I | INTRODUCTION |
War of
1812, conflict between the United States and Britain that began in 1812
and lasted until early 1815. President James Madison requested a declaration of
war to protect American ships on the high seas and to stop the British from
impressing or seizing U.S. sailors. U.S. ships were being stopped and searched
by both Great Britain and France, who were fighting each other in Europe.
President Madison also wanted to prevent Britain from forming alliances with
Native Americans on the American frontier. His decision was influenced by
Americans in the West and South, who hoped to expand the United States by
seizing control of both Canada and Florida. Critics called the War of 1812 “Mr.
Madison’s War,” but others saw it as a “second war of independence,” an
opportunity for Americans to defend their freedom and honor in the face of
European disrespect. Neither Britain nor the United States was particularly well
prepared to fight this war, and the conflict eventually ended in a
stalemate.
II | CAUSES OF THE WAR |
France and Britain, Europe’s two most powerful
nations, had battled almost continuously since 1793, and their warfare directly
affected American trade. Hostilities began during the French Revolution
(1789-1799) when England joined other European nations in an unsuccessful
attempt to restore the French monarchy, and then continued as Britain led the
efforts to stop French expansion under Napoleon I. American presidents from
Washington to Madison tried to keep the United States impartial during these
conflicts, but both France and Britain flagrantly disregarded the rights of
neutral countries.
For the Americans, the greatest irritant was
Britain’s practice of impressment, or the seizure of American seamen for service
in the British navy. The British government claimed that it only seized subjects
of the Crown who sailed under the American flag to avoid wartime service in
their own navy. In fact, the British seized not only their own deserters, but
also impressed a sizeable number of United States citizens—estimates suggest
6000 or more.
Public outrage over the issue of impressment
grew increasingly vocal after an incident between the American naval frigate
Chesapeake and a British vessel, the Leopard. In June 1807 the
Leopard approached the Chesapeake only a few miles off the
American coast and demanded to search the ship for British deserters. The
Chesapeake’s commander, James Barron, refused, and the Leopard
opened fire. A number of American sailors were killed or wounded during the
attack, and the Chesapeake surrendered. The British then sent a party
aboard and dragged four crewmen from the vessel. After the incident, Jefferson
ordered British warships to leave American waters and demanded an end to the
practice of impressment. The British did make some apologies and restitution for
the Chesapeake-Leopard incident, but continued to claim the right
to seize American ships and inspect them for deserters.
A | Economic Losses |
Although impressment aroused the most
resentment, the United States also suffered serious financial losses during
these years of European warfare. The United States had to continue commercial
relations with both France and Britain in order to remain prosperous, yet an
American ship trading with either one of the two nations could be seized by the
other. To hurt England’s economy, Napoleon had initiated the Continental System,
a series of blockades in which the French confiscated vessels and cargoes in
European ports if they had first stopped in Britain. The British government
retaliated by issuing orders to blockade the coastlines of Napoleon’s empire and
seize vessels bound for Europe that did not first call at a British port.
Neither power had sufficient naval forces to close every major harbor, so the
blockades were mainly used to capture ships belonging to neutrals like the
United States that were rather weak militarily. Together, these warring nations
seized nearly 1500 American vessels between 1803 and 1812. Because the British
dominated the seas after they defeated the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in
1805, they stopped more ships than the French.
President Thomas Jefferson initially
attempted to win respect for American neutrality by an economic boycott, a
policy that banned trade with Europe. At Jefferson’s urging the Congress of the
United States passed the Embargo Act of 1807, prohibiting virtually all U.S.
commerce with European nations. Additional measures in 1808 and 1809 also
restricted overland trade with British and Spanish possessions in Canada and
Florida. This legislation failed to stop the aggressive actions of either France
or Britain, but it did seriously harm the American economy. Consequently,
Congress replaced it in 1809 with the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade
only with France and Britain. This measure was also overturned in 1810 by
Macon's Bill No. 2, which reopened American commerce with all nations.
These trade restrictions were unpopular in
the United States. Despite the repeated loss of both ships and seamen, Americans
differed widely in their views on how to stop British harassment. British and
French aggression hurt New England more directly than any other section of the
country, but its merchants did not want to go to war with the British. Britain
was the region's most important trading partner, and the profits from one
successful commercial venture far offset the financial hardships resulting from
the seizure of a cargo-laden ship or members of its crew.
