The War Of 1812

[Foxbat]

Just finished reading up on this little known conflict between the UK and USA. An interesting but inglorious period for both sides. Both land forces were subjected at different times to incompetent and timid leadership. twice the British army had good generals in place only to lose them to American musket fire, but at least the fledgling US Navy gave a good account of itself. The US army finally got its act together at the Battle of New Orleans and held their own. As for the USN, even considering that the vast bulk of the Royal Navy (the most powerful on Earth at the time) was pre-occupied with containing Napoleon's European amibitions, the tiny American navy punched well above its weight and earned worldwide respect.

I think the only other thing of note was the writing of new words to a popular drinking song, which - in 1931 - became the US national anthem.

 

[-K2-]

Well, the Americans had a little known advantage, the 'Gator Gun (cannon)'

K2

 

[-K2-]

The war of 1812 was actually rather event laden. As an example, the British invading Washington D.C. and burning down the White House, Capital and so on, even driving the president and essentially the government out to Maryland. No small part as well, was the Shawnee chief Tecumseh drawing together the nations which would have made them a dominant force to contend with, fighting for the British taking back Detroit and so on.

It's so interesting because America at the time was right on the tipping point of shifting from primarily wilderness to expanding into the nation it became. A lot of both good and bad happened, however, the results of the War of 1812 in a nutshell is what we know as America today. If it had not happened as it did, with exactly the same results, I suspect America would look and be much different.

K2

 

[Foxbat]

Yes, it was event laden but ultimately came to nothing. When the treaty of Ghent was finally signed, no borders or any other significant shift had taken place. Even the hated 'impressment' employed by the UK government remained (one of the major reasons for the conflict) although the UK assured the USA that it would only be used under the most extreme circumstances.

The death of Tecumseh was probably the most significant in that it opened up the west to settling with a major obstacle removed.