While British historians often view the War of 1812 as just one theatre of the larger
Napoleonic Wars, it stands alone as a conflict in both American and Canadian history.
Its most famous battle, The Battle of New Orleans, was also its last and featured one
of the most important America military leaders - Andrew Jackson, who led an outnumbered and
undisciplined ragtag force against the world’s strongest military.
Being at war with the Napoleonic France for a long time, Britain, started pressing American
merchant sailors into the service, forcing them to join the Royal Navy.
Burgeoning United States considered this illegal and threatened to retaliate, but as Britain
needed these sailors to reinforce a blockade of France, the practice continued.
Both that and the blockade of France had a negative effect on the American economy.
Meanwhile, as the Americans expanded westward, they faced Native American nations who fought
back to defend their land.
The British became allies to these Native American nations, seeing them as a buffer
to its Canadian colonies, and provided them with weapons.
As attacks on American settlers on the frontier increased, more and more of them began to
blame Britain.
American war hawks proclaimed the need for the new country to defend its national honor.
On June 4, 1812, Congress declared war on Britain, and despite the fact many New England
representatives strongly opposing the war, on June 18th President Madison signed the
declaration.
Britain was caught off guard by this, as their forces in Canada were not prepared and the
country was mostly preoccupied with the war with France.
Luckily for the British, the American forces were not prepared either.
In 1812, the United States had an army of less than 12,000 soldiers.
While Congress had approved the expansion of the army to 35,000, service was voluntary,
the pay was little, the army had few experienced officers and many did not want to join because
they didn’t support the war.
Still, they were the first to attack, assuming Canada would go down without much of a fight.
Michigan’s territorial governor, William Hull, led American forces into Canada, but
mostly fought with words rather than artillery, threatening the locals with a proclamation
that stated to surrender or the “horrors, and calamities of war will stalk before you.”
However, on August 16th, British and Native forces led by Isaac Brock and Chief Tecumseh
of the Shawnee confederation attacked Hull’s forces at Detroit, forcing him to surrender
without firing a shot.
The War of 1812 took place in three theatres: the Great Lakes region, along the East Coast,
and in the South.
The Americans found little success in all three theatres.
In the Great Lakes region, after Hull’s embarrassing defeat, his replacement, William
Henry Harrison, struggled to defend a few frontier outposts constantly under threat
from both Native American and British forces.
On the northeastern border with Canada, American general Henry Dearborn struggled to prepare
an attack on Montreal due to New England militias not wanting to fight in the war.
Whenever American forces did cross the border, they were often pushed back.
Dearborn was replaced with generals James Wilkinson and Wade Hampton, but their complicated
and invasion plan of Montreal completely fell apart in November 1813.
Out west, though, American luck had begun to change, as General Oliver Hazard Perry
was able to capture Lake Erie in the Battle of Put-in-Bay, fought on September 10, 1813.
This paved the way for General Harrison to take back control of Detroit, defeating Major-General
Henry Procter and his British and Native American forces at the Battle of the Thames on October
5, 1813.Tecumseh was killed during the battle, and it completely demoralized his Shawnee
confederation.
In the South, influenced by the resistance of Tecumseh and his confederation, Native
American forces continued to build up to unite to fight the American forces.
The main conflict became known as the Creek War, led by a traditionalist faction of the
Creek nation known as the Red Sticks.
Ultimately, American forces led by General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks at
the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in present-day Alabama on March 27, 1814.
This ended the Creek War.
Meanwhile, along the East Coast, the British Royal Navy was dominating.
Throughout the war, they had set up a blockade from Maine all the way down to Georgia.
In April 1814, after Napoleon went into exile, Britain was able to focus more on defeating
the Americans, sending thousands more troops to North America.
British forces led by Major-General Robert Ross took over Chesapeake Bay and took the
U.S. capital - Washington on August 24, 1814, famously burning government buildings like
the Capitol and the President’s home to the ground.
As Americans fled the capital, troops gathered at nearby Fort McHenry to attempt to defend
against any further British advances.
During the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814, American forces held back both sea and
land invasions by the British, killing Major-General Ross in process.
This resistance eventually inspired Francis Scott Key to create a poem which later became
the lyrics for The Star-Spangled Banner - the national anthem of the United States.
By this time, peace negotiations were already underway in the city of Ghent, in modern-day
Belgium.
On Christmas Eve, 1814, a deal was struck to end the war.
