THE WAR OF 1812:

A Loyalist Perspective

Causes and Background of the War

Probably no other war the United States has ever fought is less remembered or more unusual than the War of 1812. There are a number of possibilities for this. It may be due to the fact that some people simply lumped the conflict together with the American Revolution; a rather unimportant aftershock. It may be because nothing of great significance was achieved because of the war. However, it is more likely that this lapse of memory is due to the fact that the United States, so proud of her illustrious military record, failed to achieve any of her objectives in the war and indeed was fortunate to have escaped with her territory intact. In spite of this, some have claimed the War of 1812 to be an American victory, while the majority of others view it as a stalemate. The British and Canadian perspective, needless to say, is quite different and in this case considerably more accurate.

To understand the causes of the War of 1812, which was a conflict many in the United States did not want, it is essential to know a little bit of the global politics of the day. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte had made France the ruler of continental Europe. The French were able to defeat Spain, Prussia, Austria, Russia and other powers with Great Britain alone holding out because her naval mastery kept Napoleon from invading the British Isles. As a result, both sides declared blockades against each other to bring economic pressure to bear against their enemy. This effected the United States which, as a neutral power, had been making money hand over fist selling supplies to both sides. The United States protested these blockades, but against the naval might of Great Britain, could do very little about it, nor were all Americans sympathetic to the French regime of Napoleon.

The ongoing naval battle between France and Britain also effected America with the issue of impressments. The Royal Navy was stretched to the limit fighting Napoleon and blockading Europe, so every able-bodied sailor was needed. However, life was hard in the British fleet and hundreds of sailors deserted over time. Knowing nothing but the sea, many of these deserters found work on American merchant ships. When these vessels were stopped by the British blockading ships, British deserters were removed and impressed back into the Royal Navy. The United States disapproved of this and claimed that many of the men being impressed by British ships were not British deserters but American citizens. Britain, engaged in a life or death struggle against a dictator who had taken over half of Europe, felt little sympathy for any American who was taken by mistake into naval service. The issue did finally come to blows however in 1807 when the USS Chesapeake was stopped by the British frigate HMS Leopard only to have the American commander, Captain James Barron, refused to allow the British search his ship for deserters. In response, the Leopard fired on the Chesapeake, the British boarded the ship by force, removed four Royal Navy deserters and had one of them hanged.

The British later apologized for the incident, but the overall situation continued. The United States tried to retaliate by passing the Embargo Act which stopped all foreign trade, and as a result almost ruined the entire economy of the New England states which depended on commerce for their livelihoods. It also hurt southern states which could not sell cotton or tobacco to Britain, virtually shutting off their only income. After 15 months this nonsense was stopped, but none of the other actions taken had any effect either. Moreover, when the United States promised to restore free trade with any nation that lifted her restrictions, Napoleon pretended to do so hoping to incite America to join his war against the British. He would soon get his wish and actions such as this only made Britain view America as not only less than neutral but supportive of the dictator Napoleon and his conquest of Europe.

There was also, it must not be forgotten, still lingering rivalry from the American Revolution. Much of this focused on the American Indians and their treatment by both sides. Many Indians had sided with Britain during the Revolution since the American colonists were eager to expand westward and seize the land Britain had granted the Indians only a short time before. During the frontier conflicts after the Revolution Britain continued to support the Indians in the Northwest Territory as they resisted the incursions of United States settlers. General William Henry Harrison had defeated an Indian confederacy led by the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh in 1811, but the Indians were not pacified and continued to look to British forces in Canada for support. Chief Tecumseh would prove to be a vital commander in the upcoming conflict.

That same year, negotiations with Britain continued to go nowhere and the aggressiveness of the United States was growing, fueled by a desire for expansion and conquest. President James Madison forbid all trade with Britain and asked the Congress to prepare for war with the British Empire. The country, however, was not united on the subject of war. The so-called "War Hawks" were mostly from the southern and western states under such men as Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. They were eager most of all for the conquest of Canada. During the American Revolution Canada had been invaded but British and Indian troops under Sir Guy Carleton had defeated the attempt and many in the US were anxious for revenge. National arrogance played a great part in this. Many Americans were so convinced of the superiority of their country and government that they believed the Canadians would welcome their invasion with open arms. One politician, commenting on the weak defenses to the north remarked that the Kentucky militia alone would be enough to conquer Canada. Indeed, with Britain locked in combat with Napoleon, Canada seemed like a huge, undefended prize simply waiting to be taken.

This view was not universal though. Many New England states were totally opposed to a war with Britain. Conquering Canada mattered little to them in comparison to how their economy would be ruined by cutting off all trade with the British Empire. The problems so far had already taken a heavy toll on their businesses and many were not prepared to tolerate conditions becoming any worse. Many people in the US also sympathized with Great Britain carrying on the fight against Napoleon and were not happy with the prospect of effectively entering a world war on the side of a French dictator bent on conquest. The divisions became so heated that the same month war was declared riots broke out in Baltimore against the anti-war Federalists which raged for four months. The War of 1812 was probably the most unpopular war the United States ever fought up until the Vietnam conflict. Yet, as many as there were who opposed the war, there were many more who favored aggressive action against Britain. These people believed in the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States to rule all of North America and war with Britain seemed the perfect way to finally wipe out the British-backed Indians hindering US occupation of the Northwest Territory, grabbing the vast expanses of Canada as well as perhaps taking Florida from Britain's Spanish ally.

