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{{Short description|1812–1815 conflict in North America}} | |||
{{otheruses4|the U.S.–U.K. war|Napoleon's invasion of Russia|French invasion of Russia}} | |||
{{about|the conflict in North America from 1812 to 1815|the Franco–Russian conflict|French invasion of Russia|other uses of this term|War of 1812 (disambiguation)}} | |||
{{Infobox Military Conflict | |||
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} | |||
|conflict=War of 1812 | |||
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2018}} | |||
|partof= | |||
{{Infobox military conflict | |||
|image=] | |||
| conflict = War of 1812 | |||
|caption=The ] | |||
| partof = the ] | |||
|date=] ]–] ] (officially) <br> ] ]-] ] (unofficially) | |||
| image = War of 1812 Montage.jpg | |||
|place= Eastern and Central North America, Gulf Coast, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans | |||
| image_size = 300 | |||
|casus= | |||
| caption = Clockwise from top: | |||
|territory= | |||
{{flatlist| | |||
|result= ], '']'' | |||
* Damage to the ] after the ] | |||
|combatant1=] ] <br><small>* and some Native American Allies</small> | |||
* Mortally wounded ] spurs on the ] at the ] | |||
|combatant2=]: <br>] ]<br>] ] <br> ] ] | |||
* ] | |||
|commander1=] ] <br> ] ] <br> ] ] <br> ] ] <br> ] ] | |||
* ] of ] in 1813 | |||
|commander2={{Flagicon|UK}} ]<br>{{Flagicon|UK}} ]†<br>] ]† | |||
* ] defeats the ] on ] in 1815 | |||
|strength1=•'''United States'''<br> '''Regular Army''': 6,686 (at start of war) 35,800 (at war's end) <br> •'''Rangers''': 3,049 <br> •'''Militia''': 458,463* <br> •'''US Navy''': (at start of war): <br>•]:6 <br>•Other vessels: 14 <br> •'''Indigenous peoples''' | |||
}} | |||
|strength2=•'''British Empire'''<br> '''British Army''': 6,034 (at start of war) 48,163 (at war's end) <br> •'''Provincial Regulars''': 10,000 <br> •'''Militia''': 4,000 <br> •'''Royal Navy & Royal Marines''': <br> •]: 11 <br> •]: 34<br> •Other vessels: 52 <br> •''']''': unknown <br> •'''Indigenous peoples''': 3,500 | |||
| date = 18 June 1812{{snd}}17 February 1815 | |||
|casualties1=Killed or wounded: 6,765 <br> Disease and other: 17,205 <br> Civilian: presumably 500 <br> | |||
| place = {{ubl|class=nowrap|{{hlist|]|]|]}}}} | |||
|casualties2=Killed or wounded: 4,400 <br> Disease and other: unknown <br> Civilian: unknown <br> | |||
| result = <!-- The refs are already cited in the main body. -->Inconclusive{{efn|see ]}} | |||
|notes=*Very few militia members left their homes to fight in the war's campaigns}} | |||
| territory = * Anglo–American ] | |||
{{campaignbox War of 1812}} | |||
* Spanish control over ] weakened and Mobile territory claimed | |||
{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Niagara frontier}} | |||
* ] dissolved | |||
{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Old Northwest}} | |||
| combatant1 = {{plainlist| | |||
{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Chesapeake campaign}} | |||
* {{flag|United States|1795}} | |||
{{Campaignbox War of 1812: American South}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
}} | |||
| combatant2 = {{indented plainlist| | |||
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} ] (1814) | |||
}} | |||
| commander1 = {{ubl | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} ] | |||
}} | |||
| commander2 = {{ubl | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ]{{KIA}} | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ]{{KIA}} | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} ]{{KIA}} | |||
| ]{{KIA}} | |||
}} | |||
| strength1 = {{ubli | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} 7,000 troops {{nwr|(at war's start)}} | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} 35,800 troops {{nwr|(at war's end)}} | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} 3,049 ] | |||
| 458,463 ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} 12 ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United States|1795}} 14 other vessels | |||
| 515 ] ships{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=245}} | |||
}} | |||
| strength2 = {{ubli | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|army}} 5,200 troops {{nwr|(at war's start)}} | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|army}} 48,160 troops {{nwr|(at war's end)}} | |||
| 4,000 ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|navy}} 11 ] | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|navy}} 34 ]s | |||
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|navy}} 52 other vessels | |||
| 9 ] ships {{nwr|(at war's start)}} | |||
| 10,000–15,000 Native American allies {{sfnm|Allen|1996|1p=121|Clodfelter|2017|2p=245}} | |||
| 500 Spanish garrison troops (Pensacola){{sfn|Tucker et al.|2012|p=570}} | |||
}} | |||
| casualties1 = {{plainlist| | |||
* 2,200 killed in action{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=244}} | |||
* 5,200 died of disease{{Sfn|Stagg|2012|p=156}} | |||
* Up to 15,000 deaths from all causes{{Sfnm|Hickey|2006|1p=297|Stagg|2012|2p=156}} | |||
* 4,505 wounded{{sfn|Leland|2010|p=2}} | |||
* 20,000 captured{{sfnm|Tucker et al.|2012|1p=|Hickey|2012n}} | |||
* 8 frigates captured or burned | |||
* 1,400 ]s captured | |||
* 278 privateers captured | |||
* 4,000 slaves escaped or freed{{sfn|Weiss|2013}} | |||
}} | |||
| casualties2 = {{plainlist| | |||
* 2,700 died in combat or disease{{sfn|Stagg|2012|p=156}} | |||
* 10,000 died from all causes{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=245}}{{efn|Includes 2,250 men of the Royal Navy.}} | |||
* 15,500 captured | |||
* 4 frigates captured | |||
* ~1,344 merchant ships captured (373 recaptured){{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=244}} | |||
* 10,000 Indigenous warriors and civilians dead from all causes{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=245}}{{efn|Includes 1,000 combat casualties on the northern front.}} | |||
* 14 Spanish killed and 6 wounded{{sfn|Owsley|2000|p=118}} | |||
}} | |||
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox War of 1812: St. Lawrence Frontier}}{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Niagara frontier}}{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Old Northwest}}{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Chesapeake campaign}}{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Gulf Theater 1813–1815}}{{Campaignbox War of 1812: Naval}} | |||
}} | |||
The '''War of 1812''' was fought by the ] and its allies against the ] and its allies in ]. It began when the United States ] on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 ], the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the ] on 17 February 1815.{{sfn|Order of the Senate of the United States|1828|pp=619–620}}{{sfn|Carr|1979|p=276}} | |||
The '''War of 1812''' (known as the second American Revolution in Britain to distinguish it from the larger war with ] that occurred in the same year) was fought between the ] and the ] and its colonies, especially ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
Anglo-American tensions stemmed from long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support for ], which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in the ]. In 1807, these tensions escalated after the ] began enforcing ] on American trade with ] and ] sailors who were originally ]s, even those who had acquired ]{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=44}} Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both the ] and ] voted for war, they were divided along strict party lines, with the ] in favour and the ] against.{{efn|The House declared war by 61.7% with a majority in all sections, 20 Members not voting, and the Senate was closer at 59.4%, four not voting. The former Federalist stronghold in Massachusetts had one Democrat-Republican and one Federalist for U.S. Senators, with ten Democrat-Republicans and seven Federalists in the House. Only two states had both Senators in the Federalist Party: Connecticut with 7 Federalist Representatives, and Maryland with 7 Democrat-Republicans and 3 Federalists in the House.}}{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=32, 42–43}} News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway. | |||
The war was fought from ] to ], since warfare occurred after the treaty had been signed, on both land and sea. By the end of the war, 1,600 British and 2,260 American troops had died.<ref>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 disease, casualties among American or Canadian militia forces, or losses among allied native tribes.</ref> | |||
] had been at war with ] since ], and to impede neutral trade with France imposed a series of restrictions that the U.S. contested as illegal under international law.<ref>Caffery, Kate pgs 56-58</ref> The Americans declared war on Britain on ], ] for a combination of reasons, including: outrage at the ] (conscription) of American sailors into the British navy; frustration at British restraints on neutral trade; anger at alleged British military support for ] defending their tribal lands from encroaching American settlers;<ref>Caffery, Kate pgs 101-104</ref> and a desire for territorial expansion of the Republic. | |||
At sea, the Royal Navy imposed an effective ] on U.S. maritime trade, while between 1812 and 1814 ] and ] defeated a series of American invasions on ].{{sfn|Greenspan|2018}} The ] of ] allowed the British to send additional forces to North America and reinforce the Royal Navy blockade, crippling the ].{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=56–57}} In August 1814, negotiations began in ], with both sides wanting peace; the ] had been severely impacted by the trade embargo, while the Federalists convened the ] in December to formalize their opposition to the war. | |||
== Overview == | |||
The war started badly for the Americans as an attempt to invade Canada in August 1812 was repulsed by Major-General Isaac Brock, commanding a small force composed of some 300 regular British troops supported by local ]s and ] allies, and led to the British capture of ]. A second invasion attempt on the Niagara peninsula was defeated on ] at the ]<ref> See Robert Malcomson, ''A Very Brilliant Affair: The Battle of Queenston Heights, 1812'', Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 2003</ref> at which Brock was killed. The American strategy relied in part 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, ] opposed the war and refused to provide troops or financing.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} | |||
In August 1814, British troops ], before American victories at ] and ] in September ended fighting in the north. In the ], American forces and Indian allies ] an ] of the ]. In early 1815, American troops led by Andrew Jackson repulsed a major British attack on ], which occurred during the ratification process of the signing of the ], which brought an end to the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |title= The Senate Approves for Ratification the Treaty of Ghent |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/treaties/senate-approves-treaty-of-ghent.htm#:~:text=On%20January%208,%201815,%20unaware,treaty,%20prompting%20great%20public%20celebrations. |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=U.S. Senate }}</ref> | |||
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 ] 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.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} | |||
== Origins == | |||
At sea, the powerful ] 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 helped stimulate local factories that replaced goods previously imported. | |||
{{Excerpt|Origins of the War of 1812}} | |||
== Forces == | |||
=== American === | |||
During the years 1810–1812, American naval ships were divided into two major squadrons, with the "northern division", based at New York, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, and the "southern division", based at Norfolk, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur.{{sfn|Crawford|Dudley|1985|p=40}} | |||
Although not much of a threat to Canada in 1812, the United States Navy was a well-trained and professional force comprising over 5,000 sailors and marines.{{sfn|Grodzinski|2013|p=69}} It had 14 ocean-going warships with three of its five "super-frigates" non-operational at the onset of the war.{{sfn|Grodzinski|2013|p=69}} Its principal problem was lack of funding, as many in Congress did not see the need for a strong navy.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=20}} The biggest ships in the American navy were frigates and there were no ] capable of engaging in a ] with the Royal Navy.{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=20–21}} On the high seas, the Americans pursued a strategy of ], capturing or sinking British ] with their frigates and privateers.{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=20 & 54–55}} The Navy was largely concentrated on the Atlantic coast before the war as it had only two ]s on ], one ] on Lake Ontario and another brig in Lake Erie when the war began.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} | |||
The American strategy of using small gunboats to defend ports was a ], as the British raided the coast at will. The most famous episode was a series of British raids on the shores of ], including an attack on ] itself that resulted in the burning of the ], the ], the navy yard and other public buildings, later called the "]". The Americans were more successful sending out several hundred ]s to attack British merchant ships; British commercial interests were damaged, especially in the ]. Although few in number compared to the ], the American Navy's more powerful frigates prevailed in several one-on-one naval battles against British ships. | |||
The ] was initially much larger than the ] in North America. Many men carried their own ]s while the British were issued ]s, except for one unit of 500 riflemen. Leadership was inconsistent in the American officer corps as some officers proved themselves to be outstanding, but many others were inept, owing their positions to political favours. Congress was hostile to a ] and the government called out 450,000 men from the ] during the war.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} The ] were poorly trained, armed, and led. The failed invasion of Lake Champlain led by General Dearborn illustrates this.{{sfn|Barney|2019}} The British Army soundly defeated the Maryland and Virginia militias at the ] in 1814 and President Madison commented "I could never have believed so great a difference existed between regular troops and a militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day".{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=20}} | |||
The decisive use of naval power came on the ] and depended on a contest of building ships. In 1813, the Americans won control of Lake Erie and thus cut off the British and native forces to the west from their supplies. The British ultimately held Lake Ontario, preventing any major American invasion. The Americans controlled ], and a naval victory there forced a large invading British army to turn back in 1814. | |||
=== British === | |||
The Americans destroyed the power of the native peoples 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. | |||
{{see also|Canadian units of the War of 1812}} | |||
] | |||
The United States was only a secondary concern to Britain, so long as the ] continued with France.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} In 1813, France had 80 ships-of-the-line and was building another 35. Containing the French fleet was the main British naval concern,{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} leaving only the ships on the ] and ] Stations immediately available. In Upper Canada, the British had the ]. While largely unarmed,{{sfn|Crawford|Dudley|1985|p=268}} they were essential for keeping the army supplied since the roads were abysmal in Upper Canada.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} At the onset of war, the Provincial Marine had four small armed vessels on ], three on ] and one on Lake Champlain. The Provincial Marine greatly outnumbered anything the Americans could bring to bear on the Great Lakes.{{sfn|Caffrey|1977|p=174}} | |||
When the war broke out, the British Army in North America numbered 9,777 men{{sfn|Hitsman|1965|p=295}} in regular units and ].{{efn|units raised for local service but otherwise on the same terms as regulars}} While the British Army was engaged in the ], few reinforcements were available. Although the British were outnumbered,{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} the long-serving regulars and fencibles were better trained and more professional than the hastily expanded United States Army.{{sfn|Elting|1995|p=11}} The militias of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were initially far less effective,{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} but substantial numbers of full-time militia were raised during the war and played pivotal roles in several engagements, including the ] which caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence River theatre.{{sfnm|Benn|2002|1p=21|Ingersoll|1845|2pp=297–299}} | |||
In January 1815 after the ] was signed but before the US Congress had received a copy to ratify, the Americans succeeded in ], and the British ] before news of the treaty reached the combatants on the south coast. | |||
=== Indigenous peoples === | |||
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 ], ], who went on to become the 7th President of the United States in 1829. | |||
The highly decentralized bands and tribes considered themselves allies of, and not subordinates to, the British or the Americans. Various tribes fighting with United States forces provided them with their "most effective light troops"{{sfn|Carstens|Sanford|2011|p=53}} while the British needed Indigenous allies to compensate for their numerical inferiority. The Indigenous allies of the British, ] in the west and ] in the east, avoided pitched battles and relied on ], including raids and ambushes that took advantage of their knowledge of terrain. In addition, they were highly mobile, able to march {{convert|30|–|50|miles|-1}} a day.{{sfn|Starkey|2002|p=18}} | |||
Their leaders sought to fight only under favourable conditions and would avoid any battle that promised heavy losses, doing what they thought best for their tribes.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=25}} The Indigenous fighters saw no issue with withdrawing if needed to save casualties. They always sought to surround an enemy, where possible, to avoid being surrounded and make effective use of the terrain.{{sfn|Starkey|2002|p=18}} Their main weapons were a mixture of muskets, rifles, bows, ]s, knives and swords as well as clubs and other melee weapons, which sometimes had the advantage of being quieter than guns.{{sfn|Starkey|2002|p=20}} | |||
==Causes of the war== | |||
{{main|Origins of the War of 1812}} | |||
On ], America declared war on Britain. The war had many causes, but at the center of the conflict was the United Kingdom’s ongoing war with ]’s ]. | |||
== Declaration of war == | |||
===Trade Tensions=== | |||
{{multiple image | |||
The British were engaged in a life-and-death war with ] and did not wish to allow the Americans to trade with France, regardless of their theoretical neutral rights to do so. As Horsman explains, "If possible, England wished to avoid war with America, but not to the extent of allowing her to hinder the British war effort against France. Moreover...a large section of influential British opinion, both in the government and in the country, thought that America presented a threat to British maritime supremacy." <ref> Horsman (1962) p. 264</ref> The American Merchant Marine had come close to doubling in between 1802 and 1810.<ref>Caffery, Kate, pg 51.</ref> Interestingly, the largest trading partner was the United Kingdom: some 80% of all US cotton and 50% of all other US exports were to Great Britain.<ref>Caffery, Kate, pg 50</ref> The American Merchant Marine was the largest neutral fleet in the world by a large margin. The British public and press were very resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition.<ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 281</ref> The US view was that the UK was in violation of a neutral nation's right to trade with any nation they saw fit. | |||
| align = right | |||
| direction = horizontal | |||
| image1 = 1812 War Declaration.jpg | |||
| width1 = 159 | |||
| footer = The United States Declaration of War (left) and ]'s Proclamation in response to it (right) | |||
| image2 = Proclamation Province of Upper Canada by Isaac Brock.jpg | |||
| width2 = 140 | |||
}} | |||
{{Wikisource|US Declaration of War against the United Kingdom}} | |||
On 1 June 1812, Madison sent a message to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. The ] then deliberated for four days behind closed doors before voting 79 to 49 (61%) in favour of ]. The ] concurred in the declaration by a 19 to 13 (59%) vote in favour. The declaration focused mostly on maritime issues, especially involving British blockades, with two thirds of the indictment devoted to such impositions, initiated by Britain's Orders in Council.{{efn|Hickey|1989|p=44}} The conflict began formally on 18 June 1812, when Madison signed the measure into law. He proclaimed it the next day.{{sfn|Woodworth|1812}} This was the first time that the United States had formally ] on another nation, and the Congressional vote was approved by the smallest margin of any declaration of war in America's history.{{sfn|Summer 1812: Congress}}{{sfn|Clymer|1991}} None of the 39 ]s in Congress voted in favour of the war, while other critics referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War".{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=1}}{{sfn|Summer 1812: Congress}} Just days after war had been declared, a small number of Federalists in ] were attacked for printing anti-war views in a newspaper, which eventually led to over a month of deadly ] in the city.{{sfn|Gilje|1980|p=551}} | |||
Prime Minister ] was ] in London on 11 May and ] came to power. He wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. On June 23, he issued a repeal of the ], but the United States was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=329}} On 28 June 1812, {{HMS|Colibri|1809|6}} was dispatched from Halifax to New York under a flag of truce. She anchored off ] on July 9 and left three days later carrying a copy of the declaration of war, British ambassador to the United States ] and consul Colonel ]. She arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia eight days later. The news of the declaration took even longer to reach London.{{sfnm|Stanley|1983|1p=4|Clarke|1812|2p=73}} | |||
===Impressment=== | |||
British commander ] in Upper Canada received the news much faster. He issued a proclamation alerting citizens to the state of war and urging all military personnel "to be vigilant in the discharge of their duty", so as to prevent communication with the enemy and to arrest anyone suspected of helping the Americans.{{sfn|Proclamation: Province of Upper Canada|1812}}{{sfn|Turner|2011|p=311}} He also ordered the British garrison of ] on ] to capture the American fort at ]. This fort commanded the ], which was important to the fur trade. The British garrison, aided by fur traders of the ] and Sioux, Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Ottawa, immediately ].<ref>Alec R. Gilpin, ''The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest'', Michigan State University Press, p. 89</ref> | |||
During the ], the ] had expanded to the point of having 175 ships of the line and some 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors.<ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 382</ref> While the Royal Navy was easily able to man its ships with volunteers in peace time, in time of war they were in fierce competition with ] and ]s for a small pool of experienced sailors and turned to ] when they were unable to man their ships with volunteers alone. Since a sizeable portion of the sailors in the American merchant navy (estimated to be as many as 11,000 in 1805) were in fact Royal Navy veterans or deserters who had left for better pay and conditions,<ref>Caffrey, Kate pg 60</ref> the Royal Navy vessels openly intercepted and searched American merchant ships for deserters, incensing the United States government, particularly after the ]. | |||
== Course of war == | |||
At this time, Britain did not recognize naturalized American citizenship, so in addition to recovering deserters, they considered any American citizen originally born a British subject to be still liable for impressment. Exacerbating the situation was the widespread use of forged identity papers by sailors, making it difficult for the Royal Navy to distinguish Americans from non-Americans and leading to the pressing of some Americans who had never been British subjects (though at least some were released upon appeal). Anger at impressment was made worse when British frigates would station themselves just outside of US harbors in US territorial waters and begin searching ships for contraband and impressing men in view from US shores. <ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 278-279</ref> "Free trade and sailors' rights" was a rallying cry for the United States throughout the conflict. | |||
{{see also|Timeline of the War of 1812}} | |||
The war was conducted in several theatres: | |||
# The ]: the ] (] and ]), the ], and the ] (] and ]). | |||
# At sea, principally the Atlantic Ocean and the ]. | |||
# The ] and Southern United States (including the ] in the ] basin). | |||
# The ] basin. | |||
=== Unpreparedness === | |||
===Question of American expansionism=== | |||
] | |||
The idea that one cause of the war was American expansionism or desire for Canadian land was much discussed among historians before 1940, but is rarely cited by experts any more.<ref> Hacker (1924); Pratt (1925). Goodman (1941) refuted the idea and even Pratt gave it up. Pratt (1955)</ref> Some Canadian historians propounded the notion in the early 20th century, and it survives among Canadians.<ref> W. Arthur Bowler, "Propaganda in Upper Canada in the War of 1812," ''American Review of Canadian Studies'' (1988) 28:11-32; C.P. Stacey, "The War of 1812 in Canadian History" in Morris Zaslow and Wesley B. Turner, eds. ''The Defended Border: Upper Canada and the War of 1812'' (Toronto, 1964)</ref> | |||
The war had been preceded by years of diplomatic dispute, yet neither side was ready for war when it came. Britain was heavily engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, most of the British Army was deployed in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain, and the Royal Navy was blockading most of the coast of Europe.{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=847}} The number of British regular troops present in Canada in July 1812 was officially 6,034, supported by additional Canadian militia.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=72–75}} Throughout the war, the British ] was ], who had few troops to spare for reinforcing North America defences during the first two years of the war. He urged Lieutenant General ] to maintain a defensive strategy. Prévost, who had the trust of the Canadians, followed these instructions and concentrated on defending Lower Canada at the expense of Upper Canada, which was more vulnerable to American attacks and allowed few offensive actions. Unlike campaigns along the east coast, Prevost had to operate with no support from the Royal Navy.{{sfnm|Hannay|1911|1pp=22–24|Hickey|1989|2p=194}} | |||
Madison and his advisors believed that conquest of Canada would be easy and that economic coercion would force the British to come to terms by cutting off the food supply for their West Indies colonies. Furthermore, possession of Canada would be a valuable bargaining chip. Frontiersmen demanded the seizure of Canada not because they wanted the land, but because the British were thought to be arming the Indians and thereby blocking settlement of the west. <ref>Stagg (1983)</ref> As Horsman concludes, "The idea of conquering Canada had been present since at least 1807 as a means of forcing England to change her policy at sea. The conquest of Canada was primarily a means of waging war, not a reason for starting it."<ref>Horsman (1962) p. 267 </ref> Hickey flatly states, "The desire to annex Canada did not bring on the war." <ref> Hickey (1990) p. 72.</ref> Brown (1964) concludes, "The purpose of the Canadian expedition was to serve negotiation not to annex Canada."<ref> Brown p. 128.</ref> Burt, a leading Canadian scholar, agrees completely, noting that Foster, the British minister to Washington, also rejected the argument that annexation of Canada was a war goal. <ref>Burt (1940) pp 305-10. </ref> | |||
The United States was also not prepared for war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Of 1812 {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/war-1812 |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would 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 and unpopular; it paid poorly and there were initially few trained and experienced officers.{{sfn|Quimby|1997|pp=2–12}} The militia objected to serving outside their home states, they were undisciplined and performed poorly against British forces when called upon to fight in unfamiliar territory.{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=847}} Multiple militias refused orders to cross the border and fight on Canadian soil.{{sfn|Dauber|2003|p=301}} | |||
The majority of the inhabitants of ] (Ontario) were either American exiles (]s) or post war immigrants. The Loyalists were hostile to union with the U.S., while the other settlers seem to have been disinterested. The Canadian colonies were thinly populated and only lightly defended by the British Army, and some Americans believed that many in Upper Canada would rise up and greet an American invading army as liberators. The combination implied an easy conquest, as former president ] suggested in 1812, "the acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us the experience for the attack on Halifax, the next and final expulsion of England from the American continent." | |||
American prosecution of the war suffered from its unpopularity, especially in ] where anti-war speakers were vocal. Massachusetts Congressmen ] and ] were "publicly insulted and hissed" in Boston while a mob seized Plymouth's Chief Justice ] on 3 August 1812 "and kicked through the town".{{sfn|Adams|1918|p=400}} The United States had great difficulty financing its war. It had disbanded its ], and private bankers in the Northeast were opposed to the war, but it obtained financing from London-based ] to cover overseas ] obligations.{{sfn|Hickey|2012n}} New England failed to provide militia units or financial support, which was a serious blow,{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=80}} and New England states made loud threats to secede as evidenced by the ]. Britain exploited these divisions, opting to not blockade the ports of New England for much of the war and encouraging smuggling.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|1997|pp=233–234, 349–350, 478–479}} | |||
The declaration of war was passed by the smallest margin that had ever been recorded on a war vote in the United States Congress.<ref name=toll329>Toll, Ian V. pg 329</ref> On ], Prime Minister ] was shot and killed by an assassin resulting in a change of the UK government putting ] in power. Liverpool was for a more practical relation with the United States. A repeal of the impressment orders were issued but the US was unaware as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic.<ref name=toll329/> | |||
== |
===War in the West=== | ||
====Invasions of Canada, 1812==== | |||
Although the outbreak of the war had been preceded by years of angry diplomatic dispute, neither side was ready for war when it came. | |||
], August 1812]] | |||
An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich (]) after crossing the ].{{sfn|History of Sandwich}}<!-- This ref verified. --> Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender.{{sfn|Auchinleck|1855|p=49}} The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyed{{snd}}unless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction".{{sfn|Laxer|2012|p=131}} He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters.{{sfn|Auchinleck|1855|p=49}} Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to the American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies.{{sfn|Aprill|2015}}{{sfn|Clarke Historical Library}} | |||
The UK was still hard pressed by the ]; most of the ] was engaged in the ] (in Spain), and the Royal Navy was compelled to blockade most of the coast of ]. The total number of British regular troops present in ] in July 1812 was officially stated to be 6,034, supported by Canadian militia. | |||
Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of a ] on Major ]'s 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant Colonel ] remained in Canada, attempting to supply the American position in the Sandwich area, with little success.{{sfn|Laxer|2012|pp=139–142}} | |||
Throughout the war, the British ] was the ]. For the first two years of the war, he could spare few troops to reinforce ] and urged the ] in North America (Lieutenant General Sir ]) to maintain a defensive strategy. The naturally cautious Prevost followed these instructions, concentrating on defending ] and ]. In the final year of the War, large numbers of British soldiers became available after the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prevost launched an offensive of his own into Upper ], but is considered to have mishandled it, and was forced to retreat after the British lost the ]. | |||
Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong.{{sfn|Benn|Marston|2006|p=214}} He moved to ] near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements and ], using ] as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, and ] lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand a long siege.{{sfn|Rosentreter|2003|p=74}} He agreed to surrender on 16 August.{{sfn|Marsh|2011}}{{sfn|Hannings|2012|p=50}} Hull also ordered the evacuation of ] (Chicago) to ], but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they were ] on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned.{{sfnm|Hickey|1989|1p=84|Ingersoll|1845|2p=31}}{{efn|Hull was later court-martialed for cowardice, neglect of duty and for lying about lack of supplies. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but President Madison granted him a pardon for his heroic service during the Revolutionary War.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=84}} }} | |||
