Events Occurring in January: Battle of New Orleans, Britain Declares War, River Raisin Massacre

From the January American Battlefield Trust 2023 calendar.

JANUARY 8, 1815

**  Battle of New Orleans, Louisiana

JANUARY 9, 1813

**  Great Britain declares war on the United States.  (The U.S, declared war in June 1812.)

JANUARY 13, 1813

**  John Armstrong replaces William Eustis as Secretary of War.

JANUARY 18, 1813

**  American forces seize Frenchtown, Michigan Terrirory.

JANUARY 22, 1813

**  The Battle of River Raisin; roughjly 40 to 60 American soldiers are killed in what became kniown as "The River Raisin Massacre."

--Brock-Perry

This Month in the War of 1812

From the June American Battlefield Trust calendar.

JUNE 6, 1813

**  Engagement at Stoney Creek.

JUNE 18, 1812

**  U.S. declares war on Great Britain.

JUNE 22, 1807

**  The HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake.

JUNE 22, 1812

**  A mob in Baltimore destroys the printing offices of an anti-war newspaper.

JUNE 22, 1813

**  Battle of Craney Island.

JUNE 1, 1813

**  The USS Chesapeake captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon.    Captain James Lawrence of the Chesapeake dies days later.  He is the person who gave the U.S. Navy the "Don't Give Up the Ship" motto.

--Brock-Perry

January Events War of 1812: New Orleans, War Declaration, Secretary of War, Frenchtown and Raisin

JANUARY 8, 1815

**  Battle of New Orleans

JANUARY  9, 1813

**  Great Britain declares war on the United States.

JANUARY 13, 1813

**  John Armstrong replaces William Eustis as Secretary of War.

JANUARY 18, 1813

**  American forces seize Frenchtown, Michigan.

JANUARY 22, 1813

**  Battle of River Raisin, Michigan.

--Brock-Perry

'I Come to Find Enemies Not to Make Them': Gen. Hull's Proclamation to the People of Canada-- Part 1

From the National Park Service.

As I said in the last post, I need to find out about General William Hull's Proclamation that his son, Captain and Aide de Camp Abraham Fuller Hull (who I have been writing about) witnessed in official capacity.

The whole quote from the headline:  "I come to find enemies not to make them, I come to protect not to injure you."

When American General William Hull made an early invasion of Upper Canada he was convinced that the inhabitants there desire freedom from the tyranny of the British.  He also feared attack by native warriors.  In one sweeping proclamation, Hull tried to impress  and threaten the entire region into compliance.

On July 11, 1812, American Brigadier General William Hull led his army across the Detroit River into Upper Canada, capturing  the town of Sandwich.  Hull's invasion was the first major offensive since Congress declared war on Britain in June 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812-- Part 3: The State of Michigan Marker on the Trace

"In April 1812, as the United States prepared for possible war with Great Britain, Michigan's Territorial Governor, William Hull,  became commander of the Army of the Northwest.    His first task was to lead his army from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit, building Hull's Trace, a two-hundred-mile long road, as it marched.

"The army left Dayton on June 1.  As they cut the trace through the wilderness from Urbana north, it laid logs crosswise across swampy areas to create a rough, but stable corduroy roadbed that could support supply wagons.

"In late June, a detachment  from Frenchtown, commanded by Hubert Lacroix also worked on the road, attempting to follow a route laid out  under an 1808  territorial  Legislative Council act.  (This must have been McCloskey's work, see previous post.)

"On June 18, 1812, war was declared.  Hull's army arrived in Detroit on July 5."

--Brock-Perry

Some More on Patrick Gass-- Part 6: The Journal and Back to Soldiering and the War of 1812

Patrick Gass received his pay for the Lewis & Clark Expedition in gold, with the promise of future consideration, and went home to his friends in Wellsburg.

Here, he arranged with  the Irish schoolmaster, David M'Keehan, for the publication of his journal of the expedition, which appeared early in 1807, thus seven years before that of Lewis and Clark's own narrative was published.

Gass never exchanged the pen, though, for his sword.  In the spring of 1807, he was a soldier again.  He served for the next four years at the then frontier post of Kaskaskia, Illinois.

