The war was conducted in several theatres: • The
Canada–United States border: the
Great Lakes region (
Old Northwest and
Upper Canada), the
Niagara Frontier, and the
St. Lawrence River (
New England and
Lower Canada). • At sea, principally the Atlantic Ocean, the
American east coast and
Maritime Canada. • The
Gulf Coast and Southern United States (including the
Creek War in the
Alabama River basin). • The
Mississippi River basin.
Unpreparedness The war had been preceded by years of diplomatic dispute, yet neither side was ready for war when it came. Britain was heavily engaged in the
Napoleonic Wars, most of the British Army was deployed in the
Peninsular War in
Portugal and
Spain, and the Royal Navy was blockading most of the coast of Europe. The number of British regular troops present in Canada in July 1812 was officially 6,034, supported by additional Canadian militia. Throughout the war, the British
War Secretary was
Earl Bathurst, who had few troops to spare for reinforcing North American defences during the first two years of the war. He urged Lieutenant General
George Prevost to maintain a defensive strategy. Prevost, who had the trust of the Canadians, followed these instructions and concentrated on defending Lower Canada at the expense of Upper Canada, which was more vulnerable to American attacks and allowed few offensive actions. Unlike campaigns along the east coast, Prevost had to operate with no support from the Royal Navy. The United States was also not prepared for war. Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would follow. In 1812, the regular army consisted of fewer than 12,000 men. Congress authorized the expansion of the army to 35,000 men, but the service was voluntary and unpopular; it paid poorly and there were initially few trained and experienced officers. The militia objected to serving outside their home states, they were undisciplined and performed poorly against British forces when called upon to fight in unfamiliar territory. Multiple
militias refused orders to cross the border and fight on Canadian soil. American prosecution of the war suffered from its unpopularity, especially in
New England where anti-war speakers were vocal. Massachusetts Congressmen
Ebenezer Seaver and
William Widgery were "publicly insulted and hissed" in Boston while a mob seized Plymouth's Chief Justice
Charles Turner on 3 August 1812 "and kicked [him] through the town". The United States had great difficulty financing its war. It had disbanded its
national bank, and private bankers in the Northeast were opposed to the war, but it obtained financing from London-based
Barings Bank to cover overseas
bond obligations. New England failed to provide militia units or financial support, which was a serious blow, and New England states made loud threats to secede as evidenced by the
Hartford Convention. Britain exploited these divisions, opting to not blockade the ports of New England for much of the war and encouraging smuggling.
War in the West Invasions of Canada, 1812 , August 1812 An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich (
Windsor, Ontario) after crossing the
Detroit River. Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender. The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyedunless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction". He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters. Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to the American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies. Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of a
Shawnee ambush on Major
Thomas Van Horne's 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant Colonel
James Miller remained in Canada, attempting to supply the American position in the Sandwich area, with little success. Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong. He moved to
Amherstburg near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements and
attacked Detroit, using
Fort Malden as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, and
Fort Detroit lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand a long siege. He agreed to surrender on 16 August. Hull also ordered the evacuation of
Fort Dearborn (Chicago) to
Fort Wayne, but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they were
massacred on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned. Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General
Stephen Van Rensselaer was attempting a second invasion. The Americans attempted an attack across the
Niagara River on 13 October, but they were defeated
at Queenston Heights. However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American General
Henry Dearborn made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory.
American Northwest, 1813 's message to William Henry Harrison after the
Battle of Lake Erie began thus: "We have met the enemy and they are ours". After Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of the American
Army of the Northwest. He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by Colonel
Henry Procter and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at
Frenchtown along the
River Raisin on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped
60 captive Americans. The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans. In May 1813, Procter, Tecumseh, and Roundhead set
siege to Fort Meigs in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada. Along the way they attempted to
storm Fort Stephenson, a small American post on the
Sandusky River near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign. Captain
Oliver Hazard Perry fought the
Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory at
Put-in-Bay ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the American victory at the
Battle of the Thames on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.
American West, 1813–1815 The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except around
St. Louis and a few forts and trading posts in the
Boonslick.
Fort Belle Fontaine was an old
trading post converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters.
Fort Osage, built in 1808 along the
Missouri River, was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war.
Fort Madison was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after the indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged itwith support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi.
Black Hawk played a leadership role. The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel
Robert McDouall established a new supply line from York to
Nottawasaga Bay on
Georgian Bay. He arrived at
Fort Mackinac on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition which
successfully besieged and recaptured the key trading post of
Prairie du Chien, on the Upper Mississippi. The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in the
Battle of Rock Island Rapids. In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed a second American force led by Major
Zachary Taylor in the
Battle of Credit Island. These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandon
Fort Johnson, in central Illinois Territory. Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and eastern
Missouri. However, the Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle of
Cote Sans Dessein in April 1815 at the mouth of the
Osage River in the
Missouri Territory and the
Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815 near
Fort Cap au Gris. This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the British were supplying the Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac. On 3 July, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from Detroit to recapture Mackinac. A mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the brief
Battle of Mackinac Island and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schooner
Nancy that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. These
engagements on Lake Huron left Mackinac under British control. The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to the United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty. Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after the war ended in the east.
