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Revision as of 15:52, 12 July 2006 view sourceNJW494 (talk | contribs)539 edits Lets just keep it like this. Its neutral, placing blame on both sides, rather than being an example of Hollywood History. Thanks.← Previous edit Latest revision as of 20:37, 25 December 2024 view source Rrostrom (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users10,670 edits Niagara and Plattsburgh campaigns, 1814: major error: Chippawa Creek not Chippewa River which is in Michigan. Rephrasing. Ref format. Excess detail on battle of Plattsburgh. Links added. 
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{{Short description|1812–1815 conflict in North America}}
{{otheruses4|the war between the ] and the ]|Napoleon's 1812 Invasion of Russia|Napoleon's 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=
| partof = the ]
|date= 1812-1815
| image = War of 1812 Montage.jpg
|place= ]
| image_size = 300
|casus= Violation of American sovereignty, American expansionism.
| caption = Clockwise from top:
|territory=
{{flatlist|
|result= Draw.
* Damage to the ] after the ]
] (see ])
* Mortally wounded ] spurs on the ] at the ]
|combatant1= ]
* ]
|combatant2= ]<br/>] ] forces
* ] of ] in 1813
|commander1=]
* ] defeats the ] on ] in 1815
|commander2=British:]<br/>Indians allied:]
}}
|strength1=
| date = 18 June 1812{{snd}}17 February 1815
'''United States'''<br/>
| place = {{ubl|class=nowrap|{{hlist|]|]|]}}}}
* Regular army : 99,000
| result = <!-- The refs are already cited in the main body. -->Inconclusive{{efn|see ]}}
* Volunteers: 10,000*
| territory = * Anglo–American ]
* Rangers: 3,000
* Spanish control over ] weakened and Mobile territory claimed
* Militia: 458,000**
* ] dissolved
* Naval and marine: 20,000
| combatant1 = {{plainlist|
'''Indigenous peoples'''<br/>
* {{flag|United States|1795}}
* New York Iroquois: 600
* ]
* Northwestern allies: ?
* ]
* Southern allies: ?
* ]
|strength2=
* ]
'''United Kingdom'''<br/>
}}
* Regular army: 10,000+
| combatant2 = {{indented plainlist|
* Naval and marine: ?
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
* Canadian militia: 86,000+**
* ]
'''Indigenous peoples'''
* ]
* Total: 3,500?
* ]
|casualties1= 2,260 killed in action,<br/> 4,505 wounded in action,<br/> 205+ executed,<br/> 17,000 other deaths,<br/> 500? civilian deaths
* ]
|casualties2= 5,000 killed or wounded
* {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} ] (1814)
|casualties3=
}}
|notes= * Volunteers were semi-professional troops<br/> ** Most militia did not participate in fighting or campaigning
| 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''' (in Britain, the '''American War of 1812 to 1815'''), was fought between the ] and the ] from 1812 to 1815, on land in ] and at sea. The war ended as a ], with no territory changing hands. The United States, which declared war and attacked British colonies and shipping first, ended the war without gaining any territory; however, the British ceased the sovereignty violations, to which the United States had objected, two days prior to the war. 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}}


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.
Some histories refer to this war as the "War of 1812–14", using the date of the peace treaty as the ending date of the war.


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==
{{NPOV}}
The war had two major causes: repeated British violations of American ], and American expansionism, which was later expressed as manifest destiny. The war formally began on ] ], with the U.S. ]. The United States launched invasions of Britain's North American colonies in 1812 and 1813, but the borders were successfully defended by British and Native American forces. The United States gained the upper hand in the North American Indian part of the war with victories at the ], in October 1813, and the ], in March 1814, but, by this time, Britain had successfully concluded the ] and the British were finally able to divert more resources to North America. British invasions of American territory resulted in the ] and the capture of part of the ], but the British counteroffensive was turned back at ], ], and ]. The ] (ratified in 1815) restored the '']'' between the combatants.


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>
On the Great Lakes border, more than half of the British forces were made up of ] ]. Additionally, many ] peoples (today most often called ] in the United States and ] in Canada) had their own reasons for fighting alongside either the British or the Americans. In the ], the War was, in a sense, a continuation of ] after his defeat in the ] in 1811.


==Origins of the War of 1812== == Origins ==
{{main|Origins of the War of 1812}} {{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 United States had grievances against Great Britain for sovereignty violations in three areas:


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}}
# Britain's refusal to surrender western forts promised to the United States in the 1783 ], which ended the ], together with allegations that Britain was arming North American Indians fighting against Americans on the western frontier;
# The stopping of American ships by the ] on the high seas to search for alleged ], and the forced ] of American and naturalized American citizens as British ]; and
# The ]s by ] and ] during the ], which resulted in the seizure of hundreds of American merchant ships.


=== British ===
In 1795, the ] with Britain and the ] with the North American Indians temporarily resolved the conflict on the Northwestern frontier. The ] of 1806 dealt only with trade, not impressment, and was not ratified by the ]. Continuing embargoes and the ] of 1807 (which resulted in the deaths of three American seamen under attack by a British ship) further aggravated tensions between the two countries. However, in this incident, the British captain far exceeded his orders and, as a result, the Royal Navy was much more careful about impressing Americans afterwards. Before war was declared, the Royal Navy had effectively ceased this practice.
{{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 1811, in the ], a loose political faction called the '']'', under the leadership of speaker ], began agitating for a declaration of war against Britain, both as a response to real grievances and as an opportunity to acquire the British colonies. After a speech by President ] to Congress, on June 18, 1812, Congress voted to declare war. By that time, Great Britain had already revoked the restrictions on American commerce, but the news of this arrived in the U.S. only after war was declared.


=== Indigenous peoples ===
Some historians, such as Robin Reilly, have argued that the declaration of war on Great Britain by the United States was a victory for French diplomacy, forcing Britain to divert its attention and some resources from continental matters. From a British perspective, there was certainly no reason to commence a war with the United States. Britain had been engaged in a desperate war with ] since 1793 and depended on American supplies to maintain ] army in ]. Any combat in North America would merely be a distraction from the main effort to contain and defeat the French in Europe.
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}}
==Course of the War==
], where ] was inspired to write "]".]]


== Declaration of war ==
Although the outbreak of the war had been preceded by years of angry diplomatic dispute, neither side was ready for war when it came. The ] was still hard pressed by the ], and was compelled to retain the greater part of its forces and its best crews in European waters. The British ] in North America was instructed to limit offensive action in order to limit the expansion of any conflict that would require the movement of forces from Britain, Europe or other British colonies. The total number of British regular troops present in ] in July 1812 was officially stated to be 5,004, supported by some Canadian militia. During the war, successes against Napoleon left the United Kingdom free to send an overwhelming force of ships to American waters.
{{multiple image
| 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}}
The ] was also unready to prosecute a war. 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, and there was an almost total lack of trained and experienced officers. The ], 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.


