major events of the war of 1812
the united states canadion campaignWhile they had expected little from their tiny navy, the American people had assumed that Canada could be easily overrun. Former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson dismissively referred to the conquest of Canada as "a matter of marching." However, in the opening stages of the conflict, British military experience prevailed over inexperienced American commanders. The American Brigadier General William Hull invaded Canada on July 12, 1812 from Detroit, with an army mainly composed of militiamen. British Major General Isaac Brock drove back the Americans and, with the aid of Tecumseh, forced Hull to surrender at Detroit on August 16.
Brock promptly transferred himself to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where the American General Henry Dearborn was attempting a second invasion. Brock fell in action on October 13 at the Battle of Queenston Heights. While the professionalism of the American forces would improve by the war's end, British leadership suffered after Brock's death. In contrast to the American militia, the Canadian militia performed well during the invasion of canada battles. French-Canadians, who found the anti-Catholic stance of most of the United States troublesome, and United Empire Loyalists, who had fought for the Crown during the American Revolutionary War and had settled primarily in Upper Canada, strongly opposed the American invasion. However, a large segment of Upper Canada's population were recent settlers from the United States who had no such loyalties to the Crown, but American forces found, to their dismay, that most of the colony took up arms against them. |
battle of new orleansTwo weeks after the War of 1812 officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, U.S. General Andrew Jackson achieves the greatest American victory of the war at the Battle of New Orleans.
In September 1814, an impressive American naval victory on Lake Champlain forced invading British forces back into Canada and led to the conclusion of peace negotiations in Ghent, Belgium. Although the peace agreement was signed on December 24, word did not reach the British forces assailing the Gulf coast in time to halt a major attack. On January 8, 1815, the British marched against New Orleans, hoping that by capturing the city they could separate Louisiana from the rest of the United States. Pirate Jean Lafitte, however, had warned the Americans of the attack, and the arriving British found militiamen under General Andrew Jackson strongly entrenched at the Rodriquez Canal. In two separate assaults, the 7,500 British soldiers under Sir Edward Pakenham were unable to penetrate the U.S. defenses, and Jackson’s 4,500 troops, many of them expert marksmen from Kentucky and Tennessee, decimated the British lines. In half an hour, the British had retreated, General Pakenham was dead, and nearly 2,000 of his men were killed, wounded, or missing. U.S. forces suffered only eight killed and 13 wounded. Although the battle had no bearing on the outcome of the war, Jackson’s overwhelming victory elevated national pride, which had suffered a number of setbacks during the War of 1812. The Battle of New Orleans was also the last armed engagement between the United States and Britain. |
the burning of the capitalDuring the War of 1812, British forces under General Robert Ross overwhelm American militiamen at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, and march unopposed into Washington, D.C. Most congressmen and officials fled the nation’s capital as soon as word came of the American defeat, but President James Madison and his wife, Dolley, escaped just before the invaders arrived. Earlier in the day, President Madison had been present at the Battle of Bladensburg and had at one point actually taken command of one of the few remaining American batteries, thus becoming the first and only president to exercise in actual battle his authority as commander in chief.
The British army entered Washington in the late afternoon, and General Ross and British officers dined that night at the deserted White House. Meanwhile, the British troops, ecstatic that they had captured their enemy’s capital, began setting the city aflame in revenge for the burning of Canadian government buildings by U.S. troops earlier in the war. The White House, a number of federal buildings, and several private homes were destroyed. The still uncompleted Capitol building was also set on fire, and the House of Representatives and the Library of Congress were gutted before a torrential downpour doused the flames. On August 26, General Ross, realizing his untenable hold on the capital area, ordered a withdrawal from Washington. The next day, President Madison returned to a smoking and charred Washington and vowed to rebuild the city. James Hoban, the original architect of the White House, completed reconstruction of the executive mansion in 1817. |
the battle of baltimoreAs events unfolded in Bladensburg and Washington, Baltimore's citizens, including free blacks, worked feverishly to establish defenses in Baltimore. More than a mile of earthworks stretched north from the harbor to protect the approach from the bay. Hulls were sunk as barriers to navigation. A chain of masts extended across the primary entry to the inner harbor. Fort McHenry, the star-shaped fort that protected the water approach to Baltimore, was seen as the cornerstone of the American defense.
On September 12, Americans observed in terror as the British fleet approached Baltimore at North Point near the mouth of the Patapsco River. About 4,500 British troops landed and began their 11-mile march to Baltimore. As the troops marched, the British warships moved up the Patapsco River toward Fort McHenry and the other defenses around the harbor. The ships opened a 25-hour bombardment of the fort, but failed to force its commander,Major George Armistead, and the other defenders to surrender. As the British fleet withdrew down the Patapsco, the garrison flag, now known as the Star- Spangled Banner, was raised over Fort McHenry, replacing the smaller storm flag that flew during the bombardment. On land, after a skirmish referred to as the Battle of North Point, there were heavy British casualties including Major General Robert Ross. The British troops reached Baltimore's impressive defensive earthworks,manned by 15,000 Americans. Hearing of the failure to take Fort McHenry, the British prudently decided to withdraw. With this defensive victory for the Americans, the Chesapeake Campaign essentially ended. Beanes and Key had witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry from onboard the truce vessel. Key was so moved by the scene of the battle that he composed a poem that eventually became the National Anthem. Key chose the tune, "To Anacreon in Heaven" by John Stafford Smith, because it was a popular American and British melody and he had previously adapted it to another poem. Key, Beanes, and the other Americans were released as the British retreated, and that night Key worked on his poem. Handbills of the poem were quickly printed and copies distributed to every man who was at Fort McHenry during the bombardment. Key's poem was first printed on September 20, 1814, in the Baltimore Patriot and Advertiser under the title "The Defence [sic] of Fort McHenry." By the end of the year, the poem and the tune were printed across the country as a reminder of the American victory. In 1931, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official National Anthem. |
consequencesthe link below will tell you every casualties of every conflict in the war of 1812.
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