Despite years of warlike talk, the ] was not prepared to prosecute a war, for President Madison assumed that the state militias would easily seize ] 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 and unpopular, it offered poor pay and there were very few trained and experienced officers, at least initially. | |||
Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General ] was attempting a second invasion.{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=848}} The Americans attempted an attack across the ] on 13 October, but they were defeated ]. However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American General ] made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory.<ref>Daughan, George C. 1812 (pp. 109–111). Basic Books. Kindle Edition</ref> | |||
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. | |||
==== American Northwest, 1813 ==== | |||
The early disasters brought about largely by American unpreparedness and lack of leadership drove ] ] from office. His successor, ], attempted a coordinated strategy late in 1813 aimed at the capture of ], but was thwarted by logistics, uncooperative and quarrelsome commanders, and ill-trained troops. | |||
]'s message to William Henry Harrison after the ] began thus: "We have met the enemy and they are ours".{{sfn|We Have Met}}]] | |||
{{main|Ohio in the War of 1812|Siege of Detroit}} | |||
After Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of the American ]. He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by Colonel ] and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at ] along the ] on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped ].{{sfn|National Guard History eMuseum}} The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans.{{sfn|Taylor|2010|pp=201, 210}} | |||
By 1814, the ]'s morale and leadership had greatly improved, but the embarrassing ] led to Armstrong's dismissal from office in turn. The war ended before the new ] ] could develop any new strategy. | |||
In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set ] in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fortmeigs.org/history/|title=A History of Fort Meigs – Fort Meigs: Ohio's War of 1812 Battlefield|website=www.fortmeigs.org|access-date=17 March 2021|archive-date=14 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114003801/https://www.fortmeigs.org/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Along the way they attempted to ], a small American post on the ] near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.birchard.lib.oh.us/content/battle-fort-stephenson|title=Battle of Fort Stephenson | Birchard Public Library|website=www.birchard.lib.oh.us}}</ref> | |||
], where ] was inspired to write "]".]] | |||
Captain ] fought the ] on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory at ] ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the American victory at the ] on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Thames|title=Battle of the Thames | War of 1812|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=9 October 2023 }}</ref> | |||
American prosecutionCOCKFUCK of the war also suffered from its unpopularity, especially in ], where anti-war spokesmen were vocal. The failure of ] to provide militia units or financial support was a serious blow. Threats of secession by ] states were loud; Britain immediately exploited these divisions, blockading only southern ports for much of the war and encouraging smuggling. | |||
==== American West, 1813–1815 ==== | |||
The war was conducted in three theatres of operations: | |||
], American headquarters|], abandoned in 1813|], defeated in 1813|], defeated in 1814|], July 1814; and the ], September 1814|], abandoned in 1814|] and the ], May 1815}}]] | |||
#The ] | |||
#The ] and the Canadian frontier | |||
#The Southern States | |||
The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except around ] and a few forts and trading posts in the ]. ] was an old ] converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters. ], built in 1808 along the ], was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|p=270}}<!-- Unable to verify, but has not failed verification. -- This page not available at Google Books. Needs to be looked at by someone with better access. ER. --> ] was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after the indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged it{{snd}}with support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi. ] played a leadership role.{{sfn|Cole|1921|pp=69–74}}<!-- No preview at Google Books; somebody with better access please verify. --> | |||
===Atlantic theatre=== | |||
] defeats ]; a significant event during the war]] | |||
] had long been the world's pre-eminent naval power, confirmed by its epic victory over the French and the Spanish at the ] in 1805. In 1812, the ] had eighty-five vessels in American waters.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pg. 180 Amirality reply to British press critism</ref> | |||
By contrast, the ], which was not yet twenty years old, was a ] that had only twenty-two commissioned vessels, though a number of the American ] 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 ], ] and ] were theoretically 44-gun ships and capable of carrying 56 guns respectively, with a main ] of 24-pounders.<ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 50</ref> ] and ] were 60 gun frigates sailing US waters and had in fact been built by the UK in response to the large American frigates. | |||
The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel ] established a new supply line from York to ] on ]. He arrived at ] on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition which ] the key trading post of ], on the Upper Mississippi.{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=7, 47}} The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in the ]. In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed a second American force led by Major ] in the ].<ref>Barry M. Gough, ''Fighting Sail on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay: The War of 1812 and its Aftermath'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002, 77–79,</ref> These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandon ], in central Illinois Territory.{{sfn|Nolan|2009|pp=85–94}} Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and eastern ]. However, the Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle of ] in April 1815 at the mouth of the ] in the ] and the ] in May 1815 near ].<ref>Roger L. Nichols, ''Black Hawk and the Warrior's Path'', Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 64–65</ref> This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin.{{sfn|Concise Historical Atlas|1998|p=85}} | |||
The strategy of the British was to protect their own merchant shipping to and from ] and ], 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 hit-and-run tactics, such as the capture of ]s and engaging ] vessels under only favorable circumstances. | |||
Meanwhile, the British were supplying the Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=48}} On 3 July, 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 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the brief ] and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schooner '']'' that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. These ] left Mackinac under British control.<ref>Barry M. Gough, ''Fighting Sail on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay: The War of 1812 and its Aftermath'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002, 103–121</ref> | |||
The Americans experienced early successes at sea. Days after the formal declaration of war, two small squadrons sailed, including the frigate ] and the sloop ] under Commodore ] (who had general command), and the frigates ] and ], with the brig ] under Captain ]. | |||
The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to the United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty.{{Sfn|Elting|1995|p=323}} Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after the war ended in the east.{{sfn|First United States}} | |||
Meanwhile, ], commanded by Captain ], sailed from ] on ]. On ], a British squadron gave chase. ''Constitution'' evaded her pursuers after two days. After briefly calling at Boston to replenish water, on ] ''Constitution'' engaged the British frigate ]. 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.<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/war1812/const5.htm</ref> | |||
=== War in the American Northeast === | |||
On ], the USS ''United States'', commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the British frigate ], which he then carried back to port.<ref>Toll, Ian V. p360-365,</ref> At the close of the month, ''Constitution'' sailed south under the command of Captain ]. On ], off ], ], she met the British frigate ]. After a battle lasting three hours, ''Java'' ] and was burned after being judged unsalvageable. The USS Constitution however, was undamaged in the battle and earned the name "Old Ironside."<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/war1812/const6.htm</ref> | |||
==== Niagara frontier, 1813 ==== | |||
In January 1813, the American frigate ], under the command of Captain ], sailed into the Pacific in an attempt to harass British shipping. Many British whaling ships carried ] 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 ] and the sloop ] on ], ].<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/e5/essex-i.htm</ref> | |||
], War of 1812 map<br />depicting locations of forts, battles, etc.}}]] | |||
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.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pgs. 405-417</ref> | |||
Both sides placed great importance on gaining control of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River because of the difficulties of land-based communication. The British already had a small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario when the war began and had the initial advantage. The Americans established a Navy yard at ], a port on Lake Ontario. Commodore ] took charge of the thousands of sailors and ]s assigned there and recruited more from New York. They completed a warship (the corvette ]) in 45 days. Ultimately, almost 3,000 men at the shipyard built 11 warships and many smaller boats and transports. Army forces were also stationed at Sackett's Harbor, where they camped out through the town, far surpassing the small population of 900. Officers were housed with families. ] was later built at Sackett's Harbor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/New_York/Madison_Barracks/Madison_Barracks.html|title=Madison Barracks|website=www.northamericanforts.com}}</ref> | |||
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 ], ], off ], the frigate ], commanded by Captain ], was captured by the British frigate ] under Captain Sir ]. Lawrence was mortally wounded and famously cried out, "Don't give up the ship!".<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pgs. 405-417</ref> | |||
Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, on 27 April 1813 Chauncey and Dearborn attacked ], the capital of Upper Canada. At the ], the outnumbered British regulars destroyed the fort and dockyard and retreated, leaving the militia to surrender the town. American soldiers set fire to the Legislature building, and looted and vandalized several government buildings and citizens' homes.<ref>Daughan, George C. 1812 (p. 178). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.</ref> | |||
====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 ] in ]. 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 ], 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 ] in 1814. | |||
On 25 May 1813, Fort Niagara and the American Lake Ontario squadron began bombarding ].{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=37}} An American amphibious force assaulted Fort George on the northern end of the Niagara River on 27 May and captured it without serious losses.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} The British abandoned ] and headed towards ].{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} The British position was close to collapsing in Upper Canada; the Iroquois considered changing sides and ignored a British appeal to come to their aid.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} However, the Americans did not pursue the retreating British forces until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive at the ] on 5 June. The British launched a surprise attack at 2{{nbsp}}a.m., leading to confused fighting{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} and a strategic British victory.{{sfn|Ridler|2015}} | |||
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 ] by a squadron of four British frigates in January 1815 (although the action was fought on the British side mainly by ]).<ref>http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_VI/P_363.html</ref><ref>http://www.webroots.org/library/usamilit/hotusn07.html</ref> | |||
The Americans pulled back to Forty Mile Creek rather than continue their advance into Upper Canada.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} At this point, the ] began to come out to fight for the British as an American victory no longer seemed inevitable.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=40}} The Iroquois ambushed an American patrol at Forty Mile Creek while the Royal Navy squadron based in Kingston sailed in and bombarded the American camp. General Dearborn retreated to Fort George, mistakenly believing that he was outnumbered and outgunned.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=41}} British Brigadier General ] was encouraged when about 800 Iroquois arrived to assist him.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=41}} | |||
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 ] 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 ], which was eventually captured off ] in ] by the British brig ], on ], ]. A total of 1,554 vessels were claimed captured by all American naval and privateering vessels, 1300 of which were captured by privateers.<ref>http://www.usmm.org/warof1812.html][http://www.princedeneufchatel.com/</ref><ref>http://www.msc.navy.mil/sealift/2004/May/perspective.htm</ref> 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.<ref>''Hansard'', vol 29, pp.649-50.</ref> | |||
An American force surrendered on 24 June to a smaller British force due to advance warning by ] at the ], marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=41}} British Major General ] did not have the strength to retake Fort George, so he instituted a blockade, hoping to starve the Americans into surrender.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=44}} Meanwhile, Commodore ] had taken charge of the British ships on the lake and mounted a counterattack, which the Americans repulsed at the ]. Thereafter, Chauncey and Yeo's squadrons fought two indecisive actions, off the Niagara on 7 August and at Burlington Bay on 28 September. Neither commander was prepared to take major risks to gain a complete victory.{{sfn|Malcomson|1998}} | |||
] 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. | |||
Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory that they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now ]) on 10 December 1813, incensing the Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without shelter, freezing to death in the snow. The British retaliated following their ] on 18 December 1813. A British-Indian force led by Riall ] of ] on 19 December; four American civilians were killed by drunken Indians after the battle. A small force of ] warriors engaged Riall's men during the battle, which allowed many residents of Lewiston to evacuate the village.{{sfn|Historic Lewiston, New York}}{{sfn|Prohaska|2010}} The British and their Indian allies subsequently ] and burned ] on Lake Erie on 30 December 1813 in revenge for the American attack on Fort George and Newark in May.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=143, 159}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-02 |title=War of 1812 {{!}} History, Summary, Causes, Effects, Timeline, Facts, & Significance {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-1812 |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> | |||
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 ]s 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).{{Fact|date=November 2007}} | |||
=== |
==== St. Lawrence and Lower Canada, 1813 ==== | ||
] repel an American attack on ], ], October 1813]] | |||
====Invasions of Upper and Lower Canada, 1812==== | |||
] skillfully repulsed an American invasion of ], 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. | |||
The British were vulnerable along the stretch of the St. Lawrence that was between Upper Canada and the United States. In the winter of 1812–1813, the Americans launched a series of raids from ] that hampered British supply traffic up the river. On 21 February, George Prévost passed through ] on the opposite bank of the river with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements and local militia attacked in the ] and the Americans were forced to retreat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/war-of-1812-5/|title=WAR OF 1812|date=19 December 2018|website=William G. Pomeroy Foundation}}</ref> | |||
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 Americans made two more thrusts against Montreal in 1813.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=45}} Major General ] was to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under General ] that would sail from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and descend the St. Lawrence. Hampton was delayed by road and supply problems and his intense dislike of Wilkinson limited his desire to support his plan.<ref>Daughan, George C. 1812 (p. 220). Basic Books. Kindle Edition</ref> ] defeated Hampton's force of 4,000 at the Chateauguay River on 25 October with a smaller force of ] and ]. Salaberry's force numbered only 339, but it had a strong defensive position.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=45}} Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on 17 October, but it was delayed by weather. Wilkinson heard that a British force was pursuing him under Captain ] and Lieutenant Colonel ] and landed near ] by 10 November, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) from Montreal. On 11 November, his rear guard of 2,500 attacked Morrison's force of 800 at ] and was repulsed with heavy losses.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=45}} He learned that Hampton could not renew his advance, retreated to the United States and settled into winter quarters. He resigned his command after a failed attack on a British outpost at ].{{sfn|Army and Navy Journal Incorporated|1865|pages=469}} | |||
The French habitants feared the loss to potential American immigrants of a shrinking area of good lands.<ref>Peter Burroughs, "Prevost, Sir George" in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'' </ref> | |||
==== Niagara and Plattsburgh campaigns, 1814 ==== | |||
In 1812-13 British military experience prevailed over inexperienced American commanders. | |||
]]] | |||
Geography dictated that operations would take place in the west principally around ], near the ] between Lake Erie and ] and near ] area and ]. This was the focus of the three pronged attacks by the Americans in 1812. | |||
The Americans again invaded the Niagara frontier. They had occupied southwestern Upper Canada after they defeated Colonel Henry Procter at ] in October and believed that taking the rest of the province would force the British to cede it to them.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=137}} The end of the war with Napoleon in Europe in April 1814 meant that the British could deploy their army to North America, so the Americans wanted to secure Upper Canada to negotiate from a position of strength. They planned to invade via the Niagara frontier while sending another force to recapture Mackinac.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=47}} They captured Fort Erie on 3 July 1814.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=49}} Unaware of Fort Erie's fall or of the size of the American force, the British general ] engaged with ], who won against a British force at the ] on 5 July. The American forces had been through a hard training under Winfield Scott and proved to the professionals under fire. They deployed in a shallow U formation, bringing flanking fire and well-aimed volleys against Riall's men. Riall's men were chased off the battlefield.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://armyhistory.org/the-battle-of-chippewa-5-july-1814/|title=The Battle of Chippewa, 5 July 1814 – The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army|date=16 July 2014 }}</ref> | |||
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. | |||
An attempt to advance further ended with the hard-fought but inconclusive ] on July 25. The battle was fought several miles north of ] near Niagara Falls and is considered the bloodiest and costliest battle of the war.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2002|pp=307–309}}{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=187}} Both sides stood their ground as American General ] pulled back to Fort George after the battle and the British did not pursue.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=51}} Commanders Riall, Scott, Brown, and Drummond were all wounded; Scott's wounds ended his service in the war.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2002|p=309}} | |||
The British scored an important early success when their detachment at ] on ] learned of the declaration of war before the nearby American garrison at the important trading post at ] in ]. A scratch force landed on the island on ], ], and mounted a gun overlooking ]. The Americans, taken by surprise, surrendered. This early victory encouraged the Indians, and large numbers of them moved to help the British at ]. | |||
The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged ]. The British tried to storm Fort Erie on 14 August 1814, but they suffered heavy losses, losing 950 killed, wounded, and captured, compared to only 84 dead and wounded on the American side. The British were further weakened by exposure and shortage of supplies. Eventually, they raised the siege, but American Major General ] took over command on the Niagara front and followed up only halfheartedly. An American raid along the ] destroyed many farms and weakened British logistics. In October 1814, the Americans advanced into Upper Canada and engaged in skirmishes at ]. They pulled back when they heard of the approach of the new British warship {{HMS|St Lawrence|1814|6}}, launched in Kingston that September and armed with 104 guns. The Americans lacked provisions and retreated across the Niagara after destroying Fort Erie.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=52}} | |||
American Brigadier General ] invaded Canada on ], ], 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. | |||
], 14 August 1814]] | |||
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 ] and ]. He pulled his 2,500 troops back to ] (commonly referred to as Fort Detroit at the time). | |||
Meanwhile, after Napoleon abdicated, 15,000 British troops were sent to North America under four of ]'s ablest brigade commanders. Fewer than half were veterans of the ] and the rest came from garrisons. Prévost was ordered to burn Sackett's Harbor to gain naval control of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Upper Lakes, and to defend Lower Canada from attack. He did defend Lower Canada but otherwise failed to achieve his objectives,{{sfn|Grodzinski|2010|pp=560–561}} so he decided to invade New York State. His army outnumbered the American defenders of ] under General ], but he was worried about his flanks and decided that he needed naval control of Lake Champlain. Upon reaching Plattsburgh, Prévost delayed the assault until Captain ] arrived in the hastily built 36-gun frigate {{HMS|Confiance|1814|6}}. ''Confiance'' was not fully completed, and her raw crew had never worked together, but Prévost forced Downie into a premature attack.<ref>George C Daughan. ''1812: The navy's war''. {{ISBN|0465020461}} pp. 343–345</ref> | |||
British Major General ] 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 ]. Believing the British had more troops than they did, Hull ] without a fight on ]. | |||
The British squadron on the lake under was more evenly matched by the Americans under Master Commandant ]. At the ] on 11 September 1814, ''Confiance'' suffered heavy casualties and struck her colours, and the rest of the British fleet retreated. Prevost, already alienated from his veteran officers by insisting on proper dress codes, now lost their confidence, while MacDonough emerged as a national hero.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=190–193}} | |||
Brock promptly transferred himself to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General ] 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 ] on ], but suffered a crushing defeat at ]. 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. | |||
The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain; ] later termed it "the greatest naval battle of the war".{{sfn|Roosevelt|1900|p=}} | |||
A final attempt in 1812 by American General ] 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. ]s, who found the anti-Catholic stance of most of the United States troublesome, and ]s, who had fought for the Crown during the American Revolutionary War, strongly opposed the American invasion. | |||
Prévost then turned back, to the astonishment of his senior officers, saying that it was too hazardous to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy. He was recalled to London, where a naval court-martial decided that defeat had been caused principally by Prévost urging the squadron into premature action and then failing to afford the promised support from the land forces. He died suddenly, just before his court-martial was to convene. His reputation sank to a new low as Canadians claimed that their militia under Brock did the job but Prévost failed. However, recent historians have been kinder. Peter Burroughs argues that his preparations were energetic, well-conceived, and comprehensive for defending the Canadas with limited means and that he achieved the primary objective of preventing an American conquest.{{sfn|Burroughs|1983}} | |||
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<ref> See "Mallory, Behajah" in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'' and "WILLCOCKS (Wilcox), JOSEPH" in ibid </ref>, the American forces found strong opposition from men loyal to the Empire. | |||
==== |
==== Occupation of Maine ==== | ||
After Hull's surrender, General ] was given command of the American Army of the Northwest. He set out to retake Detroit, which was now defended by Colonel ] in conjunction with ]. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at ] along the ] on ], ]. | |||
Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brig {{USS|Enterprise|1799|2}} ] the Royal Navy brig {{HMS|Boxer|1812|2}} off ].{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=75–91}} | |||
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. | |||
On 11 July 1814, ] took Moose Island (]) without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men{{sfn|Kilby|1888|p=79}} of ] peacefully surrendered.{{sfn|Smith|2007|pp=81–94}} The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". In September 1814, ] led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition". In 26 days, he raided and looted ], ] and ], destroying or capturing 17 American ships. He won the ], with two killed while the Americans had one killed. Retreating American forces were forced to destroy the frigate {{USS|Adams|1799|2}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adams I (Frigate) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/adams-i.html |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
]'s message to William Henry Harrison after the ] 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.]] | |||
The British occupied the town of ] and most of eastern Maine for the rest of the war, governing it under martial law{{sfn|Kilby|1888|p=80}} and re-establishing the colony of ]. The Treaty of Ghent returned this territory to the United States. When the British left in April 1815, they took £10,750 in ] duties from Castine. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used to establish ] in Halifax.{{sfn|Harvey|1938|pp=207–213}} Decisions about the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay were decided by joint commission in 1817.{{sfn|Anderson|1906}} However, ] had been seized by the British as part of the occupation and was unaddressed by the commission. While kept by Britain/Canada, it remains in dispute to this day.{{sfn|Connolly|2018}}{{sfn|DeCosta-Klipa|2018}} | |||
In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set ] in northern ]. 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 ], a small American post on the ], only to be repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign. | |||
=== Chesapeake campaign === | |||
On Lake Erie, the American commander Captain ] fought the ] on ], ]. 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. | |||
{{main|Chesapeake campaign}} | |||
] | |||
The strategic location of the ] near the ] made it a prime target for the British. Rear Admiral ] arrived there in March 1813 and was joined by Admiral Warren who took command of operations ten days later.{{sfn|Latimer|2007|pp=156–157}} Starting in March a squadron under Cockburn started a blockade of the mouth of the Bay at ] harbour and raided towns along the Bay from ] to ]. In late April Cockburn landed at and set fire to ] and destroyed ships that were docked there. In the following weeks he routed the local militias and looted and burned three other towns. Thereafter he marched to ] and destroyed it along with sixty-eight cannons.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=153}} | |||
This paved the way for General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the U.S. victory at the ] on ], ], 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. | |||
On 4 July 1813, Commodore ], an American Revolutionary War naval officer, convinced the Navy Department to build the ], a squadron of twenty barges powered by small sails or oars (sweeps) to defend the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered on the ]. While successful in harassing the Royal Navy, they could not stop subsequent British operations in the area. | |||
====Niagara frontier, 1813==== | |||
Because of the difficulties of land communications, control of the ] and the Saint Lawrence River corridor was crucial. When the war began, the British already had a small squadron of warships on ] and had the initial advantage. To redress the situation, the Americans established a Navy yard at ]. Commodore ] 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. | |||
==== Burning of Washington ==== | |||
Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, Chauncey and Dearborn attacked ] (now called ]), the capital of Upper Canada, on ], ]. The ] was an American victory, marred by looting and the burning of the Parliament Buildings and a library. However, ] 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 ]. | |||
{{See also|Burning of Washington}} | |||
In August 1814, a force of 2,500 soldiers under General Ross had just arrived in Bermuda aboard {{HMS|Royal Oak|1809|6}}, three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels. Released from the Peninsular War by victory, the British intended to use them for diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. In response to Prévost's request,{{specify|date=July 2020}} they decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units already on the station, to strike at the national capital. Anticipating the attack, valuable documents, including the original Constitution, were removed to Leesburg, Virginia.{{sfn|Latimer|2007|pp=316-317}} The British task force advanced up the Chesapeake, routing Commodore Barney's flotilla of gunboats, carried out the ], landed ground forces that bested the US defenders at the Battle of Bladensburg, and carried out the ]. | |||
United States Secretary of War ] insisted that the British were going to attack Baltimore rather than Washington, even as British army and naval units were on their way to Washington. Brigadier General ], who had burned several bridges in the area, assumed the British would attack Annapolis and was reluctant to engage because he mistakenly thought the British army was twice its size.{{sfnm|Webed|2013|1p=126|Hickey|1989|2p=197}} The inexperienced state militia was easily routed in the Battle of Bladensburg, opening the route to Washington. British troops led by Major General ], accompanied by Cockburn, the 3rd Brigade attacked and captured Washington with a force of 4,500.{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=317}} On 24 August, after the British had finished looting the interiors, Ross directed his troops to set fire to number of public buildings, including the ] and the ].{{efn|The task was directed by pyrotechnic experts Lieutenants George Lacy and George Pratt of the Royal Navy.{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=317}}}} Extensive damage to the interiors and the contents of both were subsequently reported.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=196–197}} US government and military officials fled to Virginia, while Secretary of the United States Navy ] ordered the ] and a nearby fort to be razed in order to prevent its capture.{{sfn|Herrick|2005|page=90}}{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=59}} Public buildings in Washington were destroyed by the British though private residences ordered spared.{{sfn|Webed|2013|p=129}} | |||
On ], ], an American amphibious force from Lake Ontario assaulted ] 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 ] on ]. On ], with the help of advance warning by ] ], another American force was forced to surrender by a much smaller British and Indian force at the ], marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada. Meanwhile, Commodore ] had taken charge of the British ships on the lake, and mounted a counter-attack, which was nevertheless repulsed at the ]. | |||
==== Siege of Fort McHenry ==== | |||
Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now ]) on ], ], 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 ] on ], ], and similar destruction at ] on ], ]. | |||
] during the ]. Watching the bombardment from a truce ship, ] was inspired to write the four-stanza poem that later became "]".]] | |||
In 1814, the contest for Lake Ontario turned into a building race. Eventually, by the end of the year, Yeo had constructed ], a ] ] of 112 guns which gave him superiority, but the overall result of the ] had been an indecisive draw. | |||
