In the War of 1812, also called the Second War of American Independence, the United States fought against Great Britain and its Native American allies. The Republican Party was in favor of the war while the Federalist Party was against it. Great Britain responded to the America's declaration of war with a plan to attack from the following three places: 1) from the north, down through the lakes to New York, 2) in through the Chesapeake Bay in the center, and 3) up through New Orleans in the south. The large size of the British Royal Navy also made it easy for the British to challenge American ships all over the Atlantic Ocean. The Americans won many unexpected victories and after one of these, the Battle of Baltimore, our national anthem was written. Finally, the leaders of both sides agreed to end the fighting and a peace treaty was signed in Ghent, Belgium. However, the soldiers had not yet heard the news and the Battle of New Orleans was fought after the war had officially ended.
WAR ON THE LAKES IN THE NORTH
Travel on land through dense Canadian forests in the north was almost impossible. Control of the large lakes and rivers was important so that soldiers and supplies could be moved down into New York on ships. Both Britain and America were busy building ships in the area. The ships were quickly built from whatever wood could be found in the forest and were armed with collections of different size cannons borrowed from local army units.
On September 10, 1813, Lieutenant Perry on the USS Lawrence, led his ships on an attack on the British fleet on Lake Erie. He left his ship when it became disabled and rowed over to the smaller USS Niagara so that he could continue to fight the enemy. The two largest British ships, HMS Detroit and HMS Queen Charlotte, ran into each other and were destroyed by American gunfire, after which the entire British fleet surrendered. This American success was a shock to the British and temporarily caused them to give up attempts to ship men and supplies down into New York.
The British again took control of Lake Champlain on November 16, 1813, and sent men and supplies to destroy towns in New York state. The young American captain, Thomas McDonough, was still able to build a small fleet of ships on the lake, under the protection of gunfire from American soldiers on shore. He made a plan; anchoring his new ships, the Ticonderoga, the Saratoga, and the Eagle, along with some smaller gunboats in a small bay, each ship was strategically anchored so they could swing on a pivot of the anchor line to aim their canons at the approaching enemy ships from two sides.
The British ships opened fire but were destroyed by direct hits from the American fleet. Remaining British gunboats fled, leaving Captain MacDonough to rule the lake.
After this loss of access to desperately needed supplies, the British army again was forced to retreat back into Canada. England's victory was dependent on Northern access to the Unites States through New York. Having lost this advantage, the British began to realize the perseverance of the American people: Would they ever surrender?
THE TREATY OF GHENT
Although England had finally triumphed over its archenemy, Napoleon, the effort had been expensive and it now faced political upheavals in Europe.
Britain was suffering. It had lost many of its prized ships of war, the H.M.S. Guerriere, the H.M.S. Macedonian, and the H.M.S. Java, along with over 160 other ships of war and 2,000 merchant ships. Failure to retain control of the Great Lakes in the U.S., failure to capture the City of Baltimore, and negative public opinion in England forced the British government to seek a way out of war with America.
Not only was England tired of war, its citizens were eager to resume trade and make contact with friends and relatives who lived in America.
Across the Atlantic in America, discouragement had settled upon Washington. The treasury was empty and British ships and men were becoming available to fight after the end of war in Europe, so President Madison was ready to seek peace with Britain.
An American delegation including James Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, Albert Gallatin, and led by John Quincy Adams, met with a British delegation in Ghent, Belgium. The purpose was to negotiate a peace treaty between the two countries. The British started out with a long list of conditions for peace that had to be met by America. But under pressures of events taking place in America and the superior negotiating skills of John Quincy Adams, many of these conditions were abandoned. Britain finally agreed to sign an agreement to end the war, keeping Canada as part of the British Empire and leaving the United States as a free and sovereign nation.
The treaty was signed on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1814, but it did not reach America until after a stormy seven-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMS Favorite. It arrived on February 11th and was rushed on fast horses to Washington D.C. where it was quickly ratified by Congress on February 17, 1815. Bells rang and the people danced in the streets throughout the land. The United Stated finally was free to pursue its destiny, due in large part to its magnificent ships of war and its fast, successful privateers.
NAVAL WAR IN THE ATLANTIC
Britain sent hundreds of ships of war, under the command of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, to blockade all American ports along the Atlantic coast, making it extremely difficult for American ships to enter or leave and shutting down all its international trade. The Americans only had a handful of old ships left over from their Revolutionary War to face the entire British Royal Navy.
But there were important differences between the British ships and those of the Americans. British ships were manned with unhappy men impressed (kidnapped) off their village streets and from foreign ships, while American sailors were volunteers, eager to do battle with their enemy. And British captains were restricted by British rules of combat, while American captains were free to use their best judgment and new ideas and to take full advantage of each opportunity. Equally important was the design of American ships. British ships tended to be large with cannons capable of firing heavy balls a short distance. American ships often were fast and could turn quickly with this sides and "long guns" capable of firing medium size balls far beyond the range of the British cannon.
