This Month in the War of 1812: Napoleon, Embargo Act, Treaty of Ghent, William Henry Harrison and USS Constitution

DECEMBER 4, 1804

**  Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France following a coup d'etat.  (Thankfully because he kept the British tied up fighting him  at first in the war.)

DECEMBER 22, 1807

**  The Embargo Act passed.

DECEMBER 24, 1814

**  The Treaty of Ghent was signed ending the war.

DECEMBER 28. 1812

**  William Henry Harrison formally resigns as Governor of Indiana Territory and takes the rank of brigadier general.

DECEMBER 29, 1812

**  The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Java.

--Brock-Perry

This Month in the War of 1812

From the American Battlefielld Trust 2022 calendar.

NOVEMBER 11, 1807

**  Great Britain passes the 1807 Orders of Council restricting international trade with France.

NOVEMBER 11, 1811

**  The Battle of Tippecanoe.

NOVEMBER 11, 1813

**  Battle of Crysler's Farm

NOVEMBER 21, 1806

**  Napoleon issues his Berlin Decrees.

NOVEMBER 27, 1812

**  Skirmish at Fort Erie

NOVEMBER 29, 1813

**  Battle of Autossee

--Brock-Perry

How the Horrors at the River Raisin Became a Rallying Call-- Part 1

From the Summer 2022 American Battlefield Trust Hallowed Ground "A National Calamity." 

In 1812, as war between the United States and Great Britain was on its way, the Michigan Territory emerged as a critical theater of operations with its location north of the state of Ohio (admitted in 1803) and its border with the British Upper Canada.  It was an obvious avenue of nvasion, both ways.

American militias were called into service building preparatory roads  even before Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.

While the ongoing war in Europe between Britain and Napoleon kept most British troops occupied, few could be spared for operations against the United States, much to our benefit.  The British commander in North America, Major General Isaac Brock had to rely more on Canadian militia and the cooperation of the Native American Confederation under the Shawnee war chief Tecumseh.

--Brock-Perry

About That D.C. Tornado-- Part 1: Background of the Event

From the March 26, 2012, Historical Digression blog "A tornado saves Washington during the War of 1812" by Patrick Browne.

One of the first targets of the British reinforcement in America in 1814, was the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., partly as a form of payback for American transgressions to the capital of Upper Canada, York (now Toronto), earlier in the war.  Also, the destruction of such an important city would also be a major blow to American morale.

Another factor was that these new British soldiers were veterans, having fought Napoleon all those years.

Some 5,000 British landed in Benedict, Maryland, and made short work of a larger American force at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland on August 24, 1814.    The road to Washington was now open.

Once in D.C., they burned  what is now known as the White House (after sitting down to eat a large feast that Dolley Madison  and her staff had prepared for  cabinet members before they were all forced to flee).

--Brock-Perry

William Jones, New Secretary of the Navy

From "Inside the U.S. Navy of 1812-1815"  

When William Jones became Secretary of the Navy, he discovered he had inherited from his predecessor, Paul Hamilton, several burdens.  One was the Navy Department's posture in regard to  the concerns of citizens for the safety of their ports and shipping with the increasing British threat as forces were transferred from Europe to North America after the fall of Napoleon.

One of his earliest was an order for the reduction in the number of gunboats in service.  He believed  This would save funds on maintenance and put available seamen to better use.  Only 50 of the approximately 150 gunboats were sufficiently serviceable to remain active; the rest would be laid up and available in case of emergency.

Of those gunboats in service, Jones assigned 15 to New York, 5 to the Delaware River, 6 to the Georgia coast and 10 to New Orleans.  Fourteen remained  active on the Chesapeake Bay (mostly  assigned to Norfolk).

But these measures did not go over very well in several cities whose citizens were not happy with the move.  This was especially in the case of New York City and its new flotilla commander Jacob Lewis.

--Brock-Perry

April Events During the War of 1812: Napoleon Abdicates, York Attacked and the Dartmoor Massacre

 From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

APRIL 4, 1814

**  Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany;  Great Britain now concentrates on its war with the United States.  Bad news for us.

APRIL 6, 1815

**  Seven American prisoners are killed and 32 wounded in the "Dartmoor Massacre" at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, England

APRIL18, 1806

**  The Non-Importation Act passed

APRIL 27, 1813

**  Attack on York (modern-day Toronto);  General Zebulon Pike killed

APRIL 29, 1813

**  Raid on  Frenchtown, Maryland, by British flotilla under  the command of Admiral George Cockburn

--Brock-Perry

The Coast of Maine in the War of 1812 and a Threat to Portland

With the end of the war against Napoleon, the British had more resources to use against the United States which had essentially been on the back burner for efforts as Napoleon posed a much worse threat to Britain.

By August 1814, the British were blockading Portland Harbor in earnest.  By September they captured Castine and held the Maine coast east of the Penobscot.  Rumors abounded in Portland warning that "a large fleet with troops" under  the flagship HMS Bulwark had left Castine headed for Portland.