Ultimately, it was the expansionists who won out, along with those who were simply eager to throw the weight of America around and demand some concessions from Great Britain to recognize their claim to be a legitimate world power and not simply some upstart rebel colonies which would soon fall apart. At the request of President Madison, on June 18, 1812 the United States Congress formally declared war on Great Britain. America, especially the War Hawks, were jubilant and optimistic, though in hindsight there was certainly no reason to be. The United States army was miniscule and scattered across the frontier in remote garrisons. There was hardly a navy to speak of and there was still no institution for the training of military officers. Britain, on the contrary, had the best navy in the world, a veteran army which had experience fighting the largest battles yet seen in the western world and more than holding their own. The Americans however, disdaining regular army troops and drawing an idealistic but flawed conclusion from the Revolution were confident that their civilian militia would be more than enough to gain control of North America while the best British troops were still tied down fighting the French in Europe.

1812: The First Year

US General William Hull

As soon as the war broke out the United States put their plans into effect for the long sought after goal of conquering Canada. The grand strategy consisted of a three-pronged invasion of Canada, one from Detroit, the other up the Niagara River and the third up Lake Champlain. The US generals envisioned Canadians rushing to embrace them and the major cities of Quebec and Montreal falling quickly, along with the capital Toronto (then called York). In all of these expectations the Americans were to be bitterly disappointed. Perhaps the biggest mistake was in the estimation of the Canadian populace. Many of the English-speaking settlers were American Loyalists who had fled the United States to escape the Revolution. These people, and their descendants, were fiercely loyal to King and country and the last thing they wanted was to be ruled by the revolutionary, republican United States they had only escaped from not so long ago. These settlers, along with the French Canadians, had also started to develop their own sense of Canadian pride and identity, and it was quite foolish to expect them to embrace anyone who would invade their country and force them to submit to a foreign government.

However, quite oblivious to these facts, General William Hull, a veteran of the American Revolution, set out from Detroit, Michigan and invaded Upper Canada (Ontario). His force of about 2,000 men, while seemingly small, was greater than anything that would oppose him. Yet, his invasion got off to a very inauspicious start. Hull crossed into Canada on July 12 and only five days later, British troops from St Joseph Island in Lake Huron surprised and captured the American post on Mackinac Island, part of the Michigan territory. Ideas of a welcome for US troops could not have been more incorrect. The Canadians and the native Indians were fiercely determined to resist the invasion and after battles at Brownstown and Monguagon Hull retreated back to Detroit to protect his vulnerable supply lines. Little did he know that what was probably the most humiliating defeat for the United States in the War of 1812 was well under way.

Opposing Hull was a very talented British soldier, General Isaac Brock and the Indian Chief Tecumseh who the Americans were only too familiar with. Brock had only a small army consisting of a handful of British regulars and the bulk being Canadian militia and the allied Indian tribes. However, Brock had Hull more than outmatched when it came to military brilliance and sheer audacity. Brock decided on a bold gamble and pursued Hull to Detroit and besieged it. He also knew that General Hull was deathly afraid of the Indians, so he played a trick on the Americans and allowed them to capture some false correspondence which suggested that he had more than enough men to take Detroit and that 5,000 more Indians were on their way, along with a few remarks about how terrible the fate of the Americans would be at the hands of these Indians they had so recently humiliated and how unsure he was of his ability to control them. The charade worked perfectly and on August 16 General Hull surrendered Detroit and his entire army to Major General Brock, even though he had Brock grossly outnumbered, roughly 550 troops compared to 2,500 in the American army.

This was a humiliating blow to the United States. Even though the odds had been overwhelmingly in their favor, not only had the first prong of the invasion of Canada failed, but they had been beaten by a smaller army through sheer bluff and had lost control of virtually all of Michigan to the British forces. General Hull was ridiculed as an incompetent coward and was court-martialed and sentenced to death. In light of his service in the Revolution however, this sentence was commuted and he was dismissed from the army and replaced by General William Henry Harrison. The entire western frontier of the US was thrown into chaos by this victory and in early September Indian forces allied with Britain attacked Pigeon Roost Creek, Fort Harrison, Fort Madison and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

General Sir Isaac Brock, "Hero of Upper Canada"

The Crown forces, however, had no time to rest on their laurels and had to move their meager forces rapidly to confront the two other American forces invading Canada. Brock left General Henry Proctor in command at Detroit and rushed east to meet the invading US forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer moving up the Niagara River. The two sides met at the battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812. Once again, the US had the Crown forces totally outmatched with 6,000 troops opposed by only 1,300 British and Canadian soldiers. This was to be a crucial battle; the Canadians who made up the majority of the Crown forces were fighting to defend their "home and native land" while the Americans and Van Rensselaer in particular were under extreme pressure to take revenge for the humiliation at Detroit with a victory on Canadian soil.