After taking some munitions from the Washington Munitions depot, the British, boarded their ships{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=59}} and moved on to their major target, the heavily fortified major city of Baltimore. Because some of their ships were held up in the Raid on Alexandria, they delayed their movement allowing Baltimore an opportunity to strengthen the fortifications and bring in new federal troops and state militia units. The "]" began with the British landing on 12 September 1814 at ], where they were met by American militia further up the Patapsco Neck peninsula. An exchange of fire began, with casualties on both sides. The British Army commander Major Gen. Robert Ross was killed by snipers. The British paused, then continued to march northwestward to face the stationed Maryland and Baltimore City militia units at Godly Wood. The ] was fought for several afternoon hours in a musketry and artillery duel. The British also planned to simultaneously attack Baltimore by water on the following day, although the Royal Navy was unable to reduce ] at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor in support of an attack from the northeast by the British Army.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} | |||
The British eventually realized that they could not force the passage to attack Baltimore in coordination with the land force. A last ditch night feint and barge attack during a heavy rain storm was led by Captain ] around the fort up the Middle Branch of the river to the west. Split and misdirected partly in the storm, it turned back after suffering heavy casualties from the alert gunners of ] and Battery Babcock. The British called off the attack and sailed downriver to pick up their army, which had retreated from the east side of Baltimore. 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, illuminating the flag that was still flying over the fort. The defence of the fort inspired the American lawyer ] to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem that was later set to music as "]".{{sfn|Coleman|2015|pp=599–629}} | |||
====St. Lawrence and Lower Canada 1813==== | |||
]), John Tutela, and Young Warner, three ] War of 1812 veterans.]] | |||
=== Southern theatre === | |||
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 ] on the American side of the river, hampering British supply traffic up the river. | |||
Because of the region's polyglot population, both the British and the Americans perceived the war in the Gulf South as a fundamentally different conflict from the one occurring in the ] and Chesapeake.{{sfn|Millett|2013|p=31}} | |||
==== Creek War ==== | |||
On ], Sir George Prevost passed through ] 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 ], the Americans were forced to retire. | |||
{{main|Creek War}} | |||
] and killed 400 to 500 people. The massacre became a rallying point for Americans.]] | |||
Before 1813, the war between the Creeks, or ], had been largely an internal affair sparked by the ideas of Tecumseh farther north in the Mississippi Valley. A faction known as the ], so named for the colour of their war sticks, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. The Red Sticks were allied with Tecumseh, who had visited the Creeks about a year before 1813 and encouraged greater resistance to the Americans.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=23–25}} The Creek Nation was a trading partner of the United States, actively involved with British and Spanish trade as well. The Red Sticks as well as many southern Muscogee people like the ] had a long history of alliance with the British and Spanish empires.{{sfn|Braund|1993}} This alliance helped the North American and European powers protect each other's claims to territory in the south.{{sfn|Hurt|2002}} | |||
On 27 July the Red Sticks were returning from ] with a pack train filled with trade goods and arms when they were ] by Americans who made off with their goods. On 30 August 1813, in retaliation for the raid, the Red Sticks, led by chiefs of the Creeks ] and ], attacked ] north of ], the only American-held port in the territory of ]. The attack on Fort Mims resulted in the horrific death of 400 refugee settlers, all butchered and scalped, including women and children, and became an ideological rallying point for the Americans.{{sfnm|Waselkov|2009|1pp=116, 225|Hickey|1989|2pp=147–148|Latimer|2007|3p=220}} It prompted the state of Georgia and the Mississippi militia to immediately take major action against Creek offensives. The Red Sticks chiefs gained power in the east along the ], ] and ] in the Upper Creek territory. By contrast, the Lower Creek, who lived along the ], generally opposed the Red Sticks and wanted to remain allied to the U.S. ] ] recruited Lower Creek to aid the ] under General ] and the state militias against the Red Sticks. The United States combined forces were 5,000 troops from East and West Tennessee, with about 200 indigenous allies.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=72}} At its peak, the Red Stick faction had 4,000 warriors, only a quarter of whom had muskets.{{sfn|Adams|1918|p=785}} | |||
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. | |||
The Indian frontier of western ] was the most vulnerable but was partially fortified already. From November 1813 to January 1814, Georgia's militia{{clarify|date=July 2020}} and auxiliary Federal troops from the ] and ] indigenous nations and the states of ] and ] organized the fortification of defences along the Chattahoochee River and expeditions into Upper Creek territory in present-day Alabama. The army, led by General ], went to the heart of the Creek Holy Grounds and won a major offensive against one of the largest Creek towns at the ], killing an estimated two hundred people. In November, the militia of Mississippi with a combined 1,200 troops attacked the Econachca encampment in the ] on the Alabama River.{{sfn|Braund|2012}} Tennessee raised a militia of 5,000 under Major General ] and Brigadier General ] and won the battles of ] and ] in November 1813.{{sfn|Remini|2002|pp=70–73}} | |||
Late in 1813, after much argument, the Americans made two thrusts against Montreal. The plan eventually agreed upon was for Major-General ] to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under General ] which would embark in boats and sail from ] on Lake Ontario and descend the Saint Lawrence. | |||
Jackson suffered enlistment problems in the winter. He decided to combine his force, composed of Tennessee militia and pro-American Creek, with the Georgia militia. In January, however, the Red Sticks attacked his army at the ]. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but they were outnumbered and forced to withdraw to his base at ].{{sfn|Adams|1918|pp=791–793}} | |||
Hampton was delayed by bad roads and supply problems and an intense dislike of Wilkinson, which limited his desire to support his plan. On ], his 4,000-strong force was defeated at the ] by ] smaller force of French-Canadian ] and ]. | |||
In January, Floyd's force of 1,300 state militia and 400 Creek moved to join the United States forces in Tennessee, but they were attacked in camp on the Calibee Creek by ] Muscogees on 27 January.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} | |||
Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on ] but was also delayed by bad weather. After learning that Hampton had been checked, Wilkinson heard that a British force under Captain ] and Lieutenant-Colonel ] was pursuing him, and by ], he was forced to land near ], about 150 kilometers (90 mi) from Montreal. On ], Wilkinson's rearguard, numbering 2,500, attacked Morrison's force of 800 at ] 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 ]. | |||
], bringing an end to the ].]] | |||
Jackson's force increased in numbers with the arrival of United States Army soldiers and a second draft of Tennessee state militia, Cherokee, and pro-American Creek swelled his army to around 5,000. In March 1814, they moved south to attack the Red Sticks.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=213}} On 27 March, Jackson decisively defeated a force of about a thousand Red Sticks at ], killing 800 of them at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=146–151}} | |||
Jackson then moved his army to ] on the Alabama River. He promptly turned on the pro-American Creek who had fought with him and compelled their chieftains, along with a single Red Stick chieftain, to sign the ], which forced the Creek tribe as a whole to cede most of western Georgia and part of ] to the U.S. Both Hawkins and the pro-American Creek strongly opposed the treaty, which they regarded as deeply unjust.<ref>Frank L. Owsley Jr., The Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812–1815 LibraryPress@UF, Gainesville, Florida, 2017, 87–91</ref> The third clause of the treaty also demanded that the Creek cease communicating with the British and Spanish, and trade only with United States-approved agents.{{sfn|Bunn|Williams|2008}}{{Failed verification|date=July 2024}} | |||
====Niagara and Plattsburgh Campaigns, 1814==== | |||
{{clear}} | |||
By the middle of 1814, American generals, including Major Generals ] and ], had drastically improved the fighting abilities and discipline of the army. Their renewed attack on the Niagara peninsula quickly captured ]. Winfield Scott then gained a decisive victory over an equal British force at the ] on ]. | |||
====Gulf Coast==== | |||
An attempt to advance further ended with a hard-fought drawn battle at ] on ]. The outnumbered Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged ]. The British raised the siege, but lack of provisions eventually forced the Americans to retreat across the Niagara. | |||
British aid to the Red Sticks arrived after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in April 1814 and after Admiral ] assumed command from Admiral Warren in March. Captain Hugh Pigot arrived in May 1814 with two ships to arm the Red Sticks. He thought that some 6,600 warriors could be armed and recruited. It was overly optimistic at best. The Red Sticks were in the process of being destroyed as a military force.{{sfn|Daughan|2011|pp=371–372}} In April 1814, the British established an outpost on the ] (]). Cochrane sent a company of Royal Marines commanded by ],{{sfn|Sugden|1982|p=284}} the vessels {{HMS|Hermes|1811|6}} and {{HMS|Carron|1813|6}} and further supplies to meet the Indians in the region.{{sfn|Sugden|1982|p=285}} In addition to training them, Nicolls was tasked to raise a force from escaped slaves as part of the ].{{sfn|Sugden|1982|p=285}} | |||
On 12 July 1814, General Jackson complained to the governor of West Florida, ], situated at Pensacola that combatants from the Creek War were being harboured in ] and made reference to reports of the British presence on Spanish soil. Although he gave an angry reply to Jackson, Manrique was alarmed at the weak position he found himself in and appealed to the British for help. The British were observed docking on August 25 and unloading the following day.{{sfn|Hughes|Brodine|2023|pp=876–879}} | |||
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. | |||
The first engagement of the British and their Creek allies against the Americans on the Gulf Coast was the 14 September 1814 attack on ]. Captain William Percy tried to take the United States fort, hoping to then move on Mobile and block United States trade and encroachment on the Mississippi. After the Americans repulsed Percy's forces, the British established a military presence of up to 200 Marines at Pensacola. In November, Jackson's force of 4,000 men ].{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|1997|pp=409–11}} This underlined the superiority of numbers of Jackson's force in the region.{{sfn|Sugden|1982|p=297}} The United States force moved to New Orleans in late 1814. Jackson's army of 1,000 regulars and 3,000 to 4,000 militia, pirates and other fighters as well as civilians and slaves built fortifications south of the city.{{sfn|Tucker et al.|2012|page=}} | |||
Governor-General Sir ] 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 ], 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. | |||
American forces under General James Wilkinson, himself a paid Spanish secret agent,{{sfn|McPherson|2013|p=699}} took the Mobile area from the Spanish in March 1813. This region was the rump of Spanish West Florida, the western portion of which had been annexed to the United States in 1810. The Americans built Fort Bowyer, a log and earthen-work fort with 14 guns, on ] to defend it.{{sfn|Chartrand|2012|p=27}} Major Latour opined that none of the three forts in the area were capable of resisting a siege.<ref>Latour (1816), p.7 '], that of ], and fort Bowyer at Mobile point, were the only advanced points fortified; and none of them capable of standing a regular siege.'</ref> | |||
Downie was killed and his naval force defeated at the naval ] in Plattsburgh Bay on ], ]. The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain; ] later termed it the greatest naval battle of the war. To the astonishment of his senior officers, Prevost then turned back, saying it would be too hazardous to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy. | |||
At the end of 1814, the British launched a double offensive in the South weeks before the Treaty of Ghent was signed. On the Atlantic coast, Admiral ] was to close the ] trade and land ] battalions to advance through Georgia to the western territories. While on the ] coast, Admiral Alexander Cochrane moved on the new state of Louisiana and the ]. Cochrane's ships reached the Louisiana coast on 9 December and Cockburn arrived in Georgia on 14 December.{{sfn|Owsley|2000}} | |||
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. | |||
] in January 1815. The battle occurred before news of a peace treaty reached the United States.]] | |||
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.<ref> Peter Burroughs, "Prevost, Sir George" in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'' </ref> | |||
The British army had the objective of gaining control of the entrance of the Mississippi.{{sfn|Grodzinski|2011a|p=1}} To this end, an expeditionary force of 8,000 troops{{sfn|Hughes|Brodine|2023|p=929}} under General ] attacked Jackson's prepared defences in New Orleans on 8 January 1815. The Battle of New Orleans was an American victory, as the British failed to take the fortifications on the East Bank. The British attack force suffered high casualties, including 291 dead, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured or missing{{sfnm|1a1=Reilly|1y=1974|1pp=303, 306}}{{sfn|Remini|1999|p=167}} whereas American casualties were light with 13 dead, 39 wounded and 19 missing,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=285}} according to the respective official casualty returns. This battle was hailed as a great victory across the United States, making Jackson a national hero and eventually propelling him to the presidency.{{sfn|Remini|1999|pp=136–83}}{{sfn|Stewart|2005|pp=144–146}} In January 1815 Fort St. Philip endured ] from two ]s of the Royal Navy. ] believes this was preventing the British moving their fleet up the Mississippi in support of the land attack.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=288}} | |||
====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 ] established a new supply line from York to ] on ]. When he arrived at Fort Mackinac with supplies and reinforcements, he sent an expedition to recapture the trading post of ] in the far West. The ] ended in a British victory on ], ]. | |||
After deciding further attacks would be too costly and unlikely to succeed, the British troops withdrew on 18 January.{{sfn|Gleig|1836|p=344}} However, adverse winds slowed the evacuation operation and it was not until 27 January 1815 that the ] rejoined the fleet, allowing for its final departure.{{sfn|Remini|1999|p=181}} After New Orleans, the British moved to take Mobile as a base for further operations.{{sfn|Owsley|1972|p=36}} In preparation, General ] laid siege to Fort Bowyer taking it on 12 February 1815. However HMS '']'' brought news of the Treaty of Ghent the next day and the British abandoned the Gulf Coast.{{sfn|Frazer|Carr Laughton|1930|p=294}} This ending of the war prevented the capture of Mobile, and any renewed attacks on New Orleans.{{sfn|Owsley|1972|p=36}} | |||
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 ]. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and at the brief ], they were ambushed by Indians and forced to re-embark. | |||
Meanwhile, in January 1815, Cockburn succeeded in blockading the southeastern coast of Georgia by occupying ]. The British quickly took ], ] and Fort St. Tammany in a decisive victory. Under the orders of his commanding officers, Cockburn's forces relocated many refugee slaves, capturing ] Island as well to do so. He had orders to recruit as many runaway slaves into the Corps of Colonial Marines as possible and use them to conduct raids in Georgia and the Carolinas.{{sfn|Owsley|1972|pp=29–30}} Cockburn also provided thousands of muskets and carbines and a huge quantity of ammunition to the Creeks and Seminole Indians for the same purpose.{{sfn|Owsley|1972|pp=32–33}} During the invasion of the Georgia coast, an estimated 1,485 people chose to relocate to British territories or join the British military. However, by mid-March, several days after being informed of the Treaty of Ghent, British ships left the area.{{sfn|Bullard|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}} | |||
The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on ], destroyed its fortifications and a schooner which they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade ]. On ], these gunboats were taken unawares and captured by enemy boarding parties from canoes and small boats. This ] left Mackinac under British control. | |||
The British government did not recognize either West Florida or New Orleans as American territory. The historian Frank Owsley suggests that they might have used a victory at New Orleans to demand further concessions from the U.S.{{sfn|Owsley|1972|pp=36–37}} However, subsequent research in the correspondence of British ministers at the time suggests otherwise.{{sfnm|Latimer|2007|1pp=401-402|2a1=Carr|2y=1979|3a1=Eustace|3y=2012|3p=293}} with specific reference to correspondence from the Prime Minister to the ] dated 23 December 1814.{{sfn|British Foreign Policy Documents|p=495}} West Florida was the only territory permanently gained by the United States during the war.{{sfn|Introduction: War of 1812}} | |||
The British garrison at Prairie du Chien also fought off an attack by Major ]. 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. | |||
=== |
===The war at sea=== | ||
====Background==== | |||
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, benefited from the willingness of the New Englanders to trade with them, so no blockade of New England was at first attempted. The ] and ] were declared in a state of blockade on ], ]. | |||
] was based in ] and ]. At the start of the war, the squadron had one ], seven ]s, nine ] as well as ]s and ]s.{{sfn|Gwyn|2003|p=134}}]] | |||
In 1812, Britain's Royal Navy was the world's largest and most powerful navy, with over 600 vessels in commission, following the defeat of the French Navy at the ] in 1805.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=21}} Most of these ships were employed blockading the French navy and protecting British trade against French privateers, but the Royal Navy still had 85 vessels in American waters, counting all North American and Caribbean waters.{{efn|Admiralty reply to British press criticism.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=180}}}} However, the Royal Navy's North American squadron was the most immediately available force, based in Halifax and ] (two of the colonies that made up ]), and numbered one small ship of the line and seven frigates as well as nine smaller ] and brigs and five ]s.{{sfn|Gwyn|2003|p=134}} By contrast, the entire United States Navy was composed of 8 frigates, 14 smaller sloops and brigs, with no ships of the line. The United States had embarked on a major shipbuilding program before the war at Sackett's Harbor to provide ships for use on the Great Lakes, and continued to produce new ships. | |||
This was extended to the coast south of ] by November 1813 and to all the American coast on ], ]. 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. | |||
==== Opening strategies ==== | |||
Eventually the U.S. Government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This put 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. | |||
The British strategy was to protect their own merchant shipping between Halifax and the West Indies, with the order given on 13 October 1812 to enforce a blockade of major American ports to restrict American trade.{{sfn|Arthur|2011|p=73}} | |||
Because of their numerical inferiority, the American strategy was to cause disruption through hit-and-run tactics such as the capturing prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels only under favourable circumstances. | |||
Additionally, commanders of the blockading fleet, based at the ], 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) ] on occupied ], in the Chesapeake. | |||
Days after the formal declaration of war, the United States put out two small squadrons, including the frigate ''President'' and the sloop {{USS|Hornet|1805|2}} under Commodore ] and the frigates ''United States'' and {{USS|Congress|1799|2}}, with the brig {{USS|Argus|1803|2}} under Captain ]. These were initially concentrated as one unit under Rodgers, who intended to force the Royal Navy to concentrate its own ships to prevent isolated units being captured by his powerful force.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Large numbers of American merchant ships were returning to the United States with the outbreak of war and the Royal Navy could not watch all the ports on the American seaboard if they were concentrated together. Rodgers' strategy worked in that the Royal Navy concentrated most of its frigates off ] under Captain ], allowing many American ships to reach home. However, Rodgers' own cruise captured only five small merchant ships, and the Americans never subsequently concentrated more than two or three ships together as a unit.{{sfn|Black|2008}} | |||
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 ] 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. | |||
==== Single-ship actions ==== | |||
From the probing of the British Colony of ], Maine was an important conquest by the British. The line of the border between New Brunswick and the ] 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 ] via the ] and the ]. The war did not settle the border dispute, and when Maine became a state in 1820, it led to a border crisis called the ]. The border between Maine and New Brunswick was not be settled until 1842 and the "]". | |||
]. The battle was an important victory for American morale.]] | |||
The more recently built frigates of the US Navy were intended to overmatch their opponents. The United States did not believe that it could build a large enough navy to contest with the Royal Navy in fleet actions. Therefore, where it could be done, individual ships were built to be tougher, larger, and carry more firepower than their equivalents in European navies.{{efn|"They are superior to any European frigate," Humphreys wrote of the design he had in mind, "and if others should be in company, our frigates can always lead ahead and never be obliged to go into action, but on their own terms, except in a calm; in blowing weather our ships are capable of engaging to advantage double-deck ships." In another design Humphreys proposed "such frigates as in blowing weather would be an overmatch for double-deck ships, and in light winds evade coming into action."{{sfn|Toll|2006|pp=419–420}} }} The newest three 44-gun ships were designed with a 24-pounder main battery. These frigates were intended to demolish the 36- to 38-gun (18-pounder) armed frigates that formed the majority of the world's navies, while being able to evade larger ships.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=50}} Similarly the Wasp class ship-sloops were an over-match to the Cruizer class brigs being employed by the British. The Royal Navy, maintaining more than 600 ships in fleets and stations worldwide, was overstretched and undermanned; most British ships enforcing the blockade were (with a few notable exceptions) less practiced than the crews of the smaller US Navy.{{sfn|Lambert|2012|p=372}}{{sfn|Toll|2006|pp=418–419}}{{sfn|James|1817}}{{sfn|Roosevelt|1904|p=257}}{{efn|With sufficient training and drilling gunnery could be improved, but there was no immediate solution for the lack of crew numbers on British ships. There were six hundred ships in service, manned by only 140,000 seamen and marines. Subsequently the Royal Navy was spread out thin which compromised a crew's overall efficiency and could not rival the quality and efficiency of the crews employed in the smaller, all-volunteer U.S. Navy.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=382}} }} This meant that in single-ship actions the Royal Navy ships often found themselves against larger ships with larger crews, who were better drilled, as intended by the US planners.{{efn|Admiral Warren was evidently concerned, because he circulated a standing order, on March 6, directing his commanders to give priority to "the good discipline and the proper training of their Ships Companies to the expert management of the Guns." All officers and seamen on the North American station were urged to keep in mind "that the issue of the Battle will greatly depend on the cool, steady and regular manner in which the Guns shall be loaded, pointed & fired." Two weeks later, the Admiralty issued a circular to all the British admirals, discouraging the daily "spit and polish" scouring of the brasswork and directing that "the time thrown away on this unnecessary practice be applied to the really useful and important points of discipline and exercise at Arms."{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=418}} }} | |||
In September 1814, Sir ] led a British Army into eastern Maine and was successful in capturing ], ], ], and ]. 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. | |||
However naval ships do not fight as individuals by the code of the ], they are national instruments of war, and are used as such. The Royal Navy counted on its numbers, experience, and traditions to overcome the individually superior vessels. As the US Navy found itself mostly blockaded by the end of the war, the Royal Navy was correct.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/war-of-1812|title=Milestones: 1801–1829 – Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov}}</ref> For all the fame that these actions received, they in no way affected the outcome of the results of Atlantic theatre of War. The final count of frigates lost was three on each side, with most of the US Navy blockaded in port.{{efn|Compared to other nations, the British navy had mastered the practice of employing blockades, which severely compromised an enemy's freedom of movement, supply lines, and economic vitality. It also protected their commercial shipping by preventing enemy privateers and cruisers from going out to sea and capturing prizes. Britain's ten-year-old commercial and military blockade of continental Europe had largely succeeded in its twin goals of interdicting most seagoing commerce while keeping the French navy imprisoned in its ports. It was therefore to be expected that the main thrust of British naval strategy during the war was the employment of blockades along the American coast.{{sfn|Toll|2006|pp=419–420}} }} During the war, the United States Navy captured 165 British merchantmen (although privateers captured many more) while the Royal Navy captured 1,400 American merchantmen.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=55}} More significantly, the British blockade of the Atlantic coast caused the majority of warships to be unable to put to sea and shut down both American imports and exports.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=220}}{{efn|The tightening grip of the British blockade was beginning to take a severe economic toll on communities throughout the country. The drain on the treasury remained a pressing concern, and the Republican-dominated Congress finally recognized the need for more tax revenue; a new levy fell on licences, carriages, auctions, sugar refineries, and salt.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=455}} }} | |||
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 ]. 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 ], in ], ]. | |||
Notable single-ship engagements include ] on 19 August 1812,{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=385}} ] on 25 October,{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=397}} USS ''Constitution'' vs ] on 29–30 December,{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=848}}{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=377}} ] on 1 June 1813 (the bloodiest such action of the war),{{sfn|Toll|2006|pp=411–415}} ] on 28 March 1814,{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=253}} ] on 15 January 1815.{{sfn|Lambert|2012|pp=368–373}} | |||
====Chesapeake campaign and "The Star-Spangled Banner"==== | |||
] | |||
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 ] started a blockade of the bay and raided towns along the bay from ] to ]. | |||
In single ship battles, superior force was the most significant factor. In response to the majority of the American ships being of greater force than the British ships of the same class, Britain constructed five 40-gun, 24-pounder heavy frigates{{sfn|Gardiner|1998|p=162}} and two "spar-decked" frigates (the 60-gun {{HMS|Leander|1813|6}} and {{HMS|Newcastle|1813|6}}) and others.{{sfn|Gardiner|1998|pp=163–164}} To counter the American sloops of war, the British constructed the {{sclass|Cyrus|ship-sloop}} of 22 guns. The British Admiralty also instituted a new policy that the three American heavy frigates should not be engaged except by a ship of the line or frigates in squadron strength.{{efn|The superior force and scantlings of the American 44-gun frigates, now denounced as "disguised ships of the line," prompted the Admiralty to issue a "Secret & Confidential" order to all station chiefs prohibiting single-frigate engagements with the Constitution, President, or United States. A lone British frigate was henceforth ordered to flee from the big American frigates, or (if it could be done safely) to shadow them at a prudent distance, remaining out of cannon-shot range, until reinforcements.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=383}} }} | |||
On ], ], ], a Revolutionary War naval hero, convinced the Navy Department to build the ], a squadron of twenty barges to defend the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered in the ], and while successful in harassing the ], they were powerless to stop the British campaign that ultimately led to the "]". | |||
The United States Navy's smaller ship-sloops had also won several victories over Royal Navy sloops-of-war, again of smaller armament. The American sloops ''Hornet'', {{USS|Wasp|1807|3}}, {{USS|Peacock|1813|2}}, {{USS|Wasp|1813|3}} and {{USS|Frolic|1813|2}} were all ]-rigged while the British {{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop|0}} sloops that they encountered were brig-rigged, which gave the Americans a significant advantage. Ship rigged vessels are more manoeuvrable in battle because they have a wider variety of sails and thus being more resistant to damage. Ship-rigged vessels can back sail, literally backing up or heave to (stop).{{sfn|Lambert|2012|p=138}}{{sfn|James|1817|p={{page needed|date=April 2021}}}}{{sfn|Gardiner|2000|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{efn|More significantly, if some spars are shot away on a brig because it is more difficult to wear and the brig loses the ability to steer while a ship could adjust its more diverse canvas to compensate for the imbalance caused by damage in battle.{{sfn|Lambert|2012|p=138}} Furthermore, ship-rigged vessels with three masts simply have more masts to shoot away than brigs with two masts before the vessel is unmanageable.{{sfn|Lambert|2012|p=138}}{{sfn|James|1817|p={{page needed|date=April 2021}}}}}} | |||
This expedition, led by Cockburn and General ], was carried out between ] and ], ], 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 ], with reinforcements and orders to coerce the Americans into a favourable peace. | |||
==== Privateering ==== | |||
Governor-General Sir ] of Canada had written to the Admirals in Bermuda calling for a retaliation for the American sacking of York (now ]). A force of 2,500 soldiers under General Ross, aboard a Royal Navy task force composed of ], three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels, had just arrived in Bermuda. | |||
]s were a series of schooners used by American ] during the war.]] | |||
The operations of American ]s proved a more significant threat to British trade than the United States Navy. They operated throughout the Atlantic until the close of the war, most notably from Baltimore. American privateers reported taking 1300 British merchant vessels, compared to 254 taken by the United States Navy,{{sfn|American Merchant Marine}}{{sfn|Franklin}}{{sfn|Brewer|2004}} although the insurer ] reported that only 1,175 British ships were taken, 373 of which were recaptured, for a total loss of 802.{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=242}} Canadian historian Carl Benn wrote that American privateers took 1,344 British ships, of which 750 were retaken by the British.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=55}} The British tried to limit privateering losses by the strict enforcement of ] by the Royal Navy{{sfn|Kert|2015|p=146}} and directly by capturing 278 American privateers. Due to the massive size of the British merchant fleet, American captures only affected 7.5% of the fleet, resulting in no supply shortages or lack of reinforcements for British forces in North America.{{sfn|Lambert|2012|pp=394–395}} Of 526 American privateers, 148 were captured by the Royal Navy and only 207 ever took a prize.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=55}} | |||
