The War of 1812

T
HE
W
AR OF
1812

Sir Isaac Brock.

(Courtesy of Brock University.)

The War That
Both Sides Won

W
ESLEY
B. T
URNER

Second Edition

Copyright © Wesley B. Turner 2000

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Editor: Barry Jowett

Design: Jennifer Scott

Printer: Friesens Corporation

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Turner, Wesley B., 1933-

The War of 1812: the war that both sides won

2
^nd
ed.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-55002-336-5

1. Canada — History — War of 1812 2. United States — History — War of 1812. I. Title

FC442.T873 2000          971.03'4        C00-930048-1        E359.85.T87 2000

1    2    3    4    5          04    03    02    01    00

We acknowledge the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts
, the
Ontario Arts Council,
and the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program
(BPIDP) for our publishing activities.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

Printed on recycled paper.

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PREFACE

PREFACE
to the Second Edition

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1:
Background to War, 1802–1812

CHAPTER 2:
A Surprising War, 1812

CHAPTER 3:
War on Land and Sea, 1813

CHAPTER 4:
Checks and Stalemates, 1814

CHAPTER 5:
Out of War to a Long Peace

APPENDIX:
Weapons of Period Armies and Navies

NOTES

CHRONOLOGY

SELECTED FURTHER READING

INDEX

To my wife, Diane

Tragedy and farce, bravery and cowardice, intelligence and foolishness, sense and nonsense: these contrasts and more characterized the War of 1812. The story is interesting in itself. And this interest continues to be renewed by current discoveries that further illuminate the period: for example, the discovery in 1975 and subsequent photographing of the
Hamilton
and
Scourge
at the bottom of Lake Ontario, and the 1987 find of skeletons on the shore of Lake Erie at Snake Hill, grisly casualties of the fighting around Fort Erie in August–September 1814. As these finds and a constant flow of writings show, the war has exercised an indelible influence on American and Canadian views of themselves and of each other — a further reason for taking yet another look at its course and character.

This book derives from my
The War of 1812: The War for Canada
, a book that was written as a school text but that also elicited interest and led to requests for copies. The supply of books was never enough to meet these requests and, after the original work went out of print, I decided to revise it for the general reader rather than simply reprint a textbook.

The book was written to provide a succinct yet comprehensive account of the War of 1812 that would both interest and inform the
general reader. At the same time, historians may find this a useful, short, up-to-date version of that formative event. I did not attempt a radical or unusual interpretation. Instead I have included more than a single viewpoint with the intention of providing enjoyment to both American and Canadian readers out of which, perhaps, they may gain some understanding of the important effects this war had on each country.

The War of 1812 has produced a literary explosion over the past decade. In the years since this book was first published, more than twenty scholarly works dealing directly with the subject have appeared, as have four others that relate to it less directly and several guidebooks. Of course, I may have missed some titles and I am not counting journal or magazine articles. Nor am I including books that I know are underway but not yet published.

In light of this outburst of fresh and deeper insights, I decided that my
War of 1812. The War That Both Sides Won
would benefit from a reassessment. The recent literature challenges some of the established scholarly interpretations of the war and I have tried to incorporate some of the new ideas and information in the revision.

These writings also provide fuller explorations of campaigns, battles, the naval contest on the Great Lakes, and personnel. There seems to be less nationalist bias and stronger effort to see the other side's point of view. To assist the reader to become acquainted with some of the new literature, I have expanded the selected bibliography. The titles you see there indicate the wealth of writing and some of the leading authors in the field.

I am much indebted to the staff of Parks Canada at Fort George, and to David Webb in particular, for their assistance with this revision. I am happy also to thank Kirk Howard for his support and Barry Jowett for clarifying much of my text through his expert editing.

WBT

Niagara-on-the-Lake, October 1999

In June 1812 the contagion of war spread far beyond the European continent where it had raged for two decades from the early years of the French Revolution. In the United States, President James Madison delivered a war message to Congress on June 1 and, after approval by both Houses, signed a declaration of war against Great Britain on the 18th. A week later, thousands of kilometres to the east, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte led the most powerful army in Europe across the Niemen River into Russia. The obvious difference in scale of warfare and the great distance between these two theatres does not obscure the connection between these two events. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe did not only help cause the war in North America; they would directly affect its entire course. It may be said that the War of 1812 was the North American phase of the Napoleonic Wars.

In an effort to defeat Napoleon, Britain adopted measures that elicited protests from the Americans and contributed significantly to their declaration of war. At first, with its forces tied up fighting the French in the Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) Britain could send little help to its North American colonies. But Napoleon's invasion of Russia turned into a stunning disaster that virtually destroyed his “Grand Army.” He raised more troops and fought on, but suffered an increasing number of defeats. The wearing down of the French armies enabled Britain to spare more attention, troops, and supplies
for North America. Once Napoleon finally surrendered, the United States could no longer hope to win its war against Britain.

One historian has called the War of 1812 the “Incredible War,” and there were indeed many incredible aspects to it — including the very fact that it happened. Britain and the United States had more reasons to remain at peace than to fight.

In the summer of 1812 the outcome of such a war seemed obvious to many Americans, Canadians, and Britons. There appeared no possibility that Upper Canada could successfully resist American invasion. After its fall, the easy conquest of Lower Canada would follow, although the British might hold on to Quebec City. But this anticipated course of the war did not happen. Something else that was unexpected was the success of individual American warships in sea battles with British warships. Surely the oddest aspect is that both sides believe they won the war.

If the beginning and course did not meet expectations, neither did the peace treaty. The Treaty of Ghent ignored most of the reasons that President Madison had given for starting the conflict. It appeared that the treaty did not settle the problems bedeviling Anglo-American relations, yet the basic principles of this agreement of December 1814 have endured to the present.