Once again, both commanders were also total opposites. General Van Rensselaer was a political soldier looking toward a career in government while Brock was a professional officer who believed that the best defense is a good offense. He meant to attack the Americans before they could attack him and gain upper New York with the same audacity with which he had won control of Michigan. However, his superior in Quebec, General Sir George Prevost, ordered him not to be so aggressive as he was even then trying to negotiate an armistice with the US forces. The battle opened at three o'clock in the morning as Van Rensselaer attacked across the Niagara River toward Queenston Heights. At the start of the engagement there were only 300 troops of the Crown Forces to oppose 6,000 Americans. Fortunately for the British and Canadians, the American attack was not well planned and troops could only be ferried across the river a few at a time and it was impossible to transport any artillery.

The Crown Forces laid down a withering fire on the advancing Americans, killing many and forcing many more to turn back. But, there were other US troops already across the river and seeing the devastating effect the British guns were having on his countrymen, US Colonel John E. Wool led his men in a reckless charge up the heights to capture the British artillery. This proved crucial as the Americans pushed the British off the hill there quickly ensued a series of attacks and counter-attacks over control of the cannon. General Brock bravely led his men forward and was killed by an American sharpshooter at one in the afternoon. The Crown forces were pushed back and the American troops continued to advance. However, it was at this point that the American attack began to fall apart. US troops on the heights were stunned by a violent attack by Mohawk Indians fighting for the British and to make matters worse for Van Rensselaer, many of his militia refused to cross the river into Canada, despite seeing British reinforcements on their way to attack those already across. The General pleaded with them, but they refused to leave New York and the boatmen working the river would not evacuate those on the opposite shore. As the British troops under General Roger Sheaffe formed up for battle, and with Mohawk war cries filling the air, the US troops broke ranks and retreated in a panic. Those who did not, under Colonel Winfield Scott, quickly surrendered. The second arm of the invasion of Canada had ended in abject failure once again.

The third prong of the invasion was a pitiful anticlimax. The third US army under General Henry Dearborn was supposed to lead the attack up Lake Champlain, but the attack never materialized. With Hull and Van Rensselaer soundly defeated Dearborn was cowed and the army was demoralized and again, once the reached the Canadian border the bulk of US soldiers simply refused to cross. They marched sullenly back to Plattsburgh, New York where they had started, bringing to a close the opening act of the War of 1812. The situation could not have seemed worse. Full of so much boasting and dreams of easy conquest, the American invasion of Canada had ended in ignominious failure. The entire campaign was shamefully conducted on the American side, a long list of incompetent generals, armies beaten by an enemy they had vastly outnumbered, soldiers who refused to fight and to make matters worse aside from failing to gain southern Canada the US had lost control of Michigan. On the British side, things were different. The Canadians in particular were justly proud of themselves for defeating a much stronger enemy, the country was safe for the time being and the British generals could plan counter-attacks. The only sad note was the loss of the gallant general, Sir Isaac Brock, who had truly earned his title of the "Savior of Upper Canada".

1813: The Second Year

As the war entered its second year, there was to be more bad news for the United States and yet another defeat. General Harrison sent forces northward again against Detroit, but these were defeated in January by General Proctor and forced to surrender at Frenchtown on the Raisin River. This ended the attempt by Harrison to retake Detroit, but a more significant blow to American morale was yet to come. General Proctor turned the US prisoners over to the Indians who subsequently executed sixty of them in what became known as the Raisin River Massacre. The US made much of this brutal act, using the phrase "Remember the River Raisin" as a battle cry afterwards. General Proctor and Chief Tecumseh followed up this victory In May when they besieged Ft Meigs, Ohio, however a victory by Tecumseh over arriving US reinforcements was not enough to force the fort to surrender and the Crown forces fell back to Canada. A second attack was repulsed again in July and an effort by the Indians of Tecumseh to take Ft Stephenson was also defeated quite bloodily and the effort to take Ohio was abandoned.

Nonetheless, these actions convinced both sides of the need to control the Great Lakes and in particular the Saint Lawrence River. Both sides geared up for a naval confrontation and US forces launched attacks into Canada. Of greatest significance was an attack on April 27 led by General Zebulon Pike. The original goal of US General Dearborn was Kingston across Lake Ontario, but when the British guessed his move and sent in reinforcements the Americans turned toward the capital of Canada, York, present-day Toronto. Roughly 2,000 American troops landed before the Crown forces under General Roger Sheaffe arrived to oppose them. Seeing that the cause was lost, Sheaffe destroyed the gunpowder stockpile as well as HMS Isaac Brock which was being built for battle on the Great Lakes. The explosion of the Isaac Brock killed the US General Pike but Sheaffe retreated to Ft York and the Canadian militia who remained behind were forced to surrender. In an act that was to have far-reaching consequences, after the battle American troops pillaged and burned Toronto. Vital supplies meant for the Great Lakes squadron and Detroit were destroyed, by the Americans also looted private homes and destroyed public buildings, including the Parliament. It was an act of cruelty that would not be soon forgotten. General Dearborn claimed to have conquered Ontario, but without taking Kingston as he had planned the sack of Toronto was meaningless and the US forces soon retreated back to their own soil. Nonetheless, the lack of the supplies that were destroyed was to play a part in deciding control of the Great Lakes.

