on goods bound
for France. In addition, outrage grew in the United States over the British practice of
boarding U.S. ships on the high seas and impressing seamen (seizing them and forcing them
to serve Great Britain) who the British claimed had deserted the Royal Navy. More than ten
thousand U.S. seamen were impressed between 1802 and 1812.
In 1807 President Thomas Jefferson succeeded in convincing Congress to pass the Embargo
Act, which prevented virtually all U.S. ships from sailing overseas. The economic
consequences of this law were disastrous to the U.S. economy, forcing the act's repeal in
1809. In its place, Congress enacted the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade only
with Great Britain and France. A third law, passed in 1810, allowed trade with both nations
but stipulated the revival of nonintercourse against whichever nation did not remove its
trade restrictions. When France announced an end to its trade decrees, the United States
banned trade with Great Britain.
Anger against Britain was also fueled by a group of expansionist congressmen, nicknamed
the War Hawks, who wanted more land for settlement and military action against the
British in Canada. British support of the American Indians on the frontier had led to Indian
wars against U.S. settlers.
The war itself provided limited success for the United States. Though a U.S. naval squadron
under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry captured the British fleet on Lake Erie in 1813,
battles in northern New York and Ontario, Canada, proved inconclusive. After U.S. forces
burned the city of York (now Toronto), Ontario, the British attacked Washington, D.C., on
September 13 and 14, 1814. The British burned the U.S. Capitol and the White House.
Both sides realized the futility of the struggle and began treaty negotiations in 1813.
Because of the military stalemate, neither side could extract concessions from the other.
The United States and Great Britain agreed, in the Treaty of Ghent, to return to the prewar
status quo. The treaty, which was signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Belgium, was
ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 16, 1815. However, the Battle of New Orleans was
fought on January 8, 1815, before news of the treaty reached the two armies. General
Andrew Jackson led his troops to a decisive victory over the British forces, providing the
U.S. public with the illusion that the United States had won the war. The battle also
enhanced Jackson's national reputation and helped pave the way for his presidency.
The frictions that had precipitated the war disappeared. The end of the Napoleonic Wars
ended both the need for a British naval blockade and the impressing of U.S. seamen.
Although the United States did not acquire Canada, American Indian opposition to
expansion was weakened, and U.S. nationalism increased.
History Dictionary: War of 1812
A war between Britain and the United States, fought between 1812 and 1815. The War of
1812 has also been called the second American war for independence. It began over alleged
British violations of American shipping rights, such as the impressment of seamen — the
forcing of American merchant sailors to serve on British ships. American soldiers attacked
Canada unsuccessfully in the war, and the British retaliated by burning the White House
and other buildings in Washington, D.C. American warships frequently prevailed over British
vessels (see “We have met the enemy, and they are ours”). The greatest victory for the
Americans came in the Battle of New Orleans, in which Andrew Jackson was the
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commanding general — a battle fought, ironically, two weeks after the peace treaty ending
the war had been signed, but before the armies could be informed. (See also “The StarSpangled Banner.”)
Wikipedia: War of 1812
This article is about the U.S. – U.K. war. For Napoleon's invasion of Russia, see French
invasion of Russia (1812).
War of 1812
The Battle of New Orleans
Date
June 18 1812–February 18 1815
Location
Eastern and Central North America, Gulf
Coast, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
Result
Treaty of Ghent, status quo ante bellum
Combatants
British Empire:
United States
United Kingdom
* and some Native American
The Canadian Provinces
Allies
Eastern Woodland Indians
Commanders
James Madison
Henry Dearborn
Jacob Brown
Winfield Scott
Andrew Jackson
George Prevost
Isaac Brock†
Tecumseh†
Strength
•British & Provincial
•United States
Regulars: 5,000 (48,163 at
Regular Army: 35,800
wars end)
•Rangers: 3,049
•Militia: 4,000
•Militia: 458,463*
•Royal Navy & Royal Marines:
•US Navy & US
(by war's end):
Marines: (at start of
•Ships of the Line: 11
war):
•Frigates: 34
•Frigates:6
•Other vessels: 52
•Other vessels: 14
•Provincial Marine: unknown
•Indigenous peoples
•Indigenous peoples: 3,500
Casualties
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Killed or wounded:
6,765
Disease and other:
17,205
Civilian: presumably
500
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Killed or wounded: 4,400
Disease and other: unknown
Civilian: unknown
*Very few militia members left their homes to fight in the
war's campaigns
The War of 1812 (known as the
American War of 1812 in Britain to
distinguish it from the war with
Napoleon I of France that occurred
in the same year) was fought
between the United States of
America and the United Kingdom
and its colonies, especially Upper
Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada
(Quebec), Nova Scotia and Bermuda.
The war was fought from 1812 to
1815 on both land and sea. By the
end of the war, 1,600 British and
2,260 American troops had died. [1]
St. Lawrence/Lake Champlain frontier
1st Sackett's Harbor – 1st Lacolle Mills – Lake Ontario Ogdensburg – York - Sackett's Harbor – Chateauguay –
Crysler's Farm – 2nd Lacolle Mills – Fort Oswego –
Big Sandy Creek - Plattsburgh
Niagara campaigns
Queenston Heights – Fort George – Stoney Creek –
Beaver Dams – Fort Niagara – 1st Fort Erie – Chippawa –
Lundy's Lane – Cook's Mills – 2nd Fort Erie
Detroit frontier
Tippecanoe – 1st Mackinac Island – Brownstown Maguaga – Fort Dearborn – Detroit – Fort Harrison –
Fort Wayne – Mississinewa – Frenchtown – Fort Meigs –
Fort Stephenson – Lake Erie – Thames – Longwoods –
Prairie du Chien – 2nd Mackinac Island – Lake Huron –
Malcolm's Mills
Britain was at war with France and,
to impede American hemp trade
Chesapeake campaign
with France [citation needed] ,
Craney Island – St. Michaels – Bladensburg – Washington
imposed a series of restrictions that
– Alexandria - Caulk's Field – North Point – Baltimore
the U.S. contested as illegal under
international law. The Americans
American South
declared war on Britain on June 18,
Creek
War
–
Pensacola
– New Orleans – Fort Bowyer
1812 for a combination of reasons,
including: outrage at the
impressment (conscription) of thousands of American sailors into the British navy;
frustration at British restraints on neutral trade; anger at alleged British military support
for American Indians defending their tribal lands from encroaching American settlers; and a
desire for territorial expansion of the Republic.