Daily, the British would sail up to the lighthouse, but the mighty fleet never materialized.  Even so, Governor Strong  called up six to seven hundred militiamen from Cumberland and Oxford counties to defend Portland.

Portland also appropriated  $10,000 for  public defense.

It was during this scare that the former HMS Boxer was pressed into service.  The battery of the prize ship San Jose Indiano was  ordered to be mounted on her.  (The Boxer's cannons had been removed to the privateer Hyder Ally.)  The Boxer was then hauled into position so as to command the approaches to Vaughan's Bridge.

The ship's gunners amused themselves by  firing into the steep bankings on Bramhall's Hill.  All this went on for about two weeks, but since nothing happened, everyone was sent home.

Fun and Games in Portland.  --Brock-Perry

August 8, War of 1812: Peace Talks Begin, Napoleon Exiled and the USS Tecumseh

1814:  During the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.  It was finally signed on December 24, 1814.

1815:  Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena Island to spend the remainder of his days in exile.  The United States was exceedingly fortunate to have him posing a greater threat to Britain than we were back in the War of 1812.

Tecumseh   I have been writing about the monitor USS Tecumseh in my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.  It was sunk by a Confederate mine at the Battle of Mobile Bay and was named after famed Indian leader Tecumseh who played a big role in the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Albion-- Part 2: Operations in the War of 1812

In 1812, he long conflict with Napoleon was over and after a long refit. the Albion became the flagship of Rear Admiral  George Cockburn and the ship then took part in the War of 1812 against the United States.  The previous ship of the line HMS Albion had also taken part in a war with the United States, the American Revolution.

In the summer of 1814, she was involved with actions along the coastline of the Chesapeake Bay, where she operated all the way up the Potomac and  and Patuxent rivers, destroying large amounts of American shipping as well as U.S. government property.

These operations ended once it was learned that peace had been declared in 1815.

--Brock-Perry

How the British Invasion of Maine in 1814 Led to Statehood-- Part 2

In Castine, prior to its eight month occupation by the British, town officials had condemned  the declaration of war and held a dim view of President James Madison and his predecessor, Thomas Jefferson.  They were Democrat-Republicans whom they felt were "anti-commerce" and "anti-New England."

The War of 1812 interrupted New England trans-Atlantic trade.

After Napoleon's defeat in 1814, the British ramped up their efforts in North America and sailed into several Maine ports with no opposition.

In early July, British ships, including the bomb ship HMS Terror sailed into Passamaquoddy Bay and took control of Fort Sullivan, Eastport and all the islands and towns along the bay.  In September, the HMS Terror took part in the Battle of Baltimore which led to "The Star-Spangled Banner."

--Brock-Perry

How the British Invasion of Maine During the War of 1812 Led to Statehood-- Part 1

From the March 9, 2020, TV 13 CBS News by Bill Trotter.

The War of 1812 came to Maine in 1814 in a big way.  That's when the powerful British Navy descended upon the towns of Eastport, Machias and Castine.  What is today Maine, was at the time a part of Massachusetts.

The British controlled much of the Maine coast between Penobscot and Cobscook bays for most of a year, raiding towns along the Penobscot River and attacking Hampden and Bangor before returning to Castine.

The war had been going on for two years already, but divided support in the United States as well as the British being more involved with Napoleon had kept the fighting away from Maine.  That is, other than a sea battle between the USS Enterprise and the HMS Boxer which the American ship won.

Initial support for the war was weakest in New England, where the Federalist Party favored strong ties with England and merchants conducted significant trade with the British colony of Canada.  The New Englanders went so far as to almost have secession, something they opposed when the Southern states did so some fifty years later.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 4: Woefully Unprepared to Take on Britain

To say the U.S. Navy was in no shape to fight the British Navy is a huge understatement.  In 1812, the British Navy included 130 ships of the line mounting 60-120 guns and 600 frigates and smaller warships.

The U.S. Navy at the time had 7 frigates fit for the sea, 3 frigates needing repairs, 8 brigs, schooners or sloops, and 165 gunboats (of which 103 were in ordinary or in need of repairs).  The Navy was never large at any time and almost evaporated after hostilities ended with Tripoli in 1805.

Further cuts continued even after the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and even up to 1810, despite worsening tensions with Britain.

Naval historian Charles O. Paullin described the shape of the U.S. Navy when war was declared being "unprepared in every essential means, instrument, and material of naval warfare.  It had no dry docks.  It had few ships.  With the exception of the naval establishment at Washington, the navy-yards were in a state of neglect and decay."

Thankfully for our Navy, Napoleon in France had the British attention, nor had they expected a declaration of war.    Of all the British ships, just one ship of the line, 7 frigates and a dozen smaller warships were operating out of the main base in Halifax, Canada.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in the War of 1812-- Part 2: Impressment and the Chesapeake-Leopard Incident

After the Quasi War with France was settled in 1800 and the situation with the Barbary States was normalized in 1805, the major remaining threat to the U.S. Navy was clearly the British Navy.  The biggest thing the weak U.S. Navy had going for it was the almost uninterrupted war between Britain and France ever since the French Revolution.

