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The War of 1812

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The War of 1812 The War of 1812 Two hundred years ago Britain and the United States went to war. The conflict was a relatively minor affair, but its consequences were great, says Jeremy Black. The War of 1812 nglo-American relations, though extolled George Munger's drawing was killed attacking the Americans (see 'The Saviour since the 1940s, have often been difficult and of the unfinished Capitol of Canada', p. 13). never more so than when the two powers building in ruins after the American hopes were also disappointed in the British set fire to it in retali- Awent to war in 1812. Sometimes referred to ation for destruction at distant, snowy wastes of Russia. America had chosen to as a forgotten conflict, the War of 1812 played a major York (now Toronto) the go to war with Britain in June 1812 at a moment when role in defining relations between the two states. previous year. Britain appeared vulnerable. Napoleon's invasion of Episodes ofthe conflict are celebrated in American Russia, which followed a week later, represented, in its public myth, notably the defence of Fort McHenry in constituent army, an alliance of most of Europe. Antici- 1814, the origin of 'The Star-Spangled Banner', and pating French success. President Madison hoped that Andrew Jackson's victory outside New Orleans in 1815. Britain would be forced to concede the loss of Canada. The Americans went to war in 1812 in order to end Yet fi^om late 1812 Britain's position strengthened Britain's blockade of trade with Napoleon's France and in dramatically. Napoleon's failure in Russia put France's the hope of conquering Canada, ending real or potential unwilling ally Prussia in the fi'ont line. In January 1813 British backing for Native Americans. In the event Napoleon rejected Prussian terms for continued support Canada held firm, whue the US was unable to force and, Ü1 March, Prussia declared war on Napoleon. Britain to accept its interpretation of maritime rights. Any hope that the US would benefit fi-om some sort The American challenge was held off by the supe- of balance in Europe collapsed. In 1813 Austria, an ally rior strength ofthe Royal Navy, combined with skilful of which the British Government was correctly dubious, defence ofthe Canadian border. Some episodes were offered Napoleon terms that would have enabled France to be celebrated in Canada as key moments in to concentrate on Britain, thereby greatly affecting the securing its identity as a loyal but autonomous terri- war with the US. Napoleon, however, failed to accept or tory under the Crown. On October 13th, 1812 the offer terms that would divide his assailants. This left American invaders who crossed the River Niagara Britain able both to decide what military effort to make were driven back. With echoes of James Wolfe outside in America and also to insist that any negotiations with Quebec in 1759, Isaac Brock, the British commander. the US government should be direct. www.historytoday.com The War of 1812 The economic burden of the war was rising in America, similar to the situation during the War of Independence. This time, however, France could not act MAINE as an opponent or even diversion to the Royal Navy and so the British blockade was more effective: US exports fell from $45 million in 1811 to $7 million in 1814, with grain exports hit especially hard, falling from 972,000 barrels in 1813 to a little over 41,000 barrels in 1814. his dimension of the war tends to be disguised in TAmerican public memory as a result of the emphasis on American success in ship-to-ship clashes. The latter were impressive and had consequences, but the key naval outcomes at the strategic level reflected British naval strength and matched the situation in the European world in the 1810s, where France could not TERRITORY TERRITORY effectively challenge Britain at sea. 7\inerican warships OF OF ILLANOIS INDIANA were unable to make any material difference to trade, let alone security, in British home waters, nor to prevent British projection into US waters. Nor could American ships break the blockade. By late 1814 the severe economic problems faced by the Americans limited their ability to deploy ships. When warships did go to The War of 1812. In the crisis caused by this defeat, American leader- sea, the British were more effective at engaging them. A ship was poor and marked by division. John small American force of two frigates and two sloops that Armstrong, the secretary of war, a convenient scape- did set sail in winter 1814 could not compensate for the goat who had insisted there was no threat to Wash- extent to which the remainder of the navy remained ington, was dismissed. blockaded, some to the point that they were not even Having re-embarked, the British struck frirther up manned for active operations. the Chesapeake at Baltimore, one of America's leading Napoleon's unconditional abdication on April 11th, ports and the commercial centre of the region. 