WAS CE 1812. 



753 



"WAR OF ISI2. 71,is second war between Great 

 Britain and the United States was declared, pursuant 

 to Act of Congress, June 19. 3812, and continued '2 

 years and 9 months, being nominally terminated by 

 the treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, IS 13, but actually 

 ended, owing to delay in transmitting news, March 

 23, 1815. 



( 'i/mes. 1. The seizure of U. S. seamen on beard 

 of U. S. vessels ; ostensibly a rigid to apprehend de- 

 :;erU;rs ; but, in enforcement, so many sailors were 

 forcibly taken as to cripple U. S. commerce, treating it 

 like that of an cnc-uiy. (rVe t>KAllClI. RliiHT OF.) 



2. Continued efforts of the U. S. government to 

 obtain redress and guarantees aguinst the repeated 

 acts of iiggressioM were fruitless. 



3. When at war v.ith other powei-s Great Britain 

 claimed a rijiht to make an extensive blockade beyond 

 the ac'nal local enforcements. This led to the rapture 

 of U. S. neutral vessels and goods and to the practical 

 destruction of American commerce. 



4. In time of peace a British 50-gun ship attacked 

 the U. S. frigate Chesapeake, and the British sloop-of- 

 war Little belt fired iuto the 1 1. S. frigate President. 



5. The main and repeated acts of violence were the 

 impressing of seamen. Six thousand cases of alleged 

 impressment of U. S. citizens into the British service 

 were recorded at Washington. When the war began 



such citizens had been committed to British 

 prisons. 



l-'irxt Conflict. When it was proclaimed there was 

 in America little or no preparation for war. The fron- 

 tier military posts werc^ not even apprised. Some 

 British merchants of New York promptly sent an 

 express to Sir Isaac Brock, then commanding the 

 Canadian troops, and he immediately sent orders to 

 Capt. Huberts, his pqst-couimander at St. Joseph's, 

 to move at once against the nearest U. S. garrison 

 which was kept on the island named Michiliniacinac 

 (now Mackinac). Capt. Roberts, adding volunteers 

 and Indians to his regulars, amounting to 900. with 

 two field-guns, embarked in boats the very day he re- 

 ceived the orders. At 3 A. jr., July 17, 1812, he 

 landed at Michilimacinac and without delay took pos- 

 session of a neighboring hill which dominated the 

 fort, and there planted his artillery. Lieut Porter 

 Ilancks, with a battery of 57 men, including officers 

 and a few cannon, was holding the fort. At 11.30 

 A. U. Roberts sent in his demand for an unconditional 

 surrender, with a threat of extermination if resisted. 

 This proceeding was Lieut. Ilanoks' first intimation 

 of a declaration of war. Hence surprised, outnum- 

 bered, and his works already dominated, the lieu- 

 tenant surrendered without firing a shot. Thus the 

 war commenced. 



Campaigns of 1812. 



TJie NortJi-tceit. Gen. Wm. Hull, a veteran of 

 the Revolution, with 30iX) raw troops, had marched 

 into Michigan, crossed the Detroit River, and occupied 

 Sandwich. Gen. Brock sent a force to Maiden, which 

 disturbed Hull's line of supply. Hull, on Aug. 4, de- 

 tached Major Van Horn with 200 men to go to Raisin 

 River in order to strengthen Capt. Brush's company of 

 Ohio volunteers and help bring up provisions. A British 

 Capt. Tallon with a few regulars, nnd Indians led by 

 the famous Teeninseh, ambushed Van Horn en route 

 near Brownstown. Van Horn was defeated, and re- 

 treated with a loss of 7 officers and 19 men, and the 

 mail for Hull's army passed into the hands of the 

 British. 



In view of this defeat, Hull, on Aug. 8, recrossed 

 the river and occupied Detroit^ and then again under- 

 took to reopen his communications southward, sending 

 out Lieut. -Col. Miller with COO men. This force en- 

 countered at the Maguaga some 40o British, including 

 Canadians and Indians, led by Capt. Mnir and Tecum- 

 eh, and gained a victory, yet Gen. Hull for some reason 

 recalled the troops and so the fruits of Miller's victory 



were lost. Gen. Hull's army had an out-post, near the 

 site of Chicago. Fort Dearborn, commanded by Capt. 

