War of 1812 or the "2nd War of Independence"
RE:
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/a...rview-war-1812
The War of 1812 brought the United States onto the world's stage in a conflict that ranged throughout the American Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast, into Canada, and onto the high seas and Great Lakes.
The United States went to war against Great Britain. The British were already waging a global war against France, one which had been raging since 1793. Canada, then under British rule, became the primary battleground between the young republic and the old empire.
The seeds of war were sown in many places. Since their war had broken out, Britain and France had both tried to restrict international trade. The United States was put in an awkward position, unable to trade with either world power without incurring the wrath of the other. In response, Congress passed a series of non-importation acts and embargos, each time trying to force the European powers to feel the sting of losing access to American markets. Europe was largely unmoved, and the United States fell into an economic depression.
During this time, the British were also doing several other things that Americans considered to be insulting. They rejected America's claim to neutrality in the global war, effectively dismissing the former colony's national legitimacy. They stopped American ships at sea and "impressed" American sailorsforcibly recruiting them into the Royal Navy on the spot. They also armed Native American tribes that preyed on frontier settlers.
From 1783-1812, the British Parliament issued twelve "Orders in Council," which declared that any merchant ship bound for a French port was subject to search and seizure. Because the United States traded regularly with France, the Orders put a heavy strain on Anglo-American relations. The Orders in Council of 1807 led to the ill-conceived Embargo Act, signed by Thomas Jefferson, which closed all American ports to international trade and plunged the American economy into a depression. In many ways the brewing war would be for freedom of the seas. A century later, the United States would once more go to war for the same cause, this time against Imperial Germany.
When James Madison was elected to the presidency in 1808, he instructed Congress to prepare for war with Britain. On June 18, 1812, buoyed by the arrival of "war hawk" representatives, the United States formally declared war for the first time in the nation's history. Citizens in the Northeast opposed the idea, but many others were enthusiastic about the nation's "Second War of Independence" from British oppression.
Ironically, the British Parliament was already planning to repeal their trade restrictions. By the time the ship carrying news of the declaration of war reached Great Britain, almost a month and a half after war had been declared, the restrictions had been repealed. The British, however, after hearing of the declaration, chose to wait and see how the Americans would react to the repeal. The Americans, after hearing of the repeal, were still unsure how Great Britain would react to the declaration of war. Thus, although one of the main causes for war had vanished, fighting began anyway.
The poorly trained U.S. army, numbering roughly 6,700 men, now faced an experienced adversary fielding over 240,000 soldiers spread across the globe. America's military fleet was large, but Britain's was much larger.
The United States entered the war seeking to secure commercial rights and uphold national honor. The American strategy was to quickly bring Great Britain to the negotiating table on these issues by invading Canada. Captured Canadian territory could be used as a powerful bargaining chip against the crown.
The invasion of Canada, which began in the summer of 1812, ended in disaster. By the end of the year 1812, American forces had been routed at the Battle of Queenston Heights on the Niagara River, a thrust into modern day Quιbec had been turned back after advancing fewer than a dozen miles, and Detroit had been surrendered to the Canadians. Meanwhile, British-allied Native Americans continued their raids in Indiana and Illinois, massacring many settlers.
The Americans performed better at sea. Although the British were able to set a semi-tight blockade along the Atlantic seaboard, American ships won several battles against British warships and captured a number of British trade vessels. The Americans continued to ably combat the formidable Royal Navy throughout the war.
American fortunes fared little better through most of 1813. An attempt to retake Detroit failed near Frenchtown, Michigan, though the resulting massacre of American prisoners at the hands of Native Americans on January 23, 1813 inspired Kentucky soldiers to enlist, heeding the new rally cry "Remember the River Raisin!" Continued attempts at capturing Canada resulted in only temporary footholds at York and Fort George along the Niagara front. The Battles of Chateuaguay and Crysler's Farm again prevented American forces from advancing on Montrιal.
The only considerable American successes occurred in September, with Oliver Hazard Perry winning a major naval battle on Lake Erie, and in October, when the Tecumseh's Confederacy of northwestern Native American tribes was crushed at the Battle of the Thames.
