The Darkest Month in Our Nations History

The War of 1812 is mostly forgotten today. While most Americans can rightly state what year the war started, few know when it ended or even what it was about. The most famous battle of the War was fought after the treaty ending the conflict was officially over. and few Americans realized how close the nation came to becoming a British colony again.
In the early 1800s, England was in a war for survival with France as Napoleon conquered most of Europe. The British Navy was expanding faster than it could train sailors, so it started boarding American merchant ships looking for British deserters or men who owed allegiance to the Crown. After US objections were ignored, the US formally declared war on England in 1812. The US had a small navy, and its army was mainly deployed in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley, fighting Indian tribes. Two attempts to invade Canada failed, and British forces occupied most of the state of Maine. For two years, the war was little more than a distraction for England, but then they defeated Napolean and hundreds of thousands of troops were freed from fighting in Europe. Angered by their former colonies' actions, the British government authorized an invasion of America, with the Crown reasserting ownership of North America.
Three task forces were assembled. One would attack Washington City; one would burn Philadelphia to the ground, while the third would land in Massachusetts and destroy Boston. NYC was to be the site of the British HQ so it was to be spared. In early August 1814, two British fleets appeared off the coast of Maryland. The long-expected invasion had begun.
The American Secretary of Defense refused to believe the British would launch a land invasion, so he did little to prepare a defense.
The American commander in charge of Washington had 8,000 troops on paper but only a few hundred in reality, and the Sec. of Defense refused to allow Virginia or Maryland militia to enter the city.
The British landed, and by August 10th, some 8500 British troops occupied a town only six miles from Washington. Belatedly, the order was given that all militias and patriots should assemble in the city. Thousands turned out, and a hasty set of defenses was constructed.
With luck, the new barriers would herd the British into a killing field where two dozen cannons would annihilate them.
As dawn broke, the American commander gave a rousing speech, reminding the assembled men that they alone had been chosen to defend this great experiment and that the lives of their yet-to-be-born descendants rested with them. Filled with enthusiasm, the men rushed to their trenches, outnumbered but confident in victory.
An hour later, it was over. The British attempted to turn the US flank, and the entire US line disintegrated. Most Americans turned tail and ran away before taking a single shot. It is generally considered the worst performance by the US Army in our country's history.
By noon, the British had complete control of the battlefield, and the road to Washington was wide open. Suspecting a trap, the British entered the city cautiously and found it undefended.
Nightfall found much of the city in flames. The British ordered all government buildings to be looted and burned and gave the troops discretion to treat private buildings as they wanted. This meant that an owner could pay the troopers for protection or have their house destroyed. The British Army went to sleep that night, conquerors of the nation's capital and ready to begin phase 2 of the invasion—twin assaults on Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Then things got weird.

Oddly enough, the British sustained more dead and wounded in that battle.

The War of 1812, was Britain giving it one last go after losing the Revolutionary War. If that's all you know about it, that's pretty much good enough.

Darkness found much of the city aflame, but a storm suddenly appeared. Often described as the worst storm in Washingtons history, torrential rain and tropical storm strength winds extinguished most of the flames, while destroying the British camps. The next day found the British supply train was almost entirely wiped out, and dozens of soldiers killed , with 90% of the tents in ruins. A day after entering the American capitol in triumph, the British had to retreat, and instead of advancing towards Baltimore, the army needed to pause for resupply and to recover. The same storm that hit Washington also scattered the British fleet outside Philadelphia, which fled to Canada to refit and supply.
Had the British advanced on Baltimore as intended, they'd have found an unprepared city, but as word got out about the sacking of Washington, hundreds and then thousands of Americans flocked to Baltimore, prepared to fight. Thousands of men and women dug trenches and built miniature stone guardhouses. The northeastern approach was turned into a killing ground where an outnumbered force could easily hold off a much larger invading force.
The people of Baltimore selected a local merchant- George Armistead, to be the overall commander of all forces. When the commander of American troops in Washington showed up, expecting to be named commander, he was roughly escorted out of town by a few dozen dockworkers.
The key to Baltimores' defense was a large fort in the harbor. Whoever controlled the fort could rain cannon fire on the entire town and harbor. Atop the fort was a small flag that wasn't easily seen from the shore. Armistead ordered the largest American flag ever built and installed it on the fort. Almost forty feet in length, it instantly became a source of inspiration for the besieged town.
The British army arrived and its advance officers were stunned by the defensive works they encountered. They'd been told the defense was unorganized, with different sectors in conflict. Instead, they were staring at a killing ground where their large formations were near useless. While examining the outer defenses, the British General was shot and killed by a sniper. Command fell to a Major who had never led more than 2,000 men into battle. Now he'd have triple that plus overall command of the naval forces.
Armistead ordered that the ships in Baltimore Harbor be sunk mid-channel, limiting the approach to Fort McHenry, which meant the attack on the fort would be at long range. Several of the British ships had the most advanced technology of the day. They could fire a 190-pound shell primed with explosives capable of great damage. The American guns fired 8 to 15-pound solid shots that didn't explode.

My ancestor, Winfield Scott, was a significant American hero of the War of 1812 on the Niagara front. I am looking forward to hearing billryan praise a member of my family.

Enjoying this thread.

Quote: gordonm888

My ancestor, Winfield Scott, was a significant American hