WAR OF 1812 



6143 



WAR OF 1812 



Down from Canada came fresh British troops, 

 who laid siege to Plattsburg, held by General 

 Macomb. The British forces had the support of 

 a fleet on Lake Champlain, as also had the Ameri- 

 cans. The two fleets met in battle on September 

 11; the Americans, under Commodore Macdon- 

 ougrh. whipped the British so thoroughly that the 

 English army found its position jeopardized, and 

 It retreated to Canada. 



In August a British fleet entered Chesapeake 

 Bay with 5,000 soldiers under General Ross. He 

 marched on Washington, took the city on the 

 twenty-fourth without encountering serious re- 

 sistance, and burned the Capitol, the Executive 

 sion and a few other government buildings. 

 The government fled into the Virginia woods for 

 safety. On September 12 and 13 an attack was 

 made on Baltimore by the British ships and 

 : it ended in failure, Ross was killed, and 

 the event gave to the American nation the song, 

 The Star-Spangled Banner. On the sea the 

 Americans lost the frigates Essex and President, 

 but they took seven from their enemy. 



The Needless Battle. Although peace was 

 declared on December 24 by a treaty signed at 

 Ghent, Belgium, the news did not cross the Atlan- 

 ti< in time to arrest a decisive action in the 

 h. General Pakenham. with 12.000 men, 

 landed In Louisiana and attacked New Orleans. 

 The city was defended by General Andrew Jack- 

 ."..000 men ; they defeated the Invaders 

 In a series of battles which began December 31 

 and culminated in the flnal attack <m January 8, 

 1815. Over 2,500 British soldiers were killed, in- 

 cluding Pakenham ; Jackson lost seven killed 



CH! \ V IlEOION 



and six woun.i. ! T:.- \vu. difference In lonse* 

 was due to tin- to fight 



without -i. while the Americans were 



of cot- 



!> i. ales, whlrh had been commandeered and 

 into a fortification. 



The Hartford Convention. The war had been 

 strongly opposed from the beginning by the 

 people of New England. They regarded it as 

 unnecessary, and charged that it was waged be- 

 cause of prejudice against England and of par- 



Oh, soy, con you see by the down's early light 

 BOMBARDMENT OF FORT McHK 



tiality for France. They suffered immense 

 losses through destruction of their commerce 

 and their fisheries, and felt that the government 

 was doing nothing to protect them from the 

 enemy. A meeting of protest was called to 

 meet at Hartford, Conn., December 15, 1814. 

 It met in secret sessions for three weeks, and 

 but for the announcement of the end of the war 

 its effects might have been far-reaching and 

 rous. 



Treaty of Ghent. England was nearly ex- 

 hauMrd by the continuance of the Napoleonic 

 wars and several times suggested peace with 

 America. In the summer of 1813 commission- 

 era from the two countries met at Ghen 1 

 gium, and <1 for a year and a half. 



Finally, on December 24, 1814, terms were ar- 

 ranged and a treaty was signed. The commis- 

 sioners representing the United States were 

 Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, Jnraes A. 

 1. Albert Gallatin and Jonathan Russell. 



The treaty provided for restoration of all 

 land raptured hy nth. r tide, ! MK ownership 

 as it existed before the war. and for the appoint- 

 if a commission to d< t< rminr the bound- 

 ary between Canada and the United States. 

 The n> was no reference to the chief cause of 

 ill* war- the impressment of American sea- 

 men but Midland never again raised the ques- 

 tion. E.D.F. 



Conmilt Johnnon'B Htotory of the li 

 1813; Bamen' The Hero of Brie; Abbott's Blue 



tit Of IKIi. 



snhjrri.. The following articles in 

 these volumes will explain many reference* in 