The United States though, was still not giving up their goal of Canadian conquest and on May 27 captured Ft George without loss of life in an amphibious attack from Lake Ontario. The victory was illusory however as the British garrison was able to escape without injury and soon launched a counter-attack. In an extraordinarily audacious move some 700 British, Canadian and Indian troops commanded by John Vincent launched a pre-dawn surprise attack against 3,500 Americans under William Winder and John Chandler at Stoney Creek, Ontario on June 6, 1813. Both American generals were captured and the rest of the invasion force retreated once again. The Crown forces won another remarkable victory soon after at the Battle of Beaver Dams on June 24 which decided control of the Niagara peninsula. The British commander, Lieutenant James FitzGibbon was warned of the American attack by the heroic loyalist Laura Secord and decided on a bold attack. With only 50 soldiers and 400 Indians he ambushed 575 US regulars, bluffing them into believing that he had a massive army behind him and convincing the Americans to surrender. It was yet another embarrassing end for a US effort to invade Canada.

Laura Secord  telling FitzGibbon of the American advance

Although there was no contesting British rule of the seas, the Americans decided on a major effort to gain control of the Great Lakes in the hope of stopping any further threat from Canada. On September 10, 1813 American forces attacked the British squadron in Lake Erie under the command of Master-Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry. Perry had two 20-gun brigs, a captured British brig and six schooners with which to attack the six Royal Navy vessels commanded by Commodore Robert Heriot Barclay. The two sides were not evenly matched since the American ships, were more numerous, and while the British ships were of better quality, they were not well equipped due to the destruction of so much of their supplies at Toronto and the crews were poorly trained or prepared for battle. Perry blocked the British into the western end of the lake near Put-in-Bay, Ohio and sailed in to destroy them. The British ships put up a terrific fight and the USS Lawrence, Perry's flagship, was totally wrecked with more than half the crew killed, forcing Perry to transfer his flag to the USS Niagara. He then went on to capture the British flagship, HMS Detroit and ultimately the rest of the British squadron as well, accepting the surrender of Commodore Barclay on the blood-soaked deck of the ruined Lawrence.

This victory gave the Americans a much needed morale boost after suffering one defeat after another the previous two years of the war. Although in a broader sense of the naval war the victory at Lake Erie meant little in that Britain still ruled the Atlantic and was never seriously threatened at all by the US Navy, in fact, by March the British blockade extended all the way from Long Island to the Mississippi River, it did have the tactical benefit of giving the United States control of the Great Lakes and forcing the British to return to Detroit and allowing US forces to make another attack on Canada. Eager for revenge, General Harrison did just that the following month. As General Proctor pulled back to protect his supply lines Harrison followed him into Upper Canada. Proctor finally turned to face Harrison, as Tecumseh had been urging him to do for some time, on October 5, 1813 at the Battle of the Thames near Moraviantown. As usual, all of the odds favored Harrison who had about 3,500 troops compared to General Proctor with 1,300 British and Indian soldiers. General Harrison ordered a frontal assault that broke the British lines, forcing Proctor to flee and many to surrender. Chief Tecumseh carried on fighting for a while longer but was killed in the battle, which broke the morale of the Indians and with US reinforcements moving in on them they too finally retreated.

The US had finally won a victory on Canadian soil at the battle of the Thames, but its actual results were mixed. Canada was not conquered and Harrison knew he could not advance any further and retreated back to Detroit. The Northwest Territory was regained for the United States and with the death of Tecumseh the Indian alliance soon dissolved; so it was somewhat significant. The US had gained nothing, but they had taken back the British conquests of General Brock from the previous year. The area was to remain in American hands forever after, a fact more significant to the Indians who had been hoping the war would be an opportunity for them to take this territory back permanently. The strategic situation was not significantly changed and the British continued to make use of the St Lawrence River to supply Ontario. The US had gained enough courage and still harbored enough animosity to keep trying to conquer Canada.

On the British side, Sir George Prevost, Governor-General of Canada, had cleared the upper St Lawrence of American troops and for a time life resumed in the area along the same lines as it did before the war. The American command therefore decided on an offensive up the St Lawrence with the ultimate goal of seizing Montreal, the second city of Canada. General James Wilkinson and General Wade Hampton were to lead the attack, starting from Sackett's Harbor. Earlier in the year a British attack on Sackett's Harbor led by Sir James Lucas Yeo had been repulsed by the United States and conditions for an attack seemed ideal. Yet, as with earlier attempts, things seemed to go wrong for the Yanks from the start. Hampton and Wilkinson disliked each other intensely and Hampton fell behind schedule in linking up with the troops under Wilkinson. The result was yet another American humiliation.

