On to Canada Over Land And Lakes Had the Americans captured Montreal, everything west would have wilted like a tree after its trunk has been severed, but the Americans instead focused a three-pronged attack that set out from Detroit, Niagara, and Lake Champlain, all of which were beaten back. In contrast, the British and Canadians displayed enthusiasm early on in the war and captured the American fort of Michilimackinac, which commanded the upper Great Lakes area. Due to widespread disunity, the War of 1812 ranks as one of America’s worst fought wars. There was not a burning national anger to fight, like there had been after the Chesapeake outrage; the regular army was very weak and was run by old, senile generals. In addition, the offensive strategy against Canada was especially poorly conceived.

Naval Battles on the Great Lakes

After more land invasions were hurled back in 1813, the Americans, led by Oliver Hazard Perry, built a fleet of ships manned by inexperienced men, but still miraculously managed to capture a British fleet AND recapture Detroit! (Perry’s famous quote when reporting to his superior: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”) His victory, coupled with General William Henry Harrison’s defeat of the British during the Battle of the Thames, helped bring more enthusiasm and increased morale for the war. In 1814, 10,000 British troops prepared for a crushing blow to the Americans along the Lake Champlain route, but on September 11, 1814, Capt. Thomas MacDonough challenged the British and snatched victory from the fangs of defeat forcing the British to retreat.

Washington Burned and New Orleans Defended –The war then turned to the Chesapeake Bay area. The British landed and ran off 6,000 Americans at Bladensburg and then marched to Washington D.C. The British burnt much 0f the new capital to the ground (including severely damaging the White House and Congress).

At Baltimore, another British fleet arrived but was beaten back by the privateer defenders of Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Ft. McHenry

–The war also moved into the South. The British targeted New Orleans— putting the entire Mississippi Valley in jeopardy. Andrew Jackson had just defeated the Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. He assembled a 7,000 man mosaic of an army—sailors, soldiers, pirates, Frenchmen, militiamen, and black troops (this was unheard of at the time). The British had 8,000 regular troops and were over- confident. In a full frontal British assault at the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson scored a miraculous victory in January of 1815—the largest battle of the war.

The Battle of New Orleans (1/8/1815)

General Andrew Jackson

The Treaty of Ghent At first, the confident British made sweeping demands for a neutralized Indian buffer state in the Great Lakes region, control of the Great Lakes, and a substantial part of conquered Maine, but the Americans, led by John Quincy Adams, refused. As American victories piled up, the British reconsidered…. At the peace conference at Ghent, the British began to withdraw many of its earlier demands because of: 1.Reverses in upper New York. 2.The loss at Baltimore. 3.Increasing war weariness in Britain. 4.Concern about the still dangerous French. Amazingly, the main issue that brought the war on in the first place, impressment, wasn’t even addressed!

News hit Washington D.C. the same time as news of the Treaty of Ghent ending the war. Oddly, the treaty had ended the war two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans. Still, Jackson was given credit for winning the war and instantly a national hero. The British navy was roused, however and, in retaliation for the humiliating defeat at New Orleans, continued forcefully blockading the American coastline, landed and raided at will, and completely disrupted American fishing.

Federalist Grievances and the Hartford Convention While the capture of New Orleans by the British had seemed imminent, Federalists from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island secretly met in Hartford from December 15, 1814 to January 5, 1815, to discuss their grievances and to seek redress for their wrongs. –While a few talked about secession, most wanted financial assistance form Washington to compensate for lost trade, and an amendment requiring a 2/3 majority for all declarations of embargos, except during invasion. Three special envoys from Mass. went to D.C., where they were greeted with the news from New Orleans. Humiliated, and with their mission failed, they (along with the rest of the members of the convention) sank away in disgrace and into obscurity. The resolutions from the Hartford Convention proved to be the death of the Federalist Party. Their last presidential nomination was trounced by James Monroe in 1816.

The Hartford Convention: To Leap or Not to Leap

The Second War for American Independence From a global perspective, the War of 1812 was of little importance. It was a small war involving some 6,000 Americans killed or wounded. For perspective: When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 with 500,000 men, Madison tried to invade Canada with about 5,000 men. Yet, the Americans proved that they could stand up for what they felt was right, and naval officers like Perry and MacDonough helped the U.S. gain new respect. American diplomats, for example, were treated with more respect than before. The Federalist Party died out forever, and new war heroes, like Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, emerged.

American industry also prospered during the British blockade, since there was no other way to get manufactured products. Incidents like the burning of Washington added fuel to the bitter conflict with Britain, and led to hatred of the nation for years after the war. Few would have guessed that the War of 1812 would be the last war America fought against Britain.

Many Canadians felt betrayed by the Treaty of Ghent, since not even an Indian buffer state had been achieved, and the Indians, abandoned by the British, were forced to make treaties however they could. In 1817, after a heated naval arms race in the Great Lakes, the Rush-Bagot Treaty between the U.S. and British Canada limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes, in effect beginning much improved relations between the two nations.

And, ultimately, as a result of better relations in the coming decades between the U.S. and Canada, the two countries established the world’s longest unfortified boundary (5,527miles) – just as it remains today. After Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo, Europe sank into an exhaustion of peace, while America energetically looked west to further expand…..