Overview
The war started badly for the Americans as their attempts to invade Canada were
repeatedly repulsed by General Isaac Brock, commanding a small force composed largely of
local militias and American Indian allies. The American strategy depended on use of
militias, but they either resisted service or were incompetently led. Financial and logistical
problems also plagued the American war effort. Military and civilian leadership was lacking
and remained a critical American weakness until 1814. Importantly, New England opposed
the war and refused to provide troops or financing.
Britain possessed excellent finance and logistics, but the ongoing war with France had a
higher priority, so in 1812-1813, it adopted a defensive strategy. After the final defeat of
Napoleon in 1814, the British were able to send veteran armies to invade the U.S., but by
then the Americans had learned how to mobilize and fight as well.
At sea, the powerful Royal Navy blockaded much of the American coastline (though allowing
substantial exports from New England, which was trading with Britain and Canada in
defiance of American laws). The blockade devastated American agricultural exports, but
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helped stimulate local factories that replaced goods previously imported.
The American strategy of using small gunboats to defend ports was a fiasco, as the British
raided the coast at will. The most famous episode was a series of British raids on the shores
of Chesapeake Bay, including an attack on Washington D.C. itself that resulted in the
burning of the White House, the Capitol, the navy yard and other public buildings, later
called the "Burning of Washington". The Americans were more successful sending out
several hundred privateers to attack British merchant ships; British commercial interests
were damaged, especially in the West Indies. Although few in number compared to the
Royal Navy, the American Navy's more powerful frigates prevailed in several one-on-one
naval battles against British ships. The decisive use of naval power came on the Great
Lakes and depended on a contest of building ships. Ultimately, Americans won control of
Lake Erie and thus neutralized western Ontario and cut off the native forces from supplies.
The British held Lake Ontario, preventing any major American invasion. The Americans
controlled Lake Champlain, and a naval victory there forced a large British invasion army
to turn back in 1814.
The Americans destroyed the power of the native people of the northwest and southeast,
thus securing a major war goal. The trade restrictions and impressment by the British
ended with the defeat of France, removing another root cause of the war. Both nations
eventually agreed to a peace that left the prewar boundaries intact.
In January 1815 after the Treaty of Ghent was signed but before the US Congress had
received a copy to ratify, the Americans succeeded in defending New Orleans, and the
British captured Fort Bowyer before news of the treaty reached the combatants on the
south coast.
The war had the effect of both uniting Canadians and also uniting Americans far more
closely than either population had been prior to the war. Canadians remember the war as
a victory by avoiding conquest, while Americans celebrated victory personified in the hero
of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson.
Causes of the war
Main article: Origins of the War of 1812
On June 18, America declared war on Britain for a number of reasons: outrage at the
impressment (seizure) of thousands of American sailors, frustration at British restrictions on
neutral trade while Britain warred with France, and anger at British military support for
tribes in the Ohio-Indiana-Michigan area. One faction in Congress desired the conquest of
Canada while the British were occupied in their war with France, in the belief they would
be sufficiently weakened they would be easily overcome. [2] This group was a minority, but
another faction opposing impressment of seamen contributed sufficient votes to pass a bill
declaring war. As it happened, the British were no longer impressing seamen at the time
the bill was passed. After war was declared, Britain offered to rescind the trade
restrictions, but it was too late to appease the American "War Hawks", who portrayed the
conflict as a "second war for independence."
In addition to the stated reasons for going to war, a major goal of the War Hawks in the
western and southern states was aggressive territorial expansion. The intent was to drive
the British out of North America, and the Spanish out of Florida.[3]
Course of the war
Although the outbreak of the war had been preceded by years of angry diplomatic dispute,
neither side was ready for war when it came.
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Great Britain was still hard pressed by the Napoleonic Wars; most of the British Army was
engaged in the Peninsular War (in Spain), and the Royal Navy was compelled to blockade
most of the coast of Europe. The total number of British regular troops present in Canada in
July 1812 was officially stated to be 6,034, supported by Canadian militia.
Throughout the war, the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was the Earl of
Bathurst. For the first two years of the war, he could spare few troops to reinforce North
America and urged the Commander-in-Chief in North America—Lieutenant General Sir
George Prevost—to maintain a defensive strategy, which accorded with Prevost's own
inclinations. But when large-scale reinforcements of over 25,000 battle-trained regulars
became available in 1814, Prevost's invasion of New York failed when he was defeated at
the Battle of Plattsburgh, and the invasion of Louisiana was repulsed at the Battle of New
Orleans.
Despite years of warlike talk, the United States was unready to prosecute a war, for
President Madison assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and
negotiations would then follow. In 1812, the regular army consisted of fewer than 12,000
men. Congress authorized the expansion of the army to 35,000 men, but the service was
voluntary, low paid and unpopular and there were initially very few trained and
experienced officers.
The militia—called in to aid the regulars—objected to serving outside their home states,
were not amenable to discipline, and as a rule, performed poorly in the presence of the
enemy when outside of their home state. The U.S. had great difficulty financing its war,
especially since it had disbanded its national bank and private bankers in the Northeast
were opposed to the war.
The early disasters brought about largely by American unpreparedness and lack of
leadership drove United States Secretary of War William Eustis from office. His successor,
John Armstrong, Jr., attempted a coordinated strategy late in 1813 aimed at the capture of
Montreal, but was thwarted by logistics, uncooperative and quarrelsome commanders, and
ill-trained troops.
