Anglo–American tensions stemmed from long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support forTecumseh's confederacy, which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in theOld Northwest. In 1807, these tensions escalated after theRoyal Navy began enforcingtighter restrictions on American trade withFrance andimpressed sailors who were originallyBritish subjects, even those who had acquiredAmerican citizenship.[17] Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both theHouse andSenate voted for war in June 1812, they were divided along strict party lines, with theDemocratic-Republican Party in favour and theFederalist Party against.[d][18] News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway.
Trade restrictions introduced by theUnited Kingdom to impede among American trade withFrance, with whom the British were at war with back then (the US contested the restrictions as illegal underinternational law).[23]
Theimpressment (forced recruitment) of seamen on US vessels into theBritish Royal Navy (the British claimed they were British deserters).
A possible desire by the US to annex some or all ofCanada.[24]
US motivation and desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults, such as theChesapeake affair.[25]
American expansion into theNorthwest Territory (now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and northeast Minnesota) was impeded by Indian raids. Some historians maintain that an American goal in the war was to annex some or all of Canada, a view many Canadians still share. It had already colonized and annexed Oregon and Washington States. However, many argue that inducing the fear of such a seizure was merely an American tactic, which was designed to obtain abargaining chip.[26]
Although the British made some concessions before the war on neutral trade, they insisted on the right to reclaim their deserting sailors. The British also had long had a goal to create a large "neutral" Indian state that would cover much of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. They made the demand as late as 1814 at the Ghent Peace Conference, but they lost battles that would have validated those claims.[30][31]
Names
The War of 1812 has been referred to by many different names. In Britain, the war is sometimes referred to as "The American War of 1812" in order distinguish it from theNapoleonic Wars which were occurring at the same time.[32] TheFederalist Party, which wasstaunchly against the war, referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War" (or just simply as "Madison's War"[33]) due to American PresidentJames Madison's declaration of war.[34][35][36] Some in theUnited States refer to the war as the "Second War of American Independence"[37][38][39][40][41] and as the "Second American Revolution"[42] due to the belief that American sovereignty was once again on the line.[43][44][45]
Forces
American
During the years 1810–1812, American naval ships were divided into two major squadrons, with the "northern division", based at New York, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, and the "southern division", based at Norfolk, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur.[46]
Although not much of a threat to Canada in 1812, the United States Navy was a well-trained and professional force comprising over 5,000 sailors and marines.[47] It had 14 ocean-goingwarships with three of its five "super-frigates" non-operational at the onset of the war.[47] Its principal problem was lack of funding, as many in Congress did not see the need for a strong navy.[48] The biggest ships in the American navy were frigates and there were noships-of-the-line capable of engaging in afleet action with the Royal Navy.[49] On the high seas, the Americans pursued a strategy ofcommerce raiding, capturing or sinking Britishmerchantmen with their frigates and privateers.[50] The Navy was largely concentrated on the Atlantic coast before the war as it had only twogunboats onLake Champlain, onebrig on Lake Ontario and another brig in Lake Erie when the war began.[51]
TheUnited States Army was initially much larger than theBritish Army in North America. Many men carried their ownlong rifles while the British were issuedmuskets, except for one unit of 500 riflemen. Leadership was inconsistent in the American officer corps as some officers proved themselves to be outstanding, but many others were inept, owing their positions to political favours. Congress was hostile to astanding army and the government called out 450,000 men from thestate militias during the war.[51] Thestate militias were poorly trained, armed, and led. The failed invasion of Lake Champlain led by General Dearborn illustrates this.[52] The British Army soundly defeated the Maryland and Virginia militias at theBattle of Bladensburg in 1814 and President Madison commented "I could never have believed so great a difference existed between regular troops and a militia force, if I had not witnessed the scenes of this day".[48] As the war progressed, the army resorted to harsher discipline, including increasing use of the death penalty, in order to maintain discipline.[53]
Depiction of a British private soldier (left) and officer (right) of the period
The United States was only a secondary concern to Britain, so long as theNapoleonic Wars continued with France.[51] In 1813, France had 80 ships-of-the-line and was building another 35. Containing the French fleet was the main British naval concern,[51] leaving only the ships on theNorth American andJamaica Stations immediately available. In Upper Canada, the British had theProvincial Marine. While largely unarmed,[54] they were essential for keeping the army supplied since the roads were abysmal in Upper Canada.[51] At the onset of war, the Provincial Marine had four small armed vessels onLake Ontario, three onLake Erie and one on Lake Champlain. The Provincial Marine greatly outnumbered anything the Americans could bring to bear on the Great Lakes.[55]
When the war broke out, the British Army in North America numbered 9,777 men[56] in regular units andfencibles.[e] While the British Army was engaged in thePeninsular War, few reinforcements were available. Although the British were outnumbered,[51] the long-serving regulars and fencibles were better trained and more professional than the hastily expanded United States Army.[57] The militias of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were initially far less effective,[51] but substantial numbers of full-time militia were raised during the war and played pivotal roles in several engagements, including theBattle of the Chateauguay which caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence River theatre.[58]
Indigenous peoples
The highly decentralized bands and tribes considered themselves allies of, and not subordinates to, the British or the Americans. Various tribes fighting with United States forces provided them with their "most effective light troops"[59] while the British needed Indigenous allies to compensate for their numerical inferiority. The Indigenous allies of the British,Tecumseh's confederacy in the west andIroquois in the east, avoided pitched battles and relied onirregular warfare, including raids and ambushes that took advantage of their knowledge of terrain. In addition, they were highly mobile, able to march 30–50 miles (50–80 km) a day.[60]
Their leaders sought to fight only under favourable conditions and would avoid any battle that promised heavy losses, doing what they thought best for their tribes.[61] The Indigenous fighters saw no issue with withdrawing if needed to save casualties. They always sought to surround an enemy, where possible, to avoid being surrounded and make effective use of the terrain.[60] Their main weapons were a mixture of muskets, rifles, bows,tomahawks, knives and swords as well as clubs and other melee weapons, which sometimes had the advantage of being quieter than guns.[62]
Declaration of war
The United States Declaration of War (left) andIsaac Brock's Proclamation in response to it (right)
EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:
On 1 June 1812, Madison sent a message to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. TheHouse of Representatives then deliberated for four days behind closed doors before voting 79 to 49 (61%) in favour ofthe first declaration of war. TheSenate concurred in the declaration by a 19 to 13 (59%) vote in favour. The declaration focused mostly on maritime issues, especially involving British blockades, with two thirds of the indictment devoted to such impositions, initiated by Britain's Orders in Council.[f] The conflict began formally on 18 June 1812, when Madison signed the measure into law. He proclaimed it the next day.[63] This was the first time that the United States had formallydeclared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote was approved by the smallest margin of any declaration of war in America's history.[64][65] None of the 39Federalists in Congress voted in favour of the war, while other critics referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War".[66][64] Just days after war had been declared, a small number of Federalists inBaltimore were attacked for printing anti-war views in a newspaper, which eventually led to over a month of deadlyrioting in the city.[67]
Prime MinisterSpencer Perceval wasassassinated in London on 11 May andLord Liverpool came to power. He wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. On 23 June, he issued a repeal of theOrders in Council, but the United States was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic.[68] On 28 June 1812,HMS Colibri was dispatched from Halifax to New York under a flag of truce. She anchored offSandy Hook on July 9 and left three days later carrying a copy of the declaration of war, British ambassador to the United StatesAugustus Foster and consul ColonelThomas Henry Barclay. She arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia eight days later. The news of the declaration took even longer to reach London.[69]
British commanderIsaac Brock in Upper Canada received the news much faster. He issued a proclamation alerting citizens to the state of war and urging all military personnel "to be vigilant in the discharge of their duty", so as to prevent communication with the enemy and to arrest anyone suspected of helping the Americans.[70][71] He also ordered the British garrison ofFort St. Joseph onLake Huron to capture the American fort atMackinac. This fort commanded thepassage between Lakes Huron and Michigan, which was important to the fur trade. The British garrison, aided by fur traders of theNorth West Company andSioux,Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Ottawa, immediatelybesieged and captured Mackinac.[72]
