August 15, 2004

Our Forgotten War

Strangely, our first "declared" war had no formal name until it was over.

The conflict was not the "War For Independence"   remembered as the "Revolutionary War." That event began as an insurrection that erupted in shooting at Lexington, Mass., April 19, 1775.

Fourteen months of military actions followed -- such as the Battle of Breed/Bunker Hill and Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware.  Fighting was not formalized until July 1776 with a "Declaration of Independence" from Britain - not a declaration of war against it.

Although British Gen. Cornwallis surrendered his troops at Yorktown in Feb. 1782, a treaty to end the war was not signed until Jan. 1784.

Britain gave up its original 13 colonies but expanded its presence in Canada. Worse, it roamed around the Northwest Territory beyond the Ohio River exhorting Indians under Chief Tecumseh to attack frontier settlements.

Notable engagements involving Indians and British against our new nation were those at Ft. Meigs (Toledo) in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and at Tippecanoe River (Indiana). Both were American victories.

The new United States established strategic forts along what it considered its northern Great Lakes border at Ft. Niagara (Buffalo), Ft. Wayne (Detroit), Ft. Michilimakinac (Mackinaw Straits) and Ft. Dearborn (Chicago).

Britain was still at war with France - the United States' recent ally -- and trying to enforce a trade embargo against Napoleon. American traders wanted favorable trade agreements with both. France cooperated, but Britain did not.

The British navy -- more interested in blockading France -- confiscated American merchant ships and "impressed" the crews into the British navy.

The U.S. Congress elected in 1810 included a group of southern and western Democrats known as "War Hawks." They advocated an invasion of Upper Canada to "restore American honor" and "freedom of the seas."

Northeastern Federalists saw the proposal as a fatal blow to overseas trade and therefore opposed military action.  

President Madison requested a declaration of war against Britain. Congress passed it over substantial opposition. He signed it June 18, 1812.

Ironically the British Parliament two days earlier had announced it would relax its anti-trade and impressments orders against the U.S. Had there been an Atlantic cable, our first declared war might have been avoided.

War hawks called it the "Canadian War." Merchant traders called it "Mr. Madison's War." It was not until fighting stopped in January 1815 that cooler heads could look back and diplomatically call it the "War of 1812."

How War Began

The U.S. began its "invasion" at Detroit by crossing the river straits between Lakes St. Clair and Erie demanding the British at Ft. Malden to surrender. The latter retaliated by setting up five cannon opposite Ft. Wayne and lobbing a few rounds until the fort surrendered.

Meanwhile, a handful of Indians and Brits easily overwhelmed the forts at Mackinaw Straits and Chicago.

Though the inexperienced American army lost ground, the infant U.S. Navy scored impressive victories.  Most famous was that of the U.S.S. Constitution over H.M.S. Guerriere in August 1812.  

After an hour of maneuvering and long-range cannonading, the two frigates closed to short range. Very shortly, the expert gunners aboard the Constitution knocked take down the masts of Guerriere and punched several holes in its hull.

At some point in the battle, an American seaman saw a British cannonball bounce off the Constitution's hull. He shouted, "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron." Thus was born its immortal nickname "Old Ironsides"

The Constitution was the first Navy ship built by the new United States of America, and officially is still in service today -- tied to a Boston dock -- as a flagship.  

 Burning York

Americans switched their attacks the following year to the Canadian capital of York (Toronto) - then a village. President Madison appointed Brig. Gen. William Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, to lead an expedition through January snows.

Harrison met strong opposition at Frenchtown on the Raisin River and suffered heavy casualties. The Indian enemies brutally massacred American prisoners put in their charge - an atrocity never forgotten by Americans. Survivors retreated to Fort Meigs.

Gen. Henry Dearborn tried again in April by moving 1,700 men to Sacketts Harbor at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. These were ferried across the lake to assault Fort York.