By 1814, the United States Army's morale and leadership had greatly improved, but the
embarrassing Burning of Washington led to Armstrong's dismissal from office in turn. The
war ended before the new Secretary of War James Monroe could develop any new strategy.
An artist's rendering of the battle at
Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key
was inspired to write "The Star Spangled
Banner".
American prosecution of the war also suffered from its unpopularity, especially in New
England, where anti-war spokesmen were vocal. The failure of New England to provide
militia units or financial support was a serious blow. Threats of secession by New England
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states were loud; Britain immediately exploited these divisions, blockading only southern
ports for much of the war and encouraging smuggling.
The war was conducted in three theatres of operations:
1. The Atlantic Ocean
2. The Great Lakes and the Canadian frontier
3. The Southern States
Atlantic theatre
USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerriere; a
significant event during the war
Britain had long been the world's pre-eminent naval power, confirmed by its epic victory
over the French and the Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1812, the Royal Navy
had ninety-seven vessels in American waters. Of these, eleven were large ships of the line
and thirty-four were smaller frigates.
By contrast, the United States Navy, which was not yet twenty years old, was a frigate navy
that had only twenty-two commissioned vessels, though a number of the American frigates
were exceptionally large and powerful for their class. Whereas the standard British frigate
of the time mounted 38 guns, with their main battery consisting of 18-pounder guns, the
USS Constitution, USS President and USS United States were theoretically 44-gun ships and
capable of carrying 52, 55 and 56 guns respectively, with a main battery of 24-pounders.
The strategy of the British was to protect their own merchant shipping to and from Halifax
and Canada, and to enforce a blockade of major American ports to restrict American trade.
Because of their numerical inferiority, the Americans aimed to cause disruption through hitand-run tactics, such as the capture of prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels under only
favorable circumstances.
The Americans experienced early successes at sea. Days after the formal declaration of
war, two small squadrons sailed, including the frigate USS President and the sloop USS
Hornet under Commodore John Rodgers (who had general command), and the frigates USS
United States and USS Congress, with the brig USS Argus under Captain Stephen Decatur.
Meanwhile, USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, sailed from Chesapeake
Bay on July 12. On July 17, a British squadron gave chase. Constitution evaded her pursuers
after two days. After briefly calling at Boston to replenish water, on August 19 Constitution
engaged the British frigate HMS Guerriere. After a thirty five-minute battle, Guerriere had
been dismasted and captured and was later burned. Hull returned to Boston with news of
this significant victory.
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On October 25, the USS United States, commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the
British frigate HMS Macedonian, which he then carried back to port. At the close of the
month, Constitution sailed south under the command of Captain William Bainbridge. On
December 29, off Bahia, Brazil, she met the British frigate HMS Java. After a battle lasting
three hours, Java struck her colours and was burned after being judged unsalvageable.
In January 1813, the American frigate USS Essex, under the command of Captain David
Porter, sailed into the Pacific in an attempt to harass British shipping. Many British whaling
ships carried letters of marque allowing them to prey on American whalers, nearly
destroying the industry. Essex challenged this practice. She inflicted considerable damage
on British interests before she was captured off Valparaiso, Chile, by the British frigate HMS
Phoebe and the sloop HMS Cherub on March 28, 1814.
In all of these actions—except the one in which Essex was taken—the Americans had the
advantage of greater size and heavier guns. However, the United States Navy's sloops and
brigs also won several victories over Royal Navy vessels of approximately equal strength.
While the American ships had experienced and well-drilled volunteer crews, the cream of
the over-stretched Royal Navy was serving elsewhere, and constant sea duties of those
serving in North America interfered with their training and exercises.
The capture of the three British frigates stimulated the British to greater exertions. More
vessels were deployed on the American seaboard and the blockade tightened. On June 1,
1813, off Boston Harbor, the frigate USS Chesapeake, commanded by Captain James
Lawrence, was captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon under Captain Sir Philip Broke.
Lawrence was mortally wounded and famously cried out, "Don't give up the ship!".
Blockade
The blockade of American ports had tightened to the extent that most American merchant
ships and naval vessels were confined to port. The American frigates USS United States and
USS Macedonian ended the war blockaded and hulked in New London, Connecticut. Some
merchant ships were based in Europe or Asia and continued operations. Others, mainly from
New England, were issued licenses to trade by Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren,
Commander in Chief on the American station in 1813. This allowed Wellington's army in
Spain to be supplied with American goods, as well as maintaining the New Englanders'
opposition to the war. Because of the utilization of heavy squadrons and the blockade, the
Royal Navy was able to transport British Army troops to American shores, paving the way for
their attack on Washington D.C., which became known as the burning of Washington in
1814.
Following their earlier losses, the British Admiralty had instituted a new policy that the
three American heavy frigates should not be engaged except by a ship-of-the-line or
smaller vessels in squadron strength. An example of this was the engagement between USS
President and a heavy British squadron in January 1815. The British engaged with four ships
versus one: HMS Endymion, HMS Majestic, HMS Pomone, and HMS Tenedos. In practice,
however, the engagement was fought on the British side by the Endymion alone.[4][5]
The operations of American privateers, some of which belonged to the United States Navy
but most of which were private ventures, were extensive. They continued until the close of
the war and were only partially affected by the strict enforcement of convoy by the Royal
Navy. An example of the audacity of the American cruisers was the depredations in British
home waters carried out by the American sloop USS Argus, which was eventually captured
off St David's Head in Wales by the British brig HMS Pelican, on August 14 1813. A total of
1,554 vessels were claimed captured by all American naval and privateering vessels, 1300 of
which were captured by privateers.[6][7][8] However, according to the insurer Lloyd’s the
true number was only 1,175 British ships counted as taken by the Americans during the
war, less 373 recaptured for a total loss of 802. (Hansard, vol 29, pp.649-50.)
