This painting by Edward Percy Moran depicts the last major confrontation of the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans. The battle is best remembered for General Andrew Jackson’s stiff resistance to British incursion and for the death of British Major
General Edward Pakenham (courtesy Library of Congress/LC-USZC2-3796).
Causes of the War of 1812
The origins of the War of 1812 were in the conflict that raged in Europe for about two decades after Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul ( late Emperor ) of France. These napoleonic Wars ( 1799–1815 ) caused Great Britain to adopt measures that greatly aggravated the United States .
On 21 November 1806, Napoleon ordered a blockade of ship ( the Berlin Decree ) aimed at crippling british trade. He ordered all european ports under his control closed to British ships and far decreed that neutral and french ships would be seized if they visited a british port before entering a continental port ( the alleged Continental System ) .
Great Britain responded to Napoleon with a series of orders-in-council requiring all achromatic ships to obtain a license before they could sail to Europe. Following the victory of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, Great Britain had the ocean baron to enforce its blockade of France.
For many years the Americans had grappled with the problems of being a neutral nation in the great european war. Tensions mounted as the british began stopping american ships from trade in Europe. even more exasperating was the british drill of searching american english vessels for “ bootleg ” ( defined by the british as goods they declared illegal ) and of searching for deserters who had fled the coarse conditions of the Royal Navy. Many of these deserters had taken jobs on american ships, but American certificates of citizenship made no stamp on the british. furthermore, some british captains even tried to impress ( seize ) native-born Americans and put them into service on british ships .
The battle between the British warship HMS Leopard (left) and the American warship US Chesapeake (right) on 22 June 1807, in which the British attacked and boarded the Chesapeake, was a catalyst for all-out war a few years later (painting by F. Muller,
courtesy American Memory, Library of Congress).
These maritime tensions exploded, literally, in 1807 off the shore of Chesapeake Bay. While a british naval squadron was watching the area for french ships, respective british sailors deserted and promptly enlisted in the american united states navy. The captain of the american 38-gun frigate Chesapeake knew that he had deserters on board when HMS Leopard tried to board and search his ship. When the Chesapeake refused to heave to, the 50-gun Leopard opened fuel, killing three and injuring 18 of the crew. The british boarded and seized four men. Known as the “ Chesapeake Affair, ” the consequence outraged even temperate Americans. several years by and by, on 1 May 1811, officers from the british transport HMS Guerriere impressed an american boater from a coastal vessel, causing foster tension .
This challenge over nautical rights might have been resolved with diplomacy ; in fact, the raw british government of Lord Liverpool rescinded the orders-in-council a few days before the US declared war, though the newsworthiness hadn ’ triiodothyronine reached America in time. furthermore, not all Americans wanted war with Great Britain, notably the merchants of New England and New York .
however, President James Madison was intrigued by the analysis of Major General Henry Dearborn that in the event of war, Canada would be easy pickings — even that an invasion would be welcomed by the Canadians. furthermore, the “ War Hawks, ” a group of Congressmen from the south and west, forte demanded war. Motivated by Anglophobia and nationalism, these Republicans encouraged war as a means to retaliate against Britain for the economic distress caused by the blockade, and for what they perceived as british support for the First Nations in resisting american english expansion into the West. On 18 June 1812, President Madison signed a resolution of war against Great Britain, supported by both the Senate and Congress .
American and British Planning
As american english leaders planned their invasion of Canada, they promptly decided that Upper Canada was the most vulnerable to attack. The Atlantic provinces were protected by British ocean might, and Lower Canada was protected by its aloofness and by the fortress of Quebec ( see Quebec City in the War of 1812 ). In contrast, Upper Canada seemed to be an easy prey. The population was predominantly american, and the province was thinly defended .
Upper Canada was defended by about 1,600 british regulars, formed largely from the 41st Regiment of Foot and detachments from other units. however, the ill outnumber british were in fact better prepared than the Americans knew. The 41st Regiment of British regulars had been reinforced by a number of militia units ( although their loyalty and dependability was unsealed ). The Provincial Marine controlled Lake Ontario. Much of the preparation was thanks to the prevision of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, administrator of Upper Canada. Brock had a thorough grasp of the challenges of the approaching conflict and had been preparing for five years, reinforcing fortifications, training militia units and, possibly most authoritative, developing alliances with the inaugural Nations .
First Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812
Studio portrait taken in July 1882 of the surviving Six Nations warriors who fought with the british in the War of 1812. ( right to left : ) Sakawaraton – John Smoke Johnson ( born ca. 1792 ) ; John Tutela ( born ca. 1797 ) and Young Warner ( born ca. 1794 ) .
First Nations and Métis peoples played a meaning character in Canada in the War of 1812. The conflict forced versatile autochthonal peoples to overcome longstanding differences and unify against a park enemy. It besides strained alliances, such as the Iroquois ( Haudenosaunee ) Confederacy, in which some nations were allied with american forces. Most first Nations strategically allied themselves with Great Britain during the war, seeing the british as the lesser of two colonial evils ( see Indigenous-British Relations Pre-Confederation ) and the group most matter to in maintaining traditional territories and deal ( see First Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812 ) .
Tecumseh allied his forces with those of the British during the War of 1812, and his active participation was crucial. Painting by W.B. Turner (courtesy Metropolitan Toronto Library, J. Ross Robertson/T-16600).
Two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, implored autochthonal peoples to unite in order to defend their dwindling lands against the growing incursions of american settlers and the United States government. The promise of such an native state never came to fruition. During negotiations for the Treaty of Ghent ( 1814 ) that ended the war, the british tried to bargain for the creation of an indian territory, but the american delegates refused to agree .
Meeting of Isaac Brock and Tecumseh, 1812 (painting by C.W. Jeffreys, courtesy Library and Archives Canada/ C-073719).
For Indigenous peoples living in British North America, the War of 1812 marked the goal of an era of autonomy and self-government. soon they would become outnumbered by settlers in their own lands. Any social or political influence enjoyed before the war dissipated. Within a coevals, the contributions of so many different peoples, working together with their british and canadian allies against a park foe, would be all but forgotten ( see Aboriginal Title and the War of 1812 ) .
The British Attack
Isaac Brock was long remembered as the fallen hero and saviour of Upper Canada (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-36181).
Sir Isaac Brock was dissatisfied by the number of troops at his administration, with only some 1,600 regulars in the state. But he was not prepared to merely wait passively for the Americans to act. He believed that a bold military stroke would galvanize the population and encourage First Nations to come to his side. He consequently sent orders to the dominate policeman of Fort St. Joseph on Lake Huron to capture a key american position at Michilimackinac Island on 17 July. about 400 Dakota ( Sioux ), Menominee, Winnebago, Odawa and Ojibwe warriors, along with 45 british soldiers and some 200 voyageurs ( including Métis ) captured the fortress quickly and without bloodshed .
Britain’s Upper Lakes Naval Base just before the Battle of Lake Erie. In the midst of supply shortages, the crew of the new flagship HMS Detroit is seen fitting a sail borrowed from the HMS Queen Charlotte anchored on the right. After their defeat on
the Lake, the British abandoned this site, and located their new Upper Lakes naval base at Penetanguishene, on Lake Huron (“Sunset at the Amherstburg Navy Yard” by Peter Rindlisbacher).
interim, an american english impel under General William Hull had crossed from Detroit into Canada, forcing Brock to promptly march his men from the town of York to counter the invasion. When he arrived at the british fort at Amherstburg, Brock found that the american english invasion force had already withdrawn to Detroit ( see Fort Amherstburg and the War of 1812 ). With the great Shawnee head Tecumseh at his side, he boldly demanded that Hull surrender Detroit, which the hapless general did on 16 August, in consequence giving the british control of Michigan district and the Upper Mississippi ( see Capture of Detroit, War of 1812 ) .
The surprise capitulation of Fort Detroit in August, 1812 was preceded by a naval bombardment from the Detroit River. The brig HMS General Hunter and HMS Queen Charlotte sent volleys into the Fort and walled town of Detroit; damage was
minimal, but the cannon fire had a powerful psychological effect nevertheless (“Bombardment of Fort Detroit, 1812” by Peter Rindlisbacher).
DID YOU KNOW?
Shawnee war chief Tecumseh (1768–1813) sided with the British, not because he fully trusted them, but because he saw them as a strategic ally
with common interests. Tecumseh combined a passionate concern for his people with an acute strategic military sense. During the War of 1812, a large number of Indigenous nations fought under Tecumseh, who gained the alliance of the Potawatomi,
Ojibwa, Shawnee, Odawa, Kickapoo and others, though not all groups supported him.