B | The War Hawks |
The strongest agitation for war came from
the frontier regions of the United States. Western and southern representatives
in Congress, most notably Henry Clay of Kentucky and John Caldwell Calhoun of
South Carolina, led a pro-war faction that became known as the War Hawks. They
believed that British officers from Canada were encouraging Native American
peoples to rebel against the United States, a charge that may have had some
foundation. For 20 years, frontiersmen had fought interior tribes with little
help from the federal government. The War Hawks now felt they could enlist
federal aid against Native Americans and their British allies by supporting a
war to stop British interference with American trade on the seas.
In addition, the War Hawks welcomed the
prospect of acquiring more land. Americans had always wanted Canada, for
possession of this vast area would increase the number of potential western
states in the Union and give the West greater power in Congress. Southerners,
too, wanted more territory and looked longingly at Spanish-held Florida. Because
Florida depended on British protection, the United States could seize this
desirable territory in a war with Great Britain.
III | THE OPPOSING FORCES |
A | American Strengths |
The United States government had few
military resources with which to fight a major war. Its British opponent ranked
as the world’s greatest maritime power, but the U.S. Navy did not possess a
single ship of the line, as battleships of the day were called. In fact, the
Americans had only eight frigates and eight smaller seagoing warships. In
addition, the government had made no naval preparations along the most
strategically important of the waterways bordering Canada—Lakes Champlain,
Ontario, and Erie.
The U.S. Navy did have the advantage of a
competent officer corps, experienced in command at sea. Its best leaders were
veterans of the successful wars of 1801 to 1805 against the Barbary Coast
pirates, North African raiders who had preyed on U.S. merchant ships in the
Mediterranean. American seamen were of high caliber, and the thorough training
they received in handling guns was far ahead of contemporary British
standards.
As hostilities loomed, Congress authorized
a regular army of 35,000 men, but when the United States officially declared war
in June 1812, the actual land force was less than 10,000 and nearly half of
these soldiers were raw recruits. The existing troops were also widely scattered
in small garrisons. The government planned to supplement this regular force with
50,000 volunteers and 100,000 militiamen, the latter to be provided by the
states. However, opposition to the war was so strong in New England that the
governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to call up their militia in
response to President Madison's request for troops.
A number of competent officers served in
the army, including 71 graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
established just ten years earlier. However, the majority of the officers on
duty were newly commissioned and lacked experience. Early in 1812, in
anticipation of hostilities, President Madison hastily appointed two major
generals and three brigadier generals to lead the preparations for war. All were
veterans of the American Revolution (1775-1783), but most had compiled only
mediocre combat records and had long since left military service. The senior
brigadier general on the staff, James Wilkinson, had faced accusations of
treason along with former vice president Aaron Burr in 1807, but was later
acquitted. Wade Hampton of South Carolina, the most competent of the new
generals, had developed a contempt for Wilkinson that eventually overshadowed
his own military abilities. The three generals who most distinguished themselves
in high command during the war, Andrew Jackson, Jacob Brown, and William Henry
Harrison, all held state militia commissions in 1812.
B | British Strength |
In June 1812 British naval forces were
considerably superior to the forces of the U.S. Navy, but the British were
focused on a variety of missions elsewhere, most notably the Napoleonic Wars in
Europe. As a result, American warships enjoyed comparative freedom of action
during the rest of that year. On Lakes Erie and Ontario the British quickly
outfitted available merchant vessels with guns and gained initial command of the
waters. The British land force in Canada numbered about 7000 men, with about
1500 of these soldiers stationed in Upper Canada in the region of the Great
Lakes. The remainder of the British forces patrolled the Maritime Provinces and
the St. Lawrence Valley.
IV | FIRST PHASE OF THE WAR |
The first phase of the fighting began with the
declaration of war on June 18, 1812, and continued through the winter of 1812
and 1813. During this time, Britain was preoccupied with its engagements in
Europe and tried to end the American war by diplomacy, sending few
reinforcements to North America. As a result, the United States decided to
invade Canada, and U.S. naval vessels operated effectively to stop British
commerce to North America.
A | Attempts to Invade Canada |
Soon after the war began, American leaders
began to worry about the exposed Western fort of Detroit, a strategic settlement
in the Michigan Territory. The U.S. hastily dispatched Brigadier General William
Hull with reinforcements to the fort. In July General Hull decided to cross the
Detroit River into Upper Canada. Hull's men, many of whom came from the Ohio
militia, were poorly equipped, and, except for one small regiment, proved
insubordinate and unreliable.
