Causes of the warOngoing impressment of American sailors into

service on British Navy ships an insulting breach of American sovereignty; Britain's navy "violating the rights and the peace

of our coasts“Britain's blockade of U.S. ports Britain's refusal to repeal its Order-In-Council

forbidding neutral countries to trade with European countries, and the

British Navy's enforcement of this order; Britain's incitement of Native Americans to

violence against the Americans.

Chesapeake

In 1807, the British ship HMS Leopard fired upon and then boarded the American ship Chesapeake, carrying off four seamen

Though the incident itself was minor, the American public was outraged at the slight, and many called for war.

War HawksIn the United States House of

Representatives, a group of young men known as the "War Hawks" came to the forefront in 1811, led by Speaker of the House Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina.

The War Hawks advocated going to war against Great Britain for a variety of reasons, mostly related to the interference of the Royal Navy in American shipping (Two days before the declaration of war, Great Britain agreed to repeal the naval laws which were chiefly responsible for the conflict. )

War Hawks from the western states also believed that the British were instigating Native Americans on the frontier to attack American settlements, and so the War Hawks called for an invasion of British Canada to end this threat.

Mr. Madison’s WarIn the U.S. presidential election

of 1812, U.S. President James Madison argued for war against Britain. The War of 1812 was thus the first war "sold" to the American public via popular appeal.

The Senate voted for war, 19 to 13.

This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation

TimelineThe American force under

Gen. William Hull, far from gaining glory, disgracefully surrendered (Aug., 1812) at Detroit to a smaller Canadian force under Isaac Brock.

On the Niagara River, an American expedition was repulsed after a successful attack on Queenston Heights, because the militia under Stephen Van Rensselaer would not cross the New York state boundary.

On the sea, however, the tiny American navy initially gave a good account of itself. The victory of the Constitution, under Isaac Hull, over the Guerrière and the capture of the Macedonian by the United States (Stephen Decatur commanding) were two outstanding achievements of 1812

American privateers carried the war to the very shores of England

In 1813 the British reasserted their supremacy on the sea; the Chesapeake, under Capt. James Lawrence (“Don't give up the ship!”), accepted a challenge from the Shannon and met with speedy defeat. Most of the American ships were either captured or bottled up in harbor for the duration of the war

In Jan., 1813, at the Raisin River, S of Detroit, American troops suffered another defeat

victory of Capt. Oliver Perry on Lake Erie in Sept., 1813, American forces,

Gen. William Henry Harrison, were able to advance against the British

Battle of Lake Erie

By September of 1813, the American fleet under Oliver Hazard Perry had gained the upper hand on Lake Erie. Perry was effectively blockading the British at Amherstburg on the Detroit River. For British Army Commander Henry Procter and his naval counterpart Robert Barclay, the situation was getting desperate. Without control of the lake, food supplies at Amherstburg were running dangerously low. Despite being outnumbered, the British squadron had no choice but to risk everything in all-out battle against the American fleet.

On September 9, Barclay sailed out of Amherstburg with the intention of unblocking the Lake Erie supply line. He met Oliver Hazard Perry’s squadron at Put-in-Bay the next day. The ensuing confrontation was a dramatic naval battle which would come to figure prominently in the mythology of the war.

After almost four hours of intense cannon fire, individual acts of heroism, and much human suffering, the British surrendered. On Perry’s flagship the Lawrence only 20 out of 103 men escaped the engagement without being killed or wounded. Captain Barclay was wounded badly in his good shoulder and thigh.

The battle ended in unequivocal victory for the Americans. It was the first time in history that an entire British fleet was defeated and captured by the enemy.

Immediately after the battle Perry sat down to scribble the dispatch that became the most-quoted phrase of the war: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

The American naval victory paved the way for William Henry Harrison’s successful invasion of Upper Canada. Having lost access to Lake Erie, Procter was forced to abandon Amherstburg and withdraw up the Thames Valley. Harrison caught up with the British-First Nations force at Moraviantown, where he destroyed Procter and Tecumseh’s army.

Engagement fought on the Thames River near Chatham, Ont. (Oct. 5, 1813)Gen. William H. Harrison led an American force of about 3,000 against a British army of approximately 400 regulars commanded by Gen. Henry A. Procter, reinforced by 1,000 Native Americans

The first months of 1814 held gloomy prospects for the Americans. The finances of the government had been somewhat restored in 1813, but there was no guarantee of future supplies.New England, never sympathetic with the war, now became openly hostile, and the question of secession was taken up by the Hartford Convention

With Napoleon checked in Europe, Britain could devote more time and effort to the war in America.

In July, 1814, the American forces along the Niagara River, now under Gen. Jacob Brown, maintained their own in engagements at Chippawa and Lundy’s Lane.

Sir George Prevost led a large army into New York down the west side of Lake Champlain and seriously threatened the Hudson valley.

Prevost’s accompanying fleet was defeated near Plattsburgh (Sept., 1814) by Capt. Thomas Macdonough, he was forced to retreat to Canada.

In August, a British expedition to Chesapeake Bay won an easy victory at Bladensburg and took Washington,

The British burn the White House and the Capitol, but the rest of Washington is saved by a strong rain storm. The British, under orders not to hold any territory, withdrew.

The victorious British, however, were halted at Fort McHenry before Baltimore.

Burning Washington                                            

Ft McHenryBombarded (Sept. 13–14, 1814) by a British

fleet under Sir Alexander Cochrane, the fort, commanded by Maj. George Armistead, resisted the attack

Its defense inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner

Baltimore and Ft McHenry

Treaty of GhentOn December 24, the Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the war. The war in the field continues until mid-February.

. Belgian town of Ghent in August of 1814.

By then the U.S. had dropped the impressment issue. With Napoleon defeated, Britain had a surplus of sailors and no longer engaged in the practice. The other major U.S. grievance, the Orders-in-Council forbidding trade with European countries, had long since been repealed by Britain. Only the territorial issues remained. Once Britain agreed to drop the creation of a First Nations barrier-state between the U.S. and Canada, it was only a matter of time before both countries agreed to end hostilities by returning to the exact same conditions that had existed before the war.

The Treaty of Ghent, in effect, meant that thousands of people had died for nothing: nobody won the war of 1812. The United States, though it achieved none of its stated war aims, did achieve the less openly stated aim of pushing the First Nations off their traditional territories, which were now open for white settlement. Britain could rest secure in the knowledge that Canada was safe from U.S. territorial ambitions for the foreseeable future

Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New OrleansOn January 8, 1815, American forces, under

General Jackson, decisively defeat the British forces trying to capture New Orleans. The battle, which takes place after the Treaty of Ghent has been signed, is the most decisive American victory of the war.

Jackson had 4,000 troops ready for the British. In the last minute Jackson positioned his reserve troops at the exact spot that the British would aim their assault at. As dawn broke the British began their assault, this despite the fact that the planned coordinated attack on the other bank of he Mississippi was running hours behind. The British soldiers gallantly attacked, but the Americans were too prepared and their artillery wreaked havoc on the advancing British.

British General Pakenham tried to rally his men and continued the assault despite the fact that two horsed were shot out from under him and he was wounded. Eventually he was mortally wounded and died on the battlefield. Within an hour the battle was over

VictoryThree British General and eight colonels were

among the 251 British killed, 1,259 wounded and 484 missing in the battle.

The Americans lost a total of 11 killed and 23 wounded.

It was the greatest American victory of the war and it was against the finest of the British army.

Of course the tragedy of the battle is that it took place after a peace treaty had ended the war.