The war had been preceded by years of diplomatic dispute, yet neither side was ready for war when it came. Britain was heavily engaged in theNapoleonic Wars, most of the British Army was deployed in thePeninsular War inPortugal andSpain, and the Royal Navy was blockading most of the coast of Europe.[74] The number of British regular troops present in Canada in July 1812 was officially 6,034, supported by additional Canadian militia.[75] Throughout the war, the BritishWar Secretary wasEarl Bathurst, who had few troops to spare for reinforcing North American defences during the first two years of the war. He urged Lieutenant GeneralGeorge Prevost to maintain a defensive strategy. Prevost, who had the trust of the Canadians, followed these instructions and concentrated on defending Lower Canada at the expense of Upper Canada, which was more vulnerable to American attacks and allowed few offensive actions. Unlike campaigns along the east coast, Prevost had to operate with no support from the Royal Navy.[76]
The United States was also not prepared for war.[77] Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would follow. In 1812, the regular army consisted of fewer than 12,000 men. Congress authorized the expansion of the army to 35,000 men, but the service was voluntary and unpopular; it paid poorly and there were initially few trained and experienced officers.[78] The militia objected to serving outside their home states, they were undisciplined and performed poorly against British forces when called upon to fight in unfamiliar territory.[74] Multiplemilitias refused orders to cross the border and fight on Canadian soil.[79]
American prosecution of the war suffered from its unpopularity, especially inNew England where anti-war speakers were vocal. Massachusetts CongressmenEbenezer Seaver andWilliam Widgery were "publicly insulted and hissed" in Boston while a mob seized Plymouth's Chief JusticeCharles Turner on 3 August 1812 "and kicked [him] through the town".[80] The United States had great difficulty financing its war. It had disbanded itsnational bank, and private bankers in the Northeast were opposed to the war, but it obtained financing from London-basedBarings Bank to cover overseasbond obligations.[81] New England failed to provide militia units or financial support, which was a serious blow,[82] and New England states made loud threats to secede as evidenced by theHartford Convention. Britain exploited these divisions, opting to not blockade the ports of New England for much of the war and encouraging smuggling.[83]
An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich (Windsor, Ontario) after crossing theDetroit River.[84] Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender.[85] The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyed – unless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction".[86] He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters.[85] Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to the American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies.[87][88]
Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of aShawnee ambush on MajorThomas Van Horne's 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant ColonelJames Miller remained in Canada, attempting to supply the American position in the Sandwich area, with little success.[89]
Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong.[90] He moved toAmherstburg near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements andattacked Detroit, usingFort Malden as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, andFort Detroit lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand a long siege.[91] He agreed to surrender on 16 August.[92][93] Hull also ordered the evacuation ofFort Dearborn (Chicago) toFort Wayne, but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they weremassacred on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned.[94][g]
Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American GeneralStephen Van Rensselaer was attempting a second invasion.[96] The Americans attempted an attack across theNiagara River on 13 October, but they were defeatedat Queenston Heights. However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American GeneralHenry Dearborn made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory.[97]
After Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of the AmericanArmy of the Northwest. He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by ColonelHenry Procter and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated atFrenchtown along theRiver Raisin on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped60 captive Americans.[99] The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans.[100]
In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh setsiege to Fort Meigs in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada.[101] Along the way they attempted tostorm Fort Stephenson, a small American post on theSandusky River near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign.[102]
CaptainOliver Hazard Perry fought theBattle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory atPut-in-Bay ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the American victory at theBattle of the Thames on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.[103]
American West, 1813–1815
The Upper Mississippi River during the War of 1812:
The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except aroundSt. Louis and a few forts and trading posts in theBoonslick.Fort Belle Fontaine was an oldtrading post converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters.Fort Osage, built in 1808 along theMissouri River, was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war.[104]Fort Madison was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after the indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged it – with support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi.Black Hawk played a leadership role.[105]
The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant ColonelRobert McDouall established a new supply line from York toNottawasaga Bay onGeorgian Bay. He arrived atFort Mackinac on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition whichsuccessfully besieged and recaptured the key trading post ofPrairie du Chien, on the Upper Mississippi.[106] The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in theBattle of Rock Island Rapids. In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed a second American force led by MajorZachary Taylor in theBattle of Credit Island.[107] These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandonFort Johnson, in central Illinois Territory.[108] Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and easternMissouri. However, the Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle ofCote Sans Dessein in April 1815 at the mouth of theOsage River in theMissouri Territory and theBattle of the Sink Hole in May 1815 nearFort Cap au Gris.[109] This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin.[110]
Meanwhile, the British were supplying the Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac.[111] On 3 July, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from Detroit to recapture Mackinac. A mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the briefBattle of Mackinac Island and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schoonerNancy that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. Theseengagements on Lake Huron left Mackinac under British control.[112]
The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to the United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty.[113] Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after the war ended in the east.[114]
War in the American Northeast
Niagara frontier, 1813
Niagara Peninsula, War of 1812 map depicting locations of forts, battles, etc.
Both sides placed great importance on gaining control of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River because of the difficulties of land-based communication. The British already had a small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario when the war began and had the initial advantage. The Americans established a Navy yard atSackett's Harbor, New York, a port on Lake Ontario. CommodoreIsaac Chauncey took charge of the thousands of sailors andshipwrights assigned there and recruited more from New York. They completed a warship (the corvetteUSSMadison) in 45 days. Ultimately, almost 3,000 men at the shipyard built 11 warships and many smaller boats and transports. Army forces were also stationed at Sackett's Harbor, where they camped out through the town, far surpassing the small population of 900. Officers were housed with families.Madison Barracks was later built at Sackett's Harbor.[115]
Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, on 27 April 1813 Chauncey and Dearborn attackedYork, the capital of Upper Canada. At theBattle of York, the outnumbered British regulars destroyed the fort and dockyard and retreated, leaving the militia to surrender the town. American soldiers set fire to the Legislature building, and looted and vandalized several government buildings and citizens' homes. The burning of York was pivotal for the British, and resulted in the absence of supplies that would be needed in later battles.[116][117]
On 25 May 1813, Fort Niagara and the American Lake Ontario squadron began bombardingFort George.[118] An American amphibious force assaulted Fort George on the northern end of the Niagara River on 27 May and captured it without serious losses.[119] The British abandonedFort Erie and headed towardsBurlington Heights.[119] The British position was close to collapsing in Upper Canada; the Iroquois considered changing sides and ignored a British appeal to come to their aid.[119] However, the Americans did not pursue the retreating British forces until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive at theBattle of Stoney Creek on 5 June. The British launched a surprise attack at 2a.m., leading to confused fighting[119] and a strategic British victory.[120]
The Americans pulled back to Forty Mile Creek rather than continue their advance into Upper Canada.[119] At this point, theSix Nations of the Grand River began to come out to fight for the British as an American victory no longer seemed inevitable.[119] The Iroquois ambushed an American patrol at Forty Mile Creek while the Royal Navy squadron based in Kingston sailed in and bombarded the American camp. General Dearborn retreated to Fort George, mistakenly believing that he was outnumbered and outgunned.[121] British Brigadier GeneralJohn Vincent was encouraged when about 800 Iroquois arrived to assist him.[121]
An American force surrendered on 24 June to a smaller British force due to advance warning byLaura Secord at theBattle of Beaver Dams, marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada.[121] British Major GeneralFrancis de Rottenburg did not have the strength to retake Fort George, so he instituted a blockade, hoping to starve the Americans into surrender.[122] Meanwhile, CommodoreJames Lucas Yeo had taken charge of the British ships on the lake and mounted a counterattack, which the Americans repulsed at theBattle of Sackett's Harbor. Thereafter, Chauncey and Yeo's squadrons fought two indecisive actions, off the Niagara on 7 August and at Burlington Bay on 28 September. Neither commander was prepared to take major risks to gain a complete victory.[123]
Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory that they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (nowNiagara-on-the-Lake) on 10 December 1813, incensing the Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without shelter, freezing to death in the snow. The British retaliated following theirCapture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813. A British-Indian force led by Riallstormed the neighbouring town ofLewiston, New York on 19 December; four American civilians were killed by drunken Indians after the battle. A small force ofTuscarora warriors engaged Riall's men during the battle, which allowed many residents of Lewiston to evacuate the village.[124][125] The British and their Indian allies subsequentlyattacked and burnedBuffalo on Lake Erie on 30 December 1813 in revenge for the American attack on Fort George and Newark in May.[126][127]
The British were vulnerable along the stretch of the St. Lawrence that was between Upper Canada and the United States. In the winter of 1812–1813, the Americans launched a series of raids fromOgdensburg, New York that hampered British supply traffic up the river. On 21 February, George Prevost passed throughPrescott, Ontario on the opposite bank of the river with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements and local militia attacked in theBattle of Ogdensburg and the Americans were forced to retreat.[128]
The Americans made two more thrusts against Montreal in 1813.[129] Major GeneralWade Hampton was to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under GeneralJames Wilkinson that would sail from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and descend the St. Lawrence. Hampton was delayed by road and supply problems and his intense dislike of Wilkinson limited his desire to support his plan.[130]Charles de Salaberry defeated Hampton's force of 4,000 at the Chateauguay River on 25 October with a smaller force ofCanadian Voltigeurs andMohawks. Salaberry's force numbered only 339, but it had a strong defensive position.[129] Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on 17 October, but it was delayed by weather. Wilkinson heard that a British force was pursuing him under CaptainWilliam Mulcaster and Lieutenant ColonelJoseph Wanton Morrison and landed nearMorrisburg, Ontario by 10 November, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) from Montreal. On 11 November, his rear guard of 2,500 attacked Morrison's force of 800 atCrysler's Farm and was repulsed with heavy losses.[129] He learned that Hampton could not renew his advance, retreated to the United States and settled into winter quarters. He resigned his command after a failed attack on a British outpost atLacolle Mills.[131]
The Americans again invaded the Niagara frontier. They had occupied southwestern Upper Canada after they defeated Colonel Henry Procter atMoraviantown in October and believed that taking the rest of the province would force the British to cede it to them.[132] The end of the war with Napoleon in Europe in April 1814 meant that the British could deploy their army to North America, so the Americans wanted to secure Upper Canada to negotiate from a position of strength. They planned to invade via the Niagara frontier while sending another force to recapture Mackinac.[133] They captured Fort Erie on 3 July 1814.[134] Unaware of Fort Erie's fall or of the size of the American force, the British generalPhineas Riall engaged withWinfield Scott, who won against a British force at theBattle of Chippawa on 5 July. The American forces had been through a hard training under Winfield Scott and proved to the professionals under fire. They deployed in a shallow U formation, bringing flanking fire and well-aimed volleys against Riall's men. Riall's men were chased off the battlefield.[135]
An attempt to advance further ended with the hard-fought but inconclusiveBattle of Lundy's Lane on July 25. The battle was fought several miles north ofChippawa Creek near Niagara Falls and is considered the bloodiest and costliest battle of the war.[136][137] Both sides stood their ground as American GeneralJacob Brown pulled back to Fort George after the battle and the British did not pursue.[138] Commanders Riall, Scott, Brown, and Drummond were all wounded; Scott's wounds ended his service in the war.[139]
The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolongedsiege of Fort Erie. The British tried to storm Fort Erie on 14 August 1814, but they suffered heavy losses, losing 950 killed, wounded, and captured, compared to only 84 dead and wounded on the American side. The British were further weakened by exposure and shortage of supplies. Eventually, they raised the siege, but American Major GeneralGeorge Izard took over command on the Niagara front and followed up only halfheartedly. An American raid along theGrand River destroyed many farms and weakened British logistics. In October 1814, the Americans advanced into Upper Canada and engaged in skirmishes atCook's Mill. They pulled back when they heard of the approach of the new British warshipHMS St Lawrence, launched in Kingston that September and armed with 104 guns. The Americans lacked provisions and retreated across the Niagara after destroying Fort Erie.[140]
Unsuccessful British assault onFort Erie, 14 August 1814
Meanwhile, after Napoleon abdicated, 15,000 British troops were sent to North America under four of Wellington's ablest brigade commanders. Fewer than half were veterans of thePeninsular War and the rest came from garrisons. Prevost was ordered to burn Sackett's Harbor to gain naval control of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Upper Lakes, and to defend Lower Canada from attack. He did defend Lower Canada but otherwise failed to achieve his objectives,[141] so he decided to invade New York State. His army outnumbered the American defenders ofPlattsburgh under GeneralAlexander Macomb, but he was worried about his flanks and decided that he needed naval control of Lake Champlain. Upon reaching Plattsburgh, Prevost delayed the assault until CaptainGeorge Downie arrived in the hastily built 36-gun frigateHMS Confiance.Confiance was not fully completed, and her raw crew had never worked together, but Prevost forced Downie into a premature attack.[142]
The British squadron on the lake was more evenly matched by the Americans under Master CommandantThomas Macdonough. At theBattle of Plattsburgh on 11 September 1814,Confiance suffered heavy casualties and struck her colours, and the rest of the British fleet retreated. Prevost, already alienated from his veteran officers by insisting on proper dress codes, now lost their confidence, while Macdonough emerged as a national hero.[143]
Defeat at Plattsburgh led Prevost to call off the invasion of New York.
The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain;Theodore Roosevelt later termed it "the greatest naval battle of the war".[144]
Prevost then turned back, to the astonishment of his senior officers, saying that it was too hazardous to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy. He was recalled to London, where a naval court-martial decided that defeat had been caused principally by Prevost urging the squadron into premature action and then failing to afford the promised support from the land forces. He died suddenly, just before his court-martial was to convene. His reputation sank to a new low as Canadians claimed that their militia under Brock did the job but Prevost failed. However, recent historians have been kinder. Peter Burroughs argues that his preparations were energetic, well-conceived, and comprehensive for defending the Canadas with limited means and that he achieved the primary objective of preventing an American conquest.[145]
Occupation of Maine
Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brigEnterprisefought and captured the Royal Navy brigBoxer offPemaquid Point.[146]
On 11 July 1814,Thomas Masterman Hardy took Moose Island (Eastport, Maine) without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men[147] ofFort Sullivan peacefully surrendered.[148] The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". In September 1814,John Coape Sherbrooke led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition". In 26 days, he raided and lootedHampden,Bangor andMachias, destroying or capturing 17 American ships. He won theBattle of Hampden, with two killed while the Americans had one killed. Retreating American forces were forced to destroy the frigateAdams.[149]
The British occupied the town ofCastine and most of eastern Maine for the rest of the war, governing it under martial law[150] and re-establishing the colony ofNew Ireland. The Treaty of Ghent returned this territory to the United States. When the British left in April 1815, they took £10,750 intariff duties from Castine. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used to establishDalhousie University in Halifax.[151] Decisions about the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay were decided by joint commission in 1817.[152] However,Machias Seal Island had been seized by the British as part of the occupation and was unaddressed by the commission. While kept by Britain/Canada, it remains in dispute to this day.[153][154]
The strategic location of theChesapeake Bay near thePotomac River made it a prime target for the British. Rear AdmiralGeorge Cockburn arrived there in March 1813 and was joined by Admiral Warren who took command of operations ten days later.[155] Starting in March a squadron under Cockburn started a blockade of the mouth of the Bay atHampton Roads harbour and raided towns along the Bay fromNorfolk, Virginia toHavre de Grace, Maryland. In late April Cockburn landed at and set fire toFrenchtown, Maryland and destroyed ships that were docked there. In the following weeks he routed the local militias and looted and burned three other towns. Thereafter he marched toiron foundry at Principio and destroyed it along with sixty-eight cannons.[156]
On 4 July 1813, CommodoreJoshua Barney, an American Revolutionary War naval officer, convinced the Navy Department to build theChesapeake Bay Flotilla, a squadron of twenty barges powered by small sails or oars (sweeps) to defend the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered on thePatuxent River. While successful in harassing the Royal Navy, they could not stop subsequent British operations in the area.
In August 1814, a force of 2,500 soldiers under General Ross had just arrived in Bermuda aboardHMS Royal Oak, three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels. Released from the Peninsular War by victory, the British intended to use them for diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. In response to Prevost's request to retaliate against the property destruction done by American troops, they decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units already on the station, to strike at the national capital. Anticipating the attack, valuable documents, including the original Constitution, were removed toLeesburg, Virginia.[157] The British task force advanced up the Chesapeake, routing Commodore Barney's flotilla of gunboats, carried out theRaid on Alexandria, landed ground forces that bested the US defenders at theBattle of Bladensburg, and carried out theBurning of Washington.