The effects of these differences showed up early in the war in the Atlantic. In three months starting August 19, 1812, three very important events occurred. First, American Captain Hull in USS Constitution chased down British Captain Dacres in HMS Guerriere east of Boston, shot Guerriere to pieces, took off its survivors, and blew it up. Secondly, Captain Decatur in USS United States lured Captain Carden in HMS Macedonian into battle off the coast of Africa, quickly reduced Macedonian to a complete wreck, and took it as a prize into New London, Connecticut. Finally, Captain Bainbridge in USS Constitution was attacked and slugged it out with Captain Lambert in HMS Java off the coast of Brazil. The Constitution shot up Java's hull and rigging, took off survivors, and blew it up.
These victories cheered the American public and sent the British Admiralty into shock and disbelief. Britain was forced to realize, that for the first time in its history, the Royal Navy had met ships better than its own. To overcome its shortage of ships during the war, the American government granted Letters of Marque to hundreds of privately owned armed ships to carry the American flag in the war against Britain. These "Privateers" captured and sank over 2,000 British merchant ships during the course of the war, making a strong contribution to the American success.
BATTLE OF BALTIMORE AND THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
The British sent many squadrons of ships up and down the east coast of the United States to bottle up on the American commercial fleet and make it difficult for American naval ships and privateers to sneak in and out of their harbors.
In April 1814, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by Britain in Europe, making hundreds of British ships and about fourteen thousand new soldiers available to join the war against America. Things looked particularly bleak for the young American nation. The British sent an army in 20 warships under the command of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane up the Chesapeake Bay in August 1812. Their goal was to distract the American troops from the fighting up north. Advancing up the Patuxent River, the British found themselves only a day's march from the American Capitol. Disobeying Cochrane's orders, Admiral Cockburn convinced General Ross to attack Washington D.C. Hearing about the approaching troops, Dolley Madison, the President's dynamic wife, gathered together the White House's treasures and moved them to a safe place out in the country.
As a payback for the American burning of York (now Toronto) the year before, the British burned Washington D.C., then continued toward Baltimore. The British army was brought to a standstill on the land by a strong line of defense set up by General Samuel Smith; while the navy sailed toward Fort McHenry. The fort protected the entrance to Baltimore Harbor with a force of only 1,000 American soldiers. The British fleet pounded Fort McHenry, firing more than 1,500 shells into it within 24 hours.
Francis Scott Key, an American civilian had boarded a British ship prior to the battle to negotiate the release of an American doctor. Kept aboard the ship during the fighting, he was so filled with pride watching the stars and stripes flying over the fort in the dawn's early light, that he sat down and wrote a poem, "The Defense of M'Henry", on the back of an old letter. Later an actor sang the poem, calling it "The Star Spangled Banner." That name stuck.
The British fleet finally gave up its effort to capture the fort and sailed back up the Atlantic coast. Early defeat of the prized British ships in the Atlantic, defeat of British fleets in the northern lakes, and this failure to capture Baltimore made the British public very unhappy and caused a lot of discussion in England about ending the war with America.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
Loss of control of the Great Lakes cut off Britain's access to New York in the north and failure to capture Baltimore deprived Britain of its entry into the Unites States by way of the mid-Atlantic Coast. Its last hope was for a decisive victory in the south: an invasion through New Orleans.
Without knowledge of the peace negotiations taking place in Ghent, the British, under command of General Sir Edward Pakenham, assembled 11,000 of its best troops at Jamaica and sailed them across the Atlantic to Lake Borgne, in a secret attempt to capture New Orleans.
American General Andrew Jackson was busy extinguishing a British attempt to cause a Native American uprising in the south. He got word of the British General's plans to attack him and rushed south to strike first. With the help of the pirate, Jean Lafitte, General Jackson attacked the unsuspecting British late in the evening of December 23rd, while they rested at camp outside the gates of the City of New Orleans.
Although caught by surprise, the British turned back Jackson's first attack and the Americans fell back to "dig in," digging defensive "trenches" and an earthen wall across an open field just five miles from New Orleans. British General Pakenham delayed his attack for two full weeks, giving General Jackson time to improve his defenses and organize his troops.
Finally, on the dawn of January 8, 1815, General Pakenham ordered his 11,000 men to charge the 4,500 "unorganized American rabble" with fixed bayonets. Jackson deployed his men, including an excellent unit of free black militiamen, in triple ranks. This allowed each rank to step back and reload while the rank behind stepped forward to fire. The Americans did not cut and run as the British expected, but instead defeated the advancing British with well-placed artillery and accurate, continuous rifle fire.
Over 2,000 British soldiers were killed and wounded (compared to 71 Americans). After being wounded twice, General Pakenham was killed by a shell fragment. Fifteen days after the peace treaty had been signed, the British retreated from the field and left the country; ending the final, major battle of the War of 1812.
