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 American military leaders, Andrew Jackson. who led an outnumbered and undisciplined ragtag force against the world's strongest military.
Having been at war with Napoleonic France for a long time, Britain started pressing American merchant sailors into service, forcing them to join the Royal Navy. The 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 opposed 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 in 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 up 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 that they must 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 T. Coombsa 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 theaters, the Great Lakes region, along the East Coast, and in the South. The Americans found little success in all three theaters.
In the Great Lakes region, after Hull's embarrassing defeat, his replacement... William Henry Harrison struggled to defend the 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 the 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 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 10th, 1813. This paved the way for General Harrison to take back control of Detroit, defeating Major General Henry Proctor and his British and Native American forces at the Battle of the Thames on October 5th, 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. Uniting 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 US capital, Washington, on August 24th, 1814. famously burning government buildings like the Capitol and the President's home to the ground. As Americans fled the Capitol, 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 the 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 60 ships with approximately 14,450 soldiers and sailors aboard all under the command of Admiral Sir Alex 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 the British camp, 9 miles south of New Orleans. The unwitting British troops managed to fight off Jackson's forces, but 46 of their soldiers were killed, with 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 an artillery bombardment on New Year's Day.
Both failed due to successful American counter fire. 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 5 miles south of New Orleans. Jackson used slaves to widen the canal into a defensive trench, and used the extra dirt to build a 7-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 redcoat 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 defenders 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 8th, Pakenham decided that this was the day to execute his plan just before dawn. His main force charged towards the canal near the swamp.
They were met by shots from Jackson's 34 cannons. Along the riverbank, Colonel Robert Rennie advanced his forces, dominating an American without doubt. But before Rennie could claim victory however, he was shot dead, and his men frantically retreated.
Unluckily for the British, the Focke 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 that was supposed to take over the American battery was delayed. They captured it and were modestly successful at taking out some American troops, but by that time it was too late.
At Lyne-Jackson, the British soldiers were retreating in huge numbers. The British attack on Jackson's fortification was a failure, and they had lost around 2,000 men, including three generals and seven colonels. The whole battle lasted 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 18th, 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 was now 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.
We are planning more videos on US and Canadian history, so make sure that you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button to be notified of our videos. We would like to express our gratitude to our Patreon supporters and YouTube sponsors, who make the creation of our videos possible. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.