United States Secretary of WarJohn Armstrong Jr. insisted that the British were going to attack Baltimore rather than Washington, even as British army and naval units were on their way to Washington. Brigadier GeneralWilliam H. Winder, who had burned several bridges in the area, assumed the British would attack Annapolis and was reluctant to engage because he mistakenly thought the British army was twice its size.[158] The inexperienced state militia was easily routed in the Battle of Bladensburg, opening the route to Washington. British troops led by Major GeneralRobert Ross, accompanied by Cockburn, the 3rd Brigade attacked and captured Washington with a force of 4,500.[159] On 24 August, after the British had finished looting the interiors, Ross directed his troops to set fire to number of public buildings, including theWhite House and theUnited States Capitol.[h] Extensive damage to the interiors and the contents of both were subsequently reported.[160] US government and military officials fled to Virginia, while Secretary of the United States NavyWilliam Jones ordered theWashington Navy Yard and a nearby fort to be razed in order to prevent its capture.[161][162] Public buildings in Washington were destroyed by the British though private residences ordered spared.[163]
After taking some munitions from the Washington Munitions depot, the British boarded their ships[162] and moved on to their major target, the heavily fortified major city of Baltimore. Because some of their ships were held up in the Raid on Alexandria, they delayed their movement allowing Baltimore an opportunity to strengthen the fortifications and bring in new federal troops and state militia units. The "Battle for Baltimore" began with the British landing on 12 September 1814 atNorth Point, where they were met by American militia further up the Patapsco Neck peninsula. An exchange of fire began, with casualties on both sides. The British Army commander Major Gen. Robert Ross was killed by snipers. The British paused, then continued to march northwestward to face the stationed Maryland and Baltimore City militia units at Godly Wood. TheBattle of North Point was fought for several hours in the afternoon in a musketry and artillery duel. The British also planned to simultaneously attack Baltimore by water on the following day, although the Royal Navy was unable to reduceFort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor in support of an attack from the northeast by the British Army.[citation needed]
The British eventually realized that they could not force the passage to attack Baltimore in coordination with the land force. A last-ditch night feint and barge attack during a heavy rainstorm was led by CaptainCharles Napier around the fort up the Middle Branch of the river to the west. Split and misdirected partly in the storm, it turned back after suffering heavy casualties from the alert gunners ofFort Covington and Battery Babcock. The British called off the attack and sailed downriver to pick up their army, which had retreated from the east side of Baltimore. All the lights were extinguished in Baltimore the night of the attack, and the fort was bombarded for 25 hours. The only light was given off by the exploding shells over Fort McHenry, illuminating the flag that was still flying over the fort. The defence of the fort inspired the American lawyerFrancis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem that was later set to music as "The Star-Spangled Banner".[164]
Southern theatre
Because of the region's polyglot population, both the British and the Americans perceived the war in the Gulf South as a fundamentally different conflict from the one occurring in theLowcountry and Chesapeake.[165]
In 1813, Creek warriorsattacked Fort Mims and killed 400 to 500 people. The massacre became a rallying point for Americans.
Before 1813, the war between the Creeks, orMuscogee, had been largely an internal affair sparked by the ideas of Tecumseh farther north in the Mississippi Valley. A faction known as theRed Sticks, so named for the colour of their war sticks, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. The Red Sticks were allied withTecumseh, who had visited the Creeks about a year before 1813 and encouraged greater resistance to the Americans.[166] The Creek Nation was a trading partner of the United States, actively involved with British and Spanish trade as well. The Red Sticks as well as many southernMuscogee people like theSeminole had a long history of alliance with the British and Spanish empires.[167] This alliance helped the North American and European powers protect each other's claims to territory in the south.[168]
On 27 July theRed Sticks were returning fromPensacola with a pack train filled with trade goods and arms when they wereattacked by Americans who made off with their goods. On 30 August 1813, in retaliation for the raid, the Red Sticks, led by chiefs of the CreeksRed Eagle andPeter McQueen, attackedFort Mims north ofMobile, the only American-held port in the territory ofWest Florida. The attack on Fort Mims resulted in the deaths of 400 refugee settlers, all butchered and scalped, including women and children, and became an ideological rallying point for the Americans.[169] It prompted the state of Georgia and the Mississippi militia to immediately take major action against Creek offensives.
The Red Sticks chiefs gained power in the east along theAlabama River,Coosa River andTallapoosa River in the Upper Creek territory. By contrast, theLower Creek, who lived along theChattahoochee River, generally opposed the Red Sticks and wanted to remain allied to the U.S.Indian agentBenjamin Hawkins recruited Lower Creek to aid the6th Military District under GeneralThomas Pinckney and the state militias against the Red Sticks. The United States combined forces were 5,000 troops from East and West Tennessee, with about 200 indigenous allies.[170] At its peak, the Red Stick faction had 4,000 warriors, only a quarter of whom had muskets.[171]
The Indian frontier of westernGeorgia was the most vulnerable but was partially fortified already. From November 1813 to January 1814, Georgia's militia[clarification needed] and auxiliary Federal troops from theCreek andCherokee indigenous nations and the states ofNorth Carolina andSouth Carolina organized the fortification of defences along the Chattahoochee River and expeditions into Upper Creek territory in present-day Alabama. The army, led by GeneralJohn Floyd, went to the heart of the Creek Holy Grounds and won a major offensive against one of the largest Creek towns at theBattle of Autossee, killing an estimated two hundred people. In November, the militia of Mississippi with a combined 1,200 troops attacked the Econachca encampment in theBattle of Holy Ground on the Alabama River.[172] Tennessee raised a militia of 5,000 under Major GeneralAndrew Jackson and Brigadier GeneralJohn Coffee and won the battles ofTallushatchee andTalladega in November 1813.[173]
Jackson suffered enlistment problems in the winter. He decided to combine his force, composed of Tennessee militia and pro-American Creek, with the Georgia militia. In January, however, the Red Sticks attacked his army at theBattles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but they were outnumbered and forced to withdraw to his base atFort Strother.[174]
In January, Floyd's force of 1,300 state militia and 400 Creek moved to join the United States forces in Tennessee, but they were attacked in camp on the Calibee Creek byTukabatchee Muscogees on 27 January.[citation needed]
Jackson's force increased in numbers with the arrival of United States Army soldiers and a second draft of Tennessee state militia, Cherokee, and pro-American Creek swelled his army to around 5,000. In March 1814, they moved south to attack the Red Sticks.[175] On 27 March, Jackson decisively defeated a force of about a thousand Red Sticks atHorseshoe Bend, killing 800 of them at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded.[176]
Jackson then moved his army toFort Jackson on the Alabama River. He promptly turned on the pro-American Creek who had fought with him and compelled their chieftains, along with a single Red Stick chieftain, to sign theTreaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the Creek tribe as a whole to cede most of western Georgia and part ofAlabama to the U.S. Both Hawkins and the pro-American Creek strongly opposed the treaty, which they regarded as deeply unjust.[177] The third clause of the treaty also demanded that the Creek cease communicating with the British and Spanish, and trade only with United States-approved agents.[178][failed verification]
Gulf of Mexico coast
British aid to the Red Sticks arrived after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in April 1814 and after AdmiralAlexander Cochrane assumed command from Admiral Warren in March. Captain Hugh Pigot arrived in May 1814 with two ships to arm the Red Sticks. He thought that some 6,600 warriors could be armed and recruited. It was overly optimistic at best. The Red Sticks were in the process of being destroyed as a military force. Cochrane underestimated Jackson's competence, and was likely unaware of his progress over the Creek, even after his victory.[179] In April 1814, the British established an outpost on theApalachicola River (Prospect Bluff Historic Sites). Cochrane sent a company of Royal Marines commanded byEdward Nicolls,[180] the vesselsHMS Hermes andHMS Carron and further supplies to meet the Indians in the region.[181] In addition to training them, Nicolls was tasked to raise a force from escaped slaves as part of theCorps of Colonial Marines.[181]
On 12 July 1814, General Jackson complained to the governor of West Florida,Mateo González Manrique, situated at Pensacola that combatants from the Creek War were being harboured inSpanish territory and made reference to reports of the British presence on Spanish soil. Although he gave an angry reply to Jackson, Manrique was alarmed at the weak position he found himself in and appealed to the British for help. The British were observed docking on August 25 and unloading the following day.[182]
The first engagement of the British and their Creek allies against the Americans on the Gulf of Mexico coast was the 14 September 1814 attack onFort Bowyer. Captain William Percy tried to take the United States fort, hoping to then move on Mobile and block United States trade and encroachment on the Mississippi. After the Americans repulsed Percy's forces, the British established a military presence of up to 200 Marines at Pensacola. In November, Jackson's force of 4,000 mentook the town.[183] This underlined the superiority of numbers of Jackson's force in the region.[184] The United States force moved to New Orleans in late 1814. Jackson's army of 1,000 regulars and 3,000 to 4,000 militia, pirates and other fighters as well as civilians and slaves built fortifications south of the city.[185]
American forces under General James Wilkinson, himself a paid Spanish secret agent,[186] took the Mobile area from the Spanish in March 1813. This region was the rump of Spanish West Florida, the western portion of which had been annexed to the United States in 1810. The Americans built Fort Bowyer, a log and earthen-work fort with 14 guns, onMobile Point to defend it.[187] Major Latour opined that none of the three forts in the area were capable of resisting a siege.[188]
At the end of 1814, the British launched a double offensive in the South weeks before the Treaty of Ghent was signed. On the Atlantic coast, AdmiralGeorge Cockburn was to close theIntracoastal Waterway trade and landRoyal Marine battalions to advance through Georgia to the western territories. While on theGulf coast, Admiral Alexander Cochrane moved on the new state of Louisiana and theMississippi Territory. Cochrane's ships reached the Louisiana coast on 9 December and Cockburn arrived in Georgia on 14 December.[189]
American forces repelled a Britishassault on New Orleans in January 1815. The battle occurred before news of a peace treaty reached the United States.