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>
American prosecution of the War also suffered from its unpopularity, especially in those states bordering Canada, most of which had a pro-British stance, and all of which worried about the invasion of Canada being reversed across their own territories. As the U.S. Government required the assistance of the state governments in providing militia, its military efforts were hindered by the failure of New England states to do so. The War followed a threat of secession by New England; Britain immediately exploited these divisions, blockading only southern ports for much of the War.


== Course of war ==
The war was conducted in four theatres of operations:
{{see also|Timeline of the War of 1812}}
#The Atlantic Ocean
The war was conducted in several theatres:
#The Great Lakes and the Canadian frontier
# The ]: the ] (] and ]), the ], and the ] (] and ]).
#The coast of the United States
# At sea, principally the Atlantic Ocean and the ].
#The Southern States
# The ] and Southern United States (including the ] in the ] basin).
# The ] basin.


=== Unpreparedness ===
===Operations on the oceans===
]
Britain had long been the world's pre-eminent naval power, confirmed by its victory over the French and the Spanish at the ] in 1805. In 1812, the Royal Navy had ninety-seven vessels in American waters. Of these, eleven were ] and thirty-four were ]. By contrast, the ], which was not yet twenty years old, had only twenty-two commissioned vessels, the largest of which were frigates, though a number of the American ships were 44-gun frigates and very heavily built compared to the usual British 38-gun frigates.


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}}
The strategy of the British was to protect their own merchant shipping to and from Canada, and enforce a ] of major American ports to restrict American trade. Due to their numerical inferiority, the Americans aimed to cause disruption through ], such as the capture of ]s and only engaging Royal Navy vessels under favourable circumstances.


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 Americans experienced much early success. On ] ], three days after the formal declaration of war, two small squadrons left ]. The ships included the frigate ] and the ] ] under Commodore ] (who had general command), and the frigates ] and ], with the ] ] under Captain ].


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}}
Two days later, ''President'' and ''Hornet'' gave chase to the British frigate ]. ''Belvidera'' eventually escaped to ], after discarding all unnecessary cargo overboard. ''President'' and ''Hornet'' returned to ] by ]. Meanwhile, ], commanded by Captain ], sailed from the ], on ]. On ], a British squadron gave chase. ''Constitution'' evaded her pursuers after two days, and later retired at Boston. On ] ''Constitution'' engaged the British frigate ]. After a thirty five-minute battle, ''Guerriere'' had been dismasted and captured, and was later burned.


===War in the West===
On ], the USS ''United States'', commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the British frigate ], which he carried back to port. At the close of the month, ''Constitution'' sailed south under the command of Captain ]. On ], off ], ], she met the British frigate ], which was carrying General Hislop, the governor of ], to ]. After a battle lasting three hours, ''Java'' ] and was burned after being judged unsalvageable.
====Invasions of Canada, 1812====
], 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}}
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 an estimated $3,000,000 damage on British interests before she was captured off ], ], by the British frigate ] and the sloop ] on ] ].


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}}
In all of these actions, except the one in which ''Essex'' was taken, the Americans had the advantage of greater size and heavier guns.


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}} }}
The capture of three British frigates was a blow to the British and stimulated them 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 ]. During the action, Lawrence was mortally wounded and as he was carried below, he famously cried, "Don't give up the ship!". This action somewhat offset the blows to the ]'s morale caused by earlier disasters.


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 blockade of American ports had tightened to the extent that the United States ships found it increasingly difficult to sail without meeting forces of superior strength. In addition to the blockade, the British Admiralty had instituted a new policy in which Royal Navy ships could only engage their American counterparts if in squadron strength or by ship-of-the-line. An example of this was the engagement between USS ''President'' and a heavy British squadron in January 1815. The British engaged with four ships versus one: HMS ''Endymion'' (40), HMS ''Majestic'' (56), HMS ''Pomone'' (38), and HMS ''Tenedos'' (18). After a desperate battle, the ''President'' was captured. 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.


==== American Northwest, 1813 ====
The operations of American ]s 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 capture of the American sloop ] at ] in ] by the more heavily armed British sloop ], on ] ].
]'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}}
The War was probably the last gasp of British privateering, as the practice was coming to be seen as politically inexpedient, and of diminishing value in maintaining its naval supremacy. By the middle of the century, the legality of the practice under international law was being rapidly dismantled (Britain would not authorise privateers during the ], and signed the ] in April, 1856). Before the War, the U.S. had successfully pressed claims for damages in British courts against British citizens who had been involved in privateering against American vessels. Despite this, British privateers were also very active against American shipping during the War, although the Royal Navy's successful blockade of American harbours limited their opportunities by keeping much of the US merchant fleet in port.


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 &#124; Birchard Public Library|website=www.birchard.lib.oh.us}}</ref>
===Operations on the Great Lakes and Canadian border===
====Invasions of Upper and Lower Canada, 1812====
], but his death was a severe loss for the British cause.]]


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 &#124; War of 1812|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=9 October 2023 }}</ref>
While they had expected little from their tiny navy, the American people had assumed that Canada could be easily overrun. Former U.S. President ] dismissively referred to the conquest of Canada as "a matter of marching." However, in the opening stages of the conflict, British military experience (coupled with hardened Canadian militia) prevailed over inexperienced American commanders.


==== American West, 1813–1815 ====
Geography dictated that operations would take place in the West principally around Lake Erie, near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and near Saint Lawrence River area and Lake Champlain. This would be the focus of the three pronged attacks by the Americans in 1812.
], 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 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. -->
Although cutting the St. Lawrence River through the capture of Montreal and Quebec would make Britain's hold in North America unsustainable, the U.S. began operations first in the Western frontier due to the general popularity there of a war with the British.


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 British scored an important early success, when their detachment at Saint Joseph Island on ] learned of the declaration of war before the nearby American garrison at the important trading post at ] in ] did. A scratch force landed on the island on ] ], and mounted a gun overlooking the ]. The Americans, taken by surprise, surrendered. This early victory encouraged the Indians, and large numbers of them moved to help the British at ].


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 American Brigadier General ] invaded Canada on ] ] from ], with an army mainly composed of militiamen, but turned back after his supply lines were threatened in the Battles of ] and ]. British Major General ] sent false correspondence and allowed it to be captured by the Americans, saying they required only 5,000 Native warriors to capture Detroit. Hull was deathly afraid of North American Indians and some tribes' practice of ]. Hull ] on ].