Towards the end of 1813, a war among the Creek nations erupted in the Southeast between factions influenced by Tecumseh's nativism and those who sought to adopt white culture. The opposition faction, known as the Red Sticks, attacked American outposts including Fort Mims, Alabama.
Andrew Jackson organized a force of militia over the winter of 1813-1814 and defeated the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on May 24, 1814. Through the Treaty of Fort Jackson, he forced both sides of the Creek Nation, even those allied to him, to cede nearly 23 million acres of what would become Alabama and portions of Georgia.
In 1814, the newly promoted Brigadier General Winfield Scott implemented a plan of strict drill for American troops on the Canadian border. They advanced into Upper Canada and scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Chippawa on July 5, 1814, but were forced to withdraw weeks later after the bloody Battle of Lundys Lane near Niagara Falls.
In April, a brief peace broke out in Europe as Napoleon was forced into his first exile. Great Britain was able to shift more resources to the North American theater. The tone of the war changed as Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin described, "We should have to fight hereafter not for 'free Trade and sailors rights,' not for the Conquest of the Canadas, but for our national existence." At the same time, however, the British began the process of repealing their policies of impressment and trade strangulation.
On August 19, 1814, an expeditionary force of 4,500 hardened British veterans under the command of General Robert Ross landed at Benedict, Maryland and began a lightning campaign. After routing Maryland militia at the Battle of Bladensburg, Ross's men captured and burned the public buildings in Washington, D.C., including the White House. That month, peace negotiations began in the European city of Ghent.
On September 12, Ross and his force attempted to take Baltimore with the support of the Royal Navy. Maryland militia held off the land assault at the Battle of North Point, killing Ross. Fort McHenry repulsed the British ships in a 25-hour battle that inspired the American national anthem. The British abandoned their designs on Baltimore, but soon launched another invasion of the Gulf Coast.
On December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed and peace was agreed upon. Word was again slow to travel, however, and on January 9, 1815, Andrew Jackson engaged a British force outside of New Orleans, resulting in a stunning but ultimately pointless victory. On February 18, 1815, the Treaty of Ghent was officially ratified by President Madison, and the nation ended the War of 1812 with "less a shout of triumph than a sigh of relief." 15,000 Americans died during the war.
The terms of the peace were status quo ante bellum, "the way things were before the war." All land reverted back to its original owners. British agents stopped supporting Native American raiders. The British trade restrictions and impressment policies had already been repealed. America had fought its old master to an honorable draw, and Britain had avoided disaster in North America while defeating the French in Europe. Canada gained a proud military heritage. The War of 1812 is somewhat paradoxical in that relations between the warring factions generally improved after the war.
The Native Americans, however, were the worst losers of the war. Many of them had fought in the hopes that Great Britain would insist upon a recognized Native nation in North America as part of the peace, but the British quickly abandoned the claim during the peace negotiations. Additionally, without British money and weaponry, the Native Americans lost the ability to defend their lands and attack U.S. settlements, increasing the rate of U.S. expansion.
In America, the war was followed by a half-decade now called the "Era of Good Feelings." The coming of world peace spurred an economic revival, and the collapse of the Federalist Party, which had bitterly opposed the war, removed much of the rancor from American politics. However, this was only an era, not an eternity. Having won its "second independence," the United States would soon have to confront its first sinslavery.
War of 1812 Timeline
1793
February 1 France declares war on Great Britain
1794
August 20 General Anthony Wayne defeats a Native American confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, paving the way for the settlement of present-day Ohio
1804
April 30 The Louisiana Purchase is finalized, adding more than 800,000 square miles to the western frontier of the United States
December 4 Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France following a coup d'etat
April 18 Non-Importation Act passed
November 21 Napoleon issues the Berlin Decrees
1807
November 11 Great Britain passes the 1807 Orders in Council, restricting international trade with France
June 22 HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake
December 22 Embargo Act Passed
1809
March 4 James Madison is sworn in as the 4th President of the United States.