However, the news of that would not reach America until a few weeks later and British
forces were well on their way to the city of New Orleans, a strategically important
port city located where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico.
Capturing it would have allowed them to take over the Louisiana Territory.
Britain had sent sixty ships with approximately 14,450 soldiers and sailors aboard, all under
the command of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane.
On the other side, was Andrew Jackson, who by this time had become one of the most successful
if not the most successful American leaders of the war.
When he had first arrived to New Orleans, he found the city completely defenseless.
He immediately declared martial law and collected civilians to garrison the outskirts of the
city.
The army he built was mostly made up of untrained militiamen and volunteers.
It was a ragtag bunch which included free blacks, New Orleans aristocrats, and members
of the native Choctaw nation.
His troops were so diverse that orders had to be given in English, French, Spanish, and
Choctaw.
The night before the peace treaty was signed, Jackson led his 2,131 men in a surprise attack
on British camp nine miles south of New Orleans.
Completely unwitting British troops.
Managed to fight off Jackson’s forces, 46 of their soldiers were killed, 167 wounded,
and 64 missing.
Jackson’s attack had shocked them.
They expected a quick victory with their superior, experienced forces, but everything looked
more complicated now.
The British responded with a sortie on December 28 and artillery bombardment on New Year’s
Day.
Both failed due to successful American counterfire.
By the early days of January, reinforcements had arrived for both sides, with the British
soldiers now over 8,000-strong and Jackson’s troops numbering 4,732. Jackson’s men built
up fortifications near the Rodriguez Canal, which branched off the Mississippi River and
was about five miles south of New Orleans.
Jackson used slaves to widen the canal into a defensive trench and used the extra dirt
to build a seven-foot tall rampart supported by timber.
This barrier, nicknamed “Line Jackson,” stretched from the Mississippi to the marsh,
which was next to impossible to get through.
Jackson told his soldiers, “Here we shall plant our stakes, and not abandon them until
we drive these red-coat rascals into the river, or the swamp.”
Despite the imposing fortifications, the confident British Lieutenant General Edward Pakenham
planned a two-part frontal attack.
The first part involved a small British force crossing the west bank of the Mississippi
and taking over an American battery.
After getting those guns, the plan was to turn them on the Americans, catching the defense
in a barrage of crossfire.
The second part involved a force of 5,000 men charging forward in two columns to overwhelm
the main American line at the Rodriguez Canal.
Seeing heavy fog on the morning of January 8, Pakenham decided that was the day to execute
his plan just before dawn.
His main force charged toward the canal near the swamp.
They were met by shots from Jackson’s 24 canons.
Along the riverbank, Colonel Robert Rennie advanced forces, dominating over an American
redoubt.
Before Rennie could claim victory, however, he was shot dead and his men frantically retreated.
Unluckily for the British, the fog quickly lifted, giving American gunners clear sight
of the enemy forces.
Cannon fire successfully split the British line in several places.
Jackson’s soldiers, many of them hunters of the frontier, fired with stunning precision.
Pakenham, who was up front with his forces, was a victim of that accuracy.
He was hit and died minutes later.
The lead British commander on the battlefield was now gone as well.
Meanwhile, the British force who was supposed to take over the American battery were delayed.
They captured it and were moderately successful at taking out some American troops, but by
that time it was too late.
At Line Jackson, the British soldiers were retreating in huge numbers.
The British attack on Jackson’s fortification was a failure and they lost around 2,000 men,
including three generals and seven colonels.
The whole battle last less than 30 minutes.
Jackson’s underdog unit lost less than 70 men.
The British army remained in Louisiana for several days.
After its naval force failed to take Fort St. Philip on January 18, the British had
to retreat back to the Gulf of Mexico.
Soon, both sides had finally received the message that a peace treaty had already been
signed.
The Battle of New Orleans was the final major battle of the War of 1812 and is often considered
the most important battle of the war, despite being fought after a peace treaty was negotiated.
The battle was significant for the Americans, as they were huge underdogs in Louisiana,
and expected the worst.
This victory raised the profile of Andrew Jackson, who now was a national hero.
And while most historians conclude today that the War of 1812 was a stalemate, it felt like
a victory to Americans after the victory at New Orleans.
In fact, this victory increased national pride to a level it hadn’t seen since first becoming
a country, and the popularity of Jackson would escalate him to the presidency 14 years later.
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