Then came the Second War of Independence, the War of 1812.  Formal declaration of war was made June 18, 1812,  under the administration of James Madison.  Shortly before this happened, Gass was at Nashville, Tennessee, where he was drafted into the regiment raised by Andrew Jackson  to fight the Creek Indians.  Some disturbances had broken out along the frontier.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812, American Revolution Events in June

From the 2021 American Battlefield Trust June calendar page.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

June 17, 1775--  The Battle of Bunker Hill (or do you say Breed's Hill?)

**************************

WAR OF 1812

June 18, 1812--  U.S. declares war on Great Britain.  Then it was off to the races.  

The war is also known as "Mr. Madison's War" and "The Second American Revolution."

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Events in January

From the American Battlefield Trust January 2021 calendar.  (Also American Revolution)  This organization purchases land for preservation where battles were fought on American soil.

JAN. 3:  Battle of Princeton, N.J.  1777

JAN. 8:  Battle of New Orleans, La.  1815

JAN. 9:  Great Britain declares war on the U.S.  1812

JAN. 17:  Battle of Cowpens, S.C.  1781

JAN: 22:  Battle of River Raisin, Monroe, Mi.  1813

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 3: That Impressment Thing and Other Affronts Lead to War

The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, as it came to be known, enraged the American public and embarrassed the Navy.  President Jefferson levied a big embargo against the British and the British Admiralty recalled the Leopard's commander and admitted the error.   The situation deescalated  and soon was replaced with Vice President Aaron Burr's  conspiracy and trial for treason.

Actually, the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair didn't end until 1820, when the disgraced American commander of the Cheasapeake, James Barron, challenged American naval hero Stephen Decatur to a duel stemming from it and killed Decatur.

But, impressments continued.  Since 1800, Great Britain had captured 917 American ships and impressed 6,257 American seamen.

On June 1, 1812, President James Madison spoke before Congress, citing British impressment of American sailors, disregard for American sovereignty and plundering of American commerce, and asked that a state of war be declared.

With support from the War Hawks, who were seeking to gain control of Canada, Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.  Ironically, the British had rescinded the Orders in Council two days earlier.

--Brock-Perry

James A. Bayard, Delaware Senator and the Treaty of Ghent

From Wiipedia.

1767-August 6, 1815.

Politician from Wilmington, Delaware.  U.S. Representative and Senator.  As a Federalist, he opposed "Mr. Madison's War" and urged caution as the war approached.  he was particularly concerned with Delaware's lack of preparedness for war in both military and vulnerability of the coast.

On June 17, 1812, he was one of  the 13 U.S. Senators who voted against the declaration of war.  But after the war came, he supported it.

He was the only Federalist to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent.  President Madison afterwards offered him a post as minister to Russia, but Bayard declined it saying that a Federalist could hardly represent a Democratic-Republican government.

He spent several months in Europe, but became sick and died just five days after returning to the United States.

--Brock-Perry

The NPS' Road To War-- Part 2

Earlier this month, I wrote about the NPS vote as to whether or not the U.S. should have gone to war back in 1812.  I voted not to as there is no way we stood a chance against Britain if they managed to defeat Napoleon.   As it was, even their second-line troops were proving too much for us.  Our frigates were winning some battles with their frigates, but ours by far outclassed theirs, so that wasn't as big of a victory as it would seem.

Here is the 1812 Congressional vote.

In the House of Representatives:

For War: 79, or 62%
Against War: 49, or 38%


In the Senate:

For War: 19, or 59%
Against War:  13, or 41%

In the 2012 voting: 81% for war and 19% against.  The biggest gap occurred with my age group, 60 to 69 where 97% voted for and 3% against.

To War or Not to War.  --Brock-Perry

Now, You Can Vote for War or Not

The National Park Service has a new online activity giving you the ability to vote for or against of war.  It was set to end June 18th, the day the United States declared war against Britain.  Voting started back in May and evidently is still going on as I voted.

Go to www.nps.gov/fomc/castyourvote/index.cfm.

You can hear 8 Americans from the era giving their perspectives and after voting, you can see all sorts of interesting statistical breakdowns.

I voted against war, as there was no way we could match the British if we had their undivided attention.

To Fight or Not to Fight?  --Brock-Perry