Due to the large size of their navy, the British did not rely as much on privateering. The majority of the 1,407 captured American merchant ships were taken by the Royal Navy. The war was 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. However, privateering remained popular in British colonies. It was the last hurrah for privateers in the insular ]n colony of Bermuda who vigorously returned to the practice with experience gained in previous wars.<ref>{{Cite magazine |magazine=The Bermudian |title=Bermuda in the Privateering Business |first=Lieutenant-Colonel A. Gavin |last=Shorto |date=2018-04-05 |access-date=2023-11-26 |url=https://www.thebermudian.com/heritage/heritage-heritage/bermuda-in-the-privateering-business |location=City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |publisher=The Bermudian |archive-date=17 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217122822/https://www.thebermudian.com/heritage/heritage-heritage/bermuda-in-the-privateering-business/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title=In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680–1783 |first=Michael |last=Jarvis |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |date=2010}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Bermuda's Sailors of Fortune |first=Sister Jean de Chantal |last=Kennedy |publisher=Bermuda Historical Society |date=1963 |asin=B0007J8WMW}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner |first=Geoffrey |last=Footner |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |date=1998 |isbn=978-0870335112}}</ref> The nimble ]s captured 298 American ships.{{sfn|Stranack|1990|p=23}} Privateer schooners based in continental British North America, especially from ], took 250 American ships and proved especially effective in crippling American coastal trade and capturing American ships closer to shore than the Royal Navy's cruisers.{{sfn|Faye|1997|p=171}} | |||
Released from the ] 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. | |||
==== British blockade ==== | |||
On ], 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 ], ], to protect the capital, were destroyed in the ], opening the route to Washington. While ] saved valuables from the ], President James Madison was forced to flee to ].<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/burning_washington.htm#rodgers-p</ref> | |||
] | |||
The ] of the United States began informally in the late fall of 1812. Under the command of British Admiral ], it extended from South Carolina to Florida.{{sfn|Arthur|2011|p=73}} It expanded to cut off more ports as the war progressed. Twenty ships were on station in 1812 and 135 were in place by the end of the conflict. In March 1813, the Royal Navy punished the Southern states, who were most vocal about annexing British North America, by blockading ], ], ], and ] as well. Additional ships were sent to North America in 1813 and the Royal Navy tightened and extended the blockade, first to the coast south of ] by November 1813 and to the entire American coast on 31 May 1814.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=55}}{{sfnm|1a1=Hickey|1y=1989|1p=152 |2a1=Daughan|2y=2011|2pp=151–152 |3a1=Lambert|3y=2012|3p=399}} In May 1814, following the abdication of Napoleon and the end of the supply problems with Wellington's army, New England was blockaded.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=214}} | |||
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' ] York (now ]) in 1813. Later, that same evening a furious storm swept into Washington D.C. sending one or more tornadoes into the city, causing more damage but eventually extinguished the fires with torrential rains. The naval yards were set afire at the direction of U.S. officials to prevent the capture of naval ships and supplies.<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/burning_washington.htm#johnson</ref> The British left Washington D.C. as soon as the storm subsided. | |||
The British needed American foodstuffs for their army in Spain and benefited from trade with New England, so they did not at first blockade New England.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=55}} The ] and Chesapeake Bay were declared in a state of blockade on 26 December 1812. 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 United States government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This put only a further strain on the commerce of the country. The British fleet occupied the Chesapeake Bay and attacked and destroyed numerous docks and harbours.{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=849}} The effect was that no foreign goods could enter the United States on ships and only smaller fast boats could attempt to get out. The cost of shipping became very expensive as a result.{{sfn|Hickey|2012|p=153}}{{efn|"The British blockade had a crushing effect on American foreign trade. "Commerce is becoming very slack," reported a resident of Baltimore in the spring of 1813: "no arrivals from abroad, & nothing going to sea but sharp vessels." By the end of the year, the sea lanes had become so dangerous that merchants wishing to sell goods had to shell out 50 percent of the value of the ship and cargo."{{sfn|Hickey|2012|p=153}}}} | |||
Having ], including the President's Mansion and the Treasury, the British army next moved to capture ], a busy port and a key base for American privateers. The subsequent ] 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 ] but were unable to reduce ], at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor. | |||
The blockade of American ports later 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 ] in ].{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=55–56}} USS ''United States'' and USS ''Macedonian'' attempted to set sail to raid British shipping in the Caribbean, but were forced to turn back when confronted with a British squadron, and by the end of the war, the United States had six frigates and four ships-of-the-line sitting in port.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=56}} Some merchant ships were based in Europe or Asia and continued operations. Others, mainly from New England, were issued licences to trade by Admiral Warren, commander in chief on the American station in 1813. This allowed Wellington's army in Spain to receive American goods and to maintain the New Englanders' ]. The blockade nevertheless decreased American exports from $130 million in 1807 to $7 million in 1814. Most exports were goods that ironically went to supply their enemies in Britain or the British colonies.{{sfn|Leckie|1998|p=255}} The blockade had a devastating effect on the American economy with the value of American exports and imports falling from $114 million in 1811 down to $20 million by 1814 while the United States Customs took in $13 million in 1811 and $6 million in 1814, even though the Congress had voted to double the rates.{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=56–57}} The British blockade further damaged the American economy by forcing merchants to abandon the cheap and fast coastal trade to the slow and more expensive inland roads.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=57}} In 1814, only 1 out of 14 American merchantmen risked leaving port as it was likely that any ship leaving port would be seized.{{sfnm|Benn|2002|1p=57|Riggs|2015|2pp=1446–1449}} | |||
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. | |||
As the Royal Navy base that supervised the blockade, Halifax profited greatly during the war. From there, British privateers seized and sold many French and American ships. More than a hundred prize vessels were anchored in ] awaiting condemnation by the Admiralty Court when a hurricane struck in 1815, sinking roughly sixty of the vessels.{{sfn|Stranack|1990|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}} | |||
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 inspired the American lawyer ] to write a poem that would eventually supply the lyrics to "]". | |||
=== Freeing and recruiting slaves === | |||
===Creek War=== | |||
], {{Circa|1890}}. During the war, a number of African Americans slaves escaped aboard British ships, settling in Canada (mainly in Nova Scotia){{sfn|Whitfield|2006|p=25}} or Trinidad.]] | |||
{{main|Creek War}} | |||
In March 1814, Jackson led a force of ] militia, ] warriors, and U.S. regulars southward to attack the ] tribes, led by Chief ]. On ], Jackson and General ] decisively defeated the Creeks at ], killing 800 of 1,000 Creeks at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded out 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 British supported them. | |||
The British Royal Navy's blockades and raids allowed about 4,000 African Americans to escape ] by fleeing American ]s aboard British ships. American slaves near to the British military rebelled against their masters and made their way to British encampments. The migrants who settled in Canada were known as the ]. The blockading British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay received increasing numbers of freed slaves during 1813. By British government order, they were considered free persons when they reached British hands.{{sfn|Weiss|2013}}{{sfn|Malcomson|2012|p=366}} | |||
===Treaty of Ghent and Battle of New Orleans=== | |||
Alexander Cochrane's ] of 2 April 1814 invited Americans who wished to emigrate to join the British. Although it did not explicitly mention slaves, it was taken by all as addressed to them. About 2,400 escaped slaves and their families were transported by the Royal Navy to the ] at Bermuda (where they were employed on works about the yard and organized as a militia to aid in the defence of the yard), Nova Scotia and ] during and after the war. Starting in May 1814, younger male volunteers were recruited into a new Corps of Colonial Marines. They fought for Britain throughout the Atlantic campaign, including the Battle of Bladensburg, the attacks on Washington, D.C., and the Battle of Baltimore, before withdrawing to Bermuda with the rest of the British forces. They were later settled in ] after having rejected orders for transfer to the ], forming the community of the ] (none of the freed slaves remained in Bermuda after the war). These escaped slaves represented the largest emancipation of African Americans prior to the ].{{sfn|Bermingham|2003}}{{sfn|Black Sailors Soldiers|2012}}{{sfn|''The Royal Gazette'' 2016}} Britain paid the United States for the financial loss of the slaves at the end of the war.{{sfn|Taylor|2010|p=432}} | |||
====Factors leading to the peace negotiations==== | |||
== Treaty of Ghent == | |||
By 1814 both sides were weary of a costly war that seemingly offered nothing but stalemate, and were ready to grope their way to a settlement. It is difficult to measure accurately the costs of the American War to Britain, because they are bound up in general expenditure on the Great War in Europe. But an estimate may be made based on the increased borrowing undertaken during the period, with the American war as a whole adding some £25 million to the national debt.<ref>Kenneth Ross Nelson, ‘Socio-Economic Effects of the War of 1812 on Britain’, PhD Dissertation, University of Georgia, 1972, pp.129-44.</ref> In America the cost was proportionally greater at some $105 million; national debt rose from $45 million in 1812 to $127 million by the end of 1815, although through discounts and paper money the government received only $34 million worth of specie.<ref>Henry Adams, ''History of the United States of America (during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison)'', New York: A. and C. Boni, 1930, vol. 7, p.385; Donald R. Hickey, ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict'', Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1990, p.303.</ref> By this time, the American economy was grinding to a halt thanks to the Royal Navy's blockade and US government incompetence and America faced ruin. Licensed flour exports, that had been close to a million barrels in 1812 and 1813, fell to 5,000 in 1814. By this time insurance rates on Boston shipping had reached 75 per cent, coastal shipping was at a complete standstill and New England was considering secession.<ref>Hickey, ''War of 1812'', pp.172-4; Samuel E. Morison, ''The Maritime History of Massachussets, 1783-1860'', Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1941, pp.205-6.</ref> Exports and imports fell dramatically as American shipping engaged in foreign trade dropped from 948,000 tons in 1811 to just 60,000 tons by 1814, and the internal economy ground to a halt. But although American privateers found chances of success much reduced, with most British merchantmen now sailing in convoy, privateering continued to prove troublesome to the British; with insurance rates between Liverpool, England, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, rising to 30 per cent, the ''Morning Chronicle'' complained that with American privateers operating around the British Isles ‘we have been insulted with impunity’.<ref>''Morning Chronicle'', 2 November 1814; Hickey, ''War of 1812'', pp.217-18.</ref> The British could not celebrate a great victory in Europe fully until there was peace in North America, and more pertinently, taxes could not come down until there was peace in North America. Landowners particularly baulked at continued high taxation; both they and the shipping interest urged the government to secure peace.<ref>Jon Latimer, ''1812: War with America'', Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007, pp.362-5.</ref> | |||
{{main|Treaty of Ghent}} | |||
In August 1814, peace discussions began in ]. Both sides approached negotiations warily.{{efn|1=For details of the negotiations, see Samuel Flagg Bemis (1956), ''John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy'', pp. 196–220; {{harvnb|Remini|1991|pp=94–122}}; {{harvnb|Ward|Gooch|1922|pp=}} and {{harvnb|Mahan|1905|pp=73–78}}.}} The British strategy for decades had been to create a ] in the American Northwest Territory to block American expansion. Britain also demanded naval control of the Great Lakes and access to the Mississippi River.{{sfn|Remini|1991|p=117}} On the American side, Monroe instructed the American diplomats sent to Europe to try to convince the British to cede the Canadas, or at least Upper Canada, to the U.S.<ref>Donald Hickey, ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict'', Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989, 284</ref> At a later stage, the Americans also demanded damages for the burning of Washington and for the seizure of ships before the war began.{{sfn|Ward|Gooch|1922|p=}} | |||
====The Treaty of Ghent==== | |||
] | |||
On ] ], diplomats from the two countries, meeting in ], ] (present ]), signed the ]. This was ratified by the Americans on ] ]. | |||
], which formally ended the war between the British Empire and the United States]] | |||
The UK, which held approximately 10 million ]s of new territory near Lakes ] and ], in ], and on the ] coast,<ref>{{cite book | author=W.G. Dean et al. | year=1998| title=Concise Historical Atlas of Canada }}</ref> pressed for territorial concessions from the US, almost causing cessation of the talks. This position at first was reinforced by the ] however the news of the defeat at the ] and the repulse at the ] weakened the demands.<ref>Toll, Ian V, p.440</ref> The Duke of Wellington was approached about leading the British army in North America and sent the following letter: | |||
American public opinion was outraged when Madison published the demands as even the Federalists were now willing to fight on. A British force burned Washington, but it failed to capture Baltimore and sailed away when its commander was killed. In northern New York State, 10,000 British veterans were marching south until a decisive defeat at the ] forced them back to Canada.{{efn|The British were unsure whether the attack on Baltimore was a failure, but Plattsburg was a humiliation that called for court martial ({{harvnb|Latimer|2007|pp=331, 359, 365}}).}} British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, aware of growing ] to wartime taxation and the demands of merchants for reopened trade with America, realized Britain also had little to gain and much to lose from prolonged warfare especially given growing concern about the situation in Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Latimer|1y=2007|1pp=389–391|2a1=Gash|2y=1984|2pp=111–119}} The main focus of British foreign policy was the ], at which British diplomats had clashed with Russian and Prussian diplomats over the terms of the peace with France and there were fears that Britain might have to go to war with Russia and Prussia. Export trade was all but paralyzed and France was no longer an enemy of Britain after Napoleon fell in April 1814, so the Royal Navy no longer needed to stop American shipments to France and it no longer needed to impress more seamen. The British were preoccupied in rebuilding Europe after the apparent final defeat of Napoleon.{{sfn|Mahan|1905}} | |||
Consequently, Lord Liverpool urged the British negotiators to offer a peace based on the restoration of the pre-war status quo. The British negotiators duly dropped their demands for the creation of an Indian neutral zone, which allowed negotiations to resume at the end of October. The American negotiators accepted the British proposals for a peace based on the pre-war status quo. Prisoners were to be exchanged and escaped slaves returned to the United States, as at least 3,000 American slaves had escaped to British lines. The British however refused to honour this aspect of the treaty, settling some of the newly freed slaves in Nova Scotia{{sfn|African Nova Scotians}}{{sfn|Whitfield|2005}} and New Brunswick.{{sfn|Black Loyalists in New Brunswick}} The Americans protested Britain's failure to return American slaves in violation of the Treaty of Ghent. After arbitration by the ] the British paid $1,204,960 in damages to Washington, to reimburse the slave owners.{{sfn|Taylor|2010|p=432}} | |||
:''I confess that I think you have no right, from the state of war, to demand any concession of territory from America... You have not been able to carry it into the enemy's territory, notwithstanding your military success and now undoubted military superiority, and have not even cleared your own territory on the point of attack. you can not on any principle of equality in negotiation claim a cessation of territory except in exchange for other advantages which you have in your power... Then if this reasoning be true, why stipulate for the uti possidetis? You can get no territory: indeed, the state of your military operations, however creditable, does not entitle you to demand any.''<ref>Toll, Ian V, p.441</ref> | |||
On 24 December 1814, the diplomats had finished and signed the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty was ratified by the British Prince Regent three days later on 27 December.{{sfn|Updyke|1915|p=360}}{{sfn|Perkins|1964|pp=129–130}}{{sfn|Hickey|2006|p=295}}{{sfn|Langguth|2006|p=375}} On 17 February, it arrived in Washington, where it was quickly ratified and went into effect, ending the war. The terms called for all occupied territory to be returned, the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States to be restored, and the Americans were to gain fishing rights in the ].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} The British insisted on the inclusion of provisions to restore to the Indians "all possessions, rights and privileges which they may have enjoyed, or been entitled to in 1811".{{sfn|Mahan|1905|pp=73–78}} The Americans ignored and violated these provisions.{{sfn|Mahan|1905|pp=73–78}} | |||
With a rift opening between Britain and Russia at the ] and little chance of improving the military situation in North America, Britain was prepared to forego territorial gain. In concluding the war on these terms, the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, was taking into account domestic opposition to continued taxation, especially among Liverpool and Bristol merchants keen to get back to doing business with America. But more important was concern with foreign policy considerations of far greater significance than North America, the wisdom of which course was amply justified with Napoleon’s escape from Elba the following spring.<ref>Norman Gash, ''Lord Liverpool: The Life and Political Career of Robert Banks Jenkinson, Second Earl of Liverpool, 1770-1828'', Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984</ref> | |||
The Treaty of Ghent completely maintained Britain's maritime belligerent rights, a key goal for the British, without acknowledging American maritime rights or the end of impressment. While American maritime rights were not seriously violated in the century of peace until World War I, the defeat of Napoleon made the need for impressment irrelevant and the grievances of the United States no longer an issue. In this sense, the United States achieved its goals indirectly and felt its honour had been upheld despite impressment continuing.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|1997|pp=208–209}}{{sfn|Langguth|2006|pp=374–375}} | |||
====The Battle of New Orleans==== | |||
Unaware of the peace, Jackson's forces moved to ], ], in late 1814 to defend against a large-scale British invasion. Jackson defeated the British at the ] on ], with over 2,000 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 ].<ref>http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/6*.html</ref><ref>http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/amh/amh-06.htm</ref> | |||
== Losses and compensation == | |||
The British gave up on New Orleans but moved to attack the town of Mobile. In the last military action of the war 1,000 British troops won the ]. When news of peace arrived on ] they sailed home. | |||
{|class="wikitable floatright" | |||
|- | |||
|+Casualties in the War of 1812{{sfn|Tucker|2012|p=113}} | |||
|- | |||
!Type of ] | |||
!United States | |||
!United Kingdom<br />and Canada | |||
!Indigenous fighters | |||
|- | |||
|] and ] || 2,260 || ~2,000 || ~1,500 | |||
|- | |||
|Died of disease or accident || ~13,000 || ~8,000 || ~8,500 | |||
|- | |||
|] || 4,505 || ~3,500 || Unknown | |||
|- | |||
|] || 695 || ~1,000 || Unknown | |||
|} | |||
Losses figures do not include deaths among Canadian militia forces or Indigenous tribes. British losses in the war were about 1,160 killed in action and 3,679 wounded,{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} with 3,321 British who died from disease. American losses were 2,260 killed in action and 4,505 wounded. While the number of Americans who died from disease is not known, it is estimated that about 15,000 died from all causes directly related to the war.{{sfn|Hickey|2006|p=297}} | |||
The war added some £25 million to Britain's ].{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=389}} In the United States, the cost was $90 million reaching a peak of 2.7% of GDP.<ref>https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/RS22926.pdf</ref> The national debt rose from $45 million in 1812 to $127 million by the end of 1815, although by selling bonds and ] at deep discounts{{snd}}and often for irredeemable paper money due to the suspension of specie payment in 1814{{snd}}the government received only $34 million worth of specie.{{sfn|Adams|1918|p=385}}{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=303}} ], the ] at the time, was among those who funded the United States government's involvement in the war.{{sfn|Adams|1978}}{{sfn|MacDowell|1900|pages=315–316}} The British national debt rose from £451 million in 1812 to £841 million in 1814, although this was at a time when Britain was fighting a war against Napoleon. The war was bad for both economies.{{sfn|Kert|2015|p=145}} | |||
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 ], and that both the United States and Britain agreed to recognize the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States. | |||
In the United States, the economy grew 3.7% a year from 1812 to 1815, despite a large loss of business by East Coast shipping interests. Prices were 15% higher{{snd}}inflated{{snd}}in 1815 compared to 1812, an annual rate of 4.8%.{{sfn|$100 in 1812}}{{sfn|Johnston|Williamson|2019}} Hundreds of new banks were opened; they largely handled the loans that financed the war since tax revenues were down. Money that would have been spent on foreign trade was diverted to opening new factories, which were profitable since British factory-made products were not for sale.{{sfn|Nettels|2017|pp=35–40}} This gave a major boost to the ] in the United States as typified by the ].{{sfn|Bergquist|1973|pp=45–55}}{{sfn|Morales|2009}} | |||
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.<ref>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</ref> | |||
== Long-term consequences == | |||
==Consequences== | |||
{{main|Results of the War of 1812}} | {{main|Results of the War of 1812}} | ||
The border between the United States and Canada remained essentially unchanged by the war, with neither side making meaningful territorial gains.{{efn|Spain, a British ally, lost control of the ] area to the Americans as a consequence of the ] which took place concurrently with the War of 1812.}} Despite the Treaty of Ghent not addressing the original points of contention and establishing the '']'', relations between the United States and Britain changed drastically. The issue of impressment also became irrelevant as the Royal Navy no longer needed sailors after the war.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} | |||
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. | |||
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. | |||
The long-term results of the war were generally satisfactory for both the United States and Great Britain. Except for occasional border disputes and some tensions during and after the American Civil War, relations between the United States and Britain remained peaceful for the rest of the 19th century. In the 20th century, spurred by multiple world conflicts, the two countries became ]. The memory of the conflict played a major role in helping to consolidate a Canadian national identity after 1867, the year of ].{{sfn|Bickham|2012|pp=262–280}} | |||
Excepting occasional border disputes and the circumstances of the ], 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 ]. (A border dispute along the ]-] border was settled by the 1842 ] after the bloodless ], and the border in the ] was settled by the 1846 ].) "But the lessons of the war were taken to heart. Anti-American sentiment in Great Britain ran high for several years, but the United States was never again refused proper treatment as an independent power" <ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 458 Quote of Winston Churchill</ref> | |||
The ] between the United States and Britain was enacted in 1817. It demilitarized the ] and ], where many British naval arrangements and forts still remained. The treaty laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary. It remains in effect to this day.<ref>Christopher Mark Radojewski, "The Rush–Bagot Agreement: Canada–US Relations in Transition." ''American Review of Canadian Studies'' 47.3 (2017): 280–299.</ref> | |||
===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."<ref>Stagg (1983)</ref>. Nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The opposition ] collapsed and an ] ensued. | |||
=== Bermuda === | |||
The United States no longer questioned the need for a strong Navy and indeed completed three new 74-gun ships of the line and two new 44-gun frigates shortly after the end of the war.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pg. 456,467</ref> (Another frigate had been destroyed to prevent it being captured on the stocks).<ref name=TR-Naval-War></ref> In 1816 the U.S. Congress passed into law an "Act for the gradual increase of the Navy" at a cost of one million dollars a year for eight years authorizing nine ships of the line and 12 heavy frigates.<ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 457</ref> The Captains and Commodores of the U.S. Navy became the heroes of their generation in the United States. Decorated plates and pitchers of Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Perry and Macdonough were made in Staffordshire, England, and found a ready market in the United States. Three of the war heroes used their celebrity to win national office: ] (]), ] (]), and ] (]). | |||
]]] | |||
Bermuda had been largely left to the defences of its own militia and privateers before American independence, but the Royal Navy had begun buying up land and operating from there beginning in 1795, after a number of years spent surveying the reefs to find ] channel (which enabled large frigates and ships of the line to pass through the surrounding reefs to ] Anchorage and the enclosed harbours). As construction work progressed through the first half of the 19th century, Bermuda became an ] and the permanent naval headquarters the ], housing the ] and serving as a base and dockyard. Defence infrastructure remained the central leg of Bermuda's economy until after World War II.{{sfn|Stranack|1990|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{sfn|Naval Historical Foundation 2012}}{{sfn|Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda}} | |||
=== The Canadas === | |||
The ] states became increasingly frustrated over how the war was being conducted, and how the conflict was affecting their states. They complained that the United States government was not investing enough in the states' defenses both militarily and financially, and that the states should have more control over their militia. The increased taxes, the British blockade, and the occupation of some of New England by enemy forces also agitated public opinion in the states. | |||
After the war, pro-British leaders in Upper Canada demonstrated a strong hostility to American influences, including republicanism, which shaped its policies.{{sfn|Akenson|1999|p=137}} Immigration from the United States was discouraged and favour was shown to the ] as opposed to the more Americanized ].{{sfn|Landon|1941|p=123}} | |||
The Battle of York showed the vulnerability of Upper and Lower Canada (]). In the decades following the war, several projects were undertaken to improve the defence of the colonies against the United States. They included work on ] at ], ] at Kingston, and rebuilding ] at York. Additionally, work began on the ] to defend the port against foreign navies.{{sfn|Hayes|2008|p=117}} Akin to the American view that it was a "Second War of Independence" for the United States, the war was also somewhat of a war of independence for Canada.{{sfn|O'Grady|2008|p=892}} Before the war Canada was a mix of French Canadians, native-born British subjects, loyalists and Americans who migrated there. Historian ] maintains that the war that threatened Canada greatly helped to cement these disparate groups into a unified nation.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=304}} | |||
As a result, at the ] (December-January 1814/15) held in ], New England representatives asked for New England to have its states' powers fully restored. Nevertheless, a common misconception which had been propagated by newspapers of the time was that the New England representatives wanted to secede from the Union and make a separate peace with the British. This view is not supported by what actually happened at the Convention. <ref>Benn, Carl; The War of 1812; Osprey Publishing; p259-260</ref> | |||
=== Indigenous nations === | |||
===British North America=== | |||
] in the early 1790s]] | |||
The War of 1812 was seen by the people in ], and later ], 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<ref> 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 </ref>. | |||
The Indigenous tribes allied to the British lost their cause. The Americans rejected the British proposal to create an "]" in the American West at the Ghent peace conference and it never resurfaced.{{sfn|Hatter|2016|p=213}} ] argues that "fter the War of 1812, the U.S. negotiated over two hundred Indian treaties that involved the ceding of Indian lands and 99 of these agreements resulted in the creation of reservations west of the Mississippi River".{{sfn|Fixico}} | |||
The Indigenous nations lost most of their ]-trapping territory.{{sfn|Berthier-Foglar|Otto|2020|p=26}} Indigenous nations were displaced in Alabama, ], ] and ], losing most of what is now Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin within the Northwest Territory as well as in New York and the ]. They came to be seen as an undesirable burden by British policymakers, who now looked to the United States for markets and raw materials.{{sfn|Calloway|1986|pp=1–20}} Everyone, including British fur traders were prohibited from entering in the United States for purposes of trade.{{sfn|Berthier-Foglar|Otto|2020|p=26}} | |||
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.<ref>CMH, "Origins of the Militia Myth" (February 2006) </ref> | |||
British Indian agents however continued to meet regularly with their former allies among the tribes of the Old Northwest, but refused to supply them with arms or help them resist American attempts to displace them. The American government rapidly built a network of forts throughout the Old Northwest, thus establishing firm military control. It also sponsored American fur traders, who outcompeted the British fur traders.{{sfn|Calloway|1986|pp=1–20}} Meanwhile, Euro-American settlers rapidly migrated into the Old Northwest, into the lands occupied by the tribes who were previously allied with the British.<ref>], p. 162</ref> The War of 1812 marked a turning point in the history of the Old Northwest because it established United States authority over the British and Indians of that border region.<ref>Francis Paul Prucha, ''American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly'', University of California Press, 1994, 129–145, 183–201</ref> | |||
The US Army had done poorly, on the whole, in several attempts to invade Canada, and the Canadians had shown that they would fight bravely to defend their country. But the British did not doubt that the thinly populated territory would be vulnerable in a third war. "We cannot keep Canada if the Americans declare war against us again" Admiral Sir David Milne wrote to a correspondent in 1817.<ref>Toll, Ian V. pg 458,459</ref> | |||
After the decisive defeat of the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, some Creek warriors escaped to join the Seminole in Florida.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} The remaining Creek chiefs signed away about half their lands, comprising 23,000,000 acres, covering much of southern Georgia and two-thirds of modern Alabama. The Creek were separated from any future help from the Spanish in Florida and from the Choctaw and Chickasaw to the west.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcn-nsn.gov/culturehistory/|title=Culture/History |website=Muscogee (Creek) Nation |access-date=19 March 2021|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318201200/https://www.mcn-nsn.gov/culturehistory/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
The ] demonstrated the vulnerability of ] and ]. In the 1820s, work began on ] at ] as a defence against the United States. The fort remains an operational base of the ]. Additionally, work began on the ] to defend the port against American attacks. This fort remained in operation through World War II. | |||