The British army had the objective of gaining control of the entrance of the Mississippi.[190] To this end, an expeditionary force of 8,000 troops[191] under GeneralEdward Pakenham attacked Jackson's prepared defences in New Orleans on 8 January 1815. The Battle of New Orleans was an American victory, as the British failed to take the fortifications on the East Bank. The British attack force suffered high casualties, including 291 dead, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured or missing[192][193] whereas American casualties were light with 13 dead, 39 wounded and 19 missing,[194] according to the respective official casualty returns. This battle was hailed as a great victory across the United States, making Jackson a national hero and eventually propelling him to the presidency.[195][196] In January 1815 Fort St. Philip enduredten days of bombardment from twobomb vessels of the Royal Navy.Robert V. Remini believes this was preventing the British moving their fleet up the Mississippi in support of the land attack.[197]
After deciding further attacks would be too costly and unlikely to succeed, the British troops withdrew on 18 January.[198] However, adverse winds slowed the evacuation operation and it was not until 27 January 1815 that theland forces rejoined the fleet, allowing for its final departure.[199] After New Orleans, the British moved to take Mobile as a base for further operations.[200] In preparation, GeneralJohn Lambert laid siege to Fort Bowyer taking it on 12 February 1815. However, HMSBrazen brought news of the Treaty of Ghent the next day and the British abandoned the Gulf Coast.[201] This ending of the war prevented the capture of Mobile, and any renewed attacks on New Orleans.[200]
Meanwhile, in January 1815, Cockburn succeeded in blockading the southeastern coast of Georgia by occupyingCamden County. The British quickly tookCumberland Island,Fort Point Peter and Fort St. Tammany in a decisive victory. Under the orders of his commanding officers, Cockburn's forces relocated many refugee slaves, capturingSt. Simons Island as well to do so. He had orders to recruit as many runaway slaves into the Corps of Colonial Marines as possible and use them to conduct raids in Georgia and the Carolinas.[202] Cockburn also provided thousands of muskets and carbines and a huge quantity of ammunition to the Creeks and Seminole Indians for the same purpose.[203] During the invasion of the Georgia coast, an estimated 1,485 people chose to relocate to British territories or join the British military. However, by mid-March, several days after being informed of the Treaty of Ghent, British ships left the area.[204]
The British government did not recognize either West Florida or New Orleans as American territory. The historianFrank Owsley suggests that they might have used a victory at New Orleans to demand further concessions from the U.S.[205] However, subsequent research in the correspondence of British ministers at the time suggests otherwise.[206] with specific reference to correspondence from the Prime Minister to theForeign Secretary dated 23 December 1814.[207] West Florida was the only territory permanently gained by the United States during the war.[208]
In 1812, Britain's Royal Navy was the world's largest and most powerful navy, with over 600 vessels in commission, following the defeat of the French Navy at theBattle of Trafalgar in 1805.[51] Most of these ships were employed blockading the French navy and protecting British trade against French privateers, but the Royal Navy still had 85 vessels in American waters, counting all North American and Caribbean waters.[i] However, the Royal Navy's North American squadron was the most immediately available force, based in Halifax andBermuda (two of the colonies that made upBritish North America), and numbered one smallship of the line and seven frigates as well as nine smallersloops and brigs and fiveschooners.[209] By contrast, the entire United States Navy was composed of 8 frigates, 14 smaller sloops and brigs, with no ships of the line. The United States had embarked on a major shipbuilding program before the war atSackett's Harbor to provide ships for use on the Great Lakes and continued to produce new ships.
Opening strategies
The British strategy was to protect their own merchant shipping between Halifax and the West Indies, with the order given on 13 October 1812 to enforce a blockade of major American ports to restrict American trade.[211]
Because of their numerical inferiority, the American strategy was to cause disruption through hit-and-run tactics such as the capturing prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels only under favourable circumstances.
Days after the formal declaration of war, the United States put out two small squadrons, including the frigatePresident and the sloopHornet under CommodoreJohn Rodgers and the frigatesUnited States andCongress, with the brigArgus under CaptainStephen Decatur. These were initially concentrated as one unit under Rodgers, who intended to force the Royal Navy to concentrate its own ships to prevent isolated units being captured by his powerful force.[citation needed] Large numbers of American merchant ships were returning to the United States with the outbreak of war and the Royal Navy could not watch all the ports on the American seaboard if they were concentrated together. Rodgers' strategy worked in that the Royal Navy concentrated most of its frigates offNew York Harbor under CaptainPhilip Broke, allowing many American ships to reach home. However, Rodgers' own cruise captured only five small merchant ships, and the Americans never subsequently concentrated more than two or three ships together as a unit.[212]
The more recently built frigates of the US Navy were intended to overmatch their opponents. The United States did not believe that it could build a large enough navy to contest with the Royal Navy in fleet actions. Therefore, where it could be done, individual ships were built to be tougher, larger, and carry more firepower than their equivalents in European navies.[j] The newest three 44-gun ships were designed with a 24-pounder main battery. These frigates were intended to demolish the 36- to 38-gun (18-pounder) armed frigates that formed the majority of the world's navies, while being able to evade larger ships.[214] Similarly the Wasp class ship-sloops were an over-match to the Cruizer class brigs being employed by the British. The Royal Navy, maintaining more than 600 ships in fleets and stations worldwide, was overstretched and undermanned; most British ships enforcing the blockade were (with a few notable exceptions) less practiced than the crews of the smaller US Navy.[215][216][217][218][k] This meant that in single-ship actions the Royal Navy ships often found themselves against larger ships with larger crews, who were better drilled, as intended by the US planners.[l]
However naval ships do not fight as individuals by the code of theduel, they are national instruments of war and are used as such. The Royal Navy counted on its numbers, experience, and traditions to overcome the individually superior vessels. As the US Navy found itself mostly blockaded by the end of the war, the Royal Navy was correct.[221] For all the fame that these actions received, they in no way affected the outcome of the results of Atlantic theatre of War. The final count of frigates lost was three on each side, with most of the US Navy blockaded in port.[m] During the war, the United States Navy captured 165 British merchantmen (although privateers captured many more) while the Royal Navy captured 1,400 American merchantmen.[222] More significantly, the British blockade of the Atlantic coast caused the majority of warships to be unable to put to sea and shut down both American imports and exports.[223][n]
In single ship battles, superior force was the most significant factor. In response to the majority of the American ships being of greater force than the British ships of the same class, Britain constructed five 40-gun, 24-pounder heavy frigates[231] and two "spar-decked" frigates (the 60-gunHMS Leander andHMS Newcastle) and others.[232] To counter the American sloops of war, the British constructed theCyrus-classship-sloop of 22 guns. The British Admiralty also instituted a new policy that the three American heavy frigates should not be engaged except by a ship of the line or frigates in squadron strength.[o]
The United States Navy's smaller ship-sloops had also won several victories over Royal Navy sloops-of-war, again of smaller armament. The American sloopsHornet,Wasp (1807),Peacock,Wasp (1813) andFrolic were allship-rigged while the BritishCruizer-class sloops that they encountered were brig-rigged, which gave the Americans a significant advantage. Ship rigged vessels are more manoeuvrable in battle because they have a wider variety of sails and thus being more resistant to damage. Ship-rigged vessels can back sail, literally backing up or heave to (stop).[234][235][236][p]
The operations of Americanprivateers proved a more significant threat to British trade than the United States Navy. They operated throughout the Atlantic until the close of the war, most notably from Baltimore. American privateers reported taking 1300 British merchant vessels, compared to 254 taken by the United States Navy,[237][238][239] although the insurerLloyd's of London reported that only 1,175 British ships were taken, 373 of which were recaptured, for a total loss of 802.[240] Canadian historian Carl Benn wrote that American privateers took 1,344 British ships, of which 750 were retaken by the British.[222] The British tried to limit privateering losses by the strict enforcement ofconvoy by the Royal Navy[241] and directly by blockading coastal waterways and capturing 278 American privateers. Due to the massive size of the British merchant fleet, American captures only affected 7.5% of the fleet, resulting in no supply shortages or lack of reinforcements for British forces in North America.[242] Of 526 American privateers, 148 were captured by the Royal Navy and only 207 ever took a prize.[222]
Due to the large size of their navy, the British did not rely as much on privateering. The majority of the 1,407 captured American merchant ships were taken by the Royal Navy. The war was the last time the British allowed privateering, since the practice was coming to be seen as politically inexpedient and of diminishing value in maintaining its naval supremacy. However, privateering remained popular in British colonies. It was the last hurrah for privateers in the insularBritish North American colony of Bermuda who vigorously returned to the practice with experience gained in previous wars.[243][244][245][246] The nimbleBermuda sloops captured 298 American ships.[247] Privateer schooners based in continental British North America, especially fromNova Scotia, took 250 American ships and proved especially effective in crippling American coastal trade and capturing American ships closer to shore than the Royal Navy's cruisers.[248]
British blockade
British naval strategy was to protect their shipping in North America and enforce a naval blockade on the United States.