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Halifax was the Royal Navy base that supervised the blockade and it profited greatly during
the war. British privateers based there seized many French and American ships, selling
their prizes in Halifax, Nova Scotia. One such ship that was seized was that of Commander
Alexander Edelman, an American naval officer. He was in command of a small ship carrying
supplies to American forces in Canada. He bravely ordered his men to defend the ship at all
costs, and held off British attackers for several hours before they overwhelmed his
exhausted crew. Commander Edelman was killed in the final stage of the attack, but not
before taking down several British soldiers with him.
The war was likely the last time the British allowed privateering, since the practice was
coming to be seen as politically inexpedient and of diminishing value in maintaining its
naval supremacy. It was certainly the swansong of Bermuda's privateers, who returned to
the practice with a vengeance after American lawsuits had put a stop to it two decades
earlier. The nimble Bermuda sloops captured 298 enemy ships (the total captures by all
British naval and privateering vessels between the Great Lakes and the West Indies was
1,593 vessels).
Great Lakes and Canadian theatre
Invasions of Upper and Lower Canada, 1812
Major General Sir Isaac
Brock skillfully repulsed
an American invasion of
Upper Canada, but his
death was a severe loss
for the British cause.
America's leaders had assumed that Canada could be easily overrun. Former President
Jefferson optimistically referred to the conquest of Canada as "a matter of marching."
Many Americans had migrated to Upper Canada and it was assumed (by both sides) they
would favor the American cause, but they did not. In pre-war Upper Canada General
Prevost found himself in the unusual position of purchasing much of the provisions for his
troops from the American side, and this peculiar trade persisted throughout the war in
spite of an abortive attempt by the American government to curtail it.
In Lower Canada, much more populous, support for Britain came from the English elite with
strong loyalty to the Empire, and from the French elite who feared American conquest
would destroy the old order by introducing Protestantism, anglicization, republican
democracy, and commercial capitalism.
The French habitants feared the loss to potential American immigrants of a shrinking area
of good lands. [4]
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In 1812-13 British military experience prevailed over inexperienced American commanders.
Geography dictated that operations would take place in the west principally around Lake
Erie, near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and near Saint Lawrence
River area and Lake Champlain. This was the focus of the three pronged attacks by the
Americans in 1812.
Although cutting the St. Lawrence River through the capture of Montreal and Quebec would
make Britain's hold in North America unsustainable, the United States began operations first
in the Western frontier because of the general popularity there of a war with the British,
who had sold arms to the American Indians opposing the settlers.
The British scored an important early success when their detachment at St. Joseph Island
on Lake Huron learned of the declaration of war before the nearby American garrison at
the important trading post at Mackinac Island in Michigan did. A scratch force landed on
the island on July 17, 1812, and mounted a gun overlooking Fort Mackinac. The Americans,
taken by surprise, surrendered. This early victory encouraged the Indians, and large
numbers of them moved to help the British at Amherstburg.
American Brigadier General William Hull invaded Canada on July 12, 1812, from Detroit
with an army mainly composed of militiamen. Once on Canadian soil, Hull issued a
proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender, or "the horrors, and calamities of
war will stalk before you." He also threatened to kill any British prisoner caught fighting
alongside an Indian. The proclamation helped stiffen resistance to the American attacks.
Despite the threats, Hull's invasion turned into a retreat after receiving news of the British
victory at Mackinac and when his supply lines were threatened in the battles of Brownstown
and Monguagon. He pulled his 2,500 troops back to Fort Lernoult (commonly referred to as
Fort Detroit at the time).
British Major General Isaac Brock advanced on Fort Detroit with 1,200 men. Brock sent a
fake correspondence and allowed the letter to be captured by the Americans, saying they
required only 5,000 Native warriors to capture Detroit. Hull feared the Indians and their
threats of torture and scalping. Believing the British had more troops than they did, Hull
surrendered at Detroit without a fight on August 16.
Brock promptly transferred himself to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American
General Stephen Van Rensselaer was attempting a second invasion. An armistice (arranged
by Prevost in the hope the British renunciation of the Orders in Council to which the United
States objected might lead to peace) prevented Brock from invading American territory.
When the armistice ended, the Americans attempted an attack across the Niagara River on
October 13, but suffered a crushing defeat at Queenston Heights. Brock was killed during
the battle. While the professionalism of the American forces would improve by the war's
end, British leadership suffered after Brock's death.
A final attempt in 1812 by American General Henry Dearborn to advance north from Lake
Champlain failed when his militia refused to advance beyond American territory. In contrast
to the American militia, the Canadian militia performed well. French-Canadians, who found
the anti-Catholic stance of most of the United States troublesome, and United Empire
Loyalists, who had fought for the Crown during the American Revolutionary War, strongly
opposed the American invasion.
However, a large segment of Upper Canada's population was recent settlers from the United
States who had no obvious loyalties to the Crown. Nevertheless, while there were some
who sympathized with the invaders[5], the American forces found strong opposition from
men loyal to the Empire.
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American northwest, 1813
After Hull's surrender, General William Henry Harrison was given command of the American
Army of the Northwest. He set out to retake Detroit, which was now defended by Colonel
Henry Procter in conjunction with Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was
defeated at Frenchtown along the River Raisin on January 22, 1813.
Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard, who were unable to prevent some of
his North American Indian allies from attacking and killing perhaps as many as sixty
Americans, an event which became known as the "River Raisin Massacre." The defeat ended
Harrison's campaign against Detroit, and the phrase "Remember the River Raisin!" became a
rallying cry for the Americans.
Oliver Hazard Perry's message to William Henry
Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie began with
what would become one of the most famous
sentences in American military history: "We have
met the enemy and they are ours." This 1865
painting by William H. Powell shows Perry
transferring to a different ship during the battle.
In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set siege to Fort Meigs in northern Ohio. American
reinforcements arriving during the siege were defeated by the Indians, but the fort held
out. The Indians eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to
Canada. A second offensive against Fort Meigs also failed in July. In an attempt to improve
Indian morale, Procter and Tecumseh attempted to storm Fort Stephenson, a small
American post on the Sandusky River, only to be repulsed with serious losses, marking the
end of the Ohio campaign.