Campaigns in Upper Canada (1812)
At this detail Thomas Jefferson ’ s remark that the capture of Canada was “ a mere matter of marching ” returned to haunt Washington. Having lost one army at Detroit, the Americans lost another at Queenston Heights ( 13 October 1812 ) after their militia refused to cross into Canada, citing the constitutional guarantee that it would not have to fight on foreign dirt. ( however, during the engagement, Brock was killed — a meaning loss to the british and canadian lawsuit. )
DID YOU KNOW?
Outnumbered more than 10 to 1, Mohawk chiefs John Norton (Teyoninhokarawen) and John Brant (Ahyonwaeghs) and about 80 other Haudenosaunee and Delaware warriors held back American forces at Queenston Heights for several hours — long enough for reinforcements to arrive so that the British
could retain the crucial outpost.
The Battle of Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812 was both a victory and a tragedy for the British and Canadian forces against the invading American army, and resulted in the death of Isaac Brock (foreground) (painting by John David, courtesy Library
and Archives Canada/C-000273).
A new american army under William Henry Harrison struggled up from Kentucky to try to retake Detroit. One wing was sol badly mauled at Frenchtown ( 22 January 1813 ) by a force of British, Canadians and First Nations under Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Procter, that far attempts at invasion that winter were abandoned. The only Americans in Canada were prisoners of war .
With the death of Brock, British scheme was to act defensively and allow the invaders to make mistakes. Governor Sir George Prevost conserved his thin forces cautiously, keeping a strong garrison at Quebec and sending reinforcements to Upper Canada only when extra troops arrived from abroad .
Portrait of Sir George Prevost, attributed to Robert Field, circa 1808-11. He led the Swiss de Meurons infantry in the War of 1812 (courtesy McCord Museum/McGill University).
Coloured Corps
The Coloured Corps was a militia party of Black men raised during the War of 1812 by Richard Pierpoint, a once enslaved man from Bondu ( Senegal ) and military veteran of the american Revolution. Created in Upper Canada, where enslavement had been limited in 1793, the corps was composed of free and enslave Black men. many were veterans of the american Revolution, in which they fought for the british ( see Black Loyalists ). The Coloured Corps fight in the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Fort George before it was attached to the Royal Engineers as a construction company .
The company was disbanded on 24 March 1815, following the conclusion of the war. In claiming rewards for their service, many faced adversity and discrimination. sergeant William Thompson was informed he “ must go and look for his pay himself, ” while Richard Pierpoint, then in his 70s, was denied his request for passage base to Africa in stead of a land grant. When grants were distributed in 1821, veterans of the Coloured Corps received alone 100 acres, half that of their White counterparts. many veterans did not settle the land they were granted because it was of poor timbre. Despite these inequities, the Coloured Corps defended Canada honorably, setting the precedent for the formation of Black units in future ( see The Coloured Corps : black Canadians and the War of 1812 ) .
A member of the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot.
Campaigns in Upper Canada (1813)
As the campaign of 1813 opened, an american flotilla of 16 ships landed at York ( now Toronto ), the capital of Upper Canada. The Americans briefly occupied the town, burning the public buildings and seizing valuable naval supplies destined for Lake Erie ( see The Sacking of York ) ; however, the british frustrated the american plan to appropriate a half-completed warship at York by burning it rather. Had the Americans succeeded, they might have gained greater master over Lake Ontario. As it was, neither side wholly controlled that lake for the poise of the war .
The Americans soon abandoned York and on 27 May 1813 their fleet seized Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara River. While this was the bleakest period of the war for the british, the military situation was not irretrievable. The Americans did not take advantage of their success, and failed to immediately pursue General John Vincent and his army as they retreated from Fort George to Burlington Heights. The american forces did not set out from Fort George until 2 June, allowing the british time to recover and prepare. On the night of 5 June 1813, Vincent ’ s men attacked the american forces at Stoney Creek. In a fierce battle, the british dislodged the Americans, capturing two of their generals. The depress american english wedge retired towards Niagara.
Read more: What is the Maritime Industry?
British Red Coats on the field at the Battle of Stoney Creek. The engagement at Stoney Creek returned the Niagara Peninsula to British and Canadian control and ended the US attempt to conquer the western part of the province (painting by Peter Rindlisbacher).
The Americans suffered another frustration three weeks late at Beaver Dams, where some 600 men were captured by a pull of 300 Kahnawake and a far 100 Mohawk warriors led by Captain William Kerr ( see Mohawk of the St. Lawrence Valley ). The british had been warned of the american attack by Laura Secord, a Loyalist whose husband had been wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights .
DID YOU KNOW?
Laura Secord walked 30 kilometer from Queenston to Beaver Dams, near Thorold, to warn James FitzGibbon that the Americans were planning to attack his frontier settlement. Secord took a circuitous route through inhospitable terrain to avoid american english sentries on her trek and was helped by a group of Mohawk warriors she encountered along the way .
ultimately, worn down by illness, abandonment and the deviation of short-run soldiers, the american command evacuated Fort George on 10 December and quit Canada. On leaving, the militia burned the town of Newark ( Niagara-on-the-Lake ), an act that drove the british to brutal retaliation at Buffalo. These incendiary reprisals continued until Washington itself was burned by the british the surveil August ( see The Burning of Washington ) .
War on the Western Flank (1813–14)
The Americans fared better on the western flank. The british try and failed to take William Henry Harrison ’ s stronghold at Fort Meigs on the Maumee River. A fight for control condition of Lake Erie followed ( see War on the Lakes ). The two rival fleets, both built of green lumber on the shores of the lake, met 10 September 1813 at Put-in-Bay. The british were hampered by the american seizure of naval supplies at York the previous form and by the loss, early on in the battle, of several elder officers. american english commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a boldface mariner, used irregular tactics to turn kill into victory and become the foremost world in history to capture an entire british flit .
US Admiral Oliver Perry at Put-in-Bay during the Battle of Lake Erie, at the moment when he rowed his way through enemy fire from the severely damaged St Lawrence to the Niagara (painting by William Henry Powell, courtesy United States
Senate).
The Americans gained authority over the upper berth Great Lakes and Lake Erie in effect became an american lake. The british army abandoned Detroit and retreated up the Thames River. Henry Procter delayed fatally in his retreat, however, and Harrison caught up with him at the Battle of the Thames ( Moraviantown ). There, the exhausted british regulars and First Nations warriors were routed and scattered. Procter fled and Tecumseh was killed. The frustration was not black to the province, as Harrison could not follow up his victory ( his Kentuckians were tidal bore to get back to their farms at harvest prison term ), but it efficaciously ended the foremost Nations alliance .
In “Battle of the Thames”, artist William Emmons depicts the 5 October 1813 battle that resulted in the death of legendary Shawnee war chief Tecumseh (courtesy W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana, Library and Archives Canada/C-04103).
On Lake Huron, the American fleet searched for British supply vessels, which led to the sink of the Nancy ; they besides razed Sault Ste. Marie on 21 July 1814, and attempted to recapture Fort Michilimackinac ( see Battle of Mackinac Island ). The british regained a presence on the lake in early September with the capture of the Tigress and Scorpion .
The War in Lower Canada (1813)
America forces besides invaded Lower Canada during the war. The Americans could potentially have struck a person shove off against the british in Lower Canada, but their invade armies, which outnumbered the british 10–1, were led with about incredible worthlessness by Generals James Wilkinson and Wade Hampton. A many-sided force of british regulars, Voltigeurs, militia and First Nations harassed the advancing Americans and turned the invasion back at Châteauguay ( 25–26 October 1813 ) under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry, and at Crysler ’ s Farm ( near Cornwall, ON ) on 11 November 1813, under Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison .
Voltigeurs
The Canadian Voltigeurs was a volunteer corps raised and commanded by Charles-Michel vitamin d ’ Irumberry de Salaberry, a british army military officer born in Beauport, Lower Canada. The Voltigeurs were initially assigned to defend the Eastern Townships .
Canadian Voltigeurs performing target practice, c. 1812-1813 (artwork by Eugene Leliepvre, courtesy Parks Canada/PD No. 501).
In November 1812, they faced American Major General Dearborn and his 6,000-strong force, who invaded the area from Plattsburgh. De Salaberry rushed with a ship’s company of Voltigeurs and 230 Kahnawake Mohawk warriors to staunch the invasion at Lacolle. While they could not halt the invasion, days of skirmishing increased the price, and Dearborn retreated days later .
In the form of 1813, the Voltigeur units split, with some bolstered the defences at Kingston and others participating in the fail assault on Sackets Harbor .
