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AMERICAN WAR OF 1812

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 849 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AMERICAN See also:WAR OF 1812 . The war between the See also:United States and See also:Great See also:Britain, commonly known as "of 1812," began by the American See also:declaration of war on the 18th of See also:June of that See also:year, and lasted till the beginning of 1815. The treaty of See also:peace signed at See also:Ghent on the 24th of See also:December 1814 was ratified by the See also:president of the United States on the 17th of See also:February 1815. These two years and a See also:half of conflict were filled with isolated encounters which can hardly be reduced to coherent and ordered operations. Although the outbreak of war had been preceded by years of angry See also:diplomatic dispute, the United States were absolutely unready, while Great Britain was still hard pressed by the hostility of See also:Napoleon, and was compelled to retain the greater See also:part of her forces and her best crews in See also:European See also:waters, till the ruin of the Grande Armee in See also:Russia and the rising of See also:Germany See also:left her See also:free to send an overwhelming force of See also:ships to American waters. The forces actually available on the American See also:side when the war began consisted of a small See also:squadron of very See also:fine frigates and sloops in an efficient See also:state. Twenty-two was the extreme limit of the See also:naval force the States were able to See also:commission. The See also:paper strength of the See also:army was 35,000, but the service was voluntary and unpopular, while there was an almost See also:total want of trained and experienced See also:officers. The available strength was a See also:bare third of the nominal. The See also:militia, called in to aid the regulars, proved untrustworthy. They objected to serve beyond the limits of their states, were not amenable to discipline, and behaved as a See also:rule very See also:ill in the presence of the enemy. On the See also:British side, the naval force in American waters under See also:Sir See also:John See also:Borlase See also:Warren, who took up the See also:general command on the 26th of See also:September 1812, consisted of ninety-seven vessels in all, of which eleven were of the See also:line and See also:thirty-four were frigates, a See also:power much greater than the See also:national See also:navy of See also:America, but in-adequate to the See also:blockade of the See also:long See also:coast from New See also:Brunswick to See also:Florida.

The total number of British troops See also:

present in See also:Canada in See also:July 1812 was officially stated to be 5004, consisting in part of Canadians. The See also:scene of operations naturally divided into three sections:—(1) the ocean; (2) the See also:Canadian frontier, from See also:Lake See also:Huron, by Lakes See also:Erie and See also:Ontario, the course of the St See also:Lawrence and Lake See also:Champlain; (3) the coast of the United States. As the operations on these three See also:fields had little interaction on one another, it will be more convenient to take them separately than to follow the confusing See also:chronological See also:order. Operations on the Ocean.—These See also:cover all cruises of See also:sea-going ships, even when they did not go far from the coast. They again subdivide into the actions of national vessels, and the raids of the privateers. The first gave to the United States the most brilliant successes of the war. When it began two small squadrons were getting ready for sea at New See also:York; the See also:frigate "President" (44) and See also:sloop " Hornet " (18), under See also:Commodore John See also:Rodgers, who had also the general command; and the frigates " United States" (44) and " See also:Congress " (38), with the brig " See also:Argus " (16) to which two guns were afterwards added, under See also:Captain See also:Stephen See also:Decatur. Rodgers would have preferred to keep his command together, and to strike with it at the See also:main course of British See also:commerce, but he was overruled. He sailed on the 21st of June, and after See also:chasing the British frigate " Belvidera " (36), which escaped into See also:Halifax by throwing boats, &c., overboard, stood across the See also:North See also:Atlantic in See also:search of a See also:West See also:Indian See also:convoy, which he failed to sight, re-turning by the 31st of See also:August to See also:Boston. While he was absent, Captain See also:Isaac See also:Hull, commanding the " Constitution " (44), sailed from the Chesapeake, and after a narrow See also:escape from a British squadron, which pursued him from the 18th to the loth of July, reached Boston. Going to sea again on the 2nd of August he' captured and burned the British frigate " Guerriere " (38). On the 8th of See also:October Rodgers and Decatur sailed-the first on a cruise to the See also:east, the second to the See also:south.