On Lake Erie, the American commander Captain Oliver Hazard Perry fought the Battle of
Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. His decisive victory ensured American control of the
lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats, and compelled the British to fall
back from Detroit.
This paved the way for General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which
culminated in the U.S. victory at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813, in which
Tecumseh was killed. Tecumseh's death effectively ended the North American Indian
alliance with the British in the Detroit region. The Americans controlled Detroit and
Amherstburg for the duration of the war.
Niagara frontier, 1813
Because of the difficulties of land communications, control of the Great Lakes and the
Saint Lawrence River corridor was crucial. When the war began, the British already had a
small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario and had the initial advantage. To redress the
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situation, the Americans established a Navy yard at Sackett's Harbor, New York. Commodore
Isaac Chauncey took charge of the large number of sailors and shipwrights sent there from
New York. They completed the second warship built there in a mere 45 days. Ultimately,
3000 men worked at the shipyard, building eleven warships, and many smaller boats and
transports.
Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, Chauncey and Dearborn
attacked York (now called Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada, on April 27, 1813. The
Battle of York was an American victory, marred by looting and the burning of the
Parliament Buildings and a library. However, Kingston was strategically more valuable to
British supply and communications along the St Lawrence. Without control of Kingston, the
American navy could not effectively control Lake Ontario or sever the British supply line
from Lower Canada.
On May 27, 1813, an American amphibious force from Lake Ontario assaulted Fort George
on the northern end of the Niagara River and captured it without serious losses. The
retreating British forces were not pursued, however, until they had largely escaped and
organized a counter-offensive against the advancing Americans at the Battle of Stoney
Creek on June 5. On June 24, with the help of advance warning by Loyalist Laura Secord,
another American force was forced to surrender by a much smaller British and Indian force
at the Battle of Beaver Dams, marking the end of the American offensive into Upper
Canada. Meanwhile, Commodore James Lucas Yeo had taken charge of the British ships on
the lake, and mounted a counter-attack, which was nevertheless repulsed at the Battle of
Sackett's Harbor.
Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory they occupied around Fort
George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) on December 15
1813, incensing the British and Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without
shelter, freezing to death in the snow. This led to British retaliation following the Capture
of Fort Niagara on December 18, 1813, and similar destruction at Buffalo on December 30,
1813.
In 1814, the contest for Lake Ontario turned into a building race. Eventually, by the end of
the year, Yeo had constructed HMS St Lawrence, a first-rate ship of the line of 112 guns
which gave him superiority, but the overall result of the Engagements on Lake Ontario had
been an indecisive draw.
St. Lawrence and Lower Canada 1813
Sakawarton (John Smoke
Johnson), John Tutela, and
Young Warner, three Six
Nations War of 1812 veterans.
The British were potentially most vulnerable over the stretch of the Saint Lawrence where
it also formed the frontier between Upper Canada and the United States. During the early
days of the war, there was much illicit commerce across the river, but over the winter of
1812 - 1813, the Americans launched a series of raids from Ogdensburg on the American
side of the river, hampering British supply traffic up the river.
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On February 21, Sir George Prevost passed through Prescott on the opposite bank of the
river, with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the
reinforcements and local militia attacked. At the Battle of Ogdensburg, the Americans were
forced to retire.
For the rest of the year, Ogdensburg had no American garrison and many residents of
Ogdensburg resumed visits and trade with Prescott. This British victory removed the last
American regular troops from the Upper St Lawrence frontier and helped secure British
communications with Montreal.
Late in 1813, after much argument, the Americans made two thrusts against Montreal. The
plan eventually agreed upon was for Major-General Wade Hampton to march north from
Lake Champlain and join a force under General James Wilkinson which would embark in
boats and sail from Sackett's Harbour on Lake Ontario and descend the Saint Lawrence.
Hampton was delayed by bad roads and supply problems and an intense dislike of
Wilkinson, which limited his desire to support his plan. On October 25, his 4,000-strong
force was defeated at the Chateauguay River by Charles de Salaberry's smaller force of
French-Canadian Voltigeurs and Mohawks.
Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on October 17 but was also delayed by bad weather. After
learning that Hampton had been checked, Wilkinson heard that a British force under
Captain William Mulcaster and Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison was pursuing
him, and by November 10, he was forced to land near Morrisburg, about 150 kilometers (90
mi) from Montreal. On November 11, Wilkinson's rearguard, numbering 2,500, attacked
Morrison's force of 800 at Crysler's Farm and was repulsed with heavy losses. After learning
that Hampton was unable to renew his advance, Wilkinson retreated to the U.S. and
settled into winter quarters. He resigned his command after a failed attack on a British
outpost at Lacolle Mills.
Niagara and Plattsburgh Campaigns, 1814
By the middle of 1814, American generals, including Major Generals Jacob Brown and
Winfield Scott, had drastically improved the fighting abilities and discipline of the army.
Their renewed attack on the Niagara peninsula quickly captured Fort Erie. Winfield Scott
then gained a decisive victory over an equal British force at the Battle of Chippewa on July
5.
An attempt to advance further ended with a hard-fought drawn battle at Lundy's Lane on
July 25. The outnumbered Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged Siege of Fort
Erie. The British raised the siege, but lack of provisions eventually forced the Americans to
retreat across the Niagara.
Meanwhile, following the abdication of Napoleon, 15,000 British troops were sent to North
America under four of Wellington’s most able brigade commanders. Fewer than half were
veterans of the Peninsula and the remainder came from garrisons. Along with the troops
came instructions for offensives against the United States. British strategy was changing,
and like the Americans, the British were seeking advantages for the peace negotiations.
Governor-General Sir George Prevost was instructed to launch an invasion into the New
York-Vermont region. He had a large invasion force which was much more powerful than
the Americans. On reaching Plattsburgh New York, however, he delayed the assault until
the belated arrival of a fleet led by Captain George Downie in the hastily completed 36-gun
"Confiance." Prevost forced Downie into a premature attack, but then unaccountably failed
to provide the promised military backing.
