The Bicentennial Of The War Of 1812 On Monday

Two centuries ago tomorrow, the United States declared war on Great Britain, its first war as a nation, its first declaration of war in American history.

The declaration of war under President James Madison was a bold and unfortunate gesture, as America was ill equipped to fight the greatest naval power in the world, and our former colonial masters.

The war would see the burning of the White House and Capitol Hill in August, 1814, our first internal invasion, followed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and the attack by Al Qaeda on the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, DC on September 11, 2001.

The war would have its heroes, including Andrew Jackson, who won the major battle of the war at New Orleans, a few weeks after the formal ceasefire, but before knowledge of it was available.

The War of 1812 has been called the Second War for Independence, with America turning inward after the war, and expanding across the continent, and not engaging in war with a foreign power from Europe again until the brief Spanish American War of 1898, and made only a major commitment to overseas warfare a century after the War of 1812, during the last 19 months of World War I.

The War of 1812 has also been called the “Sorry Little War”, since it was not a bright moment for America militarily, and James Madison is regarded as a weak wartime President, despite the greatness of his career otherwise.

While relations between America and its former colonial master would be tense much of the time for the next century until World War I, we would never again fight Great Britain in war, and since World War II in particular, our greatest friend and ally has been Great Britain!

While not a war of significance long term as the Civil War, or the two World Wars, and not a war with territorial gains, as with the Mexican War and the Spanish American War, it is appropriate that we commemorate this bicentennial event in a respectful manner!

4 comments on “The Bicentennial Of The War Of 1812 On Monday

  1. Paul Doyle June 17, 2012 12:41 pm

    Ron,
    It’s viewed in Canada as a successful fight against the invasion of their country.

    The Federalists in New England practically ignored and were much against the war. The embargo by Jefferson in 1807 had many shipping merchants in a snit.

    Many forget that over 50 years prior to the secession of the South, there was almost a secession of many states in the northeast over embargoes and tariffs or lack thereof!

  2. Ronald June 17, 2012 12:50 pm

    You are absolutely correct that the New England states threatened secession during the War of 1812, including Daniel Webster, who later attacked the concept of secession and states rights in debate against Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina, speaking for Vice President John C. Calhoun, during the Nullification Crisis over the protective tariff during the administration of President Andrew Jackson!

  3. Engineer of Knowledge June 17, 2012 2:59 pm

    Hello Professor,
    I did some of my reserve time with the Navy at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The old fort was still there for tourists. I have stood on the old ramparts still decorated with the old (concrete filled barrels) cannons and looked into the Chesapeake Bay late at night to imagine what it must have been like.

    When Francis Scott Key started writing the song on the British Ship that was later to become our National Anthem, the tune was taken from an old English drinking tune and was in ¾ time. It was later transformed into 4/4 time to make it more majestic.

    To get an idea how it was originally written, start counting 123, 123, 123,…….accenting the “1” (like a waltz) to get the rhythm then follow with the words:
    Oh say can you see
    By the dawns early light
    What so proudly we hail
    By the twilights last gleaming

    Who brought stars and bright stripes, etc….

    Allow me to pass on the tail of the “Battle of St. Michaels” located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. St. Michaels is just a small town with only a population of 1,193 at the 2000 census.

    After the British defeat at Craney Island and the failure to capture Norfolk, VA, Admiral Gorge Cockburn moved up the Chesapeake Bay. The shipyards at the small town of St. Michaels, Maryland, became a target because the British Navy did not want any Colonial Ships being able to cut off their retreat back out of the Bay.

    In early August, the British Navy approached the town of St. Michaels for a night raid after midnight on August 10, the militia units manning the harbor battery and spotted a British landing party. The British quickly landed and fired on the battery. As soon as the British opened fire the militia units fled. Only Captain William Dodson (commanding the battery) and one other man remained. They were able to get off one shot before they were forced to abandon the gun. The British advanced on the town. Benson’s battery guarding the town was able to hold off the attack, and the British retreated. The British, though, claimed that they captured the town’s battery and spiked the guns, making an orderly retreat. Local legend has it that the British naval guns had proved ineffective against the town because the townspeople had dimmed the lights in their homes and hung lanterns in trees beyond the town, causing the British gunners to overshoot the town and its defenses.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Michaels,_Maryland

    This is today the same area that Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney have vacations homes to escape Washington D.C. Some could say it is still under siege. 🙂

  4. Ronald June 17, 2012 3:40 pm

    Thanks for the info on the military history of the area. It will greatly enlighten readers of this blog! 🙂 And I love your sense of humor!:)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.