=== United Kingdom === | |||
In the 1830s, the ] was built to provide a secure waterway from ] to Lake Ontario avoiding the narrows of the St. Lawrence River where ships could be vulnerable to American cannon-fire. The British also built ] at Kingston to defend the canal and remained operational until 1891. | |||
] deciding whether to leap into the hands of the British, December 1814. The convention led to widespread fears that the New England states might attempt to secede from the United States.]] | |||
The war is seldom remembered in the United Kingdom. The war in Europe against the French Empire under ] ensured that the British did not consider the War of 1812 against the United States as more than a sideshow.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=304}} Britain's blockade of French trade had worked and the Royal Navy was the world's dominant nautical power (and remained so for another century). While the land campaigns had contributed to saving Canada, the Royal Navy had shut down American commerce, bottled up the United States Navy in port and widely suppressed privateering. British businesses, some affected by rising insurance costs, were demanding peace so that trade could resume with the United States.{{sfnm|1a1=Heidler|1a2=Heidler|1y=2002|1p=7|2a1=Latimer|2y=2009|2p=88}} The peace was generally welcomed by the British, although there was disquiet about the rapid growth of the United States. The two nations quickly resumed trade after the end of the war and a growing friendship.{{sfn|Stearns|2008|p=547}} | |||
The historian Donald Hickey maintains that for Britain, "the best way to defend Canada was to accommodate the United States. This was the principal rationale for Britain's long-term policy of rapprochement with the United States in the nineteenth century and explains why they were so often willing to sacrifice other imperial interests to keep the republic happy".{{sfn|Hickey|2014}} | |||
The idea has been advanced (especially in Canada) that this was the first war the US lost, but this is a highly debatable point. | |||
=== |
=== United States === | ||
] celebrations in 1819. In the United States, the war was followed by the ], a period that saw nationalism and a desire for national unity rise throughout the country.|left]] | |||
] had been largely left to the defenses 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 saw it rise to a new prominence. | |||
The nation gained a strong sense of complete independence as people celebrated their "second war of independence".{{sfnm|1a1=Langguth|1y=2006|pp=1, 177|2a1=Cogliano|2y=2008|2p=247}} Nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The opposition Federalist Party collapsed due to its opposition to the war and the ] ensued.{{sfn|Dangerfield|1952|pp=xi–xiii, 95}} | |||
No longer questioning the need for a strong Navy, the United States built three new 74-gun ] and two new 44-gun frigates shortly after the end of the war.{{sfn|Toll|2006|pp=456, 467}} In 1816, the United States Congress passed into law an "Act for the gradual increase of the Navy" at a cost of $1,000,000 a year for eight years, authorizing nine ships of the line and 12 ]s.{{sfn|Toll|2006|p=457}} The captains and commodores of the Navy became the heroes of their generation in the United States. Several war heroes used their fame to win elections to national office. Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison both benefited from their military successes to win the presidency, while representative Richard Mentor Johnson's role during the war helped him attain the vice presidency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Richard_M_Johnson.htm|title=Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th Vice President (1837–1841)|website=U.S. Senate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815145044/https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Richard_M_Johnson.htm |archive-date= Aug 15, 2021 }}</ref> | |||
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 ]. 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 ]. | |||
During the war, New England states became increasingly frustrated over how the war was being conducted and how the conflict affected them. They complained that the United States government was not investing enough militarily and financially in the states' defences and that the states should have more control over their militias. Increased taxes, the British blockade, and the occupation of some of New England by enemy forces also agitated public opinion in the states.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|pp=255ff}} At the Hartford Convention held between December 1814 and January 1815, Federalist delegates deprecated the war effort and sought more autonomy for the New England states. They did not call for secession but word of the angry anti-war resolutions appeared as peace was announced and the victory at New Orleans was known. The upshot was that the Federalists were permanently discredited and quickly disappeared as a major political force.{{sfn|Cogliano|2008|p=}} | |||
=== Great Britain === | |||
The war is scarcely remembered in Britain <ref>Caffery, Kate; p290</ref> because it was overshadowed by the far larger conflict against ]. Britain's goals of impressing seamen and blocking trade with France had been achieved and were no longer needed. | |||
This war enabled thousands of ] to escape to freedom, despite the difficulties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/wedged-between-slavery-and-freedom.htm|title=Wedged Between Slavery and Freedom: African American Equality Deferred |website=U.S. National Park Service |date=August 14, 2017 |first1=Gene Allen |last1=Smith |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230719152949/https://www.nps.gov/articles/wedged-between-slavery-and-freedom.htm |archive-date= Jul 19, 2023 }}</ref> The British helped numerous escaped slaves resettle in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where ] had also been granted land after the American Revolutionary War.<ref name=":0"/> | |||
In the early years of the nineteenth century, the ] was the dominant nautical power in the world.<ref></ref> It used its overwhelming strength to cripple American maritime trade and launch raids on the American coast. However, the Royal Navy was acutely conscious that the ] had won most of the single-ship duels during the war.<ref name=TR-Naval-War/> The causes of the losses were many, but among those were the heavier broadside of the American 44-gun frigates, and the fact that the large American crews were hand-picked from among 55,000 unemployed merchant seamen in American harbors. The United States Navy had 14 frigates and smaller ships to crew at the start of the war, while Great Britain maintained 85 ships in North American waters alone. The crews of the British fleet, which numbered some 140,000 men, were rounded out with impressed ordinary seamen and landsmen.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pg. 382–383</ref> In an order to his ships, Admiral ] ordered that less attention be paid to spit and polish and more to gunnery practice.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pg. 382</ref> It is notable that the well-trained gunnery of HMS ''Shannon'' allowed her victory over USS ''Chesapeake''.<ref>Toll, Ian V. Pgs. 405-417</ref> | |||
Jackson invaded ] (then part of ]) in 1818, demonstrating to Spain that it could no longer control that colonial territory with a small force. Spain sold Florida to the United States in 1819 under the ] following the ]. Pratt concludes that "hus indirectly the War of 1812 brought about the acquisition of Florida".{{sfn|Pratt|1955|p=138}} | |||
==See also== | |||
{{Portal}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
== |
== Historiography == | ||
{{excerpt|Historiography of the War of 1812|templates=-tone}} | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
== See also == | |||
{{cols|colwidth=30em}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
{{colend}} | |||
== Notes == | |||
{{notelist|2}} | |||
== References == | == References == | ||
{{reflist|20em}} | |||
*Toll, Ian V., Six Frigates ISBN 139780393058475 | |||
*Caffrey, Kate, The Twilight's Last Gleaming ISBN 0812819209 | |||
*Latimer, Jon, 1812: War with America ISBN 0674025849 | |||
== |
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** {{Google books|id=390r2-ayPY0C|title=The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict}} | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Ingersoll |first=Charles Jared |title=Historical sketch of the second war between the United States of America, and Great Britain ... |author-link=Charles Jared Ingersoll |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Lea and Blanchard |year=1845 |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch02inge }} | |||
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* {{cite journal |last1=Maass |first1=R. W. |title="Difficult to Relinquish Territory Which Had Been Conquered": Expansionism and the War of 1812|year=2014|pages=70–97|doi=10.1093/dh/dht132|journal=Diplomatic History|volume=39}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=MacDowell |first=Lillian Ione Rhoades |title=The Story of Philadelphia |year=1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/storyphiladelph00macdgoog |page= |publisher=American Book Company }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Mahan |first=A. T.|title=The Negotiations at Ghent in 1814|year=1905|pages=60–87|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=11|issue=1|jstor=1832365|doi=10.2307/1832365}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Malcomson|first=Robert|year=1998|title=Lords of the Lake: The Naval War on Lake Ontario 1812–1814|location=Toronto|publisher=Robin Brass Studio|isbn=1-896941-08-7|url=https://archive.org/details/lordsoflakenaval0000malc|url-access=registration}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Malcomson|first=Thomas|year=2012|title=Freedom by Reaching the Wooden World: American Slaves and the British Navy During the War of 1812|journal=The Northern Mariner|volume=XXII|issue=4|pages=361–392|doi=10.25071/2561-5467.294|s2cid=247337446|url=https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol22/tnm_22_361-392.pdf}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Marsh|first=James H.|date=23 October 2011|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/capture-of-detroit-war-of-1812|title=Capture of Detroit, War of 1812|encyclopedia=Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date=12 July 2019}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=McPherson|first=Alan|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utC5YT7wFgAC&pg=PA699|title=Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America|volume=2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=699|isbn=978-1-59884-260-9}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Millett |first=Nathaniel|title=The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World|year=2013|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=978-0-8130-4454-5}} | |||
* {{cite thesis|last=Morales|first=Lisa R.|year=2009|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9922/|title=The Financial History of the War of 1812|type=PhD dissertation|publisher=University of North Texas|access-date=31 July 2020}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Nettels|first=Curtis P.|title=The Emergence of a National Economy, 1775–1815|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-49675-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSEvDwAAQBAJ}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Nolan|first=David J.|chapter=Fort Johnson, Cantonment Davis, and Fort Edwards|title=Frontier Forts of Iowa: Indians, Traders, and Soldiers, 1682–1862|year=2009|pages=85–94|editor=William E. Whittaker|publisher=University of Iowa Press|location=Iowa City|isbn=978-1-58729-831-8|chapter-url=http://uipress.uiowa.edu/books/2009-fall/whittaker.htm|access-date=2 September 2009|archive-date=5 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805200748/http://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/2009-fall/whittaker.htm|url-status=dead}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Nugent|first=Walter|title=Habits of Empire:A History of American Expansionism|date=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DAvNnBOufUC&pg=PA42|location=New York|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4000-7818-9}} | |||
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* {{cite book |editor-last=O'Grady |editor-first=Jean |year=2008|chapter=Canadian and American Values|title=Interviews with Northrop Frye|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|pages=887–903 |doi=10.3138/9781442688377 |isbn=978-1-4426-8837-7 |jstor=10.3138/9781442688377}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Order of the Senate of the United States|title=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America |year=1828 |publisher=Ohio State University}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Owsley |first=Frank Lawrence |title=The Role of the South in the British Grand Strategy in the War of 1812 |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |date=Spring 1972 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=22–38 |jstor=42623279}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Owsley|first=Frank Lawrence|title=Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812–1815|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZYIAAAACAAJ|year=2000|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-1062-2}} | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Perkins |first=Bradford |title=Castereagh and Adams: England and The United States, 1812–1823 |year=1964 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |isbn=9780520009974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F352AAAAMAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Pratt |first=Julius W. |title=Expansionists of 1812 |year=1925 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAN3AAAAMAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Pratt |first=Julius W. |title=A history of United States foreign-policy |year=1955 |publisher=Prentice-Hall |isbn=9780133922820 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amEdAAAAIAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite web |title=Proclamation: Province of Upper Canada |date=1812 |publisher=Library and Archives Canada |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/7288766718/in/photostream |access-date=20 June 2012 |via=flickr |ref={{sfnref|Proclamation: Province of Upper Canada|1812}} }} | |||
* {{cite news|last=Prohaska|first=Thomas J.|title=Lewiston monument to mark Tuscarora heroism in War of 1812|date=21 August 2010|newspaper=]|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-county/article44523.ece|access-date=12 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611065343/http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-county/article44523.ece|archive-date=11 June 2011|url-status=dead}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Quimby|first=Robert S.|title=The U.S. Army in the War of 1812: An Operational and Command Study|year=1997|publisher=Michigan State University Press|location=East Lansing|url=https://www.questia.com/read/42476620|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=27 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627113320/http://www.questia.com/read/42476620|url-status=dead}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Reilly|first=Robin|title=The British at the Gates: The New Orleans Campaign in the War of 1812|url=https://archive.org/details/britishatgatesne00reil|url-access=registration|year=1974|publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons|location=New York|isbn=9780399112669}} | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Remini |first=Robert V.|year=2002|title=Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars|location=London|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=0-14-200128-7}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Ridler|first=Jason|date=4 March 2015|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-stoney-creek|title=Battle of Stoney Creek|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date=22 September 2020}} | |||
* {{cite book |editor-last=Riggs |editor-first=Thomas |chapter-url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3611000972/GPS |chapter=War of 1812 |year=2015 |title=Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History |edition=illustrated 2nd |volume=3 |publisher=Cengage Gale |isbn=978-1-57302-757-1 }} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Risjord|first=Norman K.|title=1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nation's Honor |year=1961 |pages=196–210 |journal=William and Mary Quarterly|volume=18|jstor=1918543 |issue=2|doi=10.2307/1918543}} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Rodger |first1=N. A. M. |title=Command of the Ocean|author-link1=Nicholas A. M. Rodger|location=London|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2005|isbn=0-14-028896-1}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Rodriguez |first=Junius P. |title=The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia |year=2002 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-188-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Theodore |title=The Naval War of 1812 |year=1904 |location=New York and London |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |url=https://archive.org/details/navalwarof1812hist00roos |volume=I }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Theodore |year=1900 |title=The Naval War of 1812 |url=https://archive.org/details/navalwarof181200roos |location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |volume=II }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Rosentreter|first=Roger|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPPdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|title=Michigan's Early Military Forces: A Roster and History of Troops Activated Prior to the American Civil War|publisher=Great Lakes Books|isbn=0-8143-3081-9}} | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Joshua |title=Borderland Smuggling|year=2007|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville |isbn=978-0-8130-2986-3}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Joshua |title=Battle for the Bay: The War of 1812 |year=2011 |publisher=Goose Lane Editions |location=Fredericton, New Brunswick |isbn=978-0-86492-644-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fRjMQEACAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Sjolander|first=Claire Turenner |year=2014 |title=Through the Looking Glass: Canadian Identity and the War of 1812|journal=International Journal|volume=69|issue=2|pages=152–167 |doi=10.1177/0020702014527892 |s2cid=145286750}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Stagg |first=John C. A. |title=James Madison and the Coercion of Great Britain: Canada, the West Indies, and the War of 1812 |date=January 1981 |pages=3–34 |journal=William and Mary Quarterly |volume=38 |issue=1 |jstor=1916855 |doi=10.2307/1916855 |isbn=978-0-521-89820-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHKuBQOpwXkC }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Stagg|first=John C. A.|title=Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830|year=1983|location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691047027|url=https://archive.org/details/mrmadisonswarpol0000stag|url-access=registration}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Stagg |first=John C. A. |title=The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent |year=2012 |series=Cambridge Essential Histories |isbn=978-0-521-72686-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wt4gAwAAQBAJ }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Stanley|first=George F. G.|title=The War of 1812: Land Operations|year=1983|url=https://archive.org/details/warof1812landope0000stan|url-access=registration|publisher=Macmillan of Canada|isbn=0-7715-9859-9}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Starkey |first=Armstrong |year=2002 |title=European and Native American Warfare 1675–1815 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-36339-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIWNAgAAQBAJ }} | |||
* {{cite book |editor-last=Stearns |editor-first=Peter N. |year=2008|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World|volume=7|page=547}} | |||
* {{cite book |editor-last=Stewart |editor-first=Richard W. |year=2005 |title=American Military History, Volume 1: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775–1917 |chapter=Chapter 6: The War of 1812 |publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |location=Washington, DC |chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/books/AMH/AMH-06.htm |access-date=8 February 2019 |via=history.army.mil }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Stranack |first=Ian |year=1990 |title=The Andrew and the Onions: The Story of the Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975 |edition=2nd |publisher=Bermuda Maritime Museum Press |isbn=978-0-921560-03-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJBjAAAAMAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Sugden|first=John|title=The Southern Indians in the War of 1812: The Closing Phase |date=January 1982|jstor=30146793|journal=Florida Historical Quarterly|volume=60|issue=3|pages=273–312}} | |||
* {{cite web|title=Summer 1812: Congress stages fiery debates over whether to declare war on Britain|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/mr-madison-s-war.htm|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|access-date=21 September 2017|ref={{sfnref|Summer 1812: Congress}}}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Swanson |first=Neil H. |title=The Perilous Fight: Being a Little Known and Much Abused Chapter of Our National History in Our Second War of Independence. Recounted Mainly from Contemporary Records |year=1945 |publisher=Farrar and Rinehart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fiU-AAAAIAAJ }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Sword |first=Wiley |title=President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790–1795|year=1985 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0806118642}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Alan|title=The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution|year=2007|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-1-4000-4265-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nYRpx1X46YC}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Alan |title=The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies |year=2010 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4000-4265-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nYRpx1X46YC }} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=John Herd|last2=Randall|first2=Stephen J.|title=Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4KxDd4K1X-gC&pg=PA22|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-3113-3}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Toll|first=Ian W.|title=Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy|year=2006|publisher=W. W. Norton|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9iQaPTPYiEC&pg=PP1|isbn=978-0-393-05847-5}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Trautsch |first=Jasper M. |title=The Causes of the War of 1812: 200 Years of Debate |date=January 2013|pages=273–293|journal=Journal of Military History|volume=77|number=1}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia|editor-last = Tucker | editor-first = Spencer C. | year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyNakUZmQ9IC&pg=PA1097|title=The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political, Social, and Military History |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political, Social, and Military History|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=1097|isbn=978-1-85109-603-9}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C.|year=2012 |title=The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 |volume=1 |edition=illustrated |location=Santa Barbara, California|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-956-6}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Turner |first=Wesley B. |title=The Astonishing General: The Life and Legacy of Sir Isaac Brock |year=2011 |publisher=Dundurn Press |isbn=9781459700079 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8vuLBX6XwsC }} | |||
* {{cite web|url=https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/major-events/war-of-1812-overview/|title=War of 1812 Overview|website=USS Constitution Museum|date=17 August 2019|access-date=22 July 2020|ref={{harvid|USS ''Constitution'' Museum}}}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Updyke|first=Frank Arthur|title=The Diplomacy of the War of 1812|year=1915|url=https://archive.org/details/diplomacyofwarof02updy|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press}} | |||
* {{cite web |title=The War of 1812: (1812–1815) |publisher=Commonwealth of Kentucky |website=National Guard History eMuseum |url=http://www.kynghistory.ky.gov/history/1qtr/warof1812.htm |access-date=22 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302020848/http://www.kynghistory.ky.gov/history/1qtr/warof1812.htm |archive-date=2 March 2009 |url-status=dead |ref={{harvid|National Guard History eMuseum}} }} | |||
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* {{cite book| editor-last=Voelcker |editor-first=Tim| title=Broke of the Shannon and the war of 1812 |year=2013 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley}} | |||
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* {{cite book|last1=Ward|first1=A. W.|last2=Gooch|first2=G. P.|title=The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, 1783–1919: 1783–1815|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistor00goocgoog|year=1922|publisher=Macmillan Company}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Waselkov|first=Gregory A.|year=2009|orig-date=2006|title=A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813–1814|edition=illustrated|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5573-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=igdeU3JOTf0C}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Webed|first=William|year=2013|title=Neither Victor nor Vanquished: America in the War of 1812|publisher=University of Nebraska Press, ]|isbn=978-1-61234-607-6 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt1ddr8tx |jstor=j.ctt1ddr8tx}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=We Have Met The Enemy, and They are Ours|encyclopedia=Dictionary of American History|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/we-have-met-enemy-and-they-are-ours|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=12 June 2018|ref=CITEREFWe Have Met}} | |||
* {{cite web|last=Weiss|first=John McNish|title=The Corps of Colonial Marines: Black freedom fighters of the War of 1812|date=2013|website=Mcnish and Weiss|url=http://www.mcnishandweiss.co.uk/history/colonialmarines.html|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208143724/http://www.mcnishandweiss.co.uk/history/colonialmarines.html|archive-date=8 February 2018|url-status=dead}} | |||
* {{Cite book |section=The Earl of Liverpool to Viscount Castlereagh |title=Supplementary despatches, correspondence and memoranda of the Duke of Wellington, K. G |date=1862 |editor=Second Duke of Wellington |location=London |publisher=John Murray |volume=9 |ref=CITEREFBritish Foreign Policy Documents |url=https://archive.org/details/supplementaryde08wellgoog/page/495/mode/1up |oclc=60466520 }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=White|first=Richard|title=The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHLfiOZVzmMC&pg=PA416|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-00562-4}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Whitfield|first=Harvey Amani|date=September 2005|url=https://lh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/lh/article/viewFile/5679/4872|title=The Development of Black Refugee Identity in Nova Scotia, 1813–1850|journal=Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate|volume=10|issue=2|doi=10.25071/1913-9632.5679|access-date=31 July 2020|doi-access=free}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Whitfield |first=Harvey Amani |year=2006 |title=Blacks on the Border: The Black Refugees in British North America, 1815–1860 |publisher=University of Vermont Press |isbn=978-1-58465-606-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_kXfcV5sZUC }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Wilentz|first=Sean|title=Andrew Jackson|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GhZl6KhM4cC&pg=PP8|location=New York|publisher=Henry Holt and Co. |isbn=0-8050-6925-9}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Willig |first=Timothy D.|title=Restoring the Chain of Friendship: British Policy and the Indians of the Great Lakes, 1783–1815 |year=2008|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|edition=2014|isbn=978-0-8032-4817-5}} | |||
* {{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Wolf |first=Joshua J. |date=2015 |title=The Misfortnne to get Pressed:"The Impressment of American Seaman and the Ramifications of the United States, 1793–1812 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |url=https://scholarshare.temple.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12613/4048/TETDEDXWolf-temple-0225E-12189.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y }} | |||
* {{cite news|last=Woodworth|first=Samuel|title=The War|date=4 July 1812|url=https://archive.org/details/warv1n2wood/page/1|newspaper=The War|via=Internet Archive|access-date=8 February 2019|location=New York|publisher=S. Woodworth & Co.}} | |||
<!-- Z --> | |||
* {{cite book |last=Zimmerman |first=Scott Fulton |title=Impressment of American Seamen |volume= |author-link=James Fulton Zimmerman |publisher=Columbia University |year=1925 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV4SAAAAYAAJ }} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== Further reading == | |||
==External links== | |||
{{main|Bibliography of the War of 1812}} | |||
{{external links}} | |||
{{refbegin|30em}} | |||
{{Wikisource|US Declaration of War against the United Kingdom}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last1=Norton |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1G_DwAAQBAJ |title=A Mohawk memoir from the War of 1812 |last2=Benn |first2=Carl |date=2019 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4875-0432-8 |location=Toronto (Canada)}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Byrd |first=Cecil K. |date=March 1942 |title=The Northwest Indians and the British Preceding the War of 1812 |url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/7354/8422 |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=31–50 |issn=0019-6673 |jstor=27787290}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Cite web |title=The U.S. Army Campaigns of the War of 1812 |url=https://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/collect/wo1812-bseries.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807203022/https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/collect/wo1812-bseries.html |archive-date=7 August 2020 |access-date=29 July 2020 |website=] |ref=none}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Barbuto|first=Richard V.|year=2013|title=The Canadian Theater 1813|publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |isbn=978-0-16-092084-4}} | |||
* From ''The Andrew and the Onions'', by Lt. Cmdr. I. Strannack. | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Barbuto |author-mask=2 |first=Richard V.|year=2014|title=The Canadian Theater 1814|publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-092384-5}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Blackmon|first=Richard D.|title=The Creek War 1813–1814|year=2014|pages=43|publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-092542-9}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Maass |first=John R. |title=Defending A New Nation 1783–1811 |publisher=] |year=2013 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=59 |oclc=868340900 |ref=none}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Neimeyer|first=Charles P.|year=2014|title=The Chesapeake Campaign, 1813–1814|publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-092535-1}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Rauch|first=Steven J.|year=2013|title=The Campaign of 1812|pages=58|publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |isbn=978-0-16-092092-9}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Stoltz III|first=Joseph F.|year=2014|title=The Gulf Theater, 1813–1815}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite journal|ref=none|last1=Cleves|first1=Rachel Hope|last2=Eustace|first2=Nicole|last3=Gilje |first3=Paul |date=September 2012|title=Interchange: The War of 1812|journal=Journal of American History|volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=520–555 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jas236}} Historiography. | |||
* of the James Madison University | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Collins|first=Gilbert|year=2006|title=Guidebook to the historic sites of the War of 1812|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=1-55002-626-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UmbQbOcdKngC&pg=PP1}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Dale |first=Ronald J. |title=The invasion of Canada: battles of the War of 1812 |publisher=Lorimer Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-55028-738-7 |location=Toronto |ref=none}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite magazine|ref=none|last=Foreman|first=Amanda|title=The British View the War of 1812 quite differently than Americans Do|date=July 2014|magazine=]|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/british-view-war-1812-quite-differently-americans-do-180951852/}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Fowler|first=William M. Jr.|title=Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic|year=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1-62040-909-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pa0rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite DCB|ref=none|last=Fraser|first=Robert Lochiel|title=Mallory, Benajah|volume=8|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mallory_benajah_8E.html}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite news |ref=none |last=Hattendorf |first=J. B. |date=28 January 2012 |title=The War Without a Loser |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |id={{ProQuest|918117327}} |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204409004577156861451737498 |access-date=29 July 2020 }} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite journal|ref=none|last=Jensen|first=Richard|year=2012|title=Military history on the electronic frontier: Misplaced Pages fights the War of 1812|journal=Journal of Military History|volume=76|issue=4|pages=523–556|url=http://www.americanhistoryprojects.com/downloads/JMH1812.PDF}} | |||