When Hull learned of an approaching force
made up of British troops, Canadian militia, and Native Americans, he quickly
withdrew to Detroit without fighting a battle. Major General Isaac Brock, an
able and energetic officer, led the British unit. He followed the retreating
American army with close to 1300 men, nearly half of whom were Native Americans.
Brock boldly ordered Hull to surrender Detroit, and on August 16 the American
general gave up, never firing a shot. The United States thus lost control of the
entire Great Lakes region, and British troops soon invaded northern Ohio.
In October the Americans made a second
attempt to invade Canada, this time on the Niagara frontier at the eastern end
of Upper Canada. A small force crossed the Niagara River and with great
gallantry stormed the key British position on the heights above the city of
Queenston (see Queenston Heights, Battle of). The British promptly sent
in more troops to counterattack, but the Americans received no additional
support. A New York militia officer named Stephen Van Rensselaer, who commanded
the reinforcements, could not induce his regiments to cross into Canada to
assist the advance unit. The militia, stubbornly maintaining that they could not
legally be sent out of the United States, stood on the riverbank and watched the
defeat and final surrender of their comrades. In the same engagement British
general Brock, who had used his naval command of Lake Erie to transfer troops by
water from the Detroit area to the Niagara River, lost his life.
Major General Henry Dearborn led a third
American effort to invade Canada. This expedition also ended ingloriously in
November north of Plattsburgh, New York. Once again the militia refused to cross
into Canada in support of a small advance force, and instead marched back to
winter quarters at Plattsburgh.
B | Victories at Sea |
Despite initial problems, the U.S. Navy
soon won some victories at sea, offsetting the embarrassing defeats on land. A
relatively strong American squadron under Commodore John Rodgers made a wide
sweep through the Atlantic shortly after the declaration of war. It encountered
only one enemy ship, which managed to escape, but later in the year three forays
by individual U.S. warships proved far more successful.
On August 19, 1812, the
Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, captured the British
frigate Guerrière. The Constitution disabled the enemy ship in
less than thirty minutes. In the exchange of fire, an American sailor noticed
that a British shot actually bounced off the sturdy oak sides of the
Constitution, prompting the nickname Old Ironsides. In a late December
skirmish the Constitution, this time under the command of Captain William
Bainbridge, took the British frigate Java off the coast of Brazil. A
third American victory had come in October when the United States, under
Captain Stephen Decatur, seized the British frigate Macedonian.
Both the Constitution and the
United States were heavy frigates carrying at least 44 guns, considerably
superior in firepower to the 38-gun British vessels they fought. Furthermore, in
all three actions, the American ships had a decisive advantage in the accuracy
and rate of fire of their guns. The success of the Constitution and the
United States, along with two other American victories over smaller
British warships, did much to lift the spirits of the American people.
American privateering was also successful
in the early days of the war. Privateers were privately owned American vessels
that the U.S. government commissioned to attack British commercial ships. The
privateers were usually small, fast, and maneuverable, making them very
effective against larger boats. The owners and crew members of the privateers
could split the proceeds from the sale of any captured vessel and its cargo, so
this type of authorized piracy was quite lucrative and led to the seizure of
hundreds of British merchant ships.
V | SECOND PHASE OF THE WAR |
During the spring of 1813 and through the
following winter, the war entered a new phase. British naval reinforcements
began to arrive and established an effective blockade of U.S. ports along the
Atlantic seaboard. Naval control of Lake Erie passed to the United States,
however, as the British could spare only a limited number of ships from Europe
for this theater of the war. America’s naval dominance on Lake Erie helped U.S.
land forces to regain ground after additional losses following the fall of
Detroit. British supply lines were broken, and the Americans could more easily
move their own men and equipment to mount new ground attacks.
A | Operations in the Northwest |
As soon as news reached Kentucky about the
surrender of Detroit, Major General William Henry Harrison, commander of the
state's militia, began preparations for the recapture of the fort. He had the
enthusiastic support of Kentucky's population of settlers, who feared raids by
Britain’s Native American allies. During the winter of 1813, Harrison, who
became a brigadier general in the American army, pushed north into Ohio. In
January enemy forces led by British general Henry A. Proctor devastated one wing
of Harrison’s command on the Raisin River below Detroit. Harrison rested the
remainder of his force at Fort Meigs, a post on the Maumee River in northwestern
Ohio. In the spring he defended the fort against a siege by British troops and
Native Americans commanded by Proctor. Considerable fighting and maneuvering
took place throughout the summer in the area around the Great Lakes known as the
Northwest Territory.