War in the American Northeast Niagara frontier, 1813 Both sides placed great importance on gaining control of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River because of the difficulties of land-based communication. The British already had a small squadron of warships on Lake Ontario when the war began and had the initial advantage. The Americans established a Navy yard at
Sackett's Harbor, New York, a port on Lake Ontario. Commodore
Isaac Chauncey took charge of the thousands of sailors and
shipwrights assigned there and recruited more from New York. They completed a warship (the corvette
USS Madison) in 45 days. Ultimately, almost 3,000 men at the shipyard built 11 warships and many smaller boats and transports. Army forces were also stationed at Sackett's Harbor, where they camped out through the town, far surpassing the small population of 900. Officers were housed with families.
Madison Barracks was later built at Sackett's Harbor. Having regained the advantage by their rapid building program, on 27 April 1813 Chauncey and Dearborn attacked
York, the capital of Upper Canada. At the
Battle of York, the outnumbered British regulars destroyed the fort and dockyard and retreated, leaving the militia to surrender the town. American soldiers set fire to the Legislature building, and looted and vandalized several government buildings and citizens' homes. The burning of York was pivotal for the British, and resulted in the absence of supplies that would be needed in later battles. On 25 May 1813, Fort Niagara and the American Lake Ontario squadron began bombarding
Fort George. An American amphibious force assaulted Fort George on the northern end of the Niagara River on 27 May and captured it without serious losses. The British abandoned
Fort Erie and headed towards
Burlington Heights. The British position was close to collapsing in Upper Canada; the Iroquois considered changing sides and ignored a British appeal to come to their aid. However, the Americans did not pursue the retreating British forces until they had largely escaped and organized a counter-offensive at the
Battle of Stoney Creek on 5 June. The British launched a surprise attack at 2a.m., leading to confused fighting and a strategic British victory. The Americans pulled back to Forty Mile Creek rather than continue their advance into Upper Canada. At this point, the
Six Nations of the Grand River began to come out to fight for the British as an American victory no longer seemed inevitable. The Iroquois ambushed an American patrol at Forty Mile Creek while the Royal Navy squadron based in Kingston sailed in and bombarded the American camp. General Dearborn retreated to Fort George, mistakenly believing that he was outnumbered and outgunned. British Brigadier General
John Vincent was encouraged when about 800 Iroquois arrived to assist him. An American force surrendered on 24 June to a smaller British force due to advance warning by
Laura Secord at the
Battle of Beaver Dams, marking the end of the American offensive into Upper Canada. British Major General
Francis de Rottenburg did not have the strength to retake Fort George, so he instituted a blockade, hoping to starve the Americans into surrender. Meanwhile, Commodore
James Lucas Yeo had taken charge of the British ships on the lake and mounted a counterattack, which the Americans repulsed at the
Battle of Sackett's Harbor. Thereafter, Chauncey and Yeo's squadrons fought two indecisive actions, off the Niagara on 7 August and at Burlington Bay on 28 September. Neither commander was prepared to take major risks to gain a complete victory. Late in 1813, the Americans abandoned the Canadian territory that they occupied around Fort George. They set fire to the village of Newark (now
Niagara-on-the-Lake) on 10 December 1813, incensing the Canadians. Many of the inhabitants were left without shelter, freezing to death in the snow. The British retaliated following their
Capture of Fort Niagara on 18 December 1813. A British-Indian force led by Major General
Phineas Riall stormed the neighbouring town of
Lewiston, New York on 19 December; four American civilians were killed by drunken Indians after the battle. A small force of
Tuscarora warriors engaged Riall's men during the battle, which allowed many residents of Lewiston to evacuate the village. The British and their Indian allies subsequently
attacked and burned
Buffalo on Lake Erie on 30 December 1813 in revenge for the American attack on Fort George and Newark in May.
St. Lawrence and Lower Canada, 1813 repel an American attack on
Montreal,
Battle of the Chateauguay, October 1813 The British were vulnerable along the stretch of the St. Lawrence that was between Upper Canada and the United States. In the winter of 1812–1813, the Americans launched a series of raids from
Ogdensburg, New York that hampered British supply traffic up the river. On 21 February, George Prevost passed through
Prescott, Ontario on the opposite bank of the river with reinforcements for Upper Canada. When he left the next day, the reinforcements and local militia attacked in the
Battle of Ogdensburg and the Americans were forced to retreat. The Americans made two more thrusts against Montreal in 1813. Major General
Wade Hampton was to march north from Lake Champlain and join a force under General
James Wilkinson that would sail from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and descend the St. Lawrence. Hampton was delayed by road and supply problems and his intense dislike of Wilkinson limited his desire to support his plan.
Charles de Salaberry defeated Hampton's force of 4,000 at the Chateauguay River on 25 October with a smaller force of
Canadian Voltigeurs and
Mohawks. Salaberry's force numbered only 339, but it had a strong defensive position. Wilkinson's force of 8,000 set out on 17 October, but it was delayed by weather. Wilkinson heard that a British force was pursuing him under Captain
William Mulcaster and Lieutenant Colonel
Joseph Wanton Morrison and landed near
Morrisburg, Ontario by 10 November, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) from Montreal. On 11 November, his rear guard of 2,500 attacked Morrison's force of 800 at
Crysler's Farm and was repulsed with heavy losses. He learned that Hampton could not renew his advance, retreated to the United States and settled into winter quarters. He resigned his command after a failed attack on a British outpost at
Lacolle Mills.