* New York State Military Museum: | |||
* {{cite DCB |last=Jones|first=Elwood H.|title=Willcocks, Joseph|volume=V |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/willcocks_joseph_5E.html}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Knodell|first=Jane Ellen|title=The Second Bank of the United States: "Central" Banker in an Era of Nation-building, 1816–1836|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADAlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-66277-8}} | |||
* | |||
* {{cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Christopher |title=The British Seaman 1200–1860: A Social Survey |publisher=Associated University Presse |year=1970 |isbn=9780838677087 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Akyn_wEeiboC }} | |||
* (''The Straight Dope'', 10-Oct-2006) | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Lindsay |first=Arnett G. |date=October 1920 |title=Diplomatic Relations between the United States and Great Britain Bearing on the Return of Negro Slaves, 1783-1828 |journal=The Journal of Negro History |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=391–419 |doi=10.2307/2713676 |jstor=2713676 |issn=0022-2992 |ref=none}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Hatzenbuehler |first1=Ronald L. |last2= Ivie |first2=Robert L. |date=Autumn 1980 |title=Justifying the War of 1812: Toward a Model of Congressional Behavior in Early War Crises |url= |journal=Social Science History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=4 |issue=4 |jstor=1171017 |pages=453–477}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Malcolmson |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DRqpoBEEoloC |title=Historical dictionary of the war of 1812 |date=2006 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8108-5499-4 |series=Historical dictionaries of war, revolution, and civil unrest |location=Lanham, Md. |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Robertson |first=J. Ross |url=https://archive.org/details/landmarkstoronto01robeuoft |title=Landmarks of Toronto; a collection of historical sketches of the old town of York from 1792 until 1833, and of Toronto from 1834 to 1893 Volume 1 |date=1894–1914 |publisher=J. Ross Robertson |location=Toronto |pages=46–47 |chapter=Chapter XXIV: Andrew Mercer's Cottage |oclc=1084366288}} | |||
** {{Cite web |last=Peppiatt |first=Liam |date=24 September 2015 |title=Chapter 24: Andrew Mercer's Cottage |url=http://www.landmarksoftoronto.com/andrew-mercers-cottage |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160225031549/http://www.landmarksoftoronto.com/andrew-mercers-cottage%E2%80%8F/ |archive-date=25 February 2016 |website=Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto Revisited |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Perkins |first=Bradford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSHsDwAAQBAJ |title=Prologue to War: England and the United States 1805-1812 |publisher=] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-520-36141-6 |location=Berkeley (Calif.) |ref=none |orig-date=1961}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Quaife |first=Milo M. |date=March 1915 |title=The Fort Dearborn Massacre |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=561–573 |doi=10.2307/1886956 |jstor=1886956 |doi-access=free}} | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Randall|first=William Sterne|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JgumDQAAQBAJ&q=decatur|title=Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-250-11184-5}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Sapio |first=Victor A. |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/185/monograph/book/37633 |title=Pennsylvania & the War of 1812 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8131-1193-3 |location=Lexington |ref=none |orig-date=1970}} | |||
* {{cite news|ref=none|last=Simon|first=Richard|title=Who Really won the war of 1812|date=26 February 2012|newspaper=LA Times|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/26/nation/la-na-war-of-1812-20120226|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213194531/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/26/nation/la-na-war-of-1812-20120226|url-status=dead}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Skeen |first=Carl Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbEeBgAAQBAJ |title=Citizen soldiers in the War of 1812 |date=1999 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8131-2089-8 |location=Lexington}} On militia's poor performance | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Gene Allen |title=The slaves' gamble: choosing sides in the War of 1812 |publisher=] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-230-34208-8 |location=New York, NY |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Joshua M. |date=June 2011 |title=The Yankee Soldier's Might: The District of Maine and the Reputation of the Massachusetts Militia, 1800–1812 |journal=] |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=234–264 |doi=10.1162/TNEQ_a_00088 |issn=0028-4866 |s2cid=57570925 |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Stacey |first=C. P. |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116300872201 |title=The Defended Border: Upper Canada and the War of 1812 |publisher=] |year=1964 |editor-last=Turner |editor-first=Wesley B. |location=Toronto |chapter=The War of 1812 in Canadian History |isbn=978-0-7705-1242-2 |ref=none |editor-last2=Zaslow |editor-first2=Morris |url-access=registration}} | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Stagg|first=J. C. A.|year=2012|title=The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent|series=Cambridge Essential Histories|isbn=978-0-521-72686-3}} | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last1=Studenski|first1=Paul|last2=Krooss|first2=Herman Edward|title=Financial History of the United States|year=1963|publisher=Beard Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0UqxH-5fdkC&pg=PA77|isbn=978-1-58798-175-3|at=p. 77 tbl. 5 and p. 79 tbl. 6}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Suthren |first=Victor J. H. |title=The War of 1812 |publisher=] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7710-8317-4 |location=Toronto |ref=none}} | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Tanner|first=Helen H.|year=1987|title=Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-2056-8|url=https://archive.org/details/nby_e78_g7_a87_1987}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Ward |first=John William |author-link=John William Ward (professor) |url=https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym002452mbp |title=Andrew Jackson Symbol For An Age |date=1962 |publisher=] |location=London |orig-date=1955}} | |||
* {{cite book|ref=none|last=Watts|first=Steven|year=1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7yLuSZ0ww8C&pg=PR1|title=The Republic Reborn: War and the Making of Liberal America, 1790–1820|location=Baltimore|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=0-8018-3420-1}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=White |first=Leonard D. |url=https://archive.org/details/jeffersoniansstu0000whit |title=The Jeffersonians: A Study in Administrative History 1801–1829 |publisher=Macmillan |year=1951 |location=New York |ref=none |url-access=registration}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Mentor L. |date=Winter 1953 |title=John Kinzie's Narrative of the Fort Dearborn Massacre |journal=] |publisher=University of Illinois Press |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=343–362 |issn=0019-2287 |jstor=40189329}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=William Appleman |url=https://archive.org/details/contoursofameric007738mbp |title=The Contours Of American History |publisher=] |year=1961 |location=Chicago |oclc=786165043 |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Major L. |title=Space time and freedom: The quest for nationality and the irrepressible conflict 1815-1861 |publisher=] |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-8371-7373-3 |series=Contributions in American history |location=Westport, Conn. |oclc=934543 |ref=none}} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== External links == | |||
{{American conflicts}} | |||
{{Commons category|War of 1812}} | |||
{{Library resources box|onlinebooks=yes}} | |||
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* {{cite web |title=Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation – Jay's treaty and the treaty of ghent |website=American Foreign Relations |url=http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/A-D/Arbitration-Mediation-and-Conciliation-Jay-s-treaty-and-the-treaty-of-ghent.html |access-date=1 July 2013 }} | |||
* {{cite web |title=CMH: Origins of the Militia Myth |date=26 May 2007 |website=cdnmilitary.ca |url=http://www.cdnmilitary.ca/index.php?p=19 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504135528/http://www.cdnmilitary.ca/index.php?p=19 }} | |||
* {{cite web|title=People & Stories: James Wilkinson|website=War of 1812|publisher=Galafilm|url=http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/wilkinson.html|access-date=26 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304042926/http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/wilkinson.html|archive-date=4 March 2000|url-status=dead}} | |||
* {{cite web |title=War of 1812 – Statistics |url=http://www.historyguy.com/war_of_1812_statistics.htm |work=Historyguy.com |access-date=4 September 2016 }} | |||
* {{cite web|title=War of 1812–1815|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/war-of-1812|publisher=United States Department of State|website=Office of the Historian|access-date=26 April 2016}} | |||
* , Government of Canada website. | |||
* , Department of National Defence (Canada) website. | |||
* , Kenneth Drexler. | |||
* , The William C. Cook Collection, The Williams Research Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection | |||
* William L. Clements Library. | |||
* {{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Ghent.html|title=Treaty of Ghent|year=2010|publisher=The Library of Congress|work=Primary Documents in American History}} | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706195406/http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/USHistory.html |date=6 July 2010 }}, chart by Greg D. Feldmeth, Polytechnic School (Pasadena, California), 1998. | |||
*, online exhibit on Archives of Ontario website | |||
* , David Omahen, New York State Military Museum and Veteran Research Center, 2006. | |||
* , lesson plan with extensive list of documents, EDSitement.com (National Endowment for the Humanities). | |||
* {{YouTube|Tq0LLB-X4is|''The War of 1812''}} | |||
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.37624|name="The War of 1812" U.S. Navy}} | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109052019/http://www.alastairsweeny.com/1812/index.php/Fire_Along_the_Frontier_Stories_and_Texts |date=9 January 2012 }} at Fire Along the Frontier Resource Site. | |||
* . | |||
* . | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206143106/http://collections.libraries.iub.edu/warof1812/ |date=6 February 2014 }}. | |||
* , Brock University Library Digital Repository. | |||
* , Brock University Library Digital Repository. | |||
{{War of 1812|state=expanded}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 20:37, 25 December 2024
1812–1815 conflict in North America This article is about the conflict in North America from 1812 to 1815. For the Franco–Russian conflict, see French invasion of Russia. For other uses of this term, see War of 1812 (disambiguation).
War of 1812 | |||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario frontier | |
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Niagara Frontier | |
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Great Lakes / Old Northwest theater | |
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Chesapeake campaign 1813–1814 | |
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1813
1814 |
Gulf theater 1813–1815 | |
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Prelude
1813 1814 1815 |
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.
Anglo-American tensions stemmed from long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support for Tecumseh's confederacy, which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in the Old Northwest. In 1807, these tensions escalated after the Royal Navy began enforcing tighter restrictions on American trade with France and impressed sailors who were originally British subjects, even those who had acquired American citizenship. Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both the House and Senate voted for war, they were divided along strict party lines, with the Democratic-Republican Party in favour and the Federalist Party against. News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway.
At sea, the Royal Navy imposed an effective blockade on U.S. maritime trade, while between 1812 and 1814 British regulars and colonial militia defeated a series of American invasions on Upper Canada. The April 1814 abdication of Napoleon allowed the British to send additional forces to North America and reinforce the Royal Navy blockade, crippling the American economy. In August 1814, negotiations began in Ghent, with both sides wanting peace; the British economy had been severely impacted by the trade embargo, while the Federalists convened the Hartford Convention in December to formalize their opposition to the war.
In August 1814, British troops captured Washington, before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh in September ended fighting in the north. In the Southeastern United States, American forces and Indian allies defeated an anti-American faction of the Muscogee. In early 1815, American troops led by Andrew Jackson repulsed a major British attack on New Orleans, which occurred during the ratification process of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which brought an end to the conflict.
Origins
This section is an excerpt from Origins of the War of 1812.Origins of the War of 1812 |
---|
The origins of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), between the United States and the British Empire and its First Nation allies, have been long debated. The War of 1812 was caused by multiple factors and ultimately led to the US declaration of war on Britain:
- Trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France with which Britain was at war (the US contested the restrictions as illegal under international law).
- The impressment (forced recruitment) of seamen on US vessels into the Royal Navy (the British claimed they were British deserters).
- British military support for Native Americans who were offering armed resistance to the expansion of the American frontier to the Northwest Territory.
- A possible desire by the US to annex some or all of Canada.
- US motivation and desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults, such as the Chesapeake affair.
American expansion into the Northwest Territory (now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and northeast Minnesota) was impeded by Indian raids. Some historians maintain that an American goal in the war was to annex some or all of Canada, a view many Canadians still share. However, many argue that inducing the fear of such a seizure was merely an American tactic, which was designed to obtain a bargaining chip.
Some members of the British Parliament and dissident American politicians such as John Randolph of Roanoke claimed that American expansionism, rather than maritime disputes, was the primary motivation for the American declaration of war. That view has been retained by some historians.
Although the British made some concessions before the war on neutral trade, they insisted on the right to reclaim their deserting sailors. The British also had long had a goal to create a large "neutral" Indian state that would cover much of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. They made the demand as late as 1814 at the Ghent Peace Conference but had lost battles that would have validated those claims.Forces
American
During the years 1810–1812, American naval ships were divided into two major squadrons, with the "northern division", based at New York, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, and the "southern division", based at Norfolk, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur.
Although not much of a threat to Canada in 1812, the United States Navy was a well-trained and professional force comprising over 5,000 sailors and marines. It had 14 ocean-going warships with three of its five "super-frigates" non-operational at the onset of the war. Its principal problem was lack of funding, as many in Congress did not see the need for a strong navy. The biggest ships in the American navy were frigates and there were no ships-of-the-line capable of engaging in a fleet action with the Royal Navy. On the high seas, the Americans pursued a strategy of commerce raiding, capturing or sinking British merchantmen with their frigates and privateers. The Navy was largely concentrated on the Atlantic coast before the war as it had only two gunboats on Lake Champlain, one brig on Lake Ontario and another brig in Lake Erie when the war began.
The United States Army was initially much larger than the British Army in North America. Many men carried their own long rifles while the British were issued muskets, except for one unit of 500 riflemen. Leadership was inconsistent in the American officer corps as some officers proved themselves to be outstanding, but many others were inept, owing their positions to political favours. Congress was hostile to a standing army and the government called out 450,000 men from the state militias during the war. The state militias were poorly trained, armed, and led. The failed invasion of Lake Champlain led by General Dearborn illustrates this. The British Army soundly defeated the Maryland and Virginia militias at the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814 and President Madison commented "I could never have believed so great a difference existed between regular troops and a militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day".
British
See also: Canadian units of the War of 1812The United States was only a secondary concern to Britain, so long as the Napoleonic Wars continued with France. In 1813, France had 80 ships-of-the-line and was building another 35. Containing the French fleet was the main British naval concern, leaving only the ships on the North American and Jamaica Stations immediately available. In Upper Canada, the British had the Provincial Marine. While largely unarmed, they were essential for keeping the army supplied since the roads were abysmal in Upper Canada. At the onset of war, the Provincial Marine had four small armed vessels on Lake Ontario, three on Lake Erie and one on Lake Champlain. The Provincial Marine greatly outnumbered anything the Americans could bring to bear on the Great Lakes.
When the war broke out, the British Army in North America numbered 9,777 men in regular units and fencibles. While the British Army was engaged in the Peninsular War, few reinforcements were available. Although the British were outnumbered, the long-serving regulars and fencibles were better trained and more professional than the hastily expanded United States Army. The militias of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were initially far less effective, but substantial numbers of full-time militia were raised during the war and played pivotal roles in several engagements, including the Battle of the Chateauguay which caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence River theatre.
Indigenous peoples
The highly decentralized bands and tribes considered themselves allies of, and not subordinates to, the British or the Americans. Various tribes fighting with United States forces provided them with their "most effective light troops" while the British needed Indigenous allies to compensate for their numerical inferiority. The Indigenous allies of the British, Tecumseh's confederacy in the west and Iroquois in the east, avoided pitched battles and relied on irregular warfare, including raids and ambushes that took advantage of their knowledge of terrain. In addition, they were highly mobile, able to march 30–50 miles (50–80 km) a day.
Their leaders sought to fight only under favourable conditions and would avoid any battle that promised heavy losses, doing what they thought best for their tribes. The Indigenous fighters saw no issue with withdrawing if needed to save casualties. They always sought to surround an enemy, where possible, to avoid being surrounded and make effective use of the terrain. Their main weapons were a mixture of muskets, rifles, bows, tomahawks, knives and swords as well as clubs and other melee weapons, which sometimes had the advantage of being quieter than guns.
Declaration of war
The United States Declaration of War (left) and Isaac Brock's Proclamation in response to it (right)On 1 June 1812, Madison sent a message to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. The House of Representatives then deliberated for four days behind closed doors before voting 79 to 49 (61%) in favour of the first declaration of war. The Senate concurred in the declaration by a 19 to 13 (59%) vote in favour. The declaration focused mostly on maritime issues, especially involving British blockades, with two thirds of the indictment devoted to such impositions, initiated by Britain's Orders in Council. The conflict began formally on 18 June 1812, when Madison signed the measure into law. He proclaimed it the next day. This was the first time that the United States had formally declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote was approved by the smallest margin of any declaration of war in America's history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favour of the war, while other critics referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War". Just days after war had been declared, a small number of Federalists in Baltimore were attacked for printing anti-war views in a newspaper, which eventually led to over a month of deadly rioting in the city.
Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in London on 11 May and Lord Liverpool came to power. He wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. On June 23, he issued a repeal of the Orders in Council, but the United States was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic. On 28 June 1812, HMS Colibri was dispatched from Halifax to New York under a flag of truce. She anchored off Sandy Hook on July 9 and left three days later carrying a copy of the declaration of war, British ambassador to the United States Augustus Foster and consul Colonel Thomas Henry Barclay. She arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia eight days later. The news of the declaration took even longer to reach London.
British commander Isaac Brock in Upper Canada received the news much faster. He issued a proclamation alerting citizens to the state of war and urging all military personnel "to be vigilant in the discharge of their duty", so as to prevent communication with the enemy and to arrest anyone suspected of helping the Americans. He also ordered the British garrison of Fort St. Joseph on Lake Huron to capture the American fort at Mackinac. This fort commanded the passage between Lakes Huron and Michigan, which was important to the fur trade. The British garrison, aided by fur traders of the North West Company and Sioux, Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Ottawa, immediately besieged and captured Mackinac.
Course of war
See also: Timeline of the War of 1812The war was conducted in several theatres:
- The Canada–United States border: the Great Lakes region (Old Northwest and Upper Canada), the Niagara Frontier, and the St. Lawrence River (New England and Lower Canada).
- At sea, principally the Atlantic Ocean and the American east coast.
- The Gulf Coast and Southern United States (including the Creek War in the Alabama River basin).
- The Mississippi River basin.
Unpreparedness
The war had been preceded by years of diplomatic dispute, yet neither side was ready for war when it came. Britain was heavily engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, most of the British Army was deployed in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain, and the Royal Navy was blockading most of the coast of Europe. The number of British regular troops present in Canada in July 1812 was officially 6,034, supported by additional Canadian militia. Throughout the war, the British War Secretary was Earl Bathurst, who had few troops to spare for reinforcing North America defences during the first two years of the war. He urged Lieutenant General George Prévost to maintain a defensive strategy. Prévost, who had the trust of the Canadians, followed these instructions and concentrated on defending Lower Canada at the expense of Upper Canada, which was more vulnerable to American attacks and allowed few offensive actions. Unlike campaigns along the east coast, Prevost had to operate with no support from the Royal Navy.
The United States was also not prepared for war. Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would 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 and unpopular; it paid poorly and there were initially few trained and experienced officers. The militia objected to serving outside their home states, they were undisciplined and performed poorly against British forces when called upon to fight in unfamiliar territory. Multiple militias refused orders to cross the border and fight on Canadian soil.
American prosecution of the war suffered from its unpopularity, especially in New England where anti-war speakers were vocal. Massachusetts Congressmen Ebenezer Seaver and William Widgery were "publicly insulted and hissed" in Boston while a mob seized Plymouth's Chief Justice Charles Turner on 3 August 1812 "and kicked through the town". The United States had great difficulty financing its war. It had disbanded its national bank, and private bankers in the Northeast were opposed to the war, but it obtained financing from London-based Barings Bank to cover overseas bond obligations. New England failed to provide militia units or financial support, which was a serious blow, and New England states made loud threats to secede as evidenced by the Hartford Convention. Britain exploited these divisions, opting to not blockade the ports of New England for much of the war and encouraging smuggling.
War in the West
Invasions of Canada, 1812
An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich (Windsor, Ontario) after crossing the Detroit River. Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender. The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyed – unless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction". He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters. Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to the American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies.
Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of a Shawnee ambush on Major Thomas Van Horne's 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant Colonel James Miller remained in Canada, attempting to supply the American position in the Sandwich area, with little success.
Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong. He moved to Amherstburg near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements and attacked Detroit, using Fort Malden as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, and Fort Detroit lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand a long siege. He agreed to surrender on 16 August. Hull also ordered the evacuation of Fort Dearborn (Chicago) to Fort Wayne, but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they were massacred on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned.
Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General Stephen Van Rensselaer was attempting a second invasion. The Americans attempted an attack across the Niagara River on 13 October, but they were defeated at Queenston Heights. However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American General Henry Dearborn made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory.
American Northwest, 1813
Main articles: Ohio in the War of 1812 and Siege of DetroitAfter Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of the American Army of the Northwest. He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by Colonel Henry Procter and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at Frenchtown along the River Raisin on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped 60 captive Americans. The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans.
In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set siege to Fort Meigs in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada. Along the way they attempted to storm Fort Stephenson, a small American post on the Sandusky River near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign.
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry fought the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory at Put-in-Bay ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the American victory at the Battle of the Thames on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.
American West, 1813–1815
The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except around St. Louis and a few forts and trading posts in the Boonslick. Fort Belle Fontaine was an old trading post converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters. Fort Osage, built in 1808 along the Missouri River, was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war. Fort Madison was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after the indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged it – with support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi. Black Hawk played a leadership role.
The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall established a new supply line from York to Nottawasaga Bay on Georgian Bay. He arrived at Fort Mackinac on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition which successfully besieged and recaptured the key trading post of Prairie du Chien, on the Upper Mississippi. The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in the Battle of Rock Island Rapids. In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed a second American force led by Major Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Credit Island. These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandon Fort Johnson, in central Illinois Territory. Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and eastern Missouri. However, the Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle of Cote Sans Dessein in April 1815 at the mouth of the Osage River in the Missouri Territory and the Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815 near Fort Cap au Gris. This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the British were supplying the Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac. On 3 July, 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 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the brief Battle of Mackinac Island and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schooner Nancy that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. These engagements on Lake Huron left Mackinac under British control.
The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to the United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty. Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after the war ended in the east.
War in the American Northeast
Niagara frontier, 1813
Both sides placed great importance on gaining control of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River because of the difficulties of land-based communication. The British already had a small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario when the war began and had the initial advantage. The Americans established a Navy yard at Sackett's Harbor, New York, a port on Lake Ontario. Commodore Isaac Chauncey took charge of the thousands of sailors and shipwrights assigned there and recruited more from New York. They completed a warship (the corvette USS Madison) in 45 days. Ultimately, almost 3,000 men at the shipyard built 11 warships and many smaller boats and transports. Army forces were also stationed at Sackett's Harbor, where they camped out through the town, far surpassing the small population of 900. Officers were housed with families. Madison Barracks was later built at Sackett's Harbor.
Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, on 27 April 1813 Chauncey and Dearborn attacked York, the capital of Upper Canada. At the Battle of York, the outnumbered British regulars destroyed the fort and dockyard and retreated, leaving the militia to surrender the town. American soldiers set fire to the Legislature building, and looted and vandalized several government buildings and citizens' homes.
On 25 May 1813, Fort Niagara and the American Lake Ontario squadron began bombarding Fort George. An American amphibious force assaulted Fort George on the northern end of the Niagara River on 27 May and captured it without serious losses. The British abandoned Fort Erie and headed towards Burlington Heights. The British position was close to collapsing in Upper Canada; the Iroquois considered changing sides and ignored a British appeal to come to their aid. However, the Americans did not pursue the retreating British forces until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive at the Battle of Stoney Creek on 5 June. The British launched a surprise attack at 2 a.m., leading to confused fighting and a strategic British victory.
The Americans pulled back to Forty Mile Creek rather than continue their advance into Upper Canada. At this point, the Six Nations of the Grand River began to come out to fight for the British as an American victory no longer seemed inevitable. The Iroquois ambushed an American patrol at Forty Mile Creek while the Royal Navy squadron based in Kingston sailed in and bombarded the American camp. General Dearborn retreated to Fort George, mistakenly believing that he was outnumbered and outgunned. British Brigadier General John Vincent was encouraged when about 800 Iroquois arrived to assist him.