During the winter of 1812 and 1813, the
U.S. Department of the Navy had started building warships on Lakes Ontario and
Erie, recognizing that all land operations in the Northwest Territory depended
on use of these waterways for transportation. On Lake Erie a small fleet was
under construction at Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania. Commander Oliver
Hazard Perry arrived in the spring of 1813 and vigorously pushed construction
forward. On September 10 a British squadron based at Amherstburg, near the mouth
of the Detroit River, met Perry’s newly completed fleet near the island of
Put-in-Bay. The two fleets were fairly matched in numbers of vessels and men,
but the Americans had more concentrated gunfire. The fiercely fought battle, in
which Perry had to abandon his damaged flagship, resulted in a complete American
victory and the capture of the entire British squadron.
The British had always considered control
of the lake strategically important, and when Britain’s General Proctor received
the news that the Americans had cut his line of supply by water, he immediately
retreated to the Niagara frontier. William Henry Harrison then seized the
advantage and ferried his army across the lake under Perry's escort. On October
5 he overtook Proctor at the Thames River. The American troops defeated the
British largely because of an impetuous charge of the mounted Kentucky
volunteers under Colonel Richard M. Johnson. The Native American leader Tecumseh
died while fighting in the British ranks, bringing an end to most Native
American resistance in the region. Johnson later claimed to have killed the
great warrior.
In the Ontario region, General Dearborn
raided York (now Toronto), Ontario, and during the skirmish Brigadier General
Zebulon Pike, one of the army's most promising officers, was killed. The
ill-disciplined Americans went on a rampage after Pike’s death and burned
several government buildings at York. General Dearborn later secured possession
of all the forts on the Niagara frontier.
Neither the British nor the American fleets
were able to establish command of Lake Ontario, but in May the British launched
a naval attack on Sackets Harbor, New York. The assault nearly defeated the
Americans, and only the success of Brigadier General Jacob Jennings Brown of the
New York militia staved off disaster.
B | Expedition Against Montréal |
As the next step in the American war
strategy, Secretary of War John Armstrong proposed an advance from both Sackets
Harbor and Plattsburgh, converging on the St. Lawrence River and Montréal. From
Sackets Harbor, Major General James Wilkinson was to move down the St. Lawrence
with a force of about 7000. Major General Wade Hampton had orders to march from
Plattsburgh with 4000 men by a route that would enable him to join forces with
Wilkinson for a combined advance on Montréal.
Wilkinson set out on October 17, made
little progress, and inspired so little confidence among his troops that on
November 11 a smaller British force routed his advance guard at the Battle of
Crysler’s Farm. Hampton had suffered his own defeat at the Battle of Châteauguay
on October 26, and had retreated back to New York. He marched back to
Plattsburgh, leaving Wilkinson without support. When Wilkinson learned of
Hampton's retreat, he also hastily withdrew from Canada. Each general seemed
more anxious to saddle the other with blame for failure than to defeat the
enemy.
The British, no longer threatened by the
Americans on the St. Lawrence, set out to improve their situation on the Niagara
frontier. On the night of December 18, 1813, a British column crossed the
Niagara River and made a surprise attack on the Americans at Fort Niagara,
capturing the garrison with the loss of only eight men. Later that month, the
British and their Native American allies crossed the river again. They
successfully drove back the American militia and burned the towns of Black Rock
and Buffalo, New York.
C | Action in the South |
American forces also engaged in hostilities
with the Creek, a Native American people who lived in Mississippi Territory (now
the state of Alabama). On August 30, 1813, the Creek, encouraged by the British,
killed nearly 250 settlers at Fort Mims on the Alabama River (see Fort
Mims, Massacre of). This violence greatly alarmed residents of nearby Tennessee
and Georgia. The Tennessee militia, under the energetic command of Major General
Andrew Jackson, moved south against the Creek, but shortages of food and the
difficult terrain greatly hampered the march. When reinforcements from a regular
army regiment arrived at the end of March 1814, Jackson finally cornered a large
body of Native Americans in the Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River. He
destroyed them with a ferocity that shocked many people.