On October 25, 1813 General Hampton, with 4,000 US regulars and state militiamen, met a small force of about 500 Indians and Canadian militia under the French Canadian lieutenant colonel Charles de Salaberry on the Chateauguay River. Salaberry delayed Hampton and with help from the local populace managed to dupe Hampton into believing he was outnumbered. The battle was light on violence, but heavy on theatrics as the Canadian and Indian troops put on such a show of force that Hampton was totally intimidated and soon retreated. Total American casualties were 250 while the Crown forces lost only about 21 men killed or wounded. Once again overwhelming American numbers had been defeated by clever bluffs and sheer guile. Nonetheless, Wilkinson, with 8,000 men, continued on with the operation until news of the ignominious defeat of Hampton, and the presence of British forces in his rear forced him to make an early landing at Morrisburg, Ontario. Incidentally, one of the British officers pursuing him, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison was an American, having been born in New York in 1783. On November 11, the rearguard of Wilkinson's army, numbering some 2,500 men, attacked Colonel Morrison, who had only 800 men, at the battle of Crysler's Farm near Cornwall, Ontario. Once again, the American forces were soundly defeated and took heavy losses. Wilkinson was forced to retreat and was eventually court-martialed for neglect of duty.

1814: The Third Year of War

As the United States looked back on 1813 they saw only frustration. Although they had recovered some of their dignity with victories on the Thames and Lake Erie, and had managed to take a little vengeful satisfaction in the destruction of Toronto, their overall goals had failed to be met. The Crown forces had bested them at Frenchtown, thrown them back from Montreal and defeated them at Ft Niagara. All of this finally seemed to prove to the arrogant political leaders that they had, perhaps, drawn the wrong conclusions from the Revolutionary War. The civilian militia fought bravely in many instances, but had also proven to be undisciplined and at times inept. The fact that the New York militia had refused to come to the aid of the regulars across the river in Canada, watching them being destroyed by the British, finally drove home the fact that the United States needed a formally trained, disciplined regular army.

One of the men who led this revolution in American military thinking was General Winfield Scott, a man so devoted to discipline, protocol and military pageantry that he would one day be given the nickname "Old Fuss & Feathers". The U.S. army began to get serious about training and discipline and would soon prove themselves a more dangerous opponent. However, as far as any great victory goes, they had waited too late to learn humility. In Europe, Napoleon had been defeated and the British lion began to roar as America could now be given the full attention of London. Soon 18,000 veteran British troops, some of whom had served in Wellington's brilliant Peninsular Campaign, were on their way to America to put those upstart Yankees in their place.

General Winfield Scott, around the time of the Mexican War

Anxious to strike a blow for American pride before these reinforcements reached Canada, US Secretary of War John Armstrong demanded an immediate offensive that would score some victory on Canadian soil to make up for the recent failure before Montreal. Major General Jacob Brown and Major General Winfield Scott joined forces to form the Army of the North with roughly 3,500 troops. Fort Erie was captured on July 3 and the US forces soon crossed over into Ontario. British General Phineas Riall, with about 2,000 men including British regulars, Canadian militia and Iroquois Indians moved to counterattack the American force. The two sides met on July 5 at the battle of Chippewa. General Riall sent his men forward in a bold attack, expecting the US militia to panic and retreat as they so often had done in the past. However, these were not militia he was up against but US regulars whom General Scott had whipped into an effective force. The Americans stood their ground and when their heavy fire began to weaken the British line, General Scott ordered a bayonet charge that broke the British lines and sent them into a hurried retreat.

The Americans were buoyed by this victory and Brown and Scott continued their invasion northward confident of success and thinking that, finally, Canada was theirs for the taking. Yet, they were to meet a much more formidable force in their next engagement. The Crown Forces gathering to oppose them included British and Irish regulars, Canadian militia, Swiss mercenaries and Indian volunteers bringing their numbers to fully equal those of the United States. This army was under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Gordon Drummond, a very competent officer, but also a Canadian. He had earlier led the Crown forces that took Ft Niagara and the benefit of having a Canadian officer in command of the troops defending his native soil was important and especially good for the morale of the Canadian militia.

Canadian General Drummond

On July 25, 1814 the two sides met at the battle of Lundy's Lane, one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Canadian soil. General Scott and his brigade were the first to advance, but they were cut down by withering fire from the Royal Artillery which had been placed in a cemetery on high ground overlooking the battlefield. The US troops fell back, but counterattacked under cover of darkness when more reinforcements arrived. With terrible visibility many men fell from friendly fire, but the Americans managed to fight their way up the hill and capture the British guns. Crown reinforcements arrived later in the night and launched three furious assaults on the cemetery, all of which the US forces managed to repulse. Around midnight, lack of visibility and sheer exhaustion finally brought an end to the battle in which casualties had been heavy. 878 Crown troops and 860 Americans were dead, wounded, missing or had been taken prisoner. Generals Scott, Brown, and Drummond were all wounded in the fight and General Riall had been taken prisoner. The battle had been inconclusive, but it was the American forces who retreated the following day, burning bridges behind them to slow any British pursuit. Many of the British troops who were hardened veterans of the war against Napoleon said the battle of Lundy's Lane was the most horrific they had ever witnessed.