Niagara and Plattsburgh campaigns, 1814 The Americans again invaded the Niagara frontier. They had occupied southwestern Upper Canada after they defeated Colonel Henry Procter at
Moraviantown in October and believed that taking the rest of the province would force the British to cede it to them. The end of the war with Napoleon in Europe in April 1814 meant that the British could deploy their army to North America, so the Americans wanted to secure Upper Canada to negotiate from a position of strength. They planned to invade via the Niagara frontier while sending another force to recapture Mackinac. They captured Fort Erie on 3 July 1814. Unaware of Fort Erie's fall or of the size of the American force, Riall engaged with
Winfield Scott, who won against a British force at the
Battle of Chippawa on 5 July. The American forces had been through a hard training under Winfield Scott and proved to the professionals under fire. They deployed in a shallow U formation, bringing flanking fire and well-aimed volleys against Riall's men. Riall's men were chased off the battlefield. An attempt to advance further ended with the hard-fought but inconclusive
Battle of Lundy's Lane on July 25. The battle was fought several miles north of
Chippawa Creek near Niagara Falls and is considered the bloodiest and costliest battle of the war. Both sides stood their ground as American General
Jacob Brown pulled back to Fort George after the battle and the British did not pursue. British officers Riall, Scott, Brown, and Drummond were all wounded; Scott's wounds ended his service in the war. The Americans withdrew but withstood a prolonged
siege of Fort Erie. The British tried to storm Fort Erie on 14 August 1814, but they suffered heavy losses, losing 950 killed, wounded, and captured, compared to only 84 dead and wounded on the American side. The British were further weakened by exposure and shortage of supplies. Eventually, they raised the siege, but American Major General
George Izard took over command on the Niagara front and followed up only halfheartedly. An American raid along the
Grand River destroyed many farms and weakened British logistics. In October 1814, the Americans advanced into Upper Canada and engaged in skirmishes at
Cook's Mill. They pulled back when they heard of the approach of the new British warship , launched in Kingston that September and armed with 104 guns. The Americans lacked provisions and retreated across the Niagara after destroying Fort Erie. , 14 August 1814 Meanwhile, after Napoleon abdicated, 15,000 British troops were sent to North America under four of
Wellington's ablest brigade commanders. Fewer than half were veterans of the
Peninsular War and the rest came from garrisons. Prevost was ordered to burn Sackett's Harbor to gain naval control of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Upper Lakes, and to defend Lower Canada from attack. He did defend Lower Canada but otherwise failed to achieve his objectives, so he decided to invade New York State. His army outnumbered the American defenders of
Plattsburgh under General
Alexander Macomb, but he was worried about his flanks and decided that he needed naval control of Lake Champlain. Upon reaching Plattsburgh, Prevost delayed the assault until Captain
George Downie arrived in the hastily built 36-gun frigate .
Confiance was not fully completed, and her raw crew had never worked together, but Prevost forced Downie into a premature attack. The British squadron on the lake was more evenly matched by the Americans under Master Commandant
Thomas Macdonough. At the
Battle of Plattsburgh on 11 September 1814,
Confiance suffered heavy casualties and struck her colours, and the rest of the British fleet retreated. Prevost, already alienated from his veteran officers by insisting on proper dress codes, now lost their confidence, while Macdonough emerged as a national hero. The Americans now had control of Lake Champlain;
Theodore Roosevelt later termed it "the greatest naval battle of the war". Prevost then turned back, to the astonishment of his senior officers, saying that it was too hazardous to remain on enemy territory after the loss of naval supremacy. He was recalled to London, where a naval court-martial decided that defeat had been caused principally by Prevost urging the squadron into premature action and then failing to afford the promised support from the land forces. He died suddenly, just before his court-martial was to convene. His reputation sank to a new low as Canadians claimed that their militia under Brock did the job but Prevost failed. However, recent historians have been kinder. Peter Burroughs argues that his preparations were energetic, well-conceived, and comprehensive for defending the Canadas with limited means and that he achieved the primary objective of preventing an American conquest.
Occupation of Maine Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brig
fought and captured the Royal Navy brig off
Pemaquid Point. On 11 July 1814,
Thomas Masterman Hardy took Moose Island (
Eastport, Maine) without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men of
Fort Sullivan peacefully surrendered. The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". In September 1814,
John Coape Sherbrooke led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition". In 26 days, he raided and looted
Hampden,
Bangor and
Machias, destroying or capturing 17 American ships. He won the
Battle of Hampden, with two killed while the Americans had one killed. Retreating American forces were forced to destroy the frigate . The British occupied the town of
Castine and most of eastern Maine for the rest of the war, governing it under martial law and re-establishing the colony of
New Ireland. The Treaty of Ghent returned this territory to the United States. When the British left in April 1815, they took £10,750 in
tariff duties from Castine. This money, called the "Castine Fund", was used to establish
Dalhousie University in Halifax. Decisions about the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay were decided by joint commission in 1817. However,
Machias Seal Island had been seized by the British as part of the occupation and was unaddressed by the commission. While kept by Britain/Canada, it remains in dispute to this day.