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}}
Brock promptly transferred himself to the eastern end of ], where the American General ] was attempting a second invasion. Brock fell in action on ] at the ], where the Americans suffered a crushing defeat. While the professionalism of the American forces would improve by the war's end, British leadership suffered after Brock's death.


=== War in the American Northeast ===
A final attempt in 1812 by the American General ] to advance north from ] failed ingloriously when his militia refused to advance beyond American territory. In contrast to the American militia, the Canadian militia performed well. ], who found the anti-Catholic stance of most of the United States troublesome, and ], who had fought for the Crown during the ] strongly opposed the American invasion. However, a large segment of Upper Canada's population were recent settlers from the United States who had no obvious loyalties to the Crown. Nevertheless, American forces found, to their dismay, that most of the colony took up arms against them.


====American Northwest, 1813==== ==== Niagara frontier, 1813 ====
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 ] ]. Procter left the prisoners in custody of a few North American Indians, who then proceeded to execute perhaps as many as sixty American prisoners, 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.


], War of 1812 map<br />depicting locations of forts, battles, etc.}}]]
]'s message to ] 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.]]


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>
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 Sandusky River, only to be repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign.


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>
On ], 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. 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 would control Detroit and Amherstburg for the duration of the war.


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}}
====The Niagara Frontier, 1813====
Because of the difficulties of land communications, control of the ] and the ] corridor was crucial, and so both sides spent the winter of 1812-13 building ships. The Americans, who had far greater shipbuilding facilities than the British, nevertheless had not taken advantage of this before the war and had fallen behind. By September 1814, the British would launch the largest ship built during the war, ].


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}}
On ] ], American forces ] ] (now called ]), the capital of Upper Canada, including the Parliament Buildings. However, ] was strategically more valuable, and vital to British supply and communications along the St Lawrence. Without control of Kingston, the American navy could not effectively control ] or sever the British supply line from ].


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}}
On ] ], an American amphibious force from Lake Ontario assaulted ] on the northern end of the ] 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.


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>
On Lake Ontario, Sir ] took command on ] ] and created a more mobile though less powerful force than the Americans under ]. An early attack on ] by Yeo and Governor General Sir ] was repulsed. Three naval engagements in August and September led to no decisive result.


==== St. Lawrence and Lower Canada, 1813 ====
By 1814, Yeo had constructed the HMS ''St Lawrence'', a ] ] of 112 guns which gave him superiority, and the British became masters of Lake Ontario. The burning by the American General McClure, on ] ], of Newark (now ]), led to British retaliation and similar destruction at ], on ] ].
] repel an American attack on ], ], October 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 ] 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>
====The St. Lawrence and Lower Canada====
]), John Tutela, and Young Warner, three ] War of 1812 veterans.]]


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&nbsp;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 Americans made little attempt to bar the Saint Lawrence to British traffic at the point where it was also the frontier between Canada and the United States. British supplies and reinforcements were able to move to Upper Canada with little difficulty.


==== Niagara and Plattsburgh campaigns, 1814 ====
Early in 1813, there was a series of raids and counter-raids between ] in Upper Canada and ] on the American side of the river. On ], Sir George Prevost passed through Prescott with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements ] and looted Ogdensburg. For the rest of the year, Ogdensburg had no American garrison and the British freely obtained goods there, while many residents of Ogdensburg commenced visits and trade with Prescott. More importantly, the British victory removed the last American regular troops from the Upper St Lawrence frontier and helped secure British communications with Montreal.


]]]
Late in 1813, after much argument, the Americans made two thrusts against ]. The plan eventually agreed upon was for Major-General ] to march north from ] and join with a force under General ] which would sail from ] on Lake Ontario and descend the Saint Lawrence.


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>
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 ] force of less than 500 French-Canadian ] and ].


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}}
Wilkinson's force of 8,000 sailed on ] but was also held up 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 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 ].


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}}
====Niagara Campaign, Battle of Lake Champlain, 1814====
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 ]. An attempt to advance further ended with a hard-fought drawn battle at ] on ]. The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged ]. The British raised the siege but lack of provisions forced the Americans to retreat across the Niagara.


], 14 August 1814]]
Meanwhile, following the abdication of Napoleon, British troops began arriving in North America. Less than half were veterans of the Peninsula and the remainder came from garrisons. Along with the troops came instructions for a number of offensives against the United States. British strategy was changing and like the Americans, the British were seeking advantages for the peace negotiations in ]. Governor-General Sir ] was instructed to launch an offensive into the United States. However, his invasion was repulsed by the naval ] in Plattsburgh Bay on ] ] which gave the Americans control of ]. ] later termed it the greatest naval battle of the war.


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>
====The West, 1814====
Little of note took place on ] 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 ] with supplies and reinforcements, he sent an expedition to recapture the trading post of ] in the far West.


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}}
In 1814, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from ] 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.


]
The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on ], destroyed its fortifications and a schooner found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Michilimackinac. On ], these gunboats were taken unawares and captured by enemy boarding parties from canoes and small boats. This ] left Mackinac under British control.


The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain; ] later termed it "the greatest naval battle of the war".{{sfn|Roosevelt|1900|p=}}
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, due mainly to the allegiance of several Indian tribes they supplied with arms and gifts.


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}}
===The American coast===
When the war began, the British naval forces had some difficulty in blockading the whole 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 ], benefitted from the willingness of the New Englanders to trade with them so no blockade of ] was at first attempted. The ] and ] were declared in a state of blockade on ] ]. 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. Eventually the United States government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This only helped to further ruin 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.


==== Occupation of Maine ====
One of the most forgotten battles on the American coast was the occupation of the ]. From the probing of the British Colony of ], Maine was an important conquest by the British. The border between New Brunswick and the United States had never been adequately settled 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 assured communication with ] via the ] and the ]. The war would not settle this border dispute and when Maine became a state in 1820, would lead to a border crisis, called the ]. The border between Maine and New Brunswick would not be settled until 1842 and the "]".


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}}
In September 1814, Sir ] led a British Army into eastern Maine and was successful in capturing Castine, Hamden, Bangor, and Machias. The Americans were given the option of swearing alegiance to the King or quitting the country. The vast majority swore allegiance and were even permitted to keep their firearms. This is the only large tract of territory held by either side at the conclusion of the war and was given back to the United States by the ]. The British did not leave Maine until April 1815, at which time they took large sums of money retained from duties in occupied Maine, back to ]. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used in the establishment of ], in ], Nova Scotia, and is a lasting reminder of the War of 1812.