Downie was killed and his naval force defeated at the naval Battle of Plattsburgh in
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Plattsburgh Bay on September 11, 1814. The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain;
Theodore Roosevelt later termed it the greatest naval battle of the war. To the
astonishment of his senior officers, Prevost then turned back, saying it would too hazardous
to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy.
Prevost's political and military enemies forced his recall. In London a naval court martial of
the surviving officers of the Plattsburgh Bay debacle decided that defeat had been caused
principally by Prevost’s urging the squadron into premature action and then failing to
afford the promised support from the land forces. Prevost died suddenly, just before his
own court martial was to convene.
Prevost's reputation sank to new lows, as Canadians claimed their militia under Brock did
the job and he failed. Recently, however, historians have been more kindly, measuring him
not against Wellington but against his American foes. They judge Prevost’s preparations for
defending the Canadas with limited means to be energetic, well conceived, and
comprehensive, and against the odds he had achieved the primary objective of preventing
an American conquest. [6]
American West, 1814
Little of note took place on Lake Huron in 1813, but the American victory on Lake Erie
isolated the British there. During the winter, a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel
Robert McDouall established a new supply line from York to Nottawasaga Bay on Georgian
Bay. When he arrived at Fort Mackinac with supplies and reinforcements, he sent an
expedition to recapture the trading post of Prairie du Chien in the far West. The Battle of
Prairie du Chien ended in a British victory on July 20, 1814.
In 1814, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from Detroit to recapture Mackinac. A
mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on July 4.
They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and at the brief Battle of Mackinac Island, they
were ambushed by Indians and forced to re-embark.
The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on August 13, destroyed
its fortifications and a schooner which they found there. They then returned to Detroit,
leaving two gunboats to blockade Michilimackinac. On September 4, these gunboats were
taken unawares and captured by enemy boarding parties from canoes and small boats. This
Engagement on Lake Huron left Mackinac under British control.
The British garrison at Prairie du Chien also fought off an attack by Major Zachary Taylor. In
this distant theatre, the British retained the upper hand till the end of the war because of
their allegiance with several Indian tribes that they supplied with arms and gifts.
Atlantic coast
When the war began, the British naval forces had some difficulty in blockading the entire
U.S. coast, and they were also preoccupied in their pursuit of American privateers. The
British government, having need of American foodstuffs for its army in Spain, benefitted
from the willingness of the New Englanders to trade with them, so no blockade of New
England was at first attempted. The Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay were declared in a
state of blockade on December 26 1812.
This was extended to the coast south of Narragansett by November 1813 and to all the
American coast on May 31 1814. In the meantime, much illicit trade was carried on by
collusive captures arranged between American traders and British officers. American ships
were fraudulently transferred to neutral flags.
Eventually the U.S. Government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This put
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only a further strain on the commerce of the country. The overpowering strength of the
British fleet enabled it to occupy the Chesapeake and to attack and destroy numerous
docks and harbors.
Additionally, commanders of the blockading fleet, based at the Bermuda dockyard, were
given instructions to encourage the defection of American slaves. Many black slaves came
over to the Crown, with their families, and were recruited into the (3rd Colonial Battalion)
Royal Marines on occupied Tangier Island, in the Chesapeake.
A further company of colonial marines was raised at the Bermuda dockyard, where many
freed slaves, men women and children, had been given refuge and employment, and was
kept as a defensive force in case of an attack. These former slaves fought for Britain
throughout the Atlantic campaign, including the attack on Washington D.C.and the
Louisiana Campaign, and most were later re-enlisted into British West India regiments, or
settled in Trinidad in August, 1816, where seven hundred of these ex-marines were granted
land (they reportedly organised themselves in villages along the lines of military
companies). Many other freed American slaves had been recruited directly into existing
West Indian regiments, or newly-created British Army units.
From the probing of the British Colony of New Brunswick, Maine was an important conquest
by the British. The line of the border between New Brunswick and the District of Maine had
never been adequately agreed after the American Revolution. A military victory in Maine by
the British could represent a large gain in territory for New Brunswick, but more
immediately it assured communication with Lower Canada via the St John River and the
Halifax Road. The war did not settle the border dispute, and when Maine became a state in
1820, it led to a border crisis called the Aroostook War. The border between Maine and
New Brunswick was not be settled until 1842 and the "Webster-Ashburton Treaty".
In September 1814, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke led a British Army into eastern Maine and
was successful in capturing Castine, Hampden, Bangor, and Machias. The Americans were
given the option of swearing allegiance to the king or quitting the country. The vast
majority swore allegiance and were even permitted to keep their firearms.
This is the only large tract of territory held by either side at the conclusion of the war and
was given back to the United States by the Treaty of Ghent. The British did not leave
Maine until April 1815, at which time they took large sums of money retained from duties in
occupied Maine. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used in the establishment of
Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Chesapeake campaign and "The Star-Spangled Banner"
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The strategic location of the Chesapeake Bay near the nation's capital made it a prime
target for the British. Starting in March 1813, a squadron under Rear Admiral George
Cockburn started a blockade of the bay and raided towns along the bay from Norfolk to
Havre de Grace.
On July 4 1813, Joshua Barney, a Revolutionary War naval hero, convinced the Navy
Department to build the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a squadron of twenty barges to defend
the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered in the
Patuxent River, and while successful in harassing the Royal Navy, they were powerless to
stop the British campaign that ultimately led to the "Burning of Washington".
This expedition, led by Cockburn and General Robert Ross, was carried out between August
19 and August 29 1814, as the result of the hardened British policy of 1814 (although British
and American commissioners had convened peace negotiations at Ghent in June of that
year). As part of this, Admiral Warren had been replaced as Commander-in-Chief by
Admiral Alexander Cochrane, with reinforcements and orders to coerce the Americans into
a favourable peace.
Governor-General Sir George Prevost of Canada had written to the Admirals in Bermuda
calling for a retaliation for the American sacking of York (now Toronto). A force of 2,500
soldiers under General Ross, aboard a Royal Navy task force composed of the Royal Oak,
three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels, had just arrived in Bermuda.