Chesapeake campaign The strategic location of the
Chesapeake Bay near the
Potomac River made it a prime target for the British. Rear Admiral
George Cockburn arrived there in March 1813 and was joined by Admiral Warren who took command of operations ten days later. Starting in March a squadron under Cockburn started a blockade of the mouth of the Bay at
Hampton Roads harbour and raided towns along the Bay from
Norfolk, Virginia to
Havre de Grace, Maryland. In late April Cockburn landed at and set fire to
Frenchtown, Maryland and destroyed ships that were docked there. In the following weeks he routed the local militias and looted and burned three other towns. Thereafter he marched to
iron foundry at Principio and destroyed it along with sixty-eight cannons. On 4 July 1813, Commodore
Joshua Barney, an American Revolutionary War naval officer, convinced the Navy Department to build the
Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a squadron of twenty barges powered by small sails or oars (sweeps) to defend the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in April 1814, the squadron was quickly cornered on the
Patuxent River. While successful in harassing the Royal Navy, they could not stop subsequent British operations in the area.
Burning of Washington In August 1814, a force of 2,500 soldiers under General Ross had just arrived in Bermuda aboard , three frigates, three sloops and ten other vessels. Released from the Peninsular War by victory, the British intended to use them for diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. In response to Prevost's request to retaliate against the property destruction done by American troops, they decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units already on the station, to strike at the national capital. Anticipating the attack, valuable documents, including the original Constitution, were removed to
Leesburg, Virginia. The British task force advanced up the Chesapeake, routing Commodore Barney's flotilla of gunboats, carried out the
Raid on Alexandria, landed ground forces that bested the US defenders at the
Battle of Bladensburg, and carried out the
Burning of Washington. United States Secretary of War
John Armstrong Jr. insisted that the British were going to attack Baltimore rather than Washington, even as British army and naval units were on their way to Washington. Brigadier General
William H. Winder, who had burned several bridges in the area, assumed the British would attack Annapolis and was reluctant to engage because he mistakenly thought the British army was twice its size. The inexperienced state militia was easily routed in the Battle of Bladensburg, opening the route to Washington. British troops led by Major General
Robert Ross, accompanied by Cockburn, the 3rd Brigade attacked and captured Washington with a force of 4,500. On 24 August, after the British had finished looting the interiors, Ross directed his troops to set fire to number of public buildings, including the
White House and the
United States Capitol. Extensive damage to the interiors and the contents of both were subsequently reported. US government and military officials fled to Virginia, while Secretary of the United States Navy
William Jones ordered the
Washington Navy Yard and a nearby fort to be razed in order to prevent its capture. Public buildings in Washington were destroyed by the British though private residences were ordered to be spared.
Siege of Fort McHenry during the
Battle of Baltimore. Watching the bombardment from a truce ship,
Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the four-stanza poem that later became "
The Star-Spangled Banner". After taking some munitions from the Washington Munitions depot, the British boarded their ships and moved on to their major target, the heavily fortified major city of Baltimore. Because some of their ships were held up in the Raid on Alexandria, they delayed their movement allowing Baltimore an opportunity to strengthen the fortifications and bring in new federal troops and state militia units. The "
Battle for Baltimore" began with the British landing on 12 September 1814 at
North Point, where they were met by American militia further up the Patapsco Neck peninsula. An exchange of fire began, with casualties on both sides. The British Army commander Major Gen. Robert Ross was killed by snipers. The British paused, then continued to march northwestward to face the stationed Maryland and Baltimore City militia units at Godly Wood. The
Battle of North Point was fought for several hours in the afternoon in a musketry and artillery duel. The British also planned to simultaneously attack Baltimore by water on the following day, although the Royal Navy was unable to reduce
Fort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor in support of an attack from the northeast by the British Army. The British eventually realized that they could not force the passage to attack Baltimore in coordination with the land force. A last-ditch night feint and barge attack during a heavy rainstorm was led by Captain
Charles Napier around the fort up the Middle Branch of the river to the west. Split and misdirected partly in the storm, it turned back after suffering heavy casualties from the alert gunners of
Fort Covington and Battery Babcock. The British called off the attack and sailed downriver to pick up their army, which had retreated from the east side of Baltimore. All the lights were extinguished in Baltimore the night of the attack, and the fort was bombarded for 25 hours. The only light was given off by the exploding shells over Fort McHenry, illuminating the flag that was still flying over the fort. The defence of the fort inspired the American lawyer
Francis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem that was later set to music as "
The Star-Spangled Banner".
Southern theatre Because of the region's polyglot population, both the British and the Americans perceived the war in the Gulf South as a fundamentally different conflict from the one occurring in the
Lowcountry and Chesapeake.