This conflict intensified after Napoleon took over France in 1803.  To keep their ships manned, the British relied on impressment.  American sailors became a prime source for this.

In 1807, the British government increased their blockade on France, resulting in the stopping of American ships and the impressment of American sailors.  Then, on June 22, 1807, the British frigate HMS Leopard stopped the American frigate USS Chesapeake and opened fire when the American commander, James Barron, refused to let them come on board.  The British forced their way on board after a very one-sided fight with three American  dead and eighteen wounded and four sailors taken off for impressment.

Thomas Jefferson always believed that war between the two countries might have been declared right then had Congress been in session.

--Brock-Perry

Sylvanue Thayer, Father of West Point"-- Part 6: Long and Distinguished Career

From 1814-1815, Sylvanue Thayer was on professional duty to Europe, examining fortifications, military schools and the establishment and operation of the Allied armies then occupying France after the fall of Napoleon.

He was the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from July 28, 1817 to July 1, 1833.

From 1833 to 1843, he was Superintendent of Engineers during the construction of Forts Warren and Independence in Boston Harbor.

On professional duty to Europe in 1846 and general supervisor for harbor improvements in Maine and Massachusetts 1836-1843.

He was on sick leave of absence from 1858-1963.

--Brock-Perry

New Orleans' Jordan Noble-- Part 6: Other Items for Auction

Other items up for bid at the auction:  weapons, swords, a rare New Orleans and Louisiana map, paintings and manuscripts signed by Napoleon Bonaparte, James Madison and Governor C.C. Claiborne.

The collection was on loan for many years to the Louisiana State Museum, but has since returned to private hands.

Neal Auctions hope that an institution will get it, but can't say for sure because of bids.

I am hoping that an institution will get the drum and flag and other items so that the general public can still view them.  I hate to think of them being in somebody's private collection.

But, Money Talks, As We So Well Know.  --Brock-Perry

The British Corps of Colonial Marines-- Part 1

From the BlackPast.org. site.

The British Corps of Colonial Marines (1808-1810 and 1814-1816)

This group was involved in the Fort Gadsden and Nicholls' Post operations.

This unit was made up mostly of escaped American slaves.  The first years of its existence, 1808-1810)  it was used primarily to garrison Caribbean bases during the Napoleonic Wars.  It was disbanded in 1810.

However, this unit set new standards for the men of African descent and formerly enslaved members.  They received the same training, uniforms, pay and pensions as their Royal marine counterparts.

--Brock-Perry

Ceremony of the Three Flags-- Part 2: France Had It, Spain Got It, France Got It Back

France had controlled the Louisiana Territory from its founding to the Treaty of Paris ending the Seven Years War (called the French and Indian War in North America).  As a result, Spain received French land west of the Mississippi River.  Spain officially took over control of it in 1769 after they suppressed the Rebellion of 1768 by residents who did not want to become part of the Spanish empire

The United States extended its borders to the east bank of the Mississippi River as a result of the Revolutionary War.

On October 1, 1800, Napoleon and France re-acquired the Louisiana Territory from Spain, but this was done in secrecy and Spain continued administrative control of the area.

You Got It, They Got It, Who Got It?  --Brock-Perry

HMS Sappho-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Back on May 12th, i mentioned the HMS Sappho getting into a fight with Gunboat No. 168 of the U.S. Navy at Fernadina.

Here is some more information on the HMS Sappho.

It was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop, 100 feet long, 30-foot beam with 121 crew and mounting sixteen 32-pdr. carronades cannon and two 6-pdr. bowchasers.

It was built by Jabez Bailey at Ipswich and launched in 1806 and took part i the Napoleonic Wars.  It defeated the Danish brig Admiral Yawl in single ship action during the Gunboat War and had a very successful prize-taking two month voyage against the United States in the War of 1812.

It was wrecked off the Canadian coast in 1825 and broken up in 1830.

--Brock-Perry

Dartmoor Prison in Britain-- Part 2: Built to House French Prisoners

Construction on the new prison at Dartmoor started in 1808 and took three years to complete.  In 1809 the first French prisoners arrived and were later joined by American POWs from the War of 1812.  At one point, there were more than 6,000 prisoners at Dartmoor.

Many died and were buried on the moor.

Both wars ended in 1815 and repatriations began.  After the last ones left, Dartmoor remained empty until 1850.

--Brock-Perry

Dartmoor Prison in Britain-- Part 1: The Need for a New Prison

From Wikipedia.

HM Prison Dartmoor.

Still a prison rated Category C, located in Princetown, County of Devon.

In 1805, the British were at war with Napoleonic France and many prisoners were captured.  Many of these were house in "hulks" which were derelict ships.  This was an unsafe situation due to the ships' close proximity to the Royal Navy Dockyard at Devonport called Plymouth Dock.

In addition, the living conditions on those hulks were horrible.

A new prison was planned for remote Dartmoor.

--Brock-Perry