An American force surrendered on 24 June to a smaller British force due to advance warning by Laura Secord at the Battle of Beaver Dams, marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada. British Major General Francis de Rottenburg did not have the strength to retake Fort George, so he instituted a blockade, hoping to starve the Americans into surrender. Meanwhile, Commodore James Lucas Yeo had taken charge of the British ships on the lake and mounted a counterattack, which the Americans repulsed at the Battle of Sackett's Harbor. Thereafter, Chauncey and Yeo's squadrons fought two indecisive actions, off the Niagara on 7 August and at Burlington Bay on 28 September. Neither commander was prepared to take major risks to gain a complete victory.
Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory that they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) on 10 December 1813, incensing the Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without shelter, freezing to death in the snow. The British retaliated following their Capture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813. A British-Indian force led by Riall stormed the neighbouring town of Lewiston, New York on 19 December; four American civilians were killed by drunken Indians after the battle. A small force of Tuscarora warriors engaged Riall's men during the battle, which allowed many residents of Lewiston to evacuate the village. The British and their Indian allies subsequently attacked and burned Buffalo on Lake Erie on 30 December 1813 in revenge for the American attack on Fort George and Newark in May.
St. Lawrence and Lower Canada, 1813
The British were vulnerable along the stretch of the St. Lawrence that was between Upper Canada and the United States. In the winter of 1812–1813, the Americans launched a series of raids from Ogdensburg, New York that hampered British supply traffic up the river. On 21 February, George Prévost passed through Prescott, Ontario on the opposite bank of the river with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements and local militia attacked in the Battle of Ogdensburg and the Americans were forced to retreat.
The Americans made two more thrusts against Montreal in 1813. Major General Wade Hampton was to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under General James Wilkinson that would sail from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and descend the St. Lawrence. Hampton was delayed by road and supply problems and his intense dislike of Wilkinson limited his desire to support his plan. Charles de Salaberry defeated Hampton's force of 4,000 at the Chateauguay River on 25 October with a smaller force of Canadian Voltigeurs and Mohawks. Salaberry's force numbered only 339, but it had a strong defensive position. Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on 17 October, but it was delayed by weather. Wilkinson heard that a British force was pursuing him under Captain William Mulcaster and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison and landed near Morrisburg, Ontario by 10 November, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) from Montreal. On 11 November, his rear guard of 2,500 attacked Morrison's force of 800 at Crysler's Farm and was repulsed with heavy losses. He learned that Hampton could not renew his advance, retreated to the United States 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
The Americans again invaded the Niagara frontier. They had occupied southwestern Upper Canada after they defeated Colonel Henry Procter at Moraviantown in October and believed that taking the rest of the province would force the British to cede it to them. The end of the war with Napoleon in Europe in April 1814 meant that the British could deploy their army to North America, so the Americans wanted to secure Upper Canada to negotiate from a position of strength. They planned to invade via the Niagara frontier while sending another force to recapture Mackinac. They captured Fort Erie on 3 July 1814. Unaware of Fort Erie's fall or of the size of the American force, the British general Phineas Riall engaged with Winfield Scott, who won against a British force at the Battle of Chippawa on 5 July. The American forces had been through a hard training under Winfield Scott and proved to the professionals under fire. They deployed in a shallow U formation, bringing flanking fire and well-aimed volleys against Riall's men. Riall's men were chased off the battlefield.
An attempt to advance further ended with the hard-fought but inconclusive Battle of Lundy's Lane on July 25. The battle was fought several miles north of Chippawa Creek near Niagara Falls and is considered the bloodiest and costliest battle of the war. Both sides stood their ground as American General Jacob Brown pulled back to Fort George after the battle and the British did not pursue. Commanders Riall, Scott, Brown, and Drummond were all wounded; Scott's wounds ended his service in the war.
The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged siege of Fort Erie. The British tried to storm Fort Erie on 14 August 1814, but they suffered heavy losses, losing 950 killed, wounded, and captured, compared to only 84 dead and wounded on the American side. The British were further weakened by exposure and shortage of supplies. Eventually, they raised the siege, but American Major General George Izard took over command on the Niagara front and followed up only halfheartedly. An American raid along the Grand River destroyed many farms and weakened British logistics. In October 1814, the Americans advanced into Upper Canada and engaged in skirmishes at Cook's Mill. They pulled back when they heard of the approach of the new British warship HMS St Lawrence, launched in Kingston that September and armed with 104 guns. The Americans lacked provisions and retreated across the Niagara after destroying Fort Erie.
Meanwhile, after Napoleon abdicated, 15,000 British troops were sent to North America under four of Wellington's ablest brigade commanders. Fewer than half were veterans of the Peninsular War and the rest came from garrisons. Prévost was ordered to burn Sackett's Harbor to gain naval control of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Upper Lakes, and to defend Lower Canada from attack. He did defend Lower Canada but otherwise failed to achieve his objectives, so he decided to invade New York State. His army outnumbered the American defenders of Plattsburgh under General Alexander Macomb, but he was worried about his flanks and decided that he needed naval control of Lake Champlain. Upon reaching Plattsburgh, Prévost delayed the assault until Captain George Downie arrived in the hastily built 36-gun frigate HMS Confiance. Confiance was not fully completed, and her raw crew had never worked together, but Prévost forced Downie into a premature attack.
The British squadron on the lake under was more evenly matched by the Americans under Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough. At the Battle of Plattsburgh on 11 September 1814, Confiance suffered heavy casualties and struck her colours, and the rest of the British fleet retreated. Prevost, already alienated from his veteran officers by insisting on proper dress codes, now lost their confidence, while MacDonough emerged as a national hero.
The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain; Theodore Roosevelt later termed it "the greatest naval battle of the war".
Prévost then turned back, to the astonishment of his senior officers, saying that it was too hazardous to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy. He was recalled to London, where a naval court-martial decided that defeat had been caused principally by Prévost urging the squadron into premature action and then failing to afford the promised support from the land forces. He died suddenly, just before his court-martial was to convene. His reputation sank to a new low as Canadians claimed that their militia under Brock did the job but Prévost failed. However, recent historians have been kinder. Peter Burroughs argues that his preparations were energetic, well-conceived, and comprehensive for defending the Canadas with limited means and that he achieved the primary objective of preventing an American conquest.
Occupation of Maine
Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brig Enterprise fought and captured the Royal Navy brig Boxer off Pemaquid Point.
On 11 July 1814, Thomas Masterman Hardy took Moose Island (Eastport, Maine) without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men of Fort Sullivan peacefully surrendered. The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". In September 1814, John Coape Sherbrooke led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition". In 26 days, he raided and looted Hampden, Bangor and Machias, destroying or capturing 17 American ships. He won the Battle of Hampden, with two killed while the Americans had one killed. Retreating American forces were forced to destroy the frigate Adams.
The British occupied the town of Castine and most of eastern Maine for the rest of the war, governing it under martial law and re-establishing the colony of New Ireland. The Treaty of Ghent returned this territory to the United States. When the British left in April 1815, they took £10,750 in tariff duties from Castine. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used to establish Dalhousie University in Halifax. Decisions about the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay were decided by joint commission in 1817. However, Machias Seal Island had been seized by the British as part of the occupation and was unaddressed by the commission. While kept by Britain/Canada, it remains in dispute to this day.
Chesapeake campaign
Main article: Chesapeake campaignThe strategic location of the Chesapeake Bay near the Potomac River made it a prime target for the British. Rear Admiral George Cockburn arrived there in March 1813 and was joined by Admiral Warren who took command of operations ten days later. Starting in March a squadron under Cockburn started a blockade of the mouth of the Bay at Hampton Roads harbour and raided towns along the Bay from Norfolk, Virginia to Havre de Grace, Maryland. In late April Cockburn landed at and set fire to Frenchtown, Maryland and destroyed ships that were docked there. In the following weeks he routed the local militias and looted and burned three other towns. Thereafter he marched to iron foundry at Principio and destroyed it along with sixty-eight cannons.
On 4 July 1813, Commodore Joshua Barney, an American Revolutionary War naval officer, convinced the Navy Department to build the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a squadron of twenty barges powered by small sails or oars (sweeps) to defend the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered on the Patuxent River. While successful in harassing the Royal Navy, they could not stop subsequent British operations in the area.
Burning of Washington
See also: Burning of WashingtonIn August 1814, a force of 2,500 soldiers under General Ross had just arrived in Bermuda aboard HMS Royal Oak, three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels. Released from the Peninsular War by victory, the British intended to use them for diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. In response to Prévost's request, they decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units already on the station, to strike at the national capital. Anticipating the attack, valuable documents, including the original Constitution, were removed to Leesburg, Virginia. The British task force advanced up the Chesapeake, routing Commodore Barney's flotilla of gunboats, carried out the Raid on Alexandria, landed ground forces that bested the US defenders at the Battle of Bladensburg, and carried out the Burning of Washington.
United States Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. insisted that the British were going to attack Baltimore rather than Washington, even as British army and naval units were on their way to Washington. Brigadier General William H. Winder, who had burned several bridges in the area, assumed the British would attack Annapolis and was reluctant to engage because he mistakenly thought the British army was twice its size. The inexperienced state militia was easily routed in the Battle of Bladensburg, opening the route to Washington. British troops led by Major General Robert Ross, accompanied by Cockburn, the 3rd Brigade attacked and captured Washington with a force of 4,500. On 24 August, after the British had finished looting the interiors, Ross directed his troops to set fire to number of public buildings, including the White House and the United States Capitol. Extensive damage to the interiors and the contents of both were subsequently reported. US government and military officials fled to Virginia, while Secretary of the United States Navy William Jones ordered the Washington Navy Yard and a nearby fort to be razed in order to prevent its capture. Public buildings in Washington were destroyed by the British though private residences ordered spared.
Siege of Fort McHenry
After taking some munitions from the Washington Munitions depot, the British, boarded their ships and moved on to their major target, the heavily fortified major city of Baltimore. Because some of their ships were held up in the Raid on Alexandria, they delayed their movement allowing Baltimore an opportunity to strengthen the fortifications and bring in new federal troops and state militia units. The "Battle for Baltimore" began with the British landing on 12 September 1814 at North Point, where they were met by American militia further up the Patapsco Neck peninsula. An exchange of fire began, with casualties on both sides. The British Army commander Major Gen. Robert Ross was killed by snipers. The British paused, then continued to march northwestward to face the stationed Maryland and Baltimore City militia units at Godly Wood. The Battle of North Point was fought for several afternoon hours in a musketry and artillery duel. The British also planned to simultaneously attack Baltimore by water on the following day, although the Royal Navy was unable to reduce Fort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor in support of an attack from the northeast by the British Army.
The British eventually realized that they could not force the passage to attack Baltimore in coordination with the land force. A last ditch night feint and barge attack during a heavy rain storm was led by Captain Charles Napier around the fort up the Middle Branch of the river to the west. Split and misdirected partly in the storm, it turned back after suffering heavy casualties from the alert gunners of Fort Covington and Battery Babcock. The British called off the attack and sailed downriver to pick up their army, which had retreated from the east side of Baltimore. 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, illuminating the flag that was still flying over the fort. The defence of the fort inspired the American lawyer Francis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem that was later set to music as "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Southern theatre
Because of the region's polyglot population, both the British and the Americans perceived the war in the Gulf South as a fundamentally different conflict from the one occurring in the Lowcountry and Chesapeake.
Creek War
Main article: Creek WarBefore 1813, the war between the Creeks, or Muscogee, had been largely an internal affair sparked by the ideas of Tecumseh farther north in the Mississippi Valley. A faction known as the Red Sticks, so named for the colour of their war sticks, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. The Red Sticks were allied with Tecumseh, who had visited the Creeks about a year before 1813 and encouraged greater resistance to the Americans. The Creek Nation was a trading partner of the United States, actively involved with British and Spanish trade as well. The Red Sticks as well as many southern Muscogee people like the Seminole had a long history of alliance with the British and Spanish empires. This alliance helped the North American and European powers protect each other's claims to territory in the south.
On 27 July the Red Sticks were returning from Pensacola with a pack train filled with trade goods and arms when they were attacked by Americans who made off with their goods. On 30 August 1813, in retaliation for the raid, the Red Sticks, led by chiefs of the Creeks Red Eagle and Peter McQueen, attacked Fort Mims north of Mobile, the only American-held port in the territory of West Florida. The attack on Fort Mims resulted in the horrific death of 400 refugee settlers, all butchered and scalped, including women and children, and became an ideological rallying point for the Americans. It prompted the state of Georgia and the Mississippi militia to immediately take major action against Creek offensives. The Red Sticks chiefs gained power in the east along the Alabama River, Coosa River and Tallapoosa River in the Upper Creek territory. By contrast, the Lower Creek, who lived along the Chattahoochee River, generally opposed the Red Sticks and wanted to remain allied to the U.S. Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins recruited Lower Creek to aid the 6th Military District under General Thomas Pinckney and the state militias against the Red Sticks. The United States combined forces were 5,000 troops from East and West Tennessee, with about 200 indigenous allies. At its peak, the Red Stick faction had 4,000 warriors, only a quarter of whom had muskets.
The Indian frontier of western Georgia was the most vulnerable but was partially fortified already. From November 1813 to January 1814, Georgia's militia and auxiliary Federal troops from the Creek and Cherokee indigenous nations and the states of North Carolina and South Carolina organized the fortification of defences along the Chattahoochee River and expeditions into Upper Creek territory in present-day Alabama. The army, led by General John Floyd, went to the heart of the Creek Holy Grounds and won a major offensive against one of the largest Creek towns at the Battle of Autossee, killing an estimated two hundred people. In November, the militia of Mississippi with a combined 1,200 troops attacked the Econachca encampment in the Battle of Holy Ground on the Alabama River. Tennessee raised a militia of 5,000 under Major General Andrew Jackson and Brigadier General John Coffee and won the battles of Tallushatchee and Talladega in November 1813.
Jackson suffered enlistment problems in the winter. He decided to combine his force, composed of Tennessee militia and pro-American Creek, with the Georgia militia. In January, however, the Red Sticks attacked his army at the Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but they were outnumbered and forced to withdraw to his base at Fort Strother.
In January, Floyd's force of 1,300 state militia and 400 Creek moved to join the United States forces in Tennessee, but they were attacked in camp on the Calibee Creek by Tukabatchee Muscogees on 27 January.
Jackson's force increased in numbers with the arrival of United States Army soldiers and a second draft of Tennessee state militia, Cherokee, and pro-American Creek swelled his army to around 5,000. In March 1814, they moved south to attack the Red Sticks. On 27 March, Jackson decisively defeated a force of about a thousand Red Sticks at Horseshoe Bend, killing 800 of them at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded.
Jackson then moved his army to Fort Jackson on the Alabama River. He promptly turned on the pro-American Creek who had fought with him and compelled their chieftains, along with a single Red Stick chieftain, to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the Creek tribe as a whole to cede most of western Georgia and part of Alabama to the U.S. Both Hawkins and the pro-American Creek strongly opposed the treaty, which they regarded as deeply unjust. The third clause of the treaty also demanded that the Creek cease communicating with the British and Spanish, and trade only with United States-approved agents.
Gulf Coast
British aid to the Red Sticks arrived after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in April 1814 and after Admiral Alexander Cochrane assumed command from Admiral Warren in March. Captain Hugh Pigot arrived in May 1814 with two ships to arm the Red Sticks. He thought that some 6,600 warriors could be armed and recruited. It was overly optimistic at best. The Red Sticks were in the process of being destroyed as a military force. In April 1814, the British established an outpost on the Apalachicola River (Prospect Bluff Historic Sites). Cochrane sent a company of Royal Marines commanded by Edward Nicolls, the vessels HMS Hermes and HMS Carron and further supplies to meet the Indians in the region. In addition to training them, Nicolls was tasked to raise a force from escaped slaves as part of the Corps of Colonial Marines.
On 12 July 1814, General Jackson complained to the governor of West Florida, Mateo González Manrique, situated at Pensacola that combatants from the Creek War were being harboured in Spanish territory and made reference to reports of the British presence on Spanish soil. Although he gave an angry reply to Jackson, Manrique was alarmed at the weak position he found himself in and appealed to the British for help. The British were observed docking on August 25 and unloading the following day.
The first engagement of the British and their Creek allies against the Americans on the Gulf Coast was the 14 September 1814 attack on Fort Bowyer. Captain William Percy tried to take the United States fort, hoping to then move on Mobile and block United States trade and encroachment on the Mississippi. After the Americans repulsed Percy's forces, the British established a military presence of up to 200 Marines at Pensacola. In November, Jackson's force of 4,000 men took the town. This underlined the superiority of numbers of Jackson's force in the region. The United States force moved to New Orleans in late 1814. Jackson's army of 1,000 regulars and 3,000 to 4,000 militia, pirates and other fighters as well as civilians and slaves built fortifications south of the city.
American forces under General James Wilkinson, himself a paid Spanish secret agent, took the Mobile area from the Spanish in March 1813. This region was the rump of Spanish West Florida, the western portion of which had been annexed to the United States in 1810. The Americans built Fort Bowyer, a log and earthen-work fort with 14 guns, on Mobile Point to defend it. Major Latour opined that none of the three forts in the area were capable of resisting a siege.
At the end of 1814, the British launched a double offensive in the South weeks before the Treaty of Ghent was signed. On the Atlantic coast, Admiral George Cockburn was to close the Intracoastal Waterway trade and land Royal Marine battalions to advance through Georgia to the western territories. While on the Gulf coast, Admiral Alexander Cochrane moved on the new state of Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory. Cochrane's ships reached the Louisiana coast on 9 December and Cockburn arrived in Georgia on 14 December.
The British army had the objective of gaining control of the entrance of the Mississippi. To this end, an expeditionary force of 8,000 troops under General Edward Pakenham attacked Jackson's prepared defences in New Orleans on 8 January 1815. The Battle of New Orleans was an American victory, as the British failed to take the fortifications on the East Bank. The British attack force suffered high casualties, including 291 dead, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured or missing whereas American casualties were light with 13 dead, 39 wounded and 19 missing, according to the respective official casualty returns. This battle was hailed as a great victory across the United States, making Jackson a national hero and eventually propelling him to the presidency. In January 1815 Fort St. Philip endured ten days of bombardment from two bomb vessels of the Royal Navy. Robert V. Remini believes this was preventing the British moving their fleet up the Mississippi in support of the land attack.
After deciding further attacks would be too costly and unlikely to succeed, the British troops withdrew on 18 January. However, adverse winds slowed the evacuation operation and it was not until 27 January 1815 that the land forces rejoined the fleet, allowing for its final departure. After New Orleans, the British moved to take Mobile as a base for further operations. In preparation, General John Lambert laid siege to Fort Bowyer taking it on 12 February 1815. However HMS Brazen brought news of the Treaty of Ghent the next day and the British abandoned the Gulf Coast. This ending of the war prevented the capture of Mobile, and any renewed attacks on New Orleans.
Meanwhile, in January 1815, Cockburn succeeded in blockading the southeastern coast of Georgia by occupying Camden County. The British quickly took Cumberland Island, Fort Point Peter and Fort St. Tammany in a decisive victory. Under the orders of his commanding officers, Cockburn's forces relocated many refugee slaves, capturing St. Simons Island as well to do so. He had orders to recruit as many runaway slaves into the Corps of Colonial Marines as possible and use them to conduct raids in Georgia and the Carolinas. Cockburn also provided thousands of muskets and carbines and a huge quantity of ammunition to the Creeks and Seminole Indians for the same purpose. During the invasion of the Georgia coast, an estimated 1,485 people chose to relocate to British territories or join the British military. However, by mid-March, several days after being informed of the Treaty of Ghent, British ships left the area.
The British government did not recognize either West Florida or New Orleans as American territory. The historian Frank Owsley suggests that they might have used a victory at New Orleans to demand further concessions from the U.S. However, subsequent research in the correspondence of British ministers at the time suggests otherwise. with specific reference to correspondence from the Prime Minister to the Foreign Secretary dated 23 December 1814. West Florida was the only territory permanently gained by the United States during the war.
The war at sea
Background
In 1812, Britain's Royal Navy was the world's largest and most powerful navy, with over 600 vessels in commission, following the defeat of the French Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Most of these ships were employed blockading the French navy and protecting British trade against French privateers, but the Royal Navy still had 85 vessels in American waters, counting all North American and Caribbean waters. However, the Royal Navy's North American squadron was the most immediately available force, based in Halifax and Bermuda (two of the colonies that made up British North America), and numbered one small ship of the line and seven frigates as well as nine smaller sloops and brigs and five schooners. By contrast, the entire United States Navy was composed of 8 frigates, 14 smaller sloops and brigs, with no ships of the line. The United States had embarked on a major shipbuilding program before the war at Sackett's Harbor to provide ships for use on the Great Lakes, and continued to produce new ships.
Opening strategies
The British strategy was to protect their own merchant shipping between Halifax and the West Indies, with the order given on 13 October 1812 to enforce a blockade of major American ports to restrict American trade.
Because of their numerical inferiority, the American strategy was to cause disruption through hit-and-run tactics such as the capturing prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels only under favourable circumstances.
Days after the formal declaration of war, the United States put out two small squadrons, including the frigate President and the sloop Hornet under Commodore John Rodgers and the frigates United States and Congress, with the brig Argus under Captain Stephen Decatur. These were initially concentrated as one unit under Rodgers, who intended to force the Royal Navy to concentrate its own ships to prevent isolated units being captured by his powerful force. Large numbers of American merchant ships were returning to the United States with the outbreak of war and the Royal Navy could not watch all the ports on the American seaboard if they were concentrated together. Rodgers' strategy worked in that the Royal Navy concentrated most of its frigates off New York Harbor under Captain Philip Broke, allowing many American ships to reach home. However, Rodgers' own cruise captured only five small merchant ships, and the Americans never subsequently concentrated more than two or three ships together as a unit.
Single-ship actions
The more recently built frigates of the US Navy were intended to overmatch their opponents. The United States did not believe that it could build a large enough navy to contest with the Royal Navy in fleet actions. Therefore, where it could be done, individual ships were built to be tougher, larger, and carry more firepower than their equivalents in European navies. The newest three 44-gun ships were designed with a 24-pounder main battery. These frigates were intended to demolish the 36- to 38-gun (18-pounder) armed frigates that formed the majority of the world's navies, while being able to evade larger ships. Similarly the Wasp class ship-sloops were an over-match to the Cruizer class brigs being employed by the British. The Royal Navy, maintaining more than 600 ships in fleets and stations worldwide, was overstretched and undermanned; most British ships enforcing the blockade were (with a few notable exceptions) less practiced than the crews of the smaller US Navy. This meant that in single-ship actions the Royal Navy ships often found themselves against larger ships with larger crews, who were better drilled, as intended by the US planners.
However naval ships do not fight as individuals by the code of the duel, they are national instruments of war, and are used as such. The Royal Navy counted on its numbers, experience, and traditions to overcome the individually superior vessels. As the US Navy found itself mostly blockaded by the end of the war, the Royal Navy was correct. For all the fame that these actions received, they in no way affected the outcome of the results of Atlantic theatre of War. The final count of frigates lost was three on each side, with most of the US Navy blockaded in port. During the war, the United States Navy captured 165 British merchantmen (although privateers captured many more) while the Royal Navy captured 1,400 American merchantmen. More significantly, the British blockade of the Atlantic coast caused the majority of warships to be unable to put to sea and shut down both American imports and exports.
Notable single-ship engagements include USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere on 19 August 1812, USS United States vs HMS Macedonian on 25 October, USS Constitution vs HMS Java on 29–30 December, HMS Shannon vs USS Chesapeake on 1 June 1813 (the bloodiest such action of the war), HMS Phoebe vs USS Essex on 28 March 1814, HMS Endymion vs USS President on 15 January 1815.
In single ship battles, superior force was the most significant factor. In response to the majority of the American ships being of greater force than the British ships of the same class, Britain constructed five 40-gun, 24-pounder heavy frigates and two "spar-decked" frigates (the 60-gun HMS Leander and HMS Newcastle) and others. To counter the American sloops of war, the British constructed the Cyrus-class ship-sloop of 22 guns. The British Admiralty also instituted a new policy that the three American heavy frigates should not be engaged except by a ship of the line or frigates in squadron strength.
The United States Navy's smaller ship-sloops had also won several victories over Royal Navy sloops-of-war, again of smaller armament. The American sloops Hornet, Wasp (1807), Peacock, Wasp (1813) and Frolic were all ship-rigged while the British Cruizer-class sloops that they encountered were brig-rigged, which gave the Americans a significant advantage. Ship rigged vessels are more manoeuvrable in battle because they have a wider variety of sails and thus being more resistant to damage. Ship-rigged vessels can back sail, literally backing up or heave to (stop).
Privateering
The operations of American privateers proved a more significant threat to British trade than the United States Navy. They operated throughout the Atlantic until the close of the war, most notably from Baltimore. American privateers reported taking 1300 British merchant vessels, compared to 254 taken by the United States Navy, although the insurer Lloyd's of London reported that only 1,175 British ships were taken, 373 of which were recaptured, for a total loss of 802. Canadian historian Carl Benn wrote that American privateers took 1,344 British ships, of which 750 were retaken by the British. The British tried to limit privateering losses by the strict enforcement of convoy by the Royal Navy and directly by capturing 278 American privateers. Due to the massive size of the British merchant fleet, American captures only affected 7.5% of the fleet, resulting in no supply shortages or lack of reinforcements for British forces in North America. Of 526 American privateers, 148 were captured by the Royal Navy and only 207 ever took a prize.
Due to the large size of their navy, the British did not rely as much on privateering. The majority of the 1,407 captured American merchant ships were taken by the Royal Navy. The war was 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. However, privateering remained popular in British colonies. It was the last hurrah for privateers in the insular British North American colony of Bermuda who vigorously returned to the practice with experience gained in previous wars. The nimble Bermuda sloops captured 298 American ships. Privateer schooners based in continental British North America, especially from Nova Scotia, took 250 American ships and proved especially effective in crippling American coastal trade and capturing American ships closer to shore than the Royal Navy's cruisers.