Creek War and killed 400 to 500 people. The massacre became a rallying point for Americans. Before 1813, the war between the Creeks, or
Muscogee, had been largely an internal affair sparked by the ideas of Tecumseh farther north in the Mississippi Valley. A faction known as the
Red Sticks, so named for the colour of their war sticks, had broken away from the rest of the Creek Confederacy, which wanted peace with the United States. The Red Sticks were allied with
Tecumseh, who had visited the Creeks about a year before 1813 and encouraged greater resistance to the Americans. The Creek Nation was a trading partner of the United States, actively involved with British and Spanish trade as well. The Red Sticks as well as many southern
Muscogee people like the
Seminole had a long history of alliance with the British and Spanish empires. This alliance helped the North American and European powers protect each other's claims to territory in the south. On 27 July the
Red Sticks were returning from
Pensacola with a pack train filled with trade goods and arms when they were
attacked by Americans who made off with their goods. On 30 August 1813, in retaliation for the raid, the Red Sticks, led by chiefs of the Creeks
Red Eagle and
Peter McQueen, attacked
Fort Mims north of
Mobile, the only American-held port in the territory of
West Florida. The attack on Fort Mims resulted in the deaths of 400 refugee settlers, all butchered and scalped, including women and children, and became an ideological rallying point for the Americans. It prompted the state of Georgia and the Mississippi militia to immediately take major action against Creek offensives. The Red Sticks chiefs gained power in the east along the
Alabama River,
Coosa River and
Tallapoosa River in the Upper Creek territory. By contrast, the
Lower Creek, who lived along the
Chattahoochee River, generally opposed the Red Sticks and wanted to remain allied to the U.S.
Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins recruited Lower Creek to aid the
6th Military District under General
Thomas Pinckney and the state militias against the Red Sticks. The United States combined forces were 5,000 troops from East and West Tennessee, with about 200 indigenous allies. At its peak, the Red Stick faction had 4,000 warriors, only a quarter of whom had muskets. The Indian frontier of western
Georgia was the most vulnerable but was partially fortified already. From November 1813 to January 1814, Georgia's militia and auxiliary Federal troops from the
Creek and
Cherokee indigenous nations and the states of
North Carolina and
South Carolina organized the fortification of defences along the Chattahoochee River and expeditions into Upper Creek territory in present-day Alabama. The army, led by General
John Floyd, went to the heart of the Creek Holy Grounds and won a major offensive against one of the largest Creek towns at the
Battle of Autossee, killing an estimated two hundred people. In November, the militia of Mississippi with a combined 1,200 troops attacked the Econachca encampment in the
Battle of Holy Ground on the Alabama River. Tennessee raised a militia of 5,000 under Major General
Andrew Jackson and Brigadier General
John Coffee and won the battles of
Tallushatchee and
Talladega in November 1813. Jackson suffered enlistment problems in the winter. He decided to combine his force, composed of Tennessee militia and pro-American Creek, with the Georgia militia. In January, however, the Red Sticks attacked his army at the
Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek. Jackson's troops repelled the attackers, but they were outnumbered and forced to withdraw to his base at
Fort Strother. In January, Floyd's force of 1,300 state militia and 400 Creek moved to join the United States forces in Tennessee, but they were attacked in camp on the Calibee Creek by
Tukabatchee Muscogees on 27 January. , bringing an end to the
Creek War. Jackson's force increased in numbers with the arrival of United States Army soldiers and a second draft of Tennessee state militia, Cherokee, and pro-American Creek swelled his army to around 5,000. In March 1814, they moved south to attack the Red Sticks. On 27 March, Jackson decisively defeated a force of about a thousand Red Sticks at
Horseshoe Bend, killing 800 of them at a cost of 49 killed and 154 wounded. Jackson then moved his army to
Fort Jackson on the Alabama River. He promptly turned on the pro-American Creek who had fought with him and compelled their chieftains, along with a single Red Stick chieftain, to sign the
Treaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the Creek tribe as a whole to cede most of western Georgia and part of
Alabama to the U.S. Both Hawkins and the pro-American Creek strongly opposed the treaty, which they regarded as deeply unjust. The third clause of the treaty also demanded that the Creek cease communicating with the British and Spanish, and trade only with United States-approved agents.