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>
====The Chesapeake campaign and "The Star-Spangled Banner"====
The strategic location of the ] 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 ]. On ] ] ], an ] 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 lead to the "]".


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}}
This expedition, led by Admiral Sir ] and General ], was carried out between ] and ] ]. On the 24th, the inexperienced American militia, who had collected at ], ] to protect the capital, were thrashed, opening the route to Washington. While ] saved valuables from the White House, President ] was forced to flee to Virginia; American morale was reduced to an all-time low. The British viewed their actions as retaliation for the Americans' ] ] (later renamed ]) in 1813, although there are suggestions that the burning was in retaliation of destructive American raids into other parts of ].


=== Chesapeake campaign ===
Having destroyed Washington's public buildings, including the ] 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 the attack was repulsed and General Ross was killed. The British also attempted to attack Baltimore by sea on ] but were unable to reduce ], at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor. The defense of the fort inspired the American lawyer ] to write a poem that would eventually supply the lyrics to "]", the national anthem of the United States.
{{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}}
===The Creek 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.

==== Burning of Washington ====
{{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}}

==== Siege of Fort McHenry ====

] during the ]. Watching the bombardment from a truce ship, ] was inspired to write the four-stanza poem that later became "]".]]
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}}

=== 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 ] and Chesapeake.{{sfn|Millett|2013|p=31}}

==== Creek War ====
{{main|Creek War}} {{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}}

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}}

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}}

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}}
], 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}}
{{clear}}

====Gulf Coast====
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}}

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=}}

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>

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}}

] in January 1815. The battle occurred before news of a peace treaty reached the United States.]]

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}}

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}}

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 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 war at sea===
====Background====
] 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.

==== 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.{{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.

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}}

==== Single-ship actions ====
]. 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}} }}

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}} }}

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}}

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}} }}

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}}}}}}

==== Privateering ====
]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}}

==== British blockade ====
]

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 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}}}}

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&nbsp;million in 1807 to $7&nbsp;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&nbsp;million in 1811 down to $20&nbsp;million by 1814 while the United States Customs took in $13&nbsp;million in 1811 and $6&nbsp;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}}

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}}}}

=== Freeing and recruiting slaves ===
], {{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.]]

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}}

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}}

== Treaty of Ghent ==
{{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=}}


], which formally ended the war between the British Empire and the United States]]
In March of 1814, General ] led a force of Tennessee militia, ] warriors, and U.S. regulars southward to attack the ] tribes, led by Chief ]. While some of the Creeks had been British allies in the past, the fighting was related to control of Creek land in ] rather than the British-American conflict. On ], Jackson and General ] fought the Creeks at ], killing 800 of 1,000 Creeks at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded of approximately 2,000 American and Cherokee forces. Jackson pursued the surviving Creeks to ], near present-day ], where they surrendered.
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}}
As one historian wrote:
:''We speak of the War of 1812, but in truth there were two wars. The war between the Americans and the British ended with the treaty of Ghent. The war between the Big Knives and the Indians began at Tippecanoe, and arguably did not run its course until the last ] were defeated in the Florida swamps in 1818.''{{fn|5}}


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}}
===The Treaty of Ghent and the Battle of New Orleans===
{{Main|Battle of New Orleans}}
]


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}}
Jackson's forces moved to ], ] in November 1814. Between December 1814 and January 1815, he defended the city against a force led by Major-General ], who was killed in an assault on ] ]. The ] was hailed as a great victory in the United States, making Andrew Jackson a national hero, eventually propelling him to the ].


== Losses and compensation ==
Meanwhile, diplomats in ], ] signed the ] on ] ], ending the war. News of the treaty had not reached New Orleans. On ] ], President Madison signed the American ratification of the Treaty of Ghent and the treaty was proclaimed the following day.
{|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&nbsp;million to Britain's ].{{sfn|Latimer|2007|p=389}} In the United States, the cost was $90&nbsp;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&nbsp;million in 1812 to $127&nbsp;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&nbsp;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&nbsp;million in 1812 to £841&nbsp;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}}
By the terms of the treaty, all land captured by either side was returned to the previous owner, the Americans received fishing rights in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and all outstanding debts and property taken was to be returned or paid for. Later that year, ] complained that British naval commanders had violated the terms of the treaty by not returning American slaves captured during the war, since the British did not recognize slaves as property .


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}}
During the blockade of the Chesapeake, in fact, Rear Admiral Cockburn had been instructed to encourage American slaves to defect to the Crown. Royal Marine units were raised from these escaped slaves on occupied Chesapeake islands, and fought for the Crown. Some men, and dependents were taken to the ], from which the blockade was orchestrated, where they were employed about the dockyard, and where a further Marine unit was raised from their numbers as a dockyard guard. Orders were eventually given to send these Marines to the British Army to be re-enlisted into West Indian Regiments. Many resisted this change of service and were given land to settle in the West Indies. Many of those who agreed to transfer to the Army found themselves back in the USA, taking part in the Louisiana campaign.


== Long-term consequences ==
==Consequences==
{{mergeto|Results of the War of 1812}}
{{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}}
The Treaty of Ghent established the '']''; there were no territorial concessions made by either side. Relations between the United States and Great Britain remained peaceful, if not entirely tranquil, throughout 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 between the state of ] and the province of ] was settled in the bloodless ] in the 1830s.) The issue of impressing American seamen (who had been born British subjects) 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}}
This war was also the first and only time since the American Revolution that the US capital was invaded and occupied, although a Confederate raid reached the District of Columbia in 1864.


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>
===Effects on the United States===
The United States did gain a measure of international respect for managing to battle the British Empire to a standstill. The morale of the citizens was high because they had fought one of the great military powers of the world and managed to survive, which increased feelings of nationalism; the war has often been called the "Second War of Independence." The war also contributed to the demise of the ], which had opposed the war.


=== Bermuda ===
A significant military development was the increased emphasis by General ] on professionalism in the U.S. Army officer corps and in particular, the training of officers at the ] ("West Point"). This new professionalism would become apparent during the ] (1846&ndash;1848). After the ] by the U.S., the term ] became a widely used political term for those who propagated American expansionism and military pride and despite not having taken any territory during the war, this fact kept political debate alive in the decades to follow about expansion into ].
]]]
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 ===
In a related development, the ] (which at that time controlled West Point), began building fortifications around ], as a response to the British attack on the city during the war. This effort then grew into numerous civil river works, especially in the 1840s and 1850s under General ]. The Corps remains the authority over Mississippi (and other) river works.
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}}
The War of 1812 had a dramatic effect on the manufacturing capabilities of the United States. The British blockade of the American coast created a shortage of ] cloth in the United States, leading to the creation of a cotton-manufacturing industry, beginning at ] by ]. The war also spurred on construction of the ] project, which although was built to promote commercial links but was also seen as having military uses should the need ever arise.