Although the United States had improved in fighting ability, it was clear with this defeat in Canada that the initiative had slipped from their grasp. General Drummond pushed on in pursuit, and despite being stung at the siege of Ft Erie, the US forces eventually withdrew and the Canadian frontier on the Niagara was secured. With more troops arriving from Europe and across the Empire the Crown forces at last had enough strength to take the offensive against the United States. As the next phase of the war opened it would now be Crown forces invading the United States from Canada and from the sea. Sir George Prevost, the Governor-General of Canada, was charged with leading the counteroffensive into the American northeast.

Governor General Sir George Prevost

Fortunately for the Americans, Lt. General Prevost was an extremely cautious man. Ironically enough, Prevost was one of the loyal Americans, having been born in New Jersey. He had been commander-in-chief in British North America since the outbreak of war, but had often clashed with his subordinates as he wanted all emphasis placed on defense while men like General Brock believed that only daring attacks would save Canada. Prevost, looking at the odds so heavily in America's favor, had refused any major offensive action and kept large numbers of reinforcements in reserve to guard Quebec City, though US troops never managed to advance anywhere close to that point. Nonetheless, as Governor-General of Canada the invasion of the United States was his duty and he did so with 11,000 troops and naval support down the Richelieu River. His goal was the control of Lake Champlain in order to give Britain control of the Great Lakes and Plattsburg, New York which had been the staging points for past American invasions of Canada. US forces in the area had been reinforced but still only numbered around 3,400 aided by a recently constructed naval flotilla on the lake.

Prevost started the movement south on September 4 and was fought every step of the way by American forces under General Alexander Macomb, desperately trying to buy time for the defenses around Plattsburg to be completed. Hampered by every manner of delaying tactics Prevost did not arrive until the sixth and held off his assault until his naval support arrived. On September 11, 1814 the British flotilla under George Downie met and engaged American naval forces commanded by Thomas McDonough. The fighting was fierce, both commanders were hit and both flagships severely damaged. In a moment of desperation, McDonough cut the bow anchors, allowing the winds to blow his ship, USS Saratoga, around so that their least damaged side faced the British. Opening a deadly fire into the most heavily damaged side of the British ships they were soon put out of action and forced to strike their colors. McDonough refused to accept their swords however, saying, "Gentlemen return your swords to your scabbards, you are worthy of them". Prevost, for his part, had made efforts to attack the city by numerous routes but was repulsed each time with heavy losses by American regulars and militia fighting from good cover. American artillery also slowed his efforts to approach the city and though a flanking movement from the west came close to succeeding, members of the Vermont militia were able to rush in and halt the British advance. When word came of the naval defeat on Lake Champlain Prevost called off the attacks and ordered his men to retreat.

Nonetheless, late 1814 had not been a good time for the United States home front. By August the American economy was in a state of near chaos. Public credit collapsed and banks suspended all specie payments. In the west, early in the year Canadian troops under Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall had made further inroads south to Georgia Bay and an attempt by the Americans to recapture Ft Mackinac failed when the attack force was ambushed by Indians. They briefly managed to disrupt the supply line established by McDouall in August at Nottawasaga Bay but the following month a raiding force of Crown troops in canoes and small boats boarded and captured both of the American gunboats. British forces also defeated an attack at Prairie du Chien led by a soon-to-be famous young American officer named Major Zachary Taylor. Despite the earlier American counteroffensive, the west was to remain mostly under British control for the duration of the war, thanks mostly to their policy of friendship with the Indians, which, although not as effective as when they were united by Tecumseh, still included enough tribes willing to fight the United States which was encroaching on their land.

Major General Robert Ross

In spite of surviving the invasion attempt by Prevost, the Americans were in a very unenviable strategic position. Although they were holding their own, they were checked along the Canadian border, tied down and barely holding on in the west, and facing an ever tightening blockade all along their coast. Additionally, British control of the seas meant that despite their invasion from Canada being blocked, Crown forces could be landed at will at almost any point along the eastern and southern shores of the United States. The Royal Navy had taken control of Chesapeake Bay, destroyed a great deal of the maritime infrastructure of the region and enabled them to strike at the heart of the American government. In August, British troops under veteran Major General Robert Ross, commander of all Crown troops on the east coast, landed in Maryland and marched on Washington DC. At the battle of Bladensburg Ross met a much larger American force commanded by the inept General William Winder. Despite taking heavy fire, the disciplined British troops pressed on and totally routed the American army, sending them fleeing madly in a panicked flight that was jokingly called the Bladensburg Races. President Madison had been on hand to witness the embarrassment as his army disintegrated into a disorderly retreat with only the U.S. Marines holding their ground to the end. Soldiers and politicians alike fled the field and the British troops marched unopposed into the American capitol.

Governor-General Prevost was determined to pay back the United States for pillaging and burning Toronto and the actions of the troops in each case is worth comparing. Advance units under Ross reached Capitol Hill on August 25 but when a British party was sent to parley under a flag of truce, they were fired upon by American partisans. The house was quickly destroyed and the British flag was raised over the city, it would be the first and only time in American history that an enemy nation would control the capitol city. However, whereas at Toronto American troops had gone on an uncontrolled rampage, at Washington discipline was retained and only government buildings were destroyed. In fact, the commanding British Admiral, George Cockburn was dissuaded from burning down the office of a notoriously anti-British newspaper when local ladies prevailed upon him the danger of the fire spreading to nearby houses. However, the Senate, House of Representatives, the Library of Congress, United States Treasury, Washington Navy Yard, the Patent Office and the Whitehouse itself were all put to the torch in retaliation for the destruction of the Canadian capitol.