Commodore Rodgers met with no marked success, but on the 25th of October Captain Decatur in the " United States " captured the British frigate " Macedonian " (38), which he carried back to See also:

port. At the See also:close of the See also:month Captain See also:Bainbridge sailed with the " Constitution," " See also:Essex " (32) and " Hornet " (18) on a southerly cruise. On the 29th of December, when off See also:Bahia, he See also:fell in with the British frigate " See also:Java " (38), which was carrying General Hislop, the See also:governor of Bombay, to See also:India, and took her after a See also:sharp See also:action. The "Essex" and "Hornet" were not in compahy. The first, under the command of Captain See also:David See also:Porter, went on to the Pacific, where she did great injury to British See also:trade, till she was captured off See also:Valparaiso by the British frigate " See also:Phoebe" (38) and the sloop " Cherub " (24) on the 28th of See also:March 1814. In these actions, except the last, the Americans had the See also:advantage of greater See also:size and a heavier See also:broadside, but they showed excellent See also:seamanship and gunnery. The See also:capture of three British frigates one after another caused a painful impression in Great Britain and stimulated her to greater exertions. Vessels were accumulated on the American sea-See also:board, and the See also:watch became more strict. On the 1st of June 1813 the capture of the U.S. frigate " Chesapeake " (38), by the British frigate " See also:Shannon " (38), a See also:vessel of equal force, counterbalanced the moral effect of previous disasters. The blockade of American ports was already so close that the United States ships found it continually more difficult to get to sea, or to keep the sea without See also:meeting forces of irresistibly See also:superior strength. The operations of American privateers were too numerous and far-ranging to be told in detail. They continued active till the close of the war, and were only partially baffled by the strict enforcement of convoy by the British authorities.

A See also:

signal instance of the audacity of the American cruisers was the capture of the U.S. sloop " Argus " (20) by the British sloop " See also:Pelican " (18) so far from See also:home as St David's See also:Head in See also:Wales on the 14th of August 1813. The " Pelican's " guns were heavier than those of the " Argus." Operations on the Lakes.—The American See also:people, who had expected little from their diminutive navy, had calculated with confidence on being able to overrun Canada. As, however, they had taken no effectual See also:measures to provide a See also:mobile force they were disappointed. The British general, Sir See also:George See also:Prevost, was neither able nor energetic, but his subordinate, See also:Major-General Isaac See also:Brock, was both. In July, before the Americans were ready, Brock seized Mackinac at the head of Lake Huron; and on the 16th of August See also:Detroit in the channel between Huron and Erie was surrendered. See also:Kingston was held at the east end of Ontario. See also:Montreal on the St Lawrence was a strong position on the British side to which, however, the Americans had an easy road of approach by Lake Champlain. See also:Sound reasoning would have ledthe Americans to See also:direct their See also:chief attacks on Kingston and Montreal, since success at those points would have isolated the British posts on Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron. But they were much influenced by fear of the See also:Indians, who had been won over to the British side by the See also:energy of Brock. They therefore looked more carefully to the lakes than to the course of the St Lawrence, and it may be added: that their leaders showed an utter want of capacity for the intelligent conduct of war. The impracticable See also:character of the communications by See also:land made it absolutely necessary for both parties to obtain See also:control of the See also:water. Neither had made any preparations, and the war largely resolved itself into a See also:race of See also:shipbuilding.

The Americans, who had far greater facilities for See also:

building than the British, allowed themselves to be forestalled. In the second half of 1812 the British general, Sir Isaac Brock, See also:lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, adopted measures for opposing the Americans on the frontier line, between Huron and Erie. The American brigadier-general See also:William Hull invaded Canada on the 12th of July from Detroit, just below the small Lake of St Clair between Huron and Erie. His army was mainly composed of militiamen, who behaved very badly, and his papers having been captured in a See also:boat, his plans were revealed. General Brock drove him back and forced him to surrender at Detroit on the 16th of August. Brock now promptly transferred himself to the western end of Erie, where the American general See also:Henry Dearborn was attempting another invasion. Brock fell in action on the i3thof October, while repulsing Dearborn's subordinate See also:Van See also:Rensselaer, a politician named to command by favour, and ignorant of a soldier's business. The Americans were driven back. In this See also:field also their militia behaved detestably. The Canadians on the other See also:hand, both the See also:French who were traditionally amenable to authority and those of See also:English descent, who being largely sons of See also:loyalists of the War of See also:Independence' had a See also:bitter hatred of the Americans, did excellent service. The discontent of New See also:England with the war both hampered the American generals and also aided the British, who See also:drew their supplies to a great extent from United States territory. On the 22nd of See also:January 1813, at Frenchtown, the American troops under See also:Winchester surrendered to a British and Indian force under See also:Procter.