=== Indigenous nations ===
The Southwestern campaign led to increasing contact and conflict with the ] in ]. The subsequent ] eventually led to American ] of ] in 1819.
] in the early 1790s]]
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}}
===Effects on British North America===
While the War of 1812 had little direct effect on Great Britain, it was highly significant in Britain's North American colonies, where it had been a matter of national survival. The war united the French-speaking and English-speaking colonies against a common enemy and in some pride of being largely successful in repulsing the more numerous invaders, giving many inhabitants a sense of nationhood as well as a sense of loyalty to Britain. It is estimated that, at the war's beginning, perhaps one third of the inhabitants of Upper Canada were American-born. Some were ], but others had simply come for cheap land and had little or no loyalty to the British Crown. However, many felt the common threat of invasion. For instance, ] was an American immigrant to Upper Canada, but she did not hesitate to make her arduous trek to warn the British forces of a pending attack by her former country.


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>
It is also important to point out that, when the United States attacked British North America, most of the British forces were engaged in the Napoleonic Wars. This meant that British North America had minimal troops to defend against the United States, who had a much larger (though poorly trained) military force. For most of the war, British North America stood alone against a much stronger American force. Reinforcements from Britain did not arrive until 1814, the final year of the war. The repelling of the stronger American force helped to build unity in British North America. This was most notable between the French and English divisions in Upper and Lower Canada.


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>
This nationalistic sentiment also caused a great deal of suspicion of such American ideas as ] and ], which would frustrate political reform in Upper and Lower Canada until the ]. However, the War of 1812 also started the process that ultimately led to ] in 1867. Canadian historian ] has written that, although later events, such as the rebellions and the ] of the 1860s, were more important, Canada would have become part of the United States if the War of 1812 had not taken place, because more and more American settlers would have arrived and Canadian nationalism would not have developed.


=== United Kingdom ===
A related (and historically suspect) idea from the war was that Canadian militiamen had performed admirably while the British officers were largely ineffective. ] has termed this the "Militia Myth", and he feels it has had a deep effect on Canadian military thinking, which placed more stress on a citizens' militia than on a professional standing army. (The U.S. suffered from a similar Frontiersman Myth at the start of the war, believing falsely that individual initiative and marksmanship could be effective against a well disciplined British battle line). Granatstein argues that the militia was not particularly effective in the war and that any British military success was the work of British regular forces and the result of British dominion over the sea. (], for example, was reluctant to trust the militia with muskets.) The U.S. army won most of its land victories late in the war, only after it trained its troops to fight in a disciplined manner, like that of the British and other European armies.
] 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}}
During the war, British officers constantly worried that the Americans would block the ], which is narrow and formed a large part of the Canadian border with the U.S. If the U.S. military had done so, there would have been no British supply route for ], where most of the land battles took place, and British forces would likely have had to withdraw or surrender all western British territory within a few months. British officers' dispatches after the war exhibit astonishment that the Americans never took such a simple step, but the British were not willing to count on the enemy repeating the mistake; as a result, Britain commissioned the ], an expensive project connecting ], on ], to the ], providing an alternate supply route that bypassed the part of the St. Lawrence River along the U.S. border. The settlement at the northeastern end of the canal, where it joins the Ottawa River, later became the city of ], Canada's fourth-largest city and its capital (placed inland to protect it from U.S. invasion—known then as the 'defensible backcountry'). Because population away from the St. Lawrence shores was negligible, the British, in the years following the war, took great lengths to ensure that backcountry settlement was increased. They settled soldiers and initiated assisted-immigration schemes, offering free land to farmers, mostly tenants of estates in the south of Ireland. The canal project was not completed until 1832 and was never used for its intended purpose.


=== United States ===
The Americans had drafted a ] in late 1814 for severing the Upper St. Lawrence River during 1815; but American towns along the river depended heavily on British trade for their livelihood and might have attempted to impede any such plan.
] 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]]
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>
===Effects on Great Britain===
In contrast to Canada, the War is scarcely remembered in Britain. Chiefly, this is because it was overshadowed by the dramatic events of the contemporary Napoleonic wars &mdash; ], the year of the Treaty of Ghent, was also the year of the ] &mdash; and because Britain neither gained nor lost by the peace settlement.


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=}}
The Royal Navy, however, was acutely conscious that the United States Navy had won a majority of the single-ship duels during the War. Also, American privateers and commerce raiders had captured large numbers of British merchant ships, sending insurance rates up and embarrassing the ]. On the other hand, the Royal Navy had been able to deploy overwhelming strength to American waters, annihilating rather than denting American maritime trade. The Royal Navy made some changes to its practices in construction and gunnery, but did not change its methods of manning.


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"/>
The British Army also regarded the conflict in Canada and America as a sideshow, with a relatively minuscule commitment of the army's strength. Only one regiment, the 41st (later the ], subsequently part of the ] and now the ]) was awarded a battle honour (Detroit) from the war. The army was content with the lessons of the ]. Over all, the British army had performed well even when significantly outnumbered, and the few reverses in Canada and at New Orleans could be conveniently attributed to poor leadership or insuperable physical obstacles. Due to the success and preeminence of the ], the British army was to make no change to its systems of recruitment, discipline and awards of commissions for more than half a century.


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==
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]


== Historiography ==
==References==
{{excerpt|Historiography of the War of 1812|templates=-tone}}
===Overviews===
* Benn, Carl; ''The War of 1812'' (2003)
* Berton, Pierre; ''Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814'' (1981). ISBN 0771012357 (hardcover)
* Berton, Pierre; ''The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813'' (1980). ISBN 0771012446 (hardcover)
* Borneman, Walter R. ''1812: The War That Forged a Nation'' (2004), popular
* Heidler, Donald & J, (eds) ''Encyclopedia of the War of 1812'' (1997)
* Hickey, Donald. ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict''. ISBN 0252016130 (hardcover); ISBN 0252060598 (1990 paperback).