During the fight a powder magazine in the fort exploded killing many men on both sides -- including Gen Zebulon Pike, the discover of Pike's Peak.

Enraged Americans - shouting, "Remember the Raisin" - stormed into the village of York to loot stores and burn the principal public buildings. After holding the town for about a week, they re-crossed the lake to attack forts on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.

 Great Lakes Key

President Madison realized that he was not likely to annex Canada -- or even regain the Northwest Territory -- without controlling the Great Lakes. He assigned this task to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.

Perry rushed carpenters and craftsmen to Erie, Pennsylvania, a village of just 500 people. There he hurriedly built six small ships with six cannons each.

Perry sailed out onto Lake Erie in September 1813 and engaged the enemy fleet of nine, better-armed ships off Put-in-Bay. He won a British surrender and immediately sent a message to General Harrison that has become Navy history -- "We have met the enemy, and they are ours."

 Burning Washington

Fierce fighting continued along the wilderness frontier. However, the U.S. east coast was lightly defended.

Napoleon surrendered in 1814 - after selling the vast Louisiana Territory to the U.S. This freed British ships and men to attack the U.S. capital at Washington, D.C., and the newly acquired U.S. seaport at New Orleans.

A British expeditionary force landed at the mouth of the Patuxent River in Maryland for an assault on Washington. On the way, the Brits defeated a defending force of militia at Bladensburg. From there, the army in August marched unmolested into the U.S. capital.

President Madison and other officials fled. The Capitol, White House and other public buildings were burned - as had been done to the Canadian capital by U.S. forces.

The White House later was painted white to cover up fire damage, but it had already been painted white in 1798. It was known as the President's House from the beginning until President Theodore Roosevelt changed it to White House.

The British next marched against Baltimore. After an all-night bombardment of Fort McHenry without result, the invaders withdrew. It was during this battle that Francis Scott Key, a witness, penned our national anthem, "Star Spangled Banner."

The British - satisfied they had avenged York -- returned to their ships and sailed to Jamaica.

 The Last Battle

President Madison sued for peace, but Britain proceeded to attack New Orleans and deny Louisiana to Americans.

The British force from Jamaica, led by Gen Edward Pakenham, landed in mid-December at the mouth of the Mississippi River. They began marching toward New Orleans 15 miles upstream.

Gen. Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson (later to wrest Florida from Spain) had been assigned to the defense of New Orleans on Dec. l.  

Jackson hurriedly gathered a crew of French, Spaniards, Americans, free-blacks, Creoles, a band of Choctaw Indians, a score of Lafitte's's pirates and the Louisiana militia. In all, about 3,000 front-line soldiers and 1,000 in reserve.

Jackson sent his infantry to drive back, or delay the Brits while he built a breastwork of cotton bales behind a dry canal. Both sides sustained heavy casualties.

Nevertheless, Jackson completed his breastwork on a narrow peninsula of land, a mile wide, between a river and a cypress swamp. Approximately 3,500 men manned the American line.

At dawn, Jan. 8, 1815, General Pakenham led his 5,000 troops in a frontal assault on Gen. Jackson's redoubt.

In a half- hour of fierce fighting, Jackson's motley garrison mowed down the reckless Brits - to the accompaniment of a "long drum roll" by Jordan Noble, a 14-year-old free-black drummer for the 7th Infantry Regiment.

Among the 291 British Regulars killed was Gen. Pakenham -- by a free-black sharpshooter -- and 1,262 were wounded. American losses were 13 killed, 39 wounded. The British troops re-embarked for Mobile, Alabama.

Both sides learned on Feb. 14, 1815, that the Treaty of Ghent signed on Christmas Eve, 1914, had ended formal hostilities.

Historian Joseph Leach notes the irony of our forgotten war:

"The Treaty of Ghent at Belgium - ending the War of 1812 -- was strange in that it didn't mention any of the grievances that had started the war. However, it did mark the start of an alliance between America and England that has lasted to this day."

Author: Lindsey Williams