D | Naval Reverses |
American success at sea declined during
1813. The British navy tightened its blockade of the eastern seaboard. The
British stationed a strong squadron in Chesapeake Bay that included several
battleships, and they also covered New York, Long Island Sound, Boston, and
other ports with smaller blockading squadrons. Each of these squadrons generally
included a ship of the line, testimony that America’s 44-gun frigates had
impressed the Royal Navy in battles during the previous year. The British
blockade inflicted severe economic losses on the United States, and the
suffering felt by all citizens helped to make 'Mr. Madison's War' increasingly
unpopular, especially in New England. Nevertheless, more and more American
privateers helped the navy at sea, and the number of British merchant vessels
captured rose to approximately 400 for the year.
Perhaps the worst blow to American morale
came on June 1, 1813, through the overconfidence of Captain James Lawrence. He
commanded the Chesapeake, the 38-gun frigate whose engagement with the
British vessel Leopard had been an early cause of the war. Lawrence took
the Chesapeake out of Boston with a poorly trained crew to attack the
British frigate Shannon, but fell victim to the superior gunnery and the
remarkable ship handling abilities of the Shannon’s captain, Sir Philip
Broke. Lawrence was mortally wounded during the battle, and as he lay dying on
the deck, he uttered the despairing cry, 'Don't give up the ship!'
VI | THIRD PHASE OF THE WAR |
With the downfall of Napoleon in the early
spring of 1814, a third stage of the war began. The British, now freed from war
in Europe, began to move substantial troop reinforcements westward across the
Atlantic. They planned a three-pronged offensive: vigorous land operations from
Canada against the northern U.S. frontier, attacks by sea in Chesapeake Bay, and
naval attacks along the southern coast, focusing on New Orleans. The United
States was able to respond effectively to these new challenges. More aggressive,
war-tested generals had taken command of American armies, and the timely
establishment of U.S. naval control of Lake Champlain offset British strengths.
A | New Leaders |
Secretary of War Armstrong had taken steps
to prepare for the spring campaign of 1814. The military particularly needed
good leadership, and Armstrong removed some of the aging generals and replaced
them with men of drive and proven competence. The new major generals included
Andrew Jackson in the South, Jacob Brown on the Niagara frontier, and George
Izard at Plattsburgh near the upper end of Lake Champlain. The first two came
from careers as hard-fighting militiamen, while Izard, an army officer, had
served with credit under Hampton. Other new officers had earned their positions
by merit and formed the core of a new and more competent American military.
B | Chippewa and Lundy's Lane |
The United States had already thrown away
its opportunity for a successful invasion of Canada. As Napoleon’s empire
collapsed in Europe, Britain made plans to send veteran regiments that had
fought in Spain to America. On the Niagara frontier the United States countered
with a new, more competent army. Brigadier General Winfield Scott had begun
training nearly 3500 men at the first signs of good weather. Across the river
2800 British troops prepared for battle under Major General Sir Phineas
Riall.
Major General Brown arrived from Sackets
Harbor and took command of the American army. He crossed the Niagara River on
July 3, captured Fort Erie, and marched north against Riall. The British
general, serenely confident from previous experience with American troops,
collided with Scott's brigade near Niagara Falls at Chippewa and was soundly
beaten. Riall's astonished exclamation, 'These are regulars, by God!' reflects
the improved quality of both the American troops and their leadership. 'Small as
the affair was, and unimportant in military results, it gave to the United
States Army a character and pride it had never before possessed,' historian
Henry Adams later wrote of the Battle of Chippewa.
Meanwhile, British reinforcements arrived.
On July 25 a second encounter, at slightly north of Chippewa, ended in a draw
with severe losses on each side. American generals Brown and Scott both received
serious wounds. The remnants of the American forces withdrew to Fort Erie,
followed with extreme caution by British forces under Lieutenant General Gordon
Drummond. The Americans immediately worked to strengthen their fortifications
and early in the morning of August 14 repulsed an enemy assault that again
resulted in heavy British losses. In September an American offensive mangled
Drummond's army so badly that he withdrew.
C | Battle of Lake Champlain |
On the northern front the British gathered
their forces for a decisive effort. A British army of about 15,000 men was based
near Montréal. The force included 11,000 British veterans, commanded by the
general Sir George Prevost. The British proposed to advance toward Albany and
the Hudson Valley by the same wilderness route that Major General John Burgoyne
had attempted in 1777 during the American Revolution (see Saratoga,
Battles of). That disastrous experience had demonstrated the need for waterborne
supply, and the British built a squadron of warships in the Richelieu River for
the purpose of gaining naval superiority on Lake Champlain.