Thenaval blockade of the United States began informally in the late fall of 1812. Under the command of British AdmiralJohn Borlase Warren, it extended from South Carolina to Florida.[211] It expanded to cut off more ports as the war progressed. Twenty ships were on station in 1812 and 135 were in place by the end of the conflict. In March 1813, the Royal Navy punished the Southern states, who were most vocal about annexing British North America, by blockadingCharleston,Port Royal,Savannah, andNew York City as well. Additional ships were sent to North America in 1813 and the Royal Navy tightened and extended the blockade, first to the coast south ofNarragansett by November 1813 and to the entire American coast on 31 May 1814.[222][249] In May 1814, following the abdication of Napoleon and the end of the supply problems with Wellington's army, New England was blockaded.[250]
The British needed American foodstuffs for their army in Spain and benefited from trade with New England, so they did not at first blockade New England.[222] TheDelaware River and Chesapeake Bay were declared in a state of blockade on 26 December 1812. 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 to stop illicit trading. This put only a further strain on the commerce of the country. The British fleet occupied the Chesapeake Bay and attacked and destroyed numerous docks and harbours.[251] The effect was that no foreign goods could enter the United States on ships and only smaller fast boats could attempt to get out. The cost of shipping became very expensive as a result.[252][q]
The blockade of American ports later tightened to the extent that most American merchant ships and naval vessels were confined to port. The American frigatesUSS United States andUSS Macedonian ended the war blockaded andhulked inNew London, Connecticut.[253] USSUnited States and USSMacedonian attempted to set sail to raid British shipping in the Caribbean, but were forced to turn back when confronted with a British squadron, and by the end of the war, the United States had six frigates and four ships-of-the-line sitting in port.[254] Some merchant ships were based in Europe or Asia and continued operations. Others, mainly from New England, were issued licences to trade by Admiral Warren, commander in chief on the American station in 1813. This allowed Wellington's army in Spain to receive American goods and to maintain the New Englanders'opposition to the war. The blockade nevertheless decreased American exports from $130 million in 1807 to $7 million in 1814. Most exports were goods that ironically went to supply their enemies in Britain or the British colonies.[255] The blockade had a devastating effect on the American economy with the value of American exports and imports falling from $114 million in 1811 down to $20 million by 1814 while the United States Customs took in $13 million in 1811 and $6 million in 1814, even though the Congress had voted to double the rates.[20] The British blockade further damaged the American economy by forcing merchants to abandon the cheap and fast coastal trade to the slow and more expensive inland roads.[256] In 1814, only 1 out of 14 American merchantmen risked leaving port as it was likely that any ship leaving port would be seized.[257]
As the Royal Navy base that supervised the blockade, Halifax profited greatly during the war. From there, British privateers seized and sold many French and American ships. More than a hundred prize vessels were anchored inSt. George's Harbour awaiting condemnation by the Admiralty Court when a hurricane struck in 1815, sinking roughly sixty of the vessels.[258]
The British Royal Navy's blockades and raids allowed about 4,000 African Americans to escapeslavery by fleeing Americanplantations aboard British ships. American slaves near to the British military rebelled against their masters and made their way to British encampments. The migrants who settled in Canada were known as theBlack Refugees. The blockading British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay received increasing numbers of freed slaves during 1813. By British government order, they were considered free persons when they reached British hands.[9][260]
Alexander Cochrane'sproclamation of 2 April 1814 invited Americans who wished to emigrate to join the British. Although it did not explicitly mention slaves, it was taken by all as addressed to them. About 2,400 escaped slaves and their families were transported by the Royal Navy to theRoyal Naval Dockyard at Bermuda (where they were employed on works about the yard and organized as a militia to aid in the defence of the yard), Nova Scotia andNew Brunswick during and after the war. Starting in May 1814, younger male volunteers were recruited into a new Corps of Colonial Marines. They fought for Britain throughout the Atlantic campaign, including theBattle of Bladensburg, the attacks on Washington, D.C., and theBattle of Baltimore, before withdrawing to Bermuda with the rest of the British forces. They were later settled inTrinidad after having rejected orders for transfer to theWest India Regiments, forming the community of theMerikins (none of the freed slaves remained in Bermuda after the war). These escaped slaves represented the largest emancipation of African Americans prior to theAmerican Civil War.[261][262][263] Britain paid the United States for the financial loss of the slaves at the end of the war.[264]
In August 1814, peace discussions began inGhent (in present-dayBelgium); both sides approached negotiations warily.[r] The British strategy for decades had been to create abuffer state in the American Northwest Territory to block American expansion. Britain also demanded naval control of the Great Lakes and access to the Mississippi River.[265] On the American side, Monroe instructed the American diplomats sent to Europe to try to convince the British to cede the Canadas, or at least Upper Canada, to the U.S.[266] At a later stage, the Americans also demanded damages for the burning of Washington and for the seizure of ships before the war began.[267]
Depiction of the signing of theTreaty of Ghent, which formally ended the war between the British Empire and the United States
American public opinion was outraged when Madison published the demands as even the Federalists were now willing to fight on. A British force burned Washington, but it failed to capture Baltimore and sailed away when its commander was killed. In northern New York State, 10,000 British veterans were marching south until a decisive defeat at theBattle of Plattsburgh forced them back to Canada.[s] British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, aware of growingopposition to wartime taxation and the demands of merchants for reopened trade with America, realized Britain also had little to gain and much to lose from prolonged warfare especially given growing concern about the situation in Europe.[268] The main focus of British foreign policy was theCongress of Vienna, at which British diplomats had clashed with Russian and Prussian diplomats over the terms of the peace with France and there were fears that Britain might have to go to war with Russia and Prussia. Export trade was all but paralyzed and France was no longer an enemy of Britain after Napoleon fell in April 1814, so the Royal Navy no longer needed to stop American shipments to France and it no longer needed to impress more seamen. The British were preoccupied in rebuilding Europe after the apparent final defeat of Napoleon.[269]
Consequently,Lord Liverpool urged the British negotiators to offer a peace based on the restoration of the pre-war status quo. The British negotiators duly dropped their demands for the creation of an Indian neutral zone, which allowed negotiations to resume at the end of October. The American negotiators accepted the British proposals for a peace based on the pre-war status quo. Prisoners were to be exchanged and escaped slaves returned to the United States, as at least 3,000 American slaves had escaped to British lines. The British however refused to honour this aspect of the treaty, settling some of the newly freed slaves in Nova Scotia[270][271] and New Brunswick.[272] The Americans protested Britain's failure to return American slaves in violation of the Treaty of Ghent. After arbitration by theTsar of Russia the British paid $1,204,960 in damages to Washington, to reimburse the slave owners.[264]
On 24 December 1814, the diplomats had finished and signed the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty was ratified by the British Prince Regent three days later on 27 December.[273][274][275][276] On 17 February, it arrived in Washington, where it was quickly ratified and went into effect, ending the war. The terms called for all occupied territory to be returned, the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States to be restored, and the Americans were to gain fishing rights in theGulf of Saint Lawrence.[citation needed] The British insisted on the inclusion of provisions to restore to the Indians "all possessions, rights and privileges which they may have enjoyed, or been entitled to in 1811".[277] The Americans ignored and violated these provisions.[277]
The Treaty of Ghent completely maintained Britain's maritime belligerent rights, a key goal for the British, without acknowledging American maritime rights or the end of impressment. While American maritime rights were not seriously violated in the century of peace until World War I, the defeat of Napoleon made the need for impressment irrelevant and the grievances of the United States no longer an issue. In this sense, the United States achieved its goals indirectly and felt its honour had been upheld despite impressment continuing.[278][279]
Total losses from among various Indigenous nations, including those wounded and missing, are not known though the number of killed or died from disease has been estimated as at least 10,000 spread among all Indigenous nations engaged in the conflict. British losses in the war were about 1,160 killed in action and 3,679 wounded,[citation needed] with 3,321 British who died from disease. American losses were 2,260 killed in action and 4,505 wounded. While the number of Americans who died from disease is not known, it is estimated that about 15,000 died from all causes directly related to the war.[281] Known Canadian dead, including Canadians who served inFencible units of the British Army and withCanadian militia units in Upper and Lower Canada, are greater than 1,600.[282]
The war added some £25 million to Britain'snational debt.[283] In the United States, the cost was $90 million reaching a peak of 2.7% of GDP.[284] The national debt rose from $45 million in 1812 to $127 million by the end of 1815, although by selling bonds andtreasury notes at deep discounts – and often for irredeemable paper money due to the suspension of specie payment in 1814 – the government received only $34 million worth of specie.[285][286]Stephen Girard, therichest man in the United States at the time, was among those who funded the United States government's involvement in the war.[287][288] The British national debt rose from £451 million in 1812 to £841 million in 1814, although this was at a time when Britain was fighting a war against Napoleon. The war was bad for both economies.[289]