During the See also:

winter both sides were busy in building ships. On Ontario the Americans pushed on their preparations at Sackett's See also:Harbour under Isaac See also:Chauncey; the English were similarly engaged at Kingston. Sir See also:James See also:Lucas Yeo took command on the r5th of May 1813. On Erie the American headquarters were at Presqu' Isle, now the See also:city of Erie; the English at Fort See also:Malden. The American See also:commander was Captain See also:Oliver See also:Perry, the British commander, Captain See also:Robert See also:Barclay. On Lake Ontario Yeo formed a more mobile though less powerful force than Chauncey's, and therefore manceuvred to avoid being brought to close action. Three engagements, on the loth of August, 11th of September and 28th of September, led to no decisive' result. By the close of the war Yeo had constructed a See also:ship of 102 guns which gave him the superiority, and the British became masters of Lake Ontario. On Lake Erie the energy of Captain Perry, aided by what appears to have been the, misjudgment of Barclay, enabled him to get a superior force by the 4th of August, and on the loth of September he fought a successful action which left the Americans masters of Lake Erie. The military operations were subordinate to the naval. In See also:April 1813 the Americans took York (now See also:Toronto), and in May moved on Fort George; but a See also:counter-attack by Yeo and Prevost on Sackett's Harbour, on the 29th of May, having made the Americans anxious about the safety of their See also:base, naval support failed the American generals, and they were paralysed. A success was gained by them (October 5) at the See also:Thames, where the Indian chief See also:Tecumseh fell, but they made no serious progress.

The Americans turned to the east of Ontario, intending to assail Montreal by the St Lawrence in See also:

combination with their forces at Lake Champlain. But the combination failed; they were severely harassed on the St Lawrence, and the invasion was given up. The operations of 1814 See also:bear a close resemblance to those of 1813, with, however, one important difference. The American generals, having by this See also:time brought their" troops to order, were able to fight with much better effect. Their attack on the See also:Niagara See also:peninsula led to hot fighting at Chippewa (July 5) and See also:Lundy's See also:Lane (July 25), the first a success for the Americans, the second a See also:drawn See also:battle. The fall of Napoleon having now freed the British See also:government from the See also:obligation to retain its army in See also:Europe, troops from See also:Spain began to pour in. But on the Canadian frontier they made little difference. In August 1814 Sir George Prevost attacked the American forces at Champlain. But his naval support, ill prepared, was hurried into action by him at See also:Plattsburg on the 11th of September, and defeated. Prevost then retired. His management of the war, more especially on Lake Champlain, was severely criticized, and he was threatened with a See also:court-See also:martial, but died before the trial came on. A British occupation of part of the coast of See also:Maine proved to. be See also:mere demonstration.

Operations on the American Coast.—When the war began the British naval forces were unequal to the See also:

work of blockading the whole coast. They were also much engaged in seeking for the American cruisers under Rodgers, Decatur and Bainbridge. The British government, having need of American foodstuffs for its army in Spain, was willing to benefit by the discontent of the New Englanders. No blockade of New England was at first attempted. The See also:Delaware and Chesapeake were declared in a state of blockade on the 26th of December 1812. This was extended to the whole coast south of See also:Narragansett by See also:November 1813, and to the whole American coast on the 31st of May 1814. In the meantime much illicit trade was carried on by collusive captures arranged between American traders and British officers. American ships were fraudulently transferred to neutral flags. Eventually the United States government was driven to issue orders for the purpose of stopping illicit trading, and the commerce of the See also:country was ruined. The now over-powering strength of the British See also:fleet enabled it to occupy the Chesapeake and to execute innumerable attacks of a destructive character on docks and harbours. The burning by the American general McClure, on the loth of December 1813, of See also:Newark(Niagara on the Lake), for which severe See also:retaliation was taken at See also:Buffalo, was made the excuse for much destruction. The most famous of these destructive raids was the burning of the public buildings at See also:Washington by Sir See also:Alexander Cochrane, who succeeded Warren in April in the naval command, and General Robert See also:Ross.

The expedition was carried out between the 19th and 29th of August 1814, and was well organized and vigorously executed.' On the 24th the American militia, collected at Bladensburg to protect the See also:

capital, fled almost before they were attacked. A subsequent attack on See also:Baltimore, in which General Ross was killed (September 12, 1814), was a failure. The expedition to New See also:Orleans (q.v.) is separately dealt with.

End of Article: AMERICAN WAR OF 1812

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