DELIMAN092262
Well-Known Member
This War of 1812 topic should really be in it's own thread and maybe in a different forum? (I consider myself somewhat of an amateur historian.)
Officially, the war was fought over the Royal Navy forcing US citizens to serve in the Royal Navy. The Brits were involved in the long Napoleonic wars with France. They needed men to man their ships. The British government looked the other way when their captains took people to serve on their ships. Even US born citizens with papers to prove that.
Yes, the US Navy had some famous single ship victories. (This is where the USS Constitution earned her nickname Old Ironsides as British cannon balls bounced off her hull.) But, overall the war did not go well for the US. The British blockaded US ports just as they did with France. (In fact, several New England states were talking about leaving the US since the blockade was hurting them so badly. With the irony being the war was officially being fought for their benefit.)
Unofficially, the war in what was called the West, the Mid-West today; was fought over land. US landholders hoped to liberate land in what today is Canada. The British Army stopped them.
The British Army burned Washington, DC including the president's home which was painted with whitewash to cover the burn marks. Which is why the president's home today is called the White House.
The British tried to take Baltimore, but could not get past Fort McHenry. Where a poet name Francis Scott Key wrote of watching rockets red glare and the flag still there which would become the US national anthem.
The British Army was defeated at New Orleans by the US Army, local militia and other more irregular forces including pirates. Of course, the war was already over by the time the battle was fought. The Napoleonic war was over with the need for men in the Royal Navy. Washington and London were able to make peace quickly to end a war neither side wanted with no hard feelings on either side.
In fact, in a few short years the US Navy and the British Royal Navy were conducting operations together against slavers and pirates in the Caribbean.
Officially, the war was fought over the Royal Navy forcing US citizens to serve in the Royal Navy. The Brits were involved in the long Napoleonic wars with France. They needed men to man their ships. The British government looked the other way when their captains took people to serve on their ships. Even US born citizens with papers to prove that.
Yes, the US Navy had some famous single ship victories. (This is where the USS Constitution earned her nickname Old Ironsides as British cannon balls bounced off her hull.) But, overall the war did not go well for the US. The British blockaded US ports just as they did with France. (In fact, several New England states were talking about leaving the US since the blockade was hurting them so badly. With the irony being the war was officially being fought for their benefit.)
Unofficially, the war in what was called the West, the Mid-West today; was fought over land. US landholders hoped to liberate land in what today is Canada. The British Army stopped them.
The British Army burned Washington, DC including the president's home which was painted with whitewash to cover the burn marks. Which is why the president's home today is called the White House.
The British tried to take Baltimore, but could not get past Fort McHenry. Where a poet name Francis Scott Key wrote of watching rockets red glare and the flag still there which would become the US national anthem.
The British Army was defeated at New Orleans by the US Army, local militia and other more irregular forces including pirates. Of course, the war was already over by the time the battle was fought. The Napoleonic war was over with the need for men in the Royal Navy. Washington and London were able to make peace quickly to end a war neither side wanted with no hard feelings on either side.
In fact, in a few short years the US Navy and the British Royal Navy were conducting operations together against slavers and pirates in the Caribbean.