In the United States, the economy grew 3.7% a year from 1812 to 1815, despite a large loss of business by East Coast shipping interests. Prices were 15% higher – inflated – in 1815 compared to 1812, an annual rate of 4.8%.[290][291] Hundreds of new banks were opened; they largely handled the loans that financed the war since tax revenues were down. Money that would have been spent on foreign trade was diverted to opening new factories, which were profitable since British factory-made products were not for sale.[292] This gave a major boost to theIndustrial Revolution in the United States as typified by theBoston Associates.[293][294]
The border between the United States and Canada remained essentially unchanged by the war, with neither side making meaningful territorial gains.[t] Despite the Treaty of Ghent not addressing the original points of contention and establishing thestatus quo ante bellum, relations between the United States and Britain changed drastically. The issue of impressment also became irrelevant as the Royal Navy no longer needed sailors after the war.[citation needed]
The long-term results of the war were generally satisfactory for both the United States and Great Britain. Except for occasional border disputes and some tensions during and after the American Civil War, relations between the United States and Britain remained peaceful for the rest of the 19th century. In the 20th century, spurred by multiple world conflicts, the two countries becameclose allies. The memory of the conflict played a major role in helping to consolidate a Canadian national identity after 1867, the year ofCanadian confederation.[295]
TheRush–Bagot Treaty between the United States and Britain was enacted in 1817. It demilitarized theGreat Lakes andLake Champlain, where many British naval arrangements and forts still remained. The treaty laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary. It remains in effect to this day.[296]
Bermuda had been largely left to the defences of its own militia and privateers before American independence, but the Royal Navy had begun buying up land and operating from there beginning in 1795, after a number of years spent surveying the reefs to findHurd's channel (which enabled large frigates and ships of the line to pass through the surrounding reefs toMurray's Anchorage and the enclosed harbours). As construction work progressed through the first half of the 19th century, Bermuda became anImperial fortress and the permanent naval headquarters for theWestern hemisphere, housing theAdmiralty and serving as a base and dockyard. Defence infrastructure remained the central leg of Bermuda's economy until after World War II.[258][297][298]
The Canadas
After the war, pro-British leaders in Upper Canada demonstrated a strong hostility to American influences, including republicanism, which shaped its policies.[299] Immigration from the United States was discouraged and favour was shown to theAnglican Church as opposed to the more AmericanizedMethodist Church.[300]
The Battle of York showed the vulnerability of Upper and Lower Canada (The Canadas). In the decades following the war, several projects were undertaken to improve the defence of the colonies against the United States. They included work onLa Citadelle atQuebec City,Fort Henry at Kingston, and rebuildingFort York at York. Additionally, work began on theHalifax Citadel to defend the port against foreign navies.[301] Akin to the American view that it was a "Second War of Independence" for the United States, the war was also somewhat of a war of independence for Canada.[302] Before the war Canada was a mix of French Canadians, native-born British subjects, loyalists and Americans who migrated there. HistorianDonald R. Hickey maintains that the war that threatened Canada greatly helped to cement these disparate groups into a unified nation.[303]
Indigenous nations
Map showing the general distribution of Indian tribes in theNorthwest Territory in the early 1790s
The Indigenous tribes allied to the British lost their cause. The Americans rejected the British proposal to create an "Indian barrier state" in the American West at the Ghent peace conference and it never resurfaced.[304]Donald Fixico argues that "[a]fter the War of 1812, the U.S. negotiated over two hundred Indian treaties that involved the ceding of Indian lands and 99 of these agreements resulted in the creation of reservations west of the Mississippi River".[305]
The Indigenous nations lost most of theirfur-trapping territory.[306] Indigenous nations were displaced in Alabama,Georgia,New York andOklahoma, losing most of what is now Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin within the Northwest Territory as well as in New York and theSouth. They came to be seen as an undesirable burden by British policymakers, who now looked to the United States for markets and raw materials.[307] Everyone, including British fur traders were prohibited from entering in the United States for purposes of trade.[306]
British Indian agents however continued to meet regularly with their former allies among the tribes of the Old Northwest, but refused to supply them with arms or help them resist American attempts to displace them. The American government rapidly built a network of forts throughout the Old Northwest, thus establishing firm military control. It also sponsored American fur traders, who outcompeted the British fur traders.[307] Meanwhile, Euro-American settlers rapidly migrated into the Old Northwest, into the lands occupied by the tribes who were previously allied with the British.[308] The War of 1812 marked a turning point in the history of the Old Northwest because it established United States authority over the British and Indians of that border region.[309]
After the decisive defeat of the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, some Creek warriors escaped to join the Seminole in Florida.[citation needed] The remaining Creek chiefs signed away about half their lands, comprising 23,000,000 acres, covering much of southern Georgia and two-thirds of modern Alabama. The Creek were separated from any future help from the Spanish in Florida and from theChoctaw andChickasaw to the west.[310]
United Kingdom
A political caricature of delegates from theHartford Convention deciding whether to leap into the hands of the British, December 1814. The convention led to widespread fears that the New England states might attempt to secede from the United States.
The war is seldom remembered in the United Kingdom. The war in Europe against the French Empire underNapoleon ensured that the British did not consider the War of 1812 against the United States as more than a sideshow.[303] Britain's blockade of French trade had worked, and the Royal Navy was the world's dominant nautical power (and remained so for over another century). While the land campaigns had contributed to saving Canada, the Royal Navy had shut down American commerce, bottled up the United States Navy in port and widely suppressed privateering. British businesses, some affected by rising insurance costs, were demanding peace so that trade could resume with the United States.[311] The peace was generally welcomed by the British, although there was disquiet about the rapid growth of the United States. The two nations quickly resumed trade after the end of the war and a growing friendship.[312]
The historian Donald Hickey maintains that for Britain, "the best way to defend Canada was to accommodate the United States. This was the principal rationale for Britain's long-term policy of rapprochement with the United States in the nineteenth century and explains why they were so often willing to sacrifice other imperial interests to keep the republic happy".[313]
United States
Independence Day celebrations in 1819. In the United States, the war was followed by theEra of Good Feelings, a period that saw nationalism and a desire for national unity rise throughout the country.
The nation gained a strong sense of complete independence as people celebrated their "second war of independence".[314] Nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The opposition Federalist Party collapsed due to its opposition to the war and theEra of Good Feelings ensued.[315]
No longer questioning the need for a strong Navy, the United States built three new 74-gunships of the line and two new 44-gun frigates shortly after the end of the war.[316] In 1816, the United States Congress passed into law an "Act for the gradual increase of the Navy" at a cost of $1,000,000 a year for eight years, authorizing nine ships of the line and 12heavy frigates.[317] The captains and commodores of the Navy became the heroes of their generation in the United States. Several war heroes used their fame to win elections to national office. Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison both benefited from their military successes to win the presidency, while representativeRichard Mentor Johnson's role during the war helped him attain the vice presidency.[318]
During the war, New England states became increasingly frustrated over how the war was being conducted and how the conflict affected them. They complained that the United States government was not investing enough militarily and financially in the states' defences and that the states should have more control over their militias. Increased taxes, the British blockade, and the occupation of some of New England by enemy forces also agitated public opinion in the states.[319] At the Hartford Convention held between December 1814 and January 1815, Federalist delegates deprecated the war effort and sought more autonomy for the New England states. They did not call for secession, but word of the angry anti-war resolutions appeared as peace was announced and the victory at New Orleans was known. The upshot was that the Federalists were permanently discredited and quickly disappeared as a major political force.[320]
This war enabled thousands ofslaves to escape to freedom, despite the difficulties.[321] The British helped numerous escaped slaves resettle in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, whereBlack Loyalists had also been granted land after the American Revolutionary War.[321]
Jackson invadedFlorida (then part ofNew Spain) in 1818, demonstrating to Spain that it could no longer control that colonial territory with a small force. Spain sold Florida to the United States in 1819 under theAdams–Onís Treaty following theFirst Seminole War. Pratt concludes that "[t]hus indirectly the War of 1812 brought about the acquisition of Florida".[322]
Thehistoriography of the War of 1812 reflects the numerous interpretations of the conflict, especially in reference to the war's outcome.[323][324] Thehistorical record has interpreted both the British and Americans as victors in the conflict, with substantial academic and popular literature published to support each claim.