== See also ==
===Causes and diplomacy===
{{cols|colwidth=30em}}
* Brown, Roger H. ''The Republic in Peril: 1812'' 1964.
* ]
* Goodman, Warren H. "The Origins of the War of 1812: A Survey of Changing Interpretations," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', 28 (September, 1941), 171-86. in JSTOR
* ]
* Hacker, Louis M. "Western Land Hunger and the War of 1812," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', X (March, 1924), 365-95. in JSTOR
* ]
* Donald R. Hickey, "The War of 1812" in Julian E. Zelizer, ed. The American Congress (2004), pp 93-111
* ]
* Horsman, Reginald. ''The Causes of the War of 1812''. 1962. ISBN 0374939608 (1972 printing); ISBN 0498040879 (2000 printing).
* ]
* Perkins, Bradford. ''Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805-1812''. 1961.
* Pratt, Julius W. ''Expansionists of 1812''. (1925) * ]
* ]
* Pratt, Julius W. "Western War Aims in the War of 1812," ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', 12 (June, 1925), 36-50. in JSTOR
{{colend}}
* Risjord, Norman K. "1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nation's Honor," ''William and Mary Quarterly'', 3d ser., 18 (April, 1961), 196-210. in JSTOR
* Marshall Smelser. ''The Democratic Republic 1801-1815'' (1968).
* Rutland, Robert A. ''The Presidency of James Madison'' (1990)
* Stagg, John C. A. ''Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American republic, 1783-1830''. (1983).
**
** in JSTOR
* Taylor, George Rogers, ed. ''The War of 1812: Past Justifications and Present Interpretations'' (1963), selections from historians and primary sources


===Military and naval=== == Notes ==
{{notelist|2}}
* Berube, Claude G. and Rodgaard, John R., ''A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution.'' (2005)
* Elting, John R. ''Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812''. 1991. ISBN 0945575084 (hardcover); ISBN 0306806533 (1995 Da Capo Press paperback).
* Hickey, Donald. ''The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict''. 1989. ISBN 0252016130 (hardcover); ISBN 0252060598 (1990 paperback).
* Mahan, Alfred Thayer. ''The influence of sea power upon the War of 1812'' 2 vols (1905)
* Owsley, Frank. ''Struggle for the Gulf borderlands: the Creek War and the battle of New Orleans 1812-1815'' (1981)
* Quimby, R., ''The US Army in the War of 1812: an operational and command study'' 2 vols (1997)
* Remini, Robert V. ''The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory'' (1999)
* ]. at ]. ''The Naval War of 1812'' (1882). Da Capo Press, 1999. ISBN 0306809109 (paperback)
* Skelton, William. 'High army leadership in the era of the War of 1812: the making and remaking of the officer corps,' ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 51 (1994) in JSTOR
* Stagg, J., 'Enlisted men in the United States Army 1812-1815,' William and Mary Quarterly 43 (1986) in JSTOR
* Stagg, J., 'Between Black Rock and a hard place: Peter B. Porter's plan for an American invasion of Canada in 1812,' Journal of the Early Republic 19 (1999) in JSTOR
* Stagg, J., 'Soldiers in peace and war: comparative perspectives on the recruitment of the United States Army, 1802–1815,' William and Mary Quarterly 57 (2000) in JSTOR


== References ==
===Canadian-US-Indian===
{{reflist|20em}}
* Allen, Robert S. "His Majesty's Indian Allies: Native Peoples, the British Crown, and the War of 1812" in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 14:2 (Fall 1988), pp 1-24.
* Benn, Carl. ''The Iroquois in the War of 1812''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. ISBN 0802043216 (hardcover); ISBN 0802081452 (paperback).
* ]. '']''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980. ISBN 0316092169.
*&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;. ''Flames Across the Border''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981. ISBN 0316092177
* Burt, Alfred L. ''The United States, Great Britain, and British North America from the Revolution to the Establishment of Peace after the War of 1812''. (1940)
* Calloway, C. ''Crown and calumet: British-Indian relations, 1783-1815 ''(1987)
* Carter-Edwards, Dennis. "The War of 1812 Along the Detroit Frontier: A Canadian Perspective", in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 13:2 (Fall 1987), pp. 25-50.
*&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;. "On to Canada: Manifest Destiny and United States Strategy in the War of 1812" in ''The Michigan Historical Review'', 13:2 (Fall 1987), pp. 1-24.
* Collins, G. ''Guidebook to the historic sites of the War of 1812'' (1998)
* Sugden, John. ''Tecumseh: A Life''. New York: Holt, 1997. ISBN 0805041389 (hardcover); ISBN 0805061215 (1999 paperback).
* Turner, W. ''British generals in the War of 1812: high command in the Canadas'' (1999)
* Zaslow, Morris (ed), ''The Defended Border''. (1964). ISBN 0770512429