1811
May 16 The American frigate USS President fires on the British sloop HMS Little Belt
October 9 Major General Isaac Brock is appointed Administrator of Upper Canada
November 11 Battle of Tippecanoe
1812
June 18 The United States declares war on Great Britain
June 22 A mob in Baltimore destroys the printing offices of an anti-war newspaper
July 12 General William Hull invades Canada from Detroit
July 17 Fort Michilimackinac surrenders to British-Canadian forces
August 5 Skirmish near Brownstown, Michigan
August 8 General Hull returns to Detroit
August 15 British forces bombard Detroit
August 16 General Hull surrenders Detroit
August 19 The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
October 13 British-Canadians win the Battle of Queenston Heights, Ontario
November 27 Skirmish at Fort Erie
December 28 William Henry Harrison formally resigns as Governor of Indiana Territory and takes the rank of Brigadier General.
December 29 USS Constitution defeats the HMS Java
1813
January 9 Great Britain declares war on the United States
January 13 John Armstrong replaces William Eustis as Secretary of War
January 18 American forces seize Frenchtown, Michigan
January 22 The Battle of Frenchtown
January 23 Between 30 and 60 American soldiers are killed in The River Raisin Massacre
February 20 Battle of Ogdensburg
April 27 Attack on York [modern today Toronto]; General Zebulon Pike is killed
April 29 Raid on Frenchtown, Maryland by a British flotilla under the command of Admiral George Cockburn
March 4 James Madison inaugurated for second term as President
March 27 Oliver Hazard Perry takes command of the flotila at Lake Erie
May 1 American forces evacuate York; Siege of Fort Meigs near modern day Toledo Ohio begins
May 3 Royal Marines land and burn Havre de Grace, Maryland
May 27 Engagement at Fort George
May 29 Battle at Sackets Harbor
June 1 USS Chesapeake captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon; Captain James Lawrence dies days later
June 6 Engagement at Stoney Creek
June 22 Battle of Craney Island
June 24 Engagement at Beaver Dams
June 25 Burning of Hampton, Virginia
August 10 Battle of St. Michaels
August 30 Attack on Fort Mims, Alabama
September 10 Battle of Lake Erie
October 5 Battle of the Thames; Tecumseh is killed
October 7 Andrew Jackson establishes camp at Fayetteville, TN to recruit American forces to combat the Creeks in Alabama
October 26 Engagement at Chateauguay
November 11 Battle of Cryslers Farm
November 29 Battle of Autossee
December 19 Capture of Fort Niagara
1814
March 19 Winfield Scott is promoted to Brigadier General at the age of 26
March 27 Engagement at Horseshoe Bend
April 4 Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany; Great Britain now turns its focus to the war in America
July 3 American troops under Major General Jacob Brown cross the Niagara River and capture Fort Erie
July 5 Battle of Chippawa
July 22 Treaty of Greenville
July 25 Battle of Lundys Lane, one of the fiercest battles of the war
August 8 Peace negotiations begin
August 9 - Treaty of Fort Jackson
August 9 Stonington, CT raid begins
August 12 Stonington Raid Ends
August 14 General Robert Ross in command of a reinforcement consisting of 4,500 veteran
British troops arrive at Chesapeake Bay
August 19 British troops land at Benedict, Maryland
August 24 Battle of Bladensburg
August 24 Burning of Washington, D.C.
August 27 Abandonment of Fort Warburton
August 28 Alexandria Raid
September 6 Battle of Plattsburgh
September 11 Battle of Lake Champlain
September 12 Battle of North Point; General Ross is killed
September 13 Bombardment of Fort McHenry
September 14 Francis Scott Key writes the first lines of the poem which would become The Star Spangled Banner
November 6 Battle of Malcom's Mills
November 9 Battle of Pensacola
December 1 Peace delegates reconvene at Ghent
December 14 Delegates to the Hartford Convention meet in Hartford, Connecticut
December 24 The Treaty of Ghent is signed
December 28 The Treaty of Ghent is ratified by the British
1815
January 5 The Hartford Convention concludes
January 9 The Battle of New Orleans; death of Edward Packenham
February 16 The United States Senate ratifies the Treaty of Ghent
February 18 The Treaty of Ghent is declared; the War of 1812 is over
February 20 USS Constitution engages the HMS Cyane and HMS Levant, not knowing the war was over
April 6 Seven American prisoners are killed and 32 wounded in the Dartmoor Massacre at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, England
May 24 Battle of the Sink Hole