1814 enabled the British to send more warships and far However its fortifications had been enhanced since more troops to North America than in 1812 and 1813. the summer of 1813, a refiection of the wealth and Whereas earlier British initiatives had been relatively determination of the city, as the federal government limited and had in part depended on the co-operation was not up to the task of ensuring adequate defences. of Native Americans (as in the advance in early 1813 Moreover the British force was seriously outnum- into the Ohio country), in 1814 the British were able to bered. Having landed ten miles away, it advanced on launch a wide-ranging campaign. It included opera- Baltimore, but was blocked by the American defences. tions in the Chesapeake, as well as a focus on the Supporting warships moved up the Patapsco River conquest of American territory, especially in the Lake and, with Congreve rockets and mortar Ijombs, Champlain corridor and in Maine. The Chesapeake bombarded Fort McHenry, which blocked the access campaign was a diversion intended to reduce pressure to Baltimore harbour. British forces failed to destroy on Canada, both by diverting American forces and by the fort, in part because they fired from beyond the making the Americans aware of the dangers of fighting range of the defending guns. An attempt by night to on. Furthermore, American territory was to be capture the fort through an amphibious attack failed conquered in order to improve Britain's negotiating when the boats lost their way in the fog and so the position in the eventual peace talks. expedition was abandoned. The troops sailed to The Americans still attacked Canada in 1814, but Jamaica from where they would be available for opera- they fañed to make gains. The US did have some success tions in the Gulf of Mexico. that year against the Creek, or Muskogee, in the Amer- The advance on New Orleans in the winter of ican south-east, but this did not affect British policy. In 1814-15 was less successful than the operations in the the Chesapeake campaign they took the offensive; on Chesapeake. New Orleans' distance from the sea was August 24th at Bladensburg, Maryland they easily an important factor, but so also were the poor tactics defeated the American force protecting Washington, adopted when the American lines were attacked on which was occupied without resistance. Public buildings January 8th, 1815. Failure at New Orleans denied the were destroyed by British troops in retaliation for Amer- British a base but scarcely stopped their operations in ican destructiveness at York (now Toronto) in 1813, an the Gulf of Mexico, for there was no powerful Amer- attempt at equivalence not often mentioned in US ican fieet that could be based at New Orleans, or public history. Private property was respected, with the anywhere else in the Gulf. Indeed the British moved exception of the few buildings from which resistance on to Mobile and were conducting operations against was offered. Some buildings were destroyed by the Georgia at the end of the war and considering action Americans themselves, determined in particular to against South Carolina. prevent the navy yard and its stores from being seized What if the war had continued? With Napoleon's by the British. return to power in France in 1815 there was a need for www.historytoday.com October 2012 | HistoryToíítiy 11 The War of 1812 well as for state, that New York City was at risk. He JlIEROGLYPlnCS of Jclm Bults oixrihxm : m View of the Northern Expedition in Miniature. pressed for an expansion ofthe regular army to 100,000 DOLL, Split-Foot. Bonapait. John Bull. ames War.. Tom PatrioL John Adams. John Rogers; men, though there were just 49,000 at the close ofthe Er: war. Also in 1814, there was an attempt to address the growing problem of desertion; most ofthe 205 US soldiers executed during the war were killed that year. As in the War of Independence, high rates of desertion were overlooked in the public myth. The impression of success left by a selective account ofthe campaigning in 1814-15 played a major role in the creation of a sense of national identity, when the reality of war, as so often, had ON GOVERNMENTS. ' been very different. Richard Rush, the comptroller ofthe •ñ^íM £^£?£Í ^2^JI treasury, observed ofthe peace: 'It comes indeed, at a most happy point of time for our interests and our fame', while Madison informed Congress that the war had been 'signalised by the most brilliant successes' and also declared that God had 'reared' the USA 'into the strength and endowed them with the resources which have enabled them to assert their national rights and to enhance their national character'.
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