The results of this attack were both good and bad for the Crown forces. The benefit was that the American command had been severely disrupted and it would take considerable time for the capitol to recover as the center for civic and military leadership in the country. The downside was that it infuriated the American public and many who had refused to fight in such an unpopular war were motivated to enlist in the army that was assembling to the north as General Ross continued his advance toward Baltimore. On September 12, 1814 after landing at North Point, General Ross paid the price for being such a brave commander when he was shot by an American sniper. His forces nonetheless won the battle and pushed on to Baltimore but were met with overwhelming US numbers. Roughly 5,000 British soldiers were confronted by 15,000 Americans defending the city, plus Ft McHenry in Baltimore Harbor with a garrison of about a thousand men. Colonel Arthur Brooke, who had taken command after the death of Ross, knew that without help he could not possibly attack an enemy in a fortified position that outnumbered him three to one. Everything depended on the Royal Navy destroying Ft McHenry to come to his aid. However, despite a fierce bombardment from six vessels firing rockets and mortars the fort would not be silenced and a diversionary attack failed due to the darkness and bad weather on the night of September 13, the first day of the bombardment. By September 15, having thrown everything they had at the fort and with the large American flag still waving defiantly above it the British abandoned the attack. Brooke withdrew his men and the British fleet redeployed for their next attack, planned in the south. Probably the most famous consequence of the battle was the inspiration it gave Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner" which became the national anthem of the United States.

1815: The End of the War

Andrew Jackson, or Old Hickory

The final stage of the war was to be concerned with actions in two parts of the world: the American south and the city of Ghent in Belgium. It was in Belgium that representatives of the United States and the British Empire met to discuss the terms by which the war could be ended. Both sides were eager for an end, though it was certainly more critical for the Americans. Their grand ideas about conquering Canada had ended in inglorious failure and they were barely holding their own against British counterattacks. Britain, while safe from any outside threat, had just won a very long and costly war with the French Empire and the people at home were tired of death and the heavy war taxes needed to fund military operations.

The two sides began meeting in August of 1814. The terms Britain first presented called for the United States to cede border territories to Canada which the Crown forces now controlled and return the Northwest Territory to the Indians as had long been promised. The Americans balked at these terms but were saved when word of several US victories, especially the defeat of Prevost at Plattsburg, reached Belgium and the British decided to drop their demands. Instead, both nations were to return all territory taken by either side during the conflict with commissions set up to settle any disputes afterwards. Ironically, no mention at all was made about any of the issues over which the United States claimed to have gone to war in 1812 in the first place. With the defeat of Napoleon the aggressive blockade by the Royal Navy had become unnecessary quite apart from anything that happened in America. A treaty was signed on December 24, 1814 that was to go into effect when ratified by the governments involved. However, communications being what they were at the time, the war would enter one more year before hostilities ceased.

The man who was to see the conflict to the end in the United States was Colonel Andrew Jackson, also known as "Old Hickory" who had spent most of the previous year leading his ragtag group of Cherokee Indians, US regulars and Tennessee militia in a war against the Creek Indians for control of Alabama. The conflict had very little, if anything, to do with the war against Britain; but it was a convenient excuse to grab some more territory and eliminate Indians that could prove troublesome later to American settlers. Andrew Jackson was a tough, frontier veteran whose wartime exploits would later win him the Presidency. He once said that, "the only good Indian was a dead Indian" and his opinion of the British was little better. He carried a lifelong grudge against a British officer who had humiliated him as a boy during the Revolutionary War. Having already killed a small horde of Indians, as 1815 opened he now had his change to vent his hatred against the British as well.

The British fleet which had attacked Ft McHenry had regrouped and was now moving with a veteran invasion force toward the vital Mississippi and Gulf port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Jackson set to work with the ruthless efficiency that made him an effective commander. He distrusted the population of New Orleans and put the city under martial law for fear that they would submit to the British to spare themselves. He also put his southern militia to work digging earthworks for his riflemen and artillery. The upcoming fight had every indication of being a desperate battle. There was Jackson with a small force of around 5,000 ragged but tough riflemen and coming to attack him were more than 10,000 crack British troops commanded by Major General Sir Edward Packenham, brother-in-law to the famous Duke of Wellington who had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. The British lines also included some Indian allies and Negro soldiers from the British West Indies. The Americans were also aided by the pirates of Jean Lafitte who had made a career of raiding mostly Spanish shipping while the US looked the other way.