Gulf of Mexico coast British aid to the Red Sticks arrived after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in April 1814 and after Admiral
Alexander Cochrane assumed command from Admiral Warren in March. Captain Hugh Pigot arrived in May 1814 with two ships to arm the Red Sticks. He thought that some 6,600 warriors could be armed and recruited. It was overly optimistic at best. The Red Sticks were in the process of being destroyed as a military force. Cochrane underestimated Jackson's competence, and was likely unaware of his progress over the Creek, even after his victory. In April 1814, the British established an outpost on the
Apalachicola River (
Prospect Bluff Historic Sites). Cochrane sent a company of Royal Marines commanded by
Edward Nicolls, the vessels and and further supplies to meet the Indians in the region. In addition to training them, Nicolls was tasked to raise a force from escaped slaves as part of the
Corps of Colonial Marines. On 12 July 1814, General Jackson complained to the governor of West Florida,
Mateo González Manrique, situated at Pensacola that combatants from the Creek War were being harboured in
Spanish territory and made reference to reports of the British presence on Spanish soil. Although he gave an angry reply to Jackson, Manrique was alarmed at the weak position he found himself in and appealed to the British for help. The British were observed docking on August 25 and unloading the following day. The first engagement of the British and their Creek allies against the Americans on the Gulf of Mexico coast was the 14 September 1814 attack on
Fort Bowyer. Captain William Percy tried to take the United States fort, hoping to then move on Mobile and block United States trade and encroachment on the Mississippi. After the Americans repulsed Percy's forces, the British established a military presence of up to 200 Marines at Pensacola. In November, Jackson's force of 4,000 men
took the town. This underlined the superiority of numbers of Jackson's force in the region. The United States force moved to New Orleans in late 1814. Jackson's army of 1,000 regulars and 3,000 to 4,000 militia, pirates and other fighters as well as civilians and slaves built fortifications south of the city. American forces under General James Wilkinson, himself a paid Spanish secret agent, took the Mobile area from the Spanish in March 1813. This region was the rump of Spanish West Florida, the western portion of which had been annexed to the United States in 1810. The Americans built Fort Bowyer, a log and earthen-work fort with 14 guns, on
Mobile Point to defend it. Major Latour opined that none of the three forts in the area were capable of resisting a siege. At the end of 1814, the British launched a double offensive in the South weeks before the Treaty of Ghent was signed. On the Atlantic coast, Admiral
George Cockburn was to close the
Intracoastal Waterway trade and land
Royal Marine battalions to advance through Georgia to the western territories. While on the
Gulf coast, Admiral Alexander Cochrane moved on the new state of Louisiana and the
Mississippi Territory. Cochrane's ships reached the Louisiana coast on 9 December and Cockburn arrived in Georgia on 14 December. in January 1815. The battle occurred before news of a peace treaty reached the United States. The British army had the objective of gaining control of the entrance of the Mississippi. To this end, an expeditionary force of 8,000 troops under Major General
Edward Pakenham and Major general
Samuel Gibbsattacked Jackson's prepared defences in New Orleans on 8 January 1815. The Battle of New Orleans was an American victory, as the British failed to take the fortifications on the East Bank. The British attack force suffered high casualties, including 291 dead, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured or missing whereas American casualties were light with 13 dead, 39 wounded and 19 missing, according to the respective official casualty returns. This battle was hailed as a great victory across the United States, making Jackson a national hero and eventually propelling him to the presidency. In January 1815 Fort St. Philip endured
ten days of bombardment from two
bomb vessels of the Royal Navy.
Robert V. Remini believes this was preventing the British moving their fleet up the Mississippi in support of the land attack. After deciding further attacks would be too costly and unlikely to succeed, the British troops withdrew on 18 January. However, adverse winds slowed the evacuation operation and it was not until 27 January 1815 that the
land forces rejoined the fleet, allowing for its final departure. After New Orleans, the British moved to take Mobile as a base for further operations. In preparation, General
John Lambert laid siege to Fort Bowyer taking it on 12 February 1815. However, HMS
Brazen brought news of the Treaty of Ghent the next day and the British abandoned the Gulf Coast. This ending of the war prevented the capture of Mobile, and any renewed attacks on New Orleans. Meanwhile, in January 1815, Cockburn succeeded in blockading the southeastern coast of Georgia by occupying
Camden County. The British quickly took
Cumberland Island,
Fort Point Peter and Fort St. Tammany in a decisive victory. Under the orders of his commanding officers, Cockburn's forces relocated many refugee slaves, capturing
St. Simons Island as well to do so. He had orders to recruit as many runaway slaves into the Corps of Colonial Marines as possible and use them to conduct raids in Georgia and the Carolinas. Cockburn also provided thousands of muskets and carbines and a huge quantity of ammunition to the Creeks and Seminole Indians for the same purpose. During the invasion of the Georgia coast, an estimated 1,485 people chose to relocate to British territories or join the British military. However, by mid-March, several days after being informed of the Treaty of Ghent, British ships left the area. The British government did not recognize either West Florida or New Orleans as American territory. The historian
Frank Owsley suggests that they might have used a victory at New Orleans to demand further concessions from the U.S. However, subsequent research in the correspondence of British ministers at the time suggests otherwise. with specific reference to correspondence from the Prime Minister to the
Foreign Secretary dated 23 December 1814. West Florida was the only territory permanently gained by the United States during the war.
Naval warfare Background was based in
Halifax, Nova Scotia and
Bermuda. At the start of the war, the squadron had one
ship of the line, seven
frigates, nine
sloops as well as
brigs and
schooners. In 1812, Britain's Royal Navy was the world's largest and most powerful navy, with over 600 vessels in commission, following the defeat of the French Navy at the
Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Most of these ships were employed blockading the French navy and protecting British trade against French privateers, but the Royal Navy still had 85 vessels in American waters, counting all North American and Caribbean waters. However, the Royal Navy's North American squadron was the most immediately available force, based in Halifax and
Bermuda (two of the colonies that made up
British North America), and numbered one small
ship of the line and seven frigates as well as nine smaller
sloops and brigs and five
schooners. By contrast, the entire United States Navy was composed of 8 frigates, 14 smaller sloops and brigs, with no ships of the line. The United States had embarked on a major shipbuilding program before the war at
Sackett's Harbor to provide ships for use on the Great Lakes and continued to produce new ships.