Last Invasion of Upper Canada (1814)
The come class, 1814, the Americans again invade Upper Canada, crossing the Niagara River at Buffalo. They easily seized Fort Erie on 3 July, and on 5 July turned back a rash attack by the british under General Phineas Riall at Chippawa .
The unharmed Niagara crusade came to a culminate with the bloodiest conflict of the war, at Lundy ’ s Lane on 25 July. Fought in the pitch dark of a sensual night by exhausted troops who could not tell acquaintance from foe, it ended in a deadlock .
Lundy’s Lane was the site of a battle fought between American troops and British regulars assisted by Canadian Fencibles and militia on the sultry evening of 25 July 1814. It was one of the most important battles of the war, halting the American advance
into Upper Canada (courtesy New York State Military Museum).
The american invasion was now effectively spent, and they withdrew to Fort Erie. here they badly trounced the forces of the newly british air force officer, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond, when he attempted a night attack ( 14–15 August 1814 ). With both sides exhausted, a three-month repulsion followed ( see Siege of Fort Erie ). finally, on 5 November, the Americans again withdrew across the Niagara River, effectively ending the war in Upper Canada .
Invading the United States (1814)
On the Atlantic front man, Nova Scotia ’ s Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Sherbrooke, led a coerce from Halifax into Maine, capturing Castine on 1 September 1814. By the middle of September, british forces held much of the Maine slide, which was returned to the US only with the sign of the peace treaty in December 1814 .
The most formidable effort by the british in 1814 was the invasion of northern New York, in which Governor Sir George Prevost led 11,000 british veterans of the Napoleonic Wars to Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. however, Prevost was hesitant to attack, and the get the better of of the british fleet in Plattsburgh Bay by the American commodore, Thomas Macdonough, on 11 September led Prevost to withdraw his troops .
The Treaty of Ghent
Prevost ’ s decision to withdraw from american territory affected peace negotiations in Ghent, which had begun in August 1814. Had Prevost ’ s invasion succeeded, much of upper New York State might be canadian today. however, his withdrawal forced the british peace negotiators at Ghent to lower their demands and accept the status quo. When the treaty was signed on Christmas Eve 1814, all conquests were to be restored and disputes over boundaries were deferred to joint commissions ( see Treaty of Ghent ) .
Hostilities continued after the peace treaty was signed, however. The last conflict of the war is often cited as the Battle of New Orleans ( 8 January 1815 ), but British and American forces besides clashed on 11 February 1815 at Fort Bowyer on Mobile Bay. respective naval engagements besides followed the sign of the treaty, including the final struggle of the war, between the US sloop Peacock and East India cabin cruiser Nautilus in the indian Ocean, four-and-a-half months after the peace treaty was signed .
Who Won or Lost the War of 1812?
Washington had expected the largely american population of Upper Canada to throw off the “ british yoke ” ampere soon as its united states army crossed the boundary line. This did not happen. Lured northwards by spare country and low taxes, most settlers wanted to be left alone. Thus the british and Loyalist elite were able to set Canadians on a different course from that of their former enemy .
several units of the Canadian militia actively participated in the war ; this included the Coloured Corps, a belittled corporation of Black Canadians that fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights ( see besides Richard Pierpoint Heritage Minute ). Although the majority of the fight was done by british regulars and First Nations warriors, a myth developed that civilian soldiers had won the war, and this helped to germinate the seeds of nationalism in the Canadas.
Canada owes its deliver determine to negotiations that grew out of the peace, while the war itself — or the myths created by the war — gave Canadians their first sense of community and laid the foundation for their future nationhood. To this extent the Canadians were the real number winners of the War of 1812 .
For the Americans, the result was more equivocal. Since the issues of impress and maritime rights were not resolved in the peace treaty, the war could be considered a failure ; however, the Americans had some dramatic victories at sea, which were indicators of the future potential of american power. The war was surely a bankruptcy for the “ War Hawks, ” who wanted to annex, or take over, Canada — the war proved that this was not militarily feasible. The conclusions that the war was a “ second war of independence ” or a war of award and respect are less slowly to judge .
If the winners are qualified, the losers are easier to identify. The death of Tecumseh and the kill of the first Nations at the Battle of the Thames broke apart Tecumseh ’ randomness confederation ( see First Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812 ). similarly, in the related frustration of the Creek Nation, any promise of halting american expansion into First Nations district efficaciously ended. While in Canada the First Nations fared better in preserving their land and culture, in the end the british abandoned their autochthonal allies in the peace, just as they had respective times before .