The American forces on Lake Champlain were
commanded by Captain Thomas Macdonough. He knew that his ships were considerably
inferior in gun power to the British squadron, and that the superior British
ships would have the greatest advantage in open water. To offset this advantage,
he decided to moor his ships across the entrance to Plattsburgh Bay, compelling
the enemy to attack him at anchor.
On the morning of September 11 the British
naval squadron, commanded by Captain George Downie, sailed to Plattsburgh Bay
and immediately attacked Macdonough's anchored ships. After two hours of furious
cannonading, the heavier fire of Downie's 36-gun Confiance had silenced
all the guns on the exposed side of Macdonough's flagship, the 26-gun
Saratoga. The battle seemed to be going against the Americans until
Macdonough turned his ship around using lines that he had attached to his anchor
cables. He thus brought his untouched guns on the port side into action. The
result was decisive. British Captain Downie was killed, and the Confiance
lifted anchor and departed. The smaller British ships surrendered.
When the naval battle began, the British
forces under Sir George Prevost made a halfhearted attack on American forces
deployed on the heights overlooking the bay. Prevost broke off the operation the
moment he realized that the American forces had defeated Downie, and the next
day he began a quick retreat into Canada. Prevost refused to engage in a
wilderness march without a waterborne supply line. Macdonough's courage and
tenacity averted the most serious British threat to the United States during the
war; the Battle of Lake Champlain was the decisive naval engagement of the War
of 1812.
D | March on Washington |
During 1814 British naval strength in
American waters grew, enabling the British to undertake additional offensive
operations. On August 18 the British landed 3500 troops in Maryland, and these
units set out to raid Washington, D.C. The British forces encountered little
resistance. On August 24, on the outskirts of Washington at Bladensburg,
Maryland, an American force of about 5400 men, chiefly militia, broke ranks and
fled. The only serious resistance was offered by a force of 600 sailors and
Marines under the command of Joshua Barney of the navy. They stood fast as long
as they could and inflicted the only losses the enemy suffered.
The British marched on to Washington and
burned the Capitol, the White House, and the navy yard, including all the ships
anchored there. President Madison and other high officials fled into the
countryside. On September 13 the Americans mounted strong resistance to an
attack on Baltimore. The unsuccessful British bombardment of Fort McHenry in
Baltimore harbor inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words of the
'Star-Spangled Banner,' which became the national anthem of the
United States. See also Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic
Shrine.
E | Privateering |
American privateers greatly expanded their
operations in 1814, despite the stronger British blockade. Their operations,
which extended to the home waters of the British Isles, had the effect of a
counterblockade. By August, according to a contemporary commentator, the
Americans had seized 825 vessels, and the value of these captures seemed to be
increasing.
VII | THE WAR COMES TO A CLOSE |
The effects of America’s privateering were
magnified because the British had wearied after their mighty 22-year struggle
with France. They hoped for peace. The American people had also tired of war. In
New England popular sentiment against the war grew and turned into political
activity, especially after the British captured Castine, on the coast of Maine,
in late August and marched unopposed into Bangor. This action caused much alarm,
but the exhausted state of U.S. finances and the economic decay caused by the
British blockade offered little hope that hostilities could end successfully for
America.
General Brown at the Niagara frontier and
Captain Macdonough at Lake Champlain had brought a respite from immediate danger
of invasion, but British reinforcements continued to arrive in Canada. More than
20,000 British troops under Sir George Murray stood ready for a spring campaign
in 1815. Peace seemed the only hope of avoiding discord within the United
States, as well as defeat at the hands of the British.
A | Treaty of Ghent |
England and America had tried to start
peace discussions as early as 1813, but without much success. In August 1814,
when British government officials expected decisive results from their powerful
concentration of forces in Canada, they appointed commissioners to meet with the
American negotiators at Ghent (Gent) (now in Belgium).