==Bibliography==
===Primary sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Dudley, W., (ed.) ''The Naval War of 1812: a Documentary History'' , 4 vols (1985-)
* {{cite web|title=$100 in 1812 → 1815 – Inflation Calculator|url=https://www.officialdata.org/1812-dollars-in-1815|website=Officialdata.org|access-date=8 February 2019|ref=CITEREF$100 in 1812}}
* Gellner, J. (ed), ''Recollections of the War of 1812: Three Eyewitnesses'Accounts'' (1964)
* {{cite book|last=Adams|first=Donald R.|title=Finance and enterprise in early America: a study of Stephen Girard's bank, 1812–1831|url=https://archive.org/details/financeenterpris0000adam|url-access=registration|year=1978|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|jstor=j.ctv4t814d|chapter=A Study of Stephen Girard's Bank, 1812–1831|isbn=978-0-8122-7736-4}}
* Graves, D. (ed), ''Merry hearts make light days: the War of 1812'' journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur, 104th Foot (1993)
* {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Henry |title=History of the United States of America during the First Administration of James Madison |year=1918 |author-link=Henry Adams |orig-date=1891 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofuniteds06adamuoft/page/n11/mode/2up |volume=II: History of the United States During the First Administration of James Madison |location=New York |publisher=Scribner & Sons }}
* Graves, D. (ed), ''Soldiers of 1814: American Enlisted Men's Memoirs of the Niagara Campaign'' (1996)
* {{cite web|title=African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition|url=https://novascotia.ca/archives/africanns/results.asp?Search=&SearchList1=4|website=Government of Nova Scotia Programs, services and information|date=4 December 2003|ref={{sfnref|African Nova Scotians}}}}
* Klinck, C. & Talman, J. (eds), ''The Journal of Major John Norton'', 1816 (1970)
* {{cite book|last=Akenson|first=Donald Harman|title=The Irish in Ontario: A Study in Rural History|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lTeYpObU3qwC|publisher=McGill-Queens|isbn=978-0-7735-2029-5}}
* Wood, W. (ed), ''Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812'', 4 vols (1920-28)
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=Robert S. |chapter=Chapter 5: Renewing the Chain of Friendship |title=His Majesty's Indian allies: British Indian Policy in the Defence of Canada, 1774–1815 |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9T6y_zk5B0C |location=Toronto |publisher=] |isbn=1-55002-175-3 }}
* {{cite web|title=American Merchant Marine and Privateers in War of 1812|url=http://www.usmm.org/warof1812.html|website=Usmm.org|access-date=8 February 2019|ref={{sfnref|American Merchant Marine}}|archive-date=11 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411145816/http://www.usmm.org/warof1812.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Chandler Parsons |year=1906 |title=Northern Boundary of the United States: The Demarcation of the Boundary Between the United States and Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ... |url=https://archive.org/details/northernbound00anderich |access-date=25 July 2020 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office }}
* {{cite web|last=Aprill|first=Alex|title=General William Hull|date=October 2015|url=https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2015/10/11/general-william-hull-draft/|website=Michigan Tech}}
* {{cite book|last=Army and Navy Journal Incorporated|title=The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces|volume=3|year=1865|publisher=Princeton University}}
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* {{cite book|last=Arthur|first=Brian|year=2011|title=How Britain Won the War of 1812: The Royal Navy's Blockades of the United States|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-84383-665-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qr1v7O0KKioC}}
* {{cite book |last=Auchinleck |first=Gilbert |title=A History of the War Between Great Britain and the United States of America: During the Years 1812, 1813, and 1814 |year=1855 |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorywarbetw00auchgoog |page= |publisher=Maclear & Company }}
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* {{cite book|last=Barney|first=Jason|year=2019|title=Northern Vermont in the War of 1812|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-1-4671-4169-7|oclc=1090854645|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2qjDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite web |title=Battle of Mackinac Island, 17 July 1812 |website=HistoryofWar.org |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_mackinac_island_1812.html |access-date=23 May 2017 |ref={{sfnref|Battle of Mackinac}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Benn|first=Carl|title=The War of 1812|year=2002|location=Oxford|publisher=]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aG2ICwAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1-84176-466-5}}
* {{cite book|last1=Benn|first1=Carl|last2=Marston|first2=Daniel|title=Liberty or Death: Wars That Forged a Nation|year=2006|location=Oxford|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84603-022-6|url=https://archive.org/details/libertyordeathwa0000benn}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bergquist |first=H. E. Jr.|title=The Boston Manufacturing Company and Anglo-American relations 1807–1820|journal=Business History|volume=15|issue=1|year=1973|pages=45–55|doi=10.1080/00076797300000003| issn=0007-6791}}
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* {{cite book |last=Burroughs |first=Peter |title=Prevost, Sir George |publisher=University of Toronto |year=1983 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/prevost_george_5E.html |volume=V }}
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* {{cite journal |last=Calloway |first=Colin G.|title=The End of an Era: British-Indian Relations in the Great Lakes Region after the War of 1812 |year=1986|pages=1–20|journal=Michigan Historical Review|volume=12|issue=2 |jstor=20173078 |doi=10.2307/20173078}}
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* {{cite book |last=Clarke |first=James Stanier |title=The Naval Chronicle, Volume 28 |publisher=J. Gold |year=1812 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/navalchroniclefounse_0 }}
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** {{Google books|id=390r2-ayPY0C|title=The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict}}
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* {{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}}}}
<!-- U -->
* {{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}} }}
<!-- V -->
* {{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}}
<!-- W -->
* {{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}}
*New York State Military Museum:
{{refbegin|30em}}
*
* {{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}}
*
* {{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}}
* of the James Madison University
* {{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.
*
* {{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}}
* {{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 }}
* {{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 ==
]
{{Commons category|War of 1812}}
]
{{Library resources box|onlinebooks=yes}}
]
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| If there are already plentiful links, please propose additions or |
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=== {{No more links}} ========= -->
* {{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
Part of the Sixty Years' War

Clockwise from top:
Date18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815
Location
Result Inconclusive
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Casualties and losses
  • 2,200 killed in action
  • 5,200 died of disease
  • Up to 15,000 deaths from all causes
  • 4,505 wounded
  • 20,000 captured
  • 8 frigates captured or burned
  • 1,400 merchant ships captured
  • 278 privateers captured
  • 4,000 slaves escaped or freed
  • 2,700 died in combat or disease
  • 10,000 died from all causes
  • 15,500 captured
  • 4 frigates captured
  • ~1,344 merchant ships captured (373 recaptured)
  • 10,000 Indigenous warriors and civilians dead from all causes
  • 14 Spanish killed and 6 wounded
St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario frontier
1812
1813
1814
Niagara Frontier
1812
1813
1814
Great Lakes /
Old Northwest theater
1811
1812
1813
1814
Chesapeake campaign
1813–1814
1813

1814

Gulf theater
1813–1815
Prelude
  • Tecumseh
  • Creeks
  • 1813

    1814

    1815

    Naval battles of the War of 1812
    Atlantic Ocean
  • USS Essex vs HMS Alert
  • USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere
  • Capture of HMS Frolic
  • USS United States vs HMS Macedonian
  • USS Constitution vs HMS Java
  • Sinking of HMS Peacock
  • Rappahannock River
  • Capture of USS Chesapeake
  • Capture of the Young Teazer
  • Capture of HMS Dominica
  • Capture of USS Argus
  • Capture of HMS Boxer
  • Capture of USS Frolic
  • Capture of HMS Epervier
  • Sinking of HMS Reindeer
  • Sinking of HMS Avon
  • Fayal
  • Capture of USS President
  • Capture of HMS Cyane and HMS Levant
  • Capture of HMS Penguin
  • Capture of East India Company ship Nautilus

  • East Coast


    Great Lakes / Saint Lawrence River


    West Indies / Gulf Coast


    Pacific Ocean

    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 1812
    Depiction of a British private soldier (left) and officer (right) of the period

    The 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 1812

    The war was conducted in several theatres:

    1. 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).
    2. At sea, principally the Atlantic Ocean and the American east coast.
    3. The Gulf Coast and Southern United States (including the Creek War in the Alabama River basin).
    4. The Mississippi River basin.

    Unpreparedness

    Northern theatre, War of 1812

    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

    American surrender of Detroit, August 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

    Oliver Hazard Perry's message to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie began thus: "We have met the enemy and they are ours".
    Main articles: Ohio in the War of 1812 and Siege of Detroit

    After 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 Upper Mississippi River during the War of 1812:
    1. Fort Belle Fontaine, American headquarters
    2. Fort Osage, abandoned in 1813
    3. Fort Madison, defeated in 1813
    4. Fort Shelby, defeated in 1814
    5. Battle of Rock Island Rapids, July 1814; and the Battle of Credit Island, September 1814
    6. Fort Johnson, abandoned in 1814
    7. Fort Cap au Gris and the Battle of the Sink Hole, May 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

    Niagara Peninsula, War of 1812 map
    depicting locations of forts, battles, etc.