British blockade
The naval blockade of the United States began informally in the late fall of 1812. Under the command of British Admiral John Borlase Warren, it extended from South Carolina to Florida. It expanded to cut off more ports as the war progressed. Twenty ships were on station in 1812 and 135 were in place by the end of the conflict. In March 1813, the Royal Navy punished the Southern states, who were most vocal about annexing British North America, by blockading Charleston, Port Royal, Savannah, and New York City as well. Additional ships were sent to North America in 1813 and the Royal Navy tightened and extended the blockade, first to the coast south of Narragansett by November 1813 and to the entire American coast on 31 May 1814. In May 1814, following the abdication of Napoleon and the end of the supply problems with Wellington's army, New England was blockaded.
The British needed American foodstuffs for their army in Spain and benefited from trade with New England, so they did not at first blockade New England. The Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay were declared in a state of blockade on 26 December 1812. 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 United States government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This put only a further strain on the commerce of the country. The British fleet occupied the Chesapeake Bay and attacked and destroyed numerous docks and harbours. The effect was that no foreign goods could enter the United States on ships and only smaller fast boats could attempt to get out. The cost of shipping became very expensive as a result.
The blockade of American ports later 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. USS United States and USS Macedonian attempted to set sail to raid British shipping in the Caribbean, but were forced to turn back when confronted with a British squadron, and by the end of the war, the United States had six frigates and four ships-of-the-line sitting in port. Some merchant ships were based in Europe or Asia and continued operations. Others, mainly from New England, were issued licences to trade by Admiral Warren, commander in chief on the American station in 1813. This allowed Wellington's army in Spain to receive American goods and to maintain the New Englanders' opposition to the war. The blockade nevertheless decreased American exports from $130 million in 1807 to $7 million in 1814. Most exports were goods that ironically went to supply their enemies in Britain or the British colonies. The blockade had a devastating effect on the American economy with the value of American exports and imports falling from $114 million in 1811 down to $20 million by 1814 while the United States Customs took in $13 million in 1811 and $6 million in 1814, even though the Congress had voted to double the rates. The British blockade further damaged the American economy by forcing merchants to abandon the cheap and fast coastal trade to the slow and more expensive inland roads. In 1814, only 1 out of 14 American merchantmen risked leaving port as it was likely that any ship leaving port would be seized.
As the Royal Navy base that supervised the blockade, Halifax profited greatly during the war. From there, British privateers seized and sold many French and American ships. More than a hundred prize vessels were anchored in St. George's Harbour awaiting condemnation by the Admiralty Court when a hurricane struck in 1815, sinking roughly sixty of the vessels.
Freeing and recruiting slaves
The British Royal Navy's blockades and raids allowed about 4,000 African Americans to escape slavery by fleeing American plantations aboard British ships. American slaves near to the British military rebelled against their masters and made their way to British encampments. The migrants who settled in Canada were known as the Black Refugees. The blockading British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay received increasing numbers of freed slaves during 1813. By British government order, they were considered free persons when they reached British hands.
Alexander Cochrane's proclamation of 2 April 1814 invited Americans who wished to emigrate to join the British. Although it did not explicitly mention slaves, it was taken by all as addressed to them. About 2,400 escaped slaves and their families were transported by the Royal Navy to the Royal Naval Dockyard at Bermuda (where they were employed on works about the yard and organized as a militia to aid in the defence of the yard), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick during and after the war. Starting in May 1814, younger male volunteers were recruited into a new Corps of Colonial Marines. They fought for Britain throughout the Atlantic campaign, including the Battle of Bladensburg, the attacks on Washington, D.C., and the Battle of Baltimore, before withdrawing to Bermuda with the rest of the British forces. They were later settled in Trinidad after having rejected orders for transfer to the West India Regiments, forming the community of the Merikins (none of the freed slaves remained in Bermuda after the war). These escaped slaves represented the largest emancipation of African Americans prior to the American Civil War. Britain paid the United States for the financial loss of the slaves at the end of the war.
Treaty of Ghent
Main article: Treaty of GhentIn August 1814, peace discussions began in Ghent. Both sides approached negotiations warily. The British strategy for decades had been to create a buffer state in the American Northwest Territory to block American expansion. Britain also demanded naval control of the Great Lakes and access to the Mississippi River. On the American side, Monroe instructed the American diplomats sent to Europe to try to convince the British to cede the Canadas, or at least Upper Canada, to the U.S. At a later stage, the Americans also demanded damages for the burning of Washington and for the seizure of ships before the war began.
American public opinion was outraged when Madison published the demands as even the Federalists were now willing to fight on. A British force burned Washington, but it failed to capture Baltimore and sailed away when its commander was killed. In northern New York State, 10,000 British veterans were marching south until a decisive defeat at the Battle of Plattsburgh forced them back to Canada. British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, aware of growing opposition to wartime taxation and the demands of merchants for reopened trade with America, realized Britain also had little to gain and much to lose from prolonged warfare especially given growing concern about the situation in Europe. The main focus of British foreign policy was the Congress of Vienna, at which British diplomats had clashed with Russian and Prussian diplomats over the terms of the peace with France and there were fears that Britain might have to go to war with Russia and Prussia. Export trade was all but paralyzed and France was no longer an enemy of Britain after Napoleon fell in April 1814, so the Royal Navy no longer needed to stop American shipments to France and it no longer needed to impress more seamen. The British were preoccupied in rebuilding Europe after the apparent final defeat of Napoleon.
Consequently, Lord Liverpool urged the British negotiators to offer a peace based on the restoration of the pre-war status quo. The British negotiators duly dropped their demands for the creation of an Indian neutral zone, which allowed negotiations to resume at the end of October. The American negotiators accepted the British proposals for a peace based on the pre-war status quo. Prisoners were to be exchanged and escaped slaves returned to the United States, as at least 3,000 American slaves had escaped to British lines. The British however refused to honour this aspect of the treaty, settling some of the newly freed slaves in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Americans protested Britain's failure to return American slaves in violation of the Treaty of Ghent. After arbitration by the Tsar of Russia the British paid $1,204,960 in damages to Washington, to reimburse the slave owners.
On 24 December 1814, the diplomats had finished and signed the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty was ratified by the British Prince Regent three days later on 27 December. On 17 February, it arrived in Washington, where it was quickly ratified and went into effect, ending the war. The terms called for all occupied territory to be returned, the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States to be restored, and the Americans were to gain fishing rights in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The British insisted on the inclusion of provisions to restore to the Indians "all possessions, rights and privileges which they may have enjoyed, or been entitled to in 1811". The Americans ignored and violated these provisions.
The Treaty of Ghent completely maintained Britain's maritime belligerent rights, a key goal for the British, without acknowledging American maritime rights or the end of impressment. While American maritime rights were not seriously violated in the century of peace until World War I, the defeat of Napoleon made the need for impressment irrelevant and the grievances of the United States no longer an issue. In this sense, the United States achieved its goals indirectly and felt its honour had been upheld despite impressment continuing.
Losses and compensation
Type of casualties | United States | United Kingdom and Canada |
Indigenous fighters |
---|---|---|---|
Killed in action and died of wounds | 2,260 | ~2,000 | ~1,500 |
Died of disease or accident | ~13,000 | ~8,000 | ~8,500 |
Wounded in action | 4,505 | ~3,500 | Unknown |
Missing in action | 695 | ~1,000 | Unknown |
Losses figures do not include deaths among Canadian militia forces or Indigenous tribes. British losses in the war were about 1,160 killed in action and 3,679 wounded, with 3,321 British who died from disease. American losses were 2,260 killed in action and 4,505 wounded. While the number of Americans who died from disease is not known, it is estimated that about 15,000 died from all causes directly related to the war.
The war added some £25 million to Britain's national debt. In the United States, the cost was $90 million reaching a peak of 2.7% of GDP. The national debt rose from $45 million in 1812 to $127 million by the end of 1815, although by selling bonds and treasury notes at deep discounts – and often for irredeemable paper money due to the suspension of specie payment in 1814 – the government received only $34 million worth of specie. Stephen Girard, the richest man in the United States at the time, was among those who funded the United States government's involvement in the war. The British national debt rose from £451 million in 1812 to £841 million in 1814, although this was at a time when Britain was fighting a war against Napoleon. The war was bad for both economies.
In the United States, the economy grew 3.7% a year from 1812 to 1815, despite a large loss of business by East Coast shipping interests. Prices were 15% higher – inflated – in 1815 compared to 1812, an annual rate of 4.8%. Hundreds of new banks were opened; they largely handled the loans that financed the war since tax revenues were down. Money that would have been spent on foreign trade was diverted to opening new factories, which were profitable since British factory-made products were not for sale. This gave a major boost to the Industrial Revolution in the United States as typified by the Boston Associates.
Long-term consequences
Main article: Results of the War of 1812The border between the United States and Canada remained essentially unchanged by the war, with neither side making meaningful territorial gains. Despite the Treaty of Ghent not addressing the original points of contention and establishing the status quo ante bellum, relations between the United States and Britain changed drastically. The issue of impressment also became irrelevant as the Royal Navy no longer needed sailors after the war.
The long-term results of the war were generally satisfactory for both the United States and Great Britain. Except for occasional border disputes and some tensions during and after the American Civil War, relations between the United States and Britain remained peaceful for the rest of the 19th century. In the 20th century, spurred by multiple world conflicts, the two countries became close allies. The memory of the conflict played a major role in helping to consolidate a Canadian national identity after 1867, the year of Canadian confederation.
The Rush–Bagot Treaty between the United States and Britain was enacted in 1817. It demilitarized the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, where many British naval arrangements and forts still remained. The treaty laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary. It remains in effect to this day.
Bermuda
Bermuda had been largely left to the defences of its own militia and privateers before American independence, but the Royal Navy had begun buying up land and operating from there beginning in 1795, after a number of years spent surveying the reefs to find Hurd's channel (which enabled large frigates and ships of the line to pass through the surrounding reefs to Murray's Anchorage and the enclosed harbours). As construction work progressed through the first half of the 19th century, Bermuda became an Imperial fortress and the permanent naval headquarters the Western hemisphere, housing the Admiralty and serving as a base and dockyard. Defence infrastructure remained the central leg of Bermuda's economy until after World War II.
The Canadas
After the war, pro-British leaders in Upper Canada demonstrated a strong hostility to American influences, including republicanism, which shaped its policies. Immigration from the United States was discouraged and favour was shown to the Anglican Church as opposed to the more Americanized Methodist Church.
The Battle of York showed the vulnerability of Upper and Lower Canada (The Canadas). In the decades following the war, several projects were undertaken to improve the defence of the colonies against the United States. They included work on La Citadelle at Quebec City, Fort Henry at Kingston, and rebuilding Fort York at York. Additionally, work began on the Halifax Citadel to defend the port against foreign navies. Akin to the American view that it was a "Second War of Independence" for the United States, the war was also somewhat of a war of independence for Canada. Before the war Canada was a mix of French Canadians, native-born British subjects, loyalists and Americans who migrated there. Historian Donald R. Hickey maintains that the war that threatened Canada greatly helped to cement these disparate groups into a unified nation.
Indigenous nations
The Indigenous tribes allied to the British lost their cause. The Americans rejected the British proposal to create an "Indian barrier state" in the American West at the Ghent peace conference and it never resurfaced. Donald Fixico argues that "fter the War of 1812, the U.S. negotiated over two hundred Indian treaties that involved the ceding of Indian lands and 99 of these agreements resulted in the creation of reservations west of the Mississippi River".
The Indigenous nations lost most of their fur-trapping territory. Indigenous nations were displaced in Alabama, Georgia, New York and Oklahoma, losing most of what is now Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin within the Northwest Territory as well as in New York and the South. They came to be seen as an undesirable burden by British policymakers, who now looked to the United States for markets and raw materials. Everyone, including British fur traders were prohibited from entering in the United States for purposes of trade.
British Indian agents however continued to meet regularly with their former allies among the tribes of the Old Northwest, but refused to supply them with arms or help them resist American attempts to displace them. The American government rapidly built a network of forts throughout the Old Northwest, thus establishing firm military control. It also sponsored American fur traders, who outcompeted the British fur traders. Meanwhile, Euro-American settlers rapidly migrated into the Old Northwest, into the lands occupied by the tribes who were previously allied with the British. The War of 1812 marked a turning point in the history of the Old Northwest because it established United States authority over the British and Indians of that border region.
After the decisive defeat of the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, some Creek warriors escaped to join the Seminole in Florida. The remaining Creek chiefs signed away about half their lands, comprising 23,000,000 acres, covering much of southern Georgia and two-thirds of modern Alabama. The Creek were separated from any future help from the Spanish in Florida and from the Choctaw and Chickasaw to the west.
United Kingdom
The war is seldom remembered in the United Kingdom. The war in Europe against the French Empire under Napoleon ensured that the British did not consider the War of 1812 against the United States as more than a sideshow. Britain's blockade of French trade had worked and the Royal Navy was the world's dominant nautical power (and remained so for another century). While the land campaigns had contributed to saving Canada, the Royal Navy had shut down American commerce, bottled up the United States Navy in port and widely suppressed privateering. British businesses, some affected by rising insurance costs, were demanding peace so that trade could resume with the United States. The peace was generally welcomed by the British, although there was disquiet about the rapid growth of the United States. The two nations quickly resumed trade after the end of the war and a growing friendship.
The historian Donald Hickey maintains that for Britain, "the best way to defend Canada was to accommodate the United States. This was the principal rationale for Britain's long-term policy of rapprochement with the United States in the nineteenth century and explains why they were so often willing to sacrifice other imperial interests to keep the republic happy".
United States
The nation gained a strong sense of complete independence as people celebrated their "second war of independence". Nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The opposition Federalist Party collapsed due to its opposition to the war and the Era of Good Feelings ensued.
No longer questioning the need for a strong Navy, the United States built three new 74-gun ships of the line and two new 44-gun frigates shortly after the end of the war. In 1816, the United States Congress passed into law an "Act for the gradual increase of the Navy" at a cost of $1,000,000 a year for eight years, authorizing nine ships of the line and 12 heavy frigates. The captains and commodores of the Navy became the heroes of their generation in the United States. Several war heroes used their fame to win elections to national office. Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison both benefited from their military successes to win the presidency, while representative Richard Mentor Johnson's role during the war helped him attain the vice presidency.
During the war, New England states became increasingly frustrated over how the war was being conducted and how the conflict affected them. They complained that the United States government was not investing enough militarily and financially in the states' defences and that the states should have more control over their militias. Increased taxes, the British blockade, and the occupation of some of New England by enemy forces also agitated public opinion in the states. At the Hartford Convention held between December 1814 and January 1815, Federalist delegates deprecated the war effort and sought more autonomy for the New England states. They did not call for secession but word of the angry anti-war resolutions appeared as peace was announced and the victory at New Orleans was known. The upshot was that the Federalists were permanently discredited and quickly disappeared as a major political force.
This war enabled thousands of slaves to escape to freedom, despite the difficulties. The British helped numerous escaped slaves resettle in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where Black Loyalists had also been granted land after the American Revolutionary War.
Jackson invaded Florida (then part of New Spain) in 1818, demonstrating to Spain that it could no longer control that colonial territory with a small force. Spain sold Florida to the United States in 1819 under the Adams–Onís Treaty following the First Seminole War. Pratt concludes that "hus indirectly the War of 1812 brought about the acquisition of Florida".
Historiography
This section is an excerpt from Historiography of the War of 1812.The historiography of the War of 1812 reflects the numerous interpretations of the conflict, especially in reference to the war's outcome. The historical record has interpreted both the British and Americans as victors in the conflict, with substantial academic and popular literature published to support each claim.
The British viewed the War of 1812 as a minor theatre that was overshadowed by key victories at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, leading to the Pax Britannica. In the United States and Upper Canada, nationalistic mythology around the war took hold following its conclusion.
With the failure of the invasion of British Canada advancing the concept of Canadian identity, Canada remained a distinct region that would continue to evolve into a nation. Americans were able to enforce their sovereignty, and both the restoration of honor and what has been called the Second War of Independence are important themes in American historiography, and are considered significant results by historians. Indigenous nations are generally held to have lost in the war.See also
- Timeline of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 campaigns
- Bibliography of early United States naval history
- Bibliography of the War of 1812
- Indiana in the War of 1812
- Kentucky in the War of 1812
- Patriot War (Florida)
Notes
- see Results of the War of 1812
- Includes 2,250 men of the Royal Navy.
- Includes 1,000 combat casualties on the northern front.
- The House declared war by 61.7% with a majority in all sections, 20 Members not voting, and the Senate was closer at 59.4%, four not voting. The former Federalist stronghold in Massachusetts had one Democrat-Republican and one Federalist for U.S. Senators, with ten Democrat-Republicans and seven Federalists in the House. Only two states had both Senators in the Federalist Party: Connecticut with 7 Federalist Representatives, and Maryland with 7 Democrat-Republicans and 3 Federalists in the House.
- units raised for local service but otherwise on the same terms as regulars
- Hickey
- Hull was later court-martialed for cowardice, neglect of duty and for lying about lack of supplies. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but President Madison granted him a pardon for his heroic service during the Revolutionary War.
- The task was directed by pyrotechnic experts Lieutenants George Lacy and George Pratt of the Royal Navy.
- Admiralty reply to British press criticism.
- "They are superior to any European frigate," Humphreys wrote of the design he had in mind, "and if others should be in company, our frigates can always lead ahead and never be obliged to go into action, but on their own terms, except in a calm; in blowing weather our ships are capable of engaging to advantage double-deck ships." In another design Humphreys proposed "such frigates as in blowing weather would be an overmatch for double-deck ships, and in light winds evade coming into action."
- With sufficient training and drilling gunnery could be improved, but there was no immediate solution for the lack of crew numbers on British ships. There were six hundred ships in service, manned by only 140,000 seamen and marines. Subsequently the Royal Navy was spread out thin which compromised a crew's overall efficiency and could not rival the quality and efficiency of the crews employed in the smaller, all-volunteer U.S. Navy.
- Admiral Warren was evidently concerned, because he circulated a standing order, on March 6, directing his commanders to give priority to "the good discipline and the proper training of their Ships Companies to the expert management of the Guns." All officers and seamen on the North American station were urged to keep in mind "that the issue of the Battle will greatly depend on the cool, steady and regular manner in which the Guns shall be loaded, pointed & fired." Two weeks later, the Admiralty issued a circular to all the British admirals, discouraging the daily "spit and polish" scouring of the brasswork and directing that "the time thrown away on this unnecessary practice be applied to the really useful and important points of discipline and exercise at Arms."
- Compared to other nations, the British navy had mastered the practice of employing blockades, which severely compromised an enemy's freedom of movement, supply lines, and economic vitality. It also protected their commercial shipping by preventing enemy privateers and cruisers from going out to sea and capturing prizes. Britain's ten-year-old commercial and military blockade of continental Europe had largely succeeded in its twin goals of interdicting most seagoing commerce while keeping the French navy imprisoned in its ports. It was therefore to be expected that the main thrust of British naval strategy during the war was the employment of blockades along the American coast.
- The tightening grip of the British blockade was beginning to take a severe economic toll on communities throughout the country. The drain on the treasury remained a pressing concern, and the Republican-dominated Congress finally recognized the need for more tax revenue; a new levy fell on licences, carriages, auctions, sugar refineries, and salt.
- The superior force and scantlings of the American 44-gun frigates, now denounced as "disguised ships of the line," prompted the Admiralty to issue a "Secret & Confidential" order to all station chiefs prohibiting single-frigate engagements with the Constitution, President, or United States. A lone British frigate was henceforth ordered to flee from the big American frigates, or (if it could be done safely) to shadow them at a prudent distance, remaining out of cannon-shot range, until reinforcements.
- More significantly, if some spars are shot away on a brig because it is more difficult to wear and the brig loses the ability to steer while a ship could adjust its more diverse canvas to compensate for the imbalance caused by damage in battle. Furthermore, ship-rigged vessels with three masts simply have more masts to shoot away than brigs with two masts before the vessel is unmanageable.
- "The British blockade had a crushing effect on American foreign trade. "Commerce is becoming very slack," reported a resident of Baltimore in the spring of 1813: "no arrivals from abroad, & nothing going to sea but sharp vessels." By the end of the year, the sea lanes had become so dangerous that merchants wishing to sell goods had to shell out 50 percent of the value of the ship and cargo."
- For details of the negotiations, see Samuel Flagg Bemis (1956), John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, pp. 196–220; Remini 1991, pp. 94–122; Ward & Gooch 1922, pp. 537–542 and Mahan 1905, pp. 73–78.
- The British were unsure whether the attack on Baltimore was a failure, but Plattsburg was a humiliation that called for court martial (Latimer 2007, pp. 331, 359, 365).
- Spain, a British ally, lost control of the Mobile, Alabama area to the Americans as a consequence of the Patriot War (Florida) which took place concurrently with the War of 1812.
- Theodore Roosevelt commented: "Latour is the only trustworthy American contemporary historian of this war, and even he at times absurdly exaggerates the British force and loss, Most of the other American 'histories' of that period were the most preposterously bombastic works that ever saw print. But as regards this battle, none of them are as bad as even such British historians as Alison. ... The devices each author adopts to lessen the seeming force of his side are generally of much the same character. For instance, Latour says that 800 of Jackson's men were employed on works at the rear, on guard duty, etc., and deducts them; James, for precisely similar reasons, deducts 553 men. ... Almost all British writers underestimate their own force and enormously magnify that of the Americans."
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Further reading
Main article: Bibliography of the War of 1812- Norton, John; Benn, Carl (2019). A Mohawk memoir from the War of 1812. Toronto (Canada): University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4875-0432-8.
- Byrd, Cecil K. (March 1942). "The Northwest Indians and the British Preceding the War of 1812". Indiana Magazine of History. 38 (1). Indiana University Press: 31–50. ISSN 0019-6673. JSTOR 27787290.
- "The U.S. Army Campaigns of the War of 1812". Center for Military History. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- Barbuto, Richard V. (2013). The Canadian Theater 1813. Center of Military History, United States Army. ISBN 978-0-16-092084-4.
- —— (2014). The Canadian Theater 1814. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-092384-5.
- Blackmon, Richard D. (2014). The Creek War 1813–1814. Government Printing Office. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-16-092542-9.
- Maass, John R. (2013). Defending A New Nation 1783–1811. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History. p. 59. OCLC 868340900.
- Neimeyer, Charles P. (2014). The Chesapeake Campaign, 1813–1814. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-092535-1.
- Rauch, Steven J. (2013). The Campaign of 1812. Center of Military History, United States Army. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-16-092092-9.
- Stoltz III, Joseph F. (2014). The Gulf Theater, 1813–1815.
- Cleves, Rachel Hope; Eustace, Nicole; Gilje, Paul (September 2012). "Interchange: The War of 1812". Journal of American History. 99 (2): 520–555. doi:10.1093/jahist/jas236. Historiography.
- Collins, Gilbert (2006). Guidebook to the historic sites of the War of 1812. Dundurn. ISBN 1-55002-626-7.
- Dale, Ronald J. (2001). The invasion of Canada: battles of the War of 1812. Toronto: Lorimer Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55028-738-7.
- Foreman, Amanda (July 2014). "The British View the War of 1812 quite differently than Americans Do". Smithsonian Magazine.
- Fowler, William M. Jr. (2017). Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-62040-909-1.
- Fraser, Robert Lochiel (1985). "Mallory, Benajah". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VIII (1851–1860) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
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- Jensen, Richard (2012). "Military history on the electronic frontier: Misplaced Pages fights the War of 1812" (PDF). Journal of Military History. 76 (4): 523–556.
- Jones, Elwood H. (1983). "Willcocks, Joseph". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
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External links
Library resources aboutWar of 1812
- "Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation – Jay's treaty and the treaty of ghent". American Foreign Relations. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "CMH: Origins of the Militia Myth". cdnmilitary.ca. 26 May 2007. Archived from the original on 4 May 2008.
- "People & Stories: James Wilkinson". War of 1812. Galafilm. Archived from the original on 4 March 2000. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- "War of 1812 – Statistics". Historyguy.com. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- "War of 1812–1815". Office of the Historian. United States Department of State. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- The War of 1812, Government of Canada website.
- The War of 1812, Department of National Defence (Canada) website.
- Library of Congress Guide to the War of 1812, Kenneth Drexler.
- The War of 1812 in the South, The William C. Cook Collection, The Williams Research Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection
- War of 1812 collection William L. Clements Library.
- "Treaty of Ghent". Primary Documents in American History. The Library of Congress. 2010.
- Key Events of the War of 1812 Archived 6 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, chart by Greg D. Feldmeth, Polytechnic School (Pasadena, California), 1998.
- The War of 1812, online exhibit on Archives of Ontario website
- Black Americans in the U.S. Military from the American Revolution to the Korean War: The War of 1812, David Omahen, New York State Military Museum and Veteran Research Center, 2006.
- President Madison's War Message, lesson plan with extensive list of documents, EDSitement.com (National Endowment for the Humanities).
- The War of 1812 on YouTube
- The short film "The War of 1812" U.S. Navy is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- Indexed eLibrary of War of 1812 Resources Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine at Fire Along the Frontier Resource Site.
- The War of 1812 Website.
- BBC Radio 4: In Our Time. The War of 1812, 31 January 2013.
- Indiana University Lilly Library Digital Collection of War of 1812 Archived 6 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
- The War: A War of 1812 Newspaper, Brock University Library Digital Repository.
- War of 1812 Collection, Brock University Library Digital Repository.
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Related topics | |
- War of 1812
- British Indian Department
- Canada in the War of 1812
- Canadian Militia
- First Nations history in Canada
- History of indigenous peoples of the Americas
- History of United States expansionism
- Invasions of Canada
- Invasions of the United States
- Militia of the United States
- Slavery in the United States
- Wars involving Canada
- Wars between the United Kingdom and the United States
- Wars involving the United Kingdom
- Wars involving the United States