 Heald and garrisoned by about 50 soldiers ; betides, 

 there were present several civilians. Hull ordered the 

 captain to evajuate the fort aud join him, and Heald, 

 relying for support upon some Indians, apparently 

 friendly, commenced the march. He soon met an In- 

 dian ambuscade, and, after a severe battle, was com- 

 pelled to surrender with an aggregate loss of 66 soldiers 

 and citizens. The captain and his wife, both wounded, 

 were set at liberty, made their way to a near British 

 garrison and gave themselves up. This Fort Dearborn 

 affair has been named "the massacre of Chicago." 



The able British Gen. Brock, with regulars, volun- 

 teers, and Indians, not much exceeding Hull's army iu 

 numbers, followed up Hull's retreat and hemmed.him 

 in at Detroit, Hull refused the first summons to sur- 

 render, made Aug. 15 ; but when the hostile forces 

 had drawn in closer to the fort and the artillery 

 was preparing to open Cre, the beleaguered general 

 sent out a flas of truce and surrendered not only 

 his army present, and the fort, but absent detach- 

 ments and substantially the whole territory of Michi- 

 gan. Fourteen hundred men, much cannon and pro- 

 -. were given up, and thus ingloriously the first 

 campaign was closed. 



The British general sent Maj. Mnir with a detach- 

 ment of regulars to assist the Indians that were 

 massed under Tecumseh, in attacking Fort Wayne. 

 The a.-.sau!t was planned for Sept. 1, 1812. Gen. W. 

 II. Harrison, then in Ohio, hearing of the hostile 

 movement pushed forward with a strong force to 

 strengthen the garrison. But the major and the In- 

 dians, quickly apprised of his march, retired north- 

 ward without a blow. Harrison reached the place 

 Sept. 12. On the 3d the threats against Fort Wayne 

 had already passed to the next frontier post, Fort 

 Harrison, on the \V abash, and two young men in its 

 neighborhood were killed and scalped. The next 

 evening a suspicious company of Indians begged for 

 admission. Capt. Zachury Taylor (afterwards Gen- 

 eral and President) was in command. That night In- 

 dians swarmed about the garrison ; and a blockhouse 

 close to the fort was set on fire. _ Taylor had less than 

 50 men, most of whom were sick in hospital, yet in- 

 spired by their captain all went to work to check the 

 fire which spread to other buildings, to raise a tempo- 

 rary breastwork, and for eight hours to resist repeated 

 assaults. For more than two days the little garrison held 

 its own against overwhelming numbers. The Indians 

 angered by this unexpected resistance brought cattle, 

 horses, and hogs from the neighboring farms and slew 

 them within sight of the garrison. At last, Sept. 5, 

 1812, the savages abandoned their fruitless efforts and 

 left. Capt. Taylor and his soldiers received abundant 

 thanks for their gallant defence. 



The Indians, woo were greatly excited and stimulated 

 by the promises of the wily Tecumseh, made another 

 attack on Fort Madison, which was situated not far 

 from St. Louis. Mo. Some 200 Winnebagoes crept 

 up to the fort, on the evening of Sept. 5, and slew a 

 numberof the garrison, found outside the fort. Lieut. 

 Hamilton, thus warned, having a detachment of regular 

 infantry, defended his fort against every expedient of 

 the enemy, who used flaming arrows, burning fagots, 

 and other means of firing the wooden roofs. Hamil- 

 ton invented on the spot effective fire-extinguishers, 

 made from gun-barrels. The conflict was kept up till 

 10 P. M. Sept. 7, when the Indians, despairing of suc- 

 cess, raised the siege and fled. 



The Central Drpartmmt. Turning now from the 

 North-west department to the Central, the next battle 

 of importance was that of Queenstown, Oct. 13, 1812. 

 Gen. Van Rensselaer. with about 1200 troops, crossed 

 the Niagara River and engaged a British force of about 

 the same numbers made up of regulars, volunteers, 

 and Indians. His command were nearly all killed or 

 captured. Capt. (afterwards General) J. E. Wool and 