Opening strategies The British strategy was to protect their own merchant shipping between Halifax and the West Indies, with the order given on 13 October 1812 to enforce a blockade of major American ports to restrict American trade. Because of their numerical inferiority, the American strategy was to cause disruption through hit-and-run tactics such as the capturing prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels only under favourable circumstances. Days after the formal declaration of war, the United States put out two small squadrons, including the frigate
President and the sloop under Commodore
John Rodgers and the frigates
United States and , with the brig under Captain
Stephen Decatur. These were initially concentrated as one unit under Rodgers, who intended to force the Royal Navy to concentrate its own ships to prevent isolated units being captured by his powerful force. Large numbers of American merchant ships were returning to the United States with the outbreak of war and the Royal Navy could not watch all the ports on the American seaboard if they were concentrated together. Rodgers' strategy worked in that the Royal Navy concentrated most of its frigates off
New York Harbor under Captain
Philip Broke, allowing many American ships to reach home. However, Rodgers' own cruise captured only five small merchant ships, and the Americans never subsequently concentrated more than two or three ships together as a unit.
Single-ship actions . The battle was an important victory for American morale. The more recently built frigates of the US Navy were intended to overmatch their opponents. The United States did not believe that it could build a large enough navy to contest with the Royal Navy in fleet actions. Therefore, where it could be done, individual ships were built to be tougher, larger, and carry more firepower than their equivalents in European navies. The newest three 44-gun ships were designed with a 24-pounder main battery. These frigates were intended to demolish the 36- to 38-gun (18-pounder) armed frigates that formed the majority of the world's navies, while being able to evade larger ships. Similarly the Wasp class ship-sloops were an over-match to the Cruizer class brigs being employed by the British. The Royal Navy, maintaining more than 600 ships in fleets and stations worldwide, was overstretched and undermanned; most British ships enforcing the blockade were (with a few notable exceptions) less practiced than the crews of the smaller US Navy. This meant that in single-ship actions the Royal Navy ships often found themselves against larger ships with larger crews, who were better drilled, as intended by the US planners. However naval ships do not fight as individuals by the code of the
duel, they are national instruments of war and are used as such. The Royal Navy counted on its numbers, experience, and traditions to overcome the individually superior vessels. As the US Navy found itself mostly blockaded by the end of the war, the Royal Navy was correct. For all the fame that these actions received, they in no way affected the outcome of the results of Atlantic theatre of War. The final count of frigates lost was three on each side, with most of the US Navy blockaded in port. During the war, the United States Navy captured 165 British merchantmen (although privateers captured many more) while the Royal Navy captured 1,400 American merchantmen. More significantly, the British blockade of the Atlantic coast caused the majority of warships to be unable to put to sea and shut down both American imports and exports. Notable single-ship engagements include
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere on 19 August 1812,
USS United States vs HMS Macedonian on 25 October, USS
Constitution vs
HMS Java on 29–30 December,
HMS Shannon vs USS Chesapeake on 1 June 1813 (the bloodiest such action of the war),
HMS Phoebe vs USS Essex on 28 March 1814,
HMS Endymion vs USS President on 15 January 1815. In single ship battles, superior force was the most significant factor. In response to the majority of the American ships being of greater force than the British ships of the same class, Britain constructed five 40-gun, 24-pounder heavy frigates and two "spar-decked" frigates (the 60-gun and ) and others. To counter the American sloops of war, the British constructed the of 22 guns. The British Admiralty also instituted a new policy that the three American heavy frigates should not be engaged except by a ship of the line or frigates in squadron strength. The United States Navy's smaller ship-sloops had also won several victories over Royal Navy sloops-of-war, again of smaller armament. The American sloops
Hornet, , , and were all
ship-rigged while the British sloops that they encountered were brig-rigged, which gave the Americans a significant advantage. Ship rigged vessels are more manoeuvrable in battle because they have a wider variety of sails and thus being more resistant to damage. Ship-rigged vessels can back sail, literally backing up or heave to (stop).
Privateering s were a series of schooners used by American
privateers during the war. The operations of American
privateers proved a more significant threat to British trade than the United States Navy. They operated throughout the Atlantic until the close of the war, most notably from Baltimore. American privateers reported taking 1300 British merchant vessels, compared to 254 taken by the United States Navy, although the insurer
Lloyd's of London reported that only 1,175 British ships were taken, 373 of which were recaptured, for a total loss of 802. Canadian historian Carl Benn wrote that American privateers took 1,344 British ships, of which 750 were retaken by the British. The British tried to limit privateering losses by the strict enforcement of
convoy by the Royal Navy and directly by blockading coastal waterways and capturing 278 American privateers. Due to the massive size of the British merchant fleet, American captures only affected 7.5% of the fleet, resulting in no supply shortages or lack of reinforcements for British forces in North America. Of 526 American privateers, 148 were captured by the Royal Navy and only 207 ever took a prize. Due to the large size of their navy, the British did not rely as much on privateering. The majority of the 1,407 captured American merchant ships were taken by the Royal Navy. The war was the last time the British allowed privateering, since the practice was coming to be seen as politically inexpedient and of diminishing value in maintaining its naval supremacy. However, privateering remained popular in British colonies. It was the last hurrah for privateers in the insular
British North American colony of Bermuda who vigorously returned to the practice with experience gained in previous wars. The nimble
Bermuda sloops captured 298 American ships. Privateer schooners based in continental British North America, especially from
Nova Scotia, took 250 American ships and proved especially effective in crippling American coastal trade and capturing American ships closer to shore than the Royal Navy's cruisers.