    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

    Fencibles, militia, and Mohawks repel an American attack on Montreal, Battle of the Chateauguay, October 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

    American infantry prepare to attack during the Battle of Lundy's Lane

    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.

    Unsuccessful British assault on Fort Erie, 14 August 1814

    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.

    Defeat at Plattsburgh led Prévost to call off the invasion of New York.

    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 campaign
    Map of the Chesapeake Campaign

    The 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 Washington

    In 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

    An artist's rendering of the bombardment at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. Watching the bombardment from a truce ship, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the four-stanza poem that later became "The Star-Spangled Banner".

    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 War
    In 1813, Creek warriors attacked Fort Mims and killed 400 to 500 people. The massacre became a rallying point for Americans.

    Before 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.

    Creek forces were defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, bringing an end to the Creek War.

    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.

    American forces repelled a British assault on New Orleans in January 1815. The battle occurred before news of a peace treaty reached the United States.

    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

    The Royal Navy's North American squadron was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Bermuda. At the start of the war, the squadron had one ship of the line, seven frigates, nine sloops as well as brigs and schooners.

    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

    USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerriere in a single-ship engagement. 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. 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

    Baltimore Clippers were a series of schooners used by American privateers during the war.

    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

    British naval strategy was to protect their shipping in North America and enforce a naval blockade on the United States.

    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 only known photograph of a Black Refugee, c. 1890. During the war, a number of African Americans slaves escaped aboard British ships, settling in Canada (mainly in Nova Scotia) or Trinidad.

    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 Ghent

    In 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.

    Depiction of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which formally ended the war between the British Empire and the United States

    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

    Casualties in the War of 1812
    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 1812

    The 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

    The Royal Naval Dockyard, 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

    Map showing the general distribution of Indian tribes in the Northwest Territory in the early 1790s

    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

    A political caricature of delegates from the Hartford Convention 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 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

    Independence Day celebrations in 1819. In the United States, the war was followed by the Era of Good Feelings, a period that saw nationalism and a desire for national unity rise throughout the country.

    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

    Notes

    1. see Results of the War of 1812
    2. Includes 2,250 men of the Royal Navy.
    3. Includes 1,000 combat casualties on the northern front.
    4. 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.
    5. units raised for local service but otherwise on the same terms as regulars
    6. Hickey
    7. 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.
    8. The task was directed by pyrotechnic experts Lieutenants George Lacy and George Pratt of the Royal Navy.
    9. Admiralty reply to British press criticism.
    10. "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."
    11. 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.
    12. 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."
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. "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."
    18. 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.
    19. 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).
    20. 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.
    21. 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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    229. Hickey 1989, p. 214.
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    231. ^ Hickey 2012, p. 153.
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    241. Black Sailors Soldiers 2012.
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    245. Donald Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989, 284
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    247. Latimer 2007, pp. 389–391; Gash 1984, pp. 111–119.
    248. Mahan 1905.
    249. African Nova Scotians.
    250. Whitfield 2005.
    251. Black Loyalists in New Brunswick.
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    253. Perkins 1964, pp. 129–130.
    254. Hickey 2006, p. 295.
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    257. Heidler & Heidler 1997, pp. 208–209.
    258. Langguth 2006, pp. 374–375.
    259. Tucker 2012, p. 113.
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    261. Latimer 2007, p. 389.
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    264. Hickey 1989, p. 303.
    265. Adams 1978.
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    267. Kert 2015, p. 145.
    268. $100 in 1812.
    269. Johnston & Williamson 2019.
    270. Nettels 2017, pp. 35–40.
    271. Bergquist 1973, pp. 45–55.
    272. Morales 2009.
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    274. Christopher Mark Radojewski, "The Rush–Bagot Agreement: Canada–US Relations in Transition." American Review of Canadian Studies 47.3 (2017): 280–299.
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    278. Landon 1941, p. 123.
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    283. Fixico.
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    286. Edmunds, 1978, p. 162
    287. Francis Paul Prucha, American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly, University of California Press, 1994, 129–145, 183–201
    288. "Culture/History". Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
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    290. Stearns 2008, p. 547.
    291. Hickey 2014.
    292. Langguth 2006; Cogliano 2008, p. 247.
    293. Dangerfield 1952, pp. xi–xiii, 95.
    294. Toll 2006, pp. 456, 467.
    295. Toll 2006, p. 457.
    296. "Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th Vice President (1837–1841)". U.S. Senate. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021.
    297. Hickey 1989, pp. 255ff.
    298. Cogliano 2008, p. 234.
    299. ^ Smith, Gene Allen (14 August 2017). "Wedged Between Slavery and Freedom: African American Equality Deferred". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023.
    300. Pratt 1955, p. 138.
    301. Howe 2007, p. 74; Kohler 2013, p. 316: "While the debate about 'who won the war' continues, most historians agree that the clear loser was the First Nations/Native Americans."; Kohler 2013, p. 316; Clark & Hickey 2015, p. 103.
    302. Carroll 1997: "The War of 1812 also had an impact on the border. A decisive military victory by either the United States or His Majesty's forces might well have settled the boundary controversy once and for all, but by and large, the war was fought to a stalemate."; Heidler & Heidler 2002, p. 137: "Britain finally accepted stalemate as the best bargain. The American delegation wisely did so as well."; Howe 2007, p. 74: "Considered as a conflict between Great Britain and the United States, the War of 1812 was a draw. For the Native Americans, however, it constituted a decisive defeat with lasting consequences."; Waselkov 2009, p. 177: "New Orleans ... retrieved the nation's honor and brought the war to close as a virtual stalemate."; Hickey 2012, p. 228: "Thus, after three years of campaigning, neither the United States nor Great Britain could claim any great advantage in the war, let alone victory. Militarily, the War of 1812 ended in a draw."; Clark & Hickey 2015, p. 103; Coles 2018, p. 255: "Militarily the War of 1812 was a draw."; USS Constitution Museum: "Ultimately, the War of 1812 ended in a draw on the battlefield, and the peace treaty reflected this."
    303. Kaufman 1997, pp. 110–135; Buckner 2008, pp. 47–48; Sjolander 2014.
    304. Roosevelt 1900.
    305. Sjolander 2014.
    306. Swanson 1945, p. 75; Brands 2005, p. 163; Hickey 2013.
    307. Bowman & Greenblatt 2003, p. 142; Kessel & Wooster 2005, p. 145; Howe 2007, p. 74; Thompson & Randall 2008, p. 23; Kohler 2013, p. 316.

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