The British viewed the War of 1812 as a minor theatre that was overshadowed by key victories at theBattle of Trafalgar in 1805 and theBattle of Waterloo in 1815, leading to thePax Britannica. In the United States andUpper Canada, nationalistic mythology around the war took hold following its conclusion.[325][u]
With the failure of the invasion of British Canada advancing the concept of Canadian identity, Canada remained a distinct region that would continue to evolve into a nation.[327] Americans were able to enforce their sovereignty, and both the restoration of honor and what has been called the Second War of Independence are important themes in American historiography, and are considered significant results by historians.[328] Indigenous nations are generally held to have lost in the war.[329]
^Includes 1,000 combat casualties on the northern front.
^The House declared war by 61.7% with a majority in all sections, 20 Members not voting, and the Senate was closer at 59.4%, four not voting. The former Federalist stronghold in Massachusetts had one Democrat-Republican and one Federalist for U.S. Senators, with ten Democrat-Republicans and seven Federalists in the House. Only two states had both Senators in the Federalist Party: Connecticut with 7 Federalist Representatives, and Maryland with 7 Democrat-Republicans and 3 Federalists in the House.
^units raised for local service but otherwise on the same terms as regulars
^Hull was later court-martialed for cowardice, neglect of duty and for lying about lack of supplies. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but President Madison granted him a pardon for his heroic service during the Revolutionary War.[95]
^The task was directed by pyrotechnic experts Lieutenants George Lacy and George Pratt of the Royal Navy.[159]
^"They are superior to any European frigate," Humphreys wrote of the design he had in mind, "and if others should be in [the enemy's] company, our frigates can always lead ahead and never be obliged to go into action, but on their own terms, except in a calm; in blowing weather our ships are capable of engaging to advantage double-deck ships." In another design Humphreys proposed "such frigates as in blowing weather would be an overmatch for double-deck ships, and in light winds evade coming into action."[213]
^With sufficient training and drilling gunnery could be improved, but there was no immediate solution for the lack of crew numbers on British ships. There were six hundred ships in service, manned by only 140,000 seamen and marines. Subsequently the Royal Navy was spread out thin which compromised a crew's overall efficiency and could not rival the quality and efficiency of the crews employed in the smaller, all-volunteer U.S. Navy.[219]
^Admiral Warren was evidently concerned, because he circulated a standing order, on March 6, directing his commanders to give priority to "the good discipline and the proper training of their Ships Companies to the expert management of the Guns." All officers and seamen on the North American station were urged to keep in mind "that the issue of the Battle will greatly depend on the cool, steady and regular manner in which the Guns shall be loaded, pointed & fired." Two weeks later, the Admiralty issued a circular to all the British admirals, discouraging the daily "spit and polish" scouring of the brasswork and directing that "the time thrown away on this unnecessary practice be applied to the really useful and important points of discipline and exercise at Arms."[220]
^Compared to other nations, the British navy had mastered the practice of employing blockades, which severely compromised an enemy's freedom of movement, supply lines, and economic vitality. It also protected their commercial shipping by preventing enemy privateers and cruisers from going out to sea and capturing prizes. Britain's ten-year-old commercial and military blockade of continental Europe had largely succeeded in its twin goals of interdicting most seagoing commerce while keeping the French navy imprisoned in its ports. It was therefore to be expected that the main thrust of British naval strategy during the war was the employment of blockades along the American coast.[213]
^The tightening grip of the British blockade was beginning to take a severe economic toll on communities throughout the country. The drain on the treasury remained a pressing concern, and the Republican-dominated Congress finally recognized the need for more tax revenue; a new levy fell on licences, carriages, auctions, sugar refineries, and salt.[224]
^The superior force and scantlings of the American 44-gun frigates, now denounced as "disguised ships of the line," prompted the Admiralty to issue a "Secret & Confidential" order to all station chiefs prohibiting single-frigate engagements with the Constitution, President, or United States. A lone British frigate was henceforth ordered to flee from the big American frigates, or (if it could be done safely) to shadow them at a prudent distance, remaining out of cannon-shot range, until reinforcements.[233]
^More significantly, if some spars are shot away on a brig because it is more difficult to wear and the brig loses the ability to steer while a ship could adjust its more diverse canvas to compensate for the imbalance caused by damage in battle.[234] Furthermore, ship-rigged vessels with three masts simply have more masts to shoot away than brigs with two masts before the vessel is unmanageable.[234][235]
^"The British blockade had a crushing effect on American foreign trade. "Commerce is becoming very slack," reported a resident of Baltimore in the spring of 1813: "no arrivals from abroad, & nothing going to sea but sharp [that is fast] vessels." By the end of the year, the sea lanes had become so dangerous that merchants wishing to sell goods had to shell out 50 percent of the value of the ship and cargo."[252]
^For details of the negotiations, see Samuel Flagg Bemis (1956),John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, pp. 196–220;Remini 1991, pp. 94–122;Ward & Gooch 1922, pp. 537–542 andMahan 1905, pp. 73–78.
^The British were unsure whether the attack on Baltimore was a failure, but Plattsburg was a humiliation that called for court martial (Latimer 2007, pp. 331, 359, 365).
^Spain, a British ally, lost control of theMobile, Alabama area to the Americans as a consequence of thePatriot War (Florida) which took place concurrently with the War of 1812.
^Theodore Roosevelt commented: "Latour is the only trustworthy American contemporary historian of this war, and even he at times absurdly exaggerates the British force and loss, Most of the other American 'histories' of that period were the most preposterously bombastic works that ever saw print. But as regards this battle, none of them are as bad as even such British historians asAlison. ... The devices each author adopts to lessen the seeming force of his side are generally of much the same character. For instance, [at New Orleans] Latour says that 800 of Jackson's men were employed on works at the rear, on guard duty, etc., and deducts them; James, for precisely similar reasons, deducts 553 men. ... Almost all British writers underestimate their own force and enormously magnify that of the Americans."[326]
^Paul Silverstone, "The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854", Taylor & Francis: November 2006, p. 89-92. Listed fifth rates lost consist of theGuerrier (captured and burnt),Macedonian (captured),Southampton (wrecked),Java (captured and burnt),Confiance (captured), andStatira (wrecked).
^Horsman, Reginald (1969).The War of 1812. Knopf. p. 104.Barclay was also in a critical position in regard to the equipping and provisioning of his ships. Ordnance, ammunition, and other supplies for Lake Erie had been stored at York and been burned or taken by the Americans, and the retreat of the British from Fort George made it exceedingly difficult to send any other stores from Lower Canada
^Daughan, George C. 1812 (p. 178). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
^Frank L. Owsley Jr., The Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812–1815 LibraryPress@UF, Gainesville, Florida, 2017, 87–91
^Latour (1816), p.7 'Fort Plaquemines, that ofPetites Coquilles, and fort Bowyer at Mobile point, were the only advanced points fortified; and none of them capable of standing a regular siege.'
^Shorto, Lieutenant-Colonel A. Gavin (5 April 2018)."Bermuda in the Privateering Business".The Bermudian. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda: The Bermudian. Archived fromthe original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved26 November 2023.
^Jarvis, Michael (2010).In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.[page needed]
^Kennedy, Sister Jean de Chantal (1963),Bermuda's Sailors of Fortune, Bermuda Historical Society,ASINB0007J8WMW
^Footner, Geoffrey (1998).Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner. Schiffer Publishing.ISBN978-0870335112.
^Howe 2007, p. 74;Kohler 2013, p. 316: "While the debate about 'who won the war' continues, most historians agree that the clear loser was the First Nations/Native Americans.";Kohler 2013, p. 316;Clark & Hickey 2015, p. 103.
^Carroll 1997: "The War of 1812 also had an impact on the border. A decisive military victory by either the United States or His Majesty's forces might well have settled the boundary controversy once and for all, but by and large, the war was fought to a stalemate.";Heidler & Heidler 2002, p. 137: "Britain finally accepted stalemate as the best bargain. The American delegation wisely did so as well.";Howe 2007, p. 74: "Considered as a conflict between Great Britain and the United States, the War of 1812 was a draw. For the Native Americans, however, it constituted a decisive defeat with lasting consequences.";Waselkov 2009, p. 177: "New Orleans ... retrieved the nation's honor and brought the war to close as a virtual stalemate.";Hickey 2012, p. 228: "Thus, after three years of campaigning, neither the United States nor Great Britain could claim any great advantage in the war, let alone victory. Militarily, the War of 1812 ended in a draw.";Clark & Hickey 2015, p. 103;Coles 2018, p. 255: "Militarily the War of 1812 was a draw.";USSConstitution Museum: "Ultimately, the War of 1812 ended in a draw on the battlefield, and the peace treaty reflected this."
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