British blockade The
naval blockade of the United States began informally in the late fall of 1812. Under the command of British Admiral
John Borlase Warren, it extended from South Carolina to Florida. It expanded to cut off more ports as the war progressed. Twenty ships were on station in 1812 and 135 were in place by the end of the conflict. In March 1813, the Royal Navy punished the Southern states, who were most vocal about annexing British North America, by blockading
Charleston,
Port Royal,
Savannah, and
New York City as well. Additional ships were sent to North America in 1813 and the Royal Navy tightened and extended the blockade, first to the coast south of
Narragansett by November 1813 and to the entire American coast on 31 May 1814. In May 1814, following the abdication of Napoleon and the end of the supply problems with Wellington's army, New England was blockaded. The British needed American foodstuffs for their army in Spain and benefited from trade with New England, so they did not at first blockade New England. The
Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay were declared in a state of blockade on 26 December 1812. Illicit trade was carried on by collusive captures arranged between American traders and British officers. American ships were fraudulently transferred to neutral flags. Eventually, the United States government was driven to issue orders to stop illicit trading. This put only a further strain on the commerce of the country. The British fleet occupied the Chesapeake Bay and attacked and destroyed numerous docks and harbours. The effect was that no foreign goods could enter the United States on ships and only smaller fast boats could attempt to get out. The cost of shipping became very expensive as a result. The blockade of American ports later tightened to the extent that most American merchant ships and naval vessels were confined to port. The American frigates and ended the war blockaded and
hulked in
New London, Connecticut. USS
United States and USS
Macedonian attempted to set sail to raid British shipping in the Caribbean, but were forced to turn back when confronted with a British squadron, and by the end of the war, the United States had six frigates and four ships-of-the-line sitting in port. Some merchant ships were based in Europe or Asia and continued operations. Others, mainly from New England, were issued licences to trade by Admiral Warren, commander in chief on the American station in 1813. This allowed Wellington's army in Spain to receive American goods and to maintain the New Englanders'
opposition to the war. The blockade nevertheless decreased American exports from $130 million in 1807 to $7 million in 1814. Most exports were goods that ironically went to supply their enemies in Britain or the British colonies. The blockade had a devastating effect on the American economy with the value of American exports and imports falling from $114 million in 1811 down to $20 million by 1814 while the United States Customs took in $13 million in 1811 and $6 million in 1814, even though the Congress had voted to double the rates. The British blockade further damaged the American economy by forcing merchants to abandon the cheap and fast coastal trade to the slow and more expensive inland roads. In 1814, only 1 out of 14 American merchantmen risked leaving port as it was likely that any ship leaving port would be seized. As the Royal Navy base that supervised the blockade, Halifax profited greatly during the war. From there, British privateers seized and sold many French and American ships. More than a hundred prize vessels were anchored in
St. George's Harbour awaiting condemnation by the Admiralty Court when a hurricane struck in 1815, sinking roughly sixty of the vessels.
Freeing and recruiting slaves , . During the war, a number of African Americans slaves escaped aboard British ships, settling in Canada (mainly in Nova Scotia) or Trinidad. The British Royal Navy's blockades and raids allowed about 4,000 African Americans to escape
slavery by fleeing American
plantations aboard British ships. American slaves near to the British military rebelled against their masters and made their way to British encampments. The migrants who settled in Canada were known as the
Black Refugees. The blockading British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay received increasing numbers of freed slaves during 1813. By British government order, they were considered free persons when they reached British hands. Alexander Cochrane's
proclamation of 2 April 1814 invited Americans who wished to emigrate to join the British. Although it did not explicitly mention slaves, it was taken by all as addressed to them. About 2,400 escaped slaves and their families were transported by the Royal Navy to the
Royal Naval Dockyard at Bermuda (where they were employed on works about the yard and organized as a militia to aid in the defence of the yard), Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick during and after the war. Starting in May 1814, younger male volunteers were recruited into a new Corps of Colonial Marines. They fought for Britain throughout the Atlantic campaign, including the
Battle of Bladensburg, the attacks on Washington, D.C., and the
Battle of Baltimore, before withdrawing to Bermuda with the rest of the British forces. They were later settled in
Trinidad after having rejected orders for transfer to the
West India Regiments, forming the community of the
Merikins (none of the freed slaves remained in Bermuda after the war). These escaped slaves represented the largest emancipation of African Americans prior to the
American Civil War. Britain paid the United States for the financial loss of the slaves at the end of the war. == Treaty of Ghent ==