Scottish Highlanders charge the American lines at the battle of New Orleans

Despite the uneven odds though the battle proved to be very one-sided in the Americans favor. Packenham ordered a frontal assault against Jackson with the British troops crowded close together, advancing over open ground. Thanks to a preemptive strike which delayed the British deployment, Jackson had time to set up his artillery in a good position to cover the field. His militia were armed with extremely accurate rifles and his frontiersmen were excellent marksmen. They were also protected by breastworks, some made of tightly packed cotton bales that proved quite effective. The battle commenced on January 8, 1815 and as soon as the British began to advance American artillery and rifle fire began to decimate their ranks. Packenham was mortally wounded early on and passed command to General John Lambert, urging him to press on with the attack. However, nothing seemed to go right for the British. Some troops were confused by the pirates of Lafitte who wore red shirts and the scaling ladders to be used to storm the American earthworks were never brought forward. The British advanced bravely, but could do nothing but stand in the open while the American riflemen picked them off.

Finally, disregarding Packenham's last order, General Lambert called off the attack and ordered his men to fall back. The British had suffered 2,036 total casualties compared to only 71 for Jackson and his men. The victory was celebrated across the United States and Jackson instantly became a national war hero because of the battle, even though it was fought after the peace terms had already been agreed upon. It was not until the very day of the battle however that anyone in North America was aware of this, and the treaty did not go into effect until it was ratified. New Orleans, however, was not actually the last battle of the war, though Colonel Jackson would probably have liked it to be. After retreating from Louisiana, General Lambert decided to take his still respectable invasion force and attack Mobile, Alabama. It was guarded by a recently reinforced garrison at Ft Bowyer. Jackson had earlier boasted that "ten thousand men cannot take it". However, General Lambert, with only a little over 1,000 men did exactly that, capturing the fort and the entire garrison of 370 men at a cost of only 25 total casualties. On February 17, 1815 President Madison officially ratified the Treaty of Ghent, officially ending the War of 1812. General Prevost was officially notified at Quebec on March 1.

The Results of the War

If one takes the American politicians at their word that the War of 1812 was about the British blockade of Europe, impressments of sailors and freedom of the seas; the conflict settled absolutely nothing. The British had stopped all of these policies when the defeat of Napoleon made them unnecessary. Nonetheless, some Americans seized on this and tried to claim the War of 1812 as an American victory, forcing the British to come to the American point of view regarding maritime rights. The fact that some made such a claim makes it no less ridiculous. The United States had not forced Britain to change a single policy and the American dream of conquering Canada had ended in ignominious failure. Against nearly impossible odds the Crown forces had held their own, repelled the American attacks and even managed to win the singular distinction of being the only enemy force to ever occupy Washington DC.

If there was one group of people though who clearly understood the significance of the war it was the Canadians. Before the American Revolution Canada had been mostly French Canada, but the exiled American loyalists had laid the foundation for English-speaking Canada and the victory of Canadian troops against massive American armies brought about a new sense of Canadian pride and national identity. Quite the opposite of the American dream of Canadians welcoming their invasion with grateful hearts and outstretched hands, the French and English Canadians had been united against a common enemy in the defense of their country as well as winning the respect of many in Britain for their loyalty and determination, which ultimately led down the road to self-government and autonomy within the British Empire and finally complete independence among the Commonwealth. More than the British or the Americans, Canadians remember the War of 1812 as the conflict which saved them as a unique country from American domination.

In the United States, reaction was somewhat mixed. American pride was so great that they refused to admit being defeated and congratulated themselves for surviving the conflict without losing any territory. "The Second War for Independence" many called it. On the surface and in public there was a great deal of pride and celebration of the American victories, no matter how important or unimportant they might have been. Underneath though, the United States had learned some hard lessons and though they might not have admitted it openly, they realized some of their arrogant attitudes about a professional military had to change. Blind faith would no longer be put in a civilian militia and the US government soon established the US Military Academy at West Point for the formal training of officers for the regular army. Men like Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor and Andrew Jackson would also go on to illustrious careers after gaining fame in the War of 1812. Nor had American zeal for expansion been entirely extinguished either. In the decades that followed Florida was added to the Union as was the Republic of Texas and after a war with Mexico all of southwest so that American power stretched to the Pacific Ocean. It is noteworthy though that all future expansion looked south and west; the idea of invading Canada never came up again and the two countries have been relatively peaceful ever since. The biggest losers were probably the Indian tribes who faced renewed aggression from the United States and this time with no support from the British to resist them.

In conclusion, it is safe to say that the United States has been somewhat selective in labeling the War of 1812 a victory at best or a stalemate at worst. Despite all of the political talk about freedom of the seas, the War of 1812 was pushed through by the War Hawks and their primary goal was the conquest and annexation of Canada. In this, the United States failed completely and only barely survived the British counterattack which followed after it. Even the expansionism that followed later was entirely to the south and west, never the north, which has been avoided ever since. The United States failed to conquer Canada, failed to forcibly alter any British plans or policies and although they removed Britain as an Indian ally, they certainly continued to have Indian wars as long as US expansion continued. The British Empire, on the other hand, successfully defended all of their territory, firmly stopped any designs the United States had on taking control of British North America and left the war still the dominant world power of the time. So, if the War of 1812 was a stalemate, it was one much closer to being a British victory than an American one by any measure of judgment.