Released from the Peninsular War by British victory, it had been intended to use them for
diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. In response to Prevost's
request, it was decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units
already on the station, to strike at Washington D.C. [9]
On August 24, Secretary of War Armstrong insisted that the British would attack Baltimore
rather than Washington, even when the British army was obviously on its way to the
capital. The inexperienced American militia, which had congregated at Bladensburg,
Maryland, to protect the capital, were destroyed in the Battle of Bladensburg, opening the
route to Washington. While Dolley Madison saved valuables from the White House,
President James Madison was forced to flee to Virginia.
The British commanders ate the supper which had been prepared for the president before
they burned the President's Mansion; American morale was reduced to an all-time low. The
British viewed their actions as in retaliation for destructive American raids into Canada,
most notably the Americans' burning of York (now Toronto) in 1813. Later, that same
evening a furious storm swept into Washington D.C. sending one or more tornadoes into the
city, decimating the British army and extinguishing the fires with torrential rains.[10] The
British left Washington D.C. as soon as the storm subsided.
Having destroyed Washington's public buildings, including the White House and the
Treasury, the British army next moved to capture Baltimore, a busy port and a key base for
American privateers. The subsequent Battle of Baltimore began with a British landing at
North Point, but withdrew when General Ross was killed at an American outpost. The British
also attempted to attack Baltimore by sea on September 13 but were unable to reduce Fort
McHenry, at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor.
The Battle of Fort McHenry was no battle at all. British guns had range on American
cannon, and stood off out of U.S. range, bombarding the fort, which returned no fire. Their
plan was to coordinate with a land force, but from that distance coordination proved
impossible, so the British called off the attack and left.
All the lights were extinguished in Baltimore the night of the attack, and the fort was
bombarded for 25 hours. The only light was given off by the exploding shells over Fort
McHenry, which gave proof that the flag was still over the fort. The defense of the fort
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inspired the American lawyer Francis Scott Key to write a poem that would eventually
supply the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Creek War
Main article: Creek War
In March 1814, Jackson led a force of Tennessee militia, Cherokee warriors, and U.S.
regulars southward to attack the Creek tribes, led by Chief Menawa. On March 26, Jackson
and General John Coffee decisively defeated the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend, killing 800 of
1,000 Creeks at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded of approximately 2,000 American and
Cherokee forces. Jackson pursued the surviving Creeks until they surrendered. Most
historians consider the Creek war as part of the War of 1812, because the Indians were a
cause and the British supported them.
Treaty of Ghent and Battle of New Orleans
"New Orleans" 1815 by Herbert Morton Stoops
On December 24 1814, diplomats from the two countries, meeting in Ghent, United
Kingdom of the Netherlands (present Belgium), signed the Treaty of Ghent. This was
ratified by the Americans on February 16 1815.
Unaware of the peace, Jackson's forces moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, in late 1814 to
defend against a large-scale British invasion. Jackson decisively defeated the British at the
Battle of New Orleans on January 8, with over 2000 British casualties and fewer than 100
American losses. It was hailed as a great victory, making Andrew Jackson a national hero,
eventually propelling him to the presidency.
The British gave up on New Orleans but moved to attack the town of Mobile. In the last
military action of the war 1000 British troops won the battle of Fort Bowyer. When news of
peace arrived on February 13 they sailed home. The campaign was to be the last time the
United States was directly attacked by another country until the attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7 1941 during World War II.
The terms of the treaty stated that fighting between the United States and Britain would
cease, all conquered territory was returned to the prewar claimant, the Americans received
fishing rights in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and that both the United States and Britain
agreed to recognize the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States.
The Treaty of Ghent, which was promptly ratified by the Senate in 1815, said nothing at all
about the grievances that led to war. Britain made no concessions concerning impressment,
blockades, or other maritime differences. Thus, the war ended in a stalemate with no gain
for either side. [7]
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Consequences
Main article: Results of the War of 1812
This was a war in which no territory was lost nor gained by either side. None of the points
of contention were addressed by the Treaty of Ghent, yet it was a war that changed much
between the United States of America and Great Britain. Never again would the U.S. think
that it could always beat Great Britain nor did Great Britain ever again fail to treat the
U.S. as a national power in its own right.
The Treaty of Ghent established the status quo ante bellum; that is, there were no
territorial changes made by either side. The issue of impressment was made moot when the
Royal Navy stopped impressment after the defeat of Napoleon.
Excepting occasional border disputes and the circumstances of the American Civil War,
relations between the United States and Britain remained generally peaceful for the rest of
the nineteenth century, and the two countries became close allies in the twentieth
century. Border adjustments between the United States and British North America were
made in the Treaty of 1818. (A border dispute along the Maine-New Brunswick border was
settled by the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty after the bloodless Aroostook War, and the
border in the Oregon Territory was settled by the 1846 Oregon Treaty.)
United States
The US ended the Indian threat on its western and southern borders. The nation also gained
a psychological sense of complete independence as people celebrated their "second war of
independence." [8]. Nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The
opposition Federalist Party collapsed and an Era of Good Feelings ensued.
Three of the war heroes used their celebrity to win national office: Andrew Jackson
(elected president in 1828 and 1832), Richard Mentor Johnson (elected vice president in
1836), and William Henry Harrison (elected president in 1840).
The Hartford Convention was a held during the war. This group of New England Federalists
met to send a letter to Washington threatening secession if the war did not end soon. The
Treaty of Ghent was signed before the letter reached Washington and the Federalists were
seen as out of touch. This further contributed to the decline of the Federalist Party.
[citation needed]
British North America
The War of 1812 was seen by the people in British North America, and later Canada, as a
reprieve from an American takeover. The outcome gave Empire-oriented Canadians
confidence and, together with the postwar "militia myth" that the civilian militia had been
primarily responsible rather than the British regulars, was used to stimulate a new sense of
Canadian nationalism [9].