At the outset, the main feature of the
British proposals was the creation of a neutral territory for Native Americans
as a buffer between British and American possessions in the area around the
Great Lakes. The British hoped to designate the Ohio River as the southern
boundary of this territory. The British also wanted access to navigation on the
Mississippi River and the permanent ownership of Sackets Harbor and Fort
Niagara. They demanded that the United States give up fortifications and naval
forces on the Great Lakes as well as fishing rights along the coasts of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Americans would not agree to any of
these points. They demanded that the British end impressment, pay compensation
for the ships they had seized, and follow international rules on the use of
blockades. As negotiations proceeded, the British government gradually reduced
its demands, eventually eliminating its proposals concerning neutral territory
and armaments on the lakes. The Americans eventually dropped the subjects of
impressment and blockades.
While the British Cabinet considered the
remaining issues, news reached Europe of the Battle of Lake Champlain and of the
British failures at Baltimore and at Fort Erie. The attitude of the American
commissioners stiffened. Negotiations lagged once more, and eventually the
British agreed to leave all unsettled points for future negotiations. Both
countries signed the peace agreement, known as the Treaty of Ghent, on December
24, 1814. The settlement merely ended hostilities and restored pre-war
conditions, but under the circumstances American negotiators believed they had
triumphed.
B | Battle of New Orleans |
News of the treaty did not reach the
United States for nearly two months, and in the meantime, the outlook from the
American perspective appeared gloomy. The British fleet, after withdrawing from
Chesapeake Bay, had proceeded to the West Indies. There it joined transports
carrying a British army of 12,000 men, all veterans of the Napoleonic Wars,
under the command of Sir Edward Pakenham. The objective of this expedition was
to capture the American port of New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi
River. As soon as British intentions became clear, the U.S. government ordered
Major General Andrew Jackson to defend the threatened city.
The British arrived off the coast, made
their way through the bayous undetected, and landed an advance party. On the
morning of January 8, 1815, Pakenham launched an attack against a strongly
fortified position held by Jackson's troops south of the city. Pakenham's
attacking force consisted of more than 8000 men and included some of the best
regiments in the British army. Jackson had 5000 soldiers, mostly Tennessee and
Kentucky militiamen. In 25 minutes the British, advancing over open ground,
suffered 2000 casualties, chiefly from American artillery fire. The British
command broke off the attack and never resumed it. On the night of January 18
the British force withdrew (see New Orleans, Battle of).
C | Hartford Convention |
On the East Coast, several weeks passed
without word from the South. The month of February 1815 began with the darkest
period of apprehension that the American people had known since the terrible
winter of 1776 and 1777 during the American Revolution. Many expected to hear
news of the fall of New Orleans at any moment. Rumors circulated that the peace
negotiations at Ghent had finally broken up with no progress. Delegates from the
New England states, dissatisfied with the handling of the war, had met at the
Hartford Convention in Connecticut. This group, which was dominated by
disgruntled members of the Federalist political party, was reported to have
formulated demands that amounted to a dissolution of the Union.
On February 4 the first break in the
pessimism came with the news of Jackson's victory at New Orleans. On February 11
the British sloop of war Favorite entered New York City harbor under a
flag of truce, and the American messengers from the Ghent negotiations
disembarked. Two days later they handed a copy of the Treaty of Ghent to the
secretary of state. These two events ended the influence of the Hartford
Convention and the Federalists who had bitterly denounced the war.
VIII | THE RESULTS OF WAR |
Almost overnight the War of 1812 became a
glorious triumph. On February 20 President Madison sent a message to Congress
transmitting the treaty of peace. He congratulated the nation on the close of a
war 'waged with the success which is the natural result of the wisdom of the
legislative councils, of the patriotism of the people, of the public spirit of
the militia, and of the valor of the military and naval forces of the
country.'
More realistically, the fledgling nation
had the extraordinary good fortune to escape the consequences of a war that it
had badly mismanaged from the outset. The Battle of New Orleans, fought after
the two sides had already signed the peace treaty, ironically became the war’s
most famous event. The navy enjoyed well-deserved popularity for many years
after the conflict, but the decisive results of the Battle of Lake Champlain did
not receive full recognition for another generation.
The principal gain for the United States
was a renewed self-confidence and faith in the ability of its military to defend
the nation’s freedom and honor. Although neither side came away from the war
with a clear-cut victory, the American people saw the War of 1812 as evidence of
the success of the democratic experiment. The war ushered in a period of
American history that has frequently been called “the era of good feeling,” a
time when, at least on the surface, most Americans felt unified behind a common
purpose. The War of 1812 convinced the country that it could now fend off any
foreign threats and that its focus should be on expansion at home.
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