A long-term implication of the militia myth that remained popular in the Canadian public at
least until World War I was that Canada did not need a regular professional army.[10]
The Battle of York demonstrated the vulnerability of Upper and Lower Canada. In the
1820s, work began on La Citadelle at Quebec City as a defence against the United States.
The fort remains an operational base of the Canadian Forces. In the 1820s, work began on
the Halifax citadel to defend the port against American attacks. This fort remained in
operation through World War II.
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In the 1830s, the Rideau Canal was built to provide a secure waterway from Montreal to
Lake Ontario avoiding the narrows of the St. Lawrence river where American cannon could
block traffic. The British also built Fort Henry at Kingston to defend the Rideau Canal. This
fort remained operational until 1891.
Bermuda
Bermuda had been largely left to the defences of its own militia and privateers prior to
American independence, but the Royal Navy had begun buying up land and operating from
there in 1795 as its location was a useful substitute for the lost American ports. It originally
was intended to be the winter headquarters of the North American Squadron, but the war
shoved it into a new prominence.
As construction work progressed through the first half of the century, Bermuda became the
permanent naval headquarters in Western waters, housing the Admiralty, and serving as a
base and dockyard. The military garrison was built up to protect the naval establishment,
heavily fortifying the archipelago that came to be described as the Gibraltar of the West.
Defence infrastructure would remain the central leg of Bermuda's economy until after the
Second World War.
Great Britain
The war is scarcely remembered in Britain [11] because it was overshadowed by the far
larger conflict against Napoleon Bonaparte. Britain's goals of impressing seamen and
blocking trade with France had been achieved and were no longer needed. The Royal Navy,
however, was acutely conscious that the United States Navy had won most of the singleship duels during the early stages of the War.[11] The main cause of this however was
down to the fact that the US Frigates heralded more guns and the crew of unemployed US
sailors than a regular British Fifth Rate Frigates with their crews rounded out by
impressment and landsman making the match up uneven.[12] When two ships of almost
equal strength did meet (USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon) resulted in the HMS Shannon's
victory (note that the captain of the Shannon practiced a relentless gun drill). The Army
had performed admirably on the Niagara, defeating multiple US invasions that far
outnumbered them.
By 1815, Britain, through the Royal Navy, was the dominant nautical power in the
world. [12]
See also
Chronology of the War of 1812
War of 1812 Campaigns
Battle of New Orleans
Further reading
See List of books about the War of 1812
References
1. ^ See http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/7624/Warof1812.htm - sources at
bottom. British and American forces also suffered 3,679 and 4,505 wounded,
respectively. It is noteworthy that these "official" figures do not include losses to
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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disease, casualties among American or Canadian militia forces, or losses among
allied native tribes.
^ American Military History, Army Historical Series, Ch. 6, p. 123, states "While the
western "war hawks" urged war in the hope of conquering Canada, the people of
Georgia, Tennessee, and the Mississippi Territory entertained similar designs against
Florida, a Spanish possession".[1]
^ American Military History, Army Historical Series, Ch. 6, p. 123. [2]
^ Peter Burroughs, "Prevost, Sir George" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
online
^ See "Mallory, Behajah" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online online and
"WILLCOCKS (Wilcox), JOSEPH" in ibid online
^ Peter Burroughs, "Prevost, Sir George" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
online
^ b. John J. Newman, and John M. Schmalbach. United States History: Preparing for
the Advanced Placement Examination. AMSCO School Publications, Inc.: New York.
2006, 2004, 2002, and 1998. Page 131
^ Stagg (1983)
^ Erik Kaufman, "Condemned to Rootlessness: The Loyalist Origins of Canada's
Identity Crisis", Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, vol.3, no.1, (1997), pp. 110-135
online at [3]
^ CMH, "Origins of the Militia Myth" (February 2006) online
^ Caffery, Kate; p290
^ See http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3848 - In 1812 war broke out
with America after disputes made worse by the blockade. After some reverses in
minor frigate actions, Britain was able to deploy sufficient maritime strength along
America's eastern seaboard to bring peace in 1814. By 1815 Britain, through the
Royal Navy, was the unchallenged mistress of the oceans.
External links
Library of Congress Guide to the War of 1812
POTSI: American War of 1812.
Partial list of Bermudian-built Royal Naval vessels. From The Andrew and the Onions,
by Lt. Cmdr. I. Strannack.
American Military History - The War of 1812
The War of 1812 Website
Casebook: The War of 1812
President Madison's 1812 War Message, with lesson plans and numerous primary
documents from US and Britain regarding the causes of the war
Treaty of Ghent and related resources on the War of 1812 at the Library of Congress
Galafilm's War of 1812 website
Key Events of the War of 1812
War of 1812 from the James Madison Center of the James Madison University
militaryheritage.com Large collection of articles
Historycentral.com War of 1812
Origins of the Militia Myth
War of 1812 — online exhibit at the Archives of Ontario
The journal of Major John Norton (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1970)
The War of 1812 Niagara Region
New York State Military Museum:Black Americans in the US Military from the
American Revolution to the Korean War: The War of 1812
The War of 1812
Battle of Plattsburgh & War of 1812
American Privateers in The War Of 1812
Bermuda Online: Bermuda's Royal Navy base at Ireland Island.
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Armed Conflicts involving the United States
World War I · World War II · Korean War · Vietnam War · Gulf War · Somalia ·
International
Bosnian War · Kosovo War · War in Afghanistan · Iraq War
Indian Wars · Quasi-War · First Barbary War · War of 1812 · Second Barbary
External War · Mexican-American War · Spanish-American War · Philippine-American
War · Invasion of Grenada · Invasion of Panama
Revolutionary War · Shays' Rebellion · Whiskey Rebellion · Seminole Wars ·
Internal Toledo War · Mormon War · Honey War · Bleeding Kansas · Utah War · Civil
War · Brooks-Baxter War
List of conflicts in USA · List of wars involving USA · List of US military history
Related articles
events · Overseas expansion of the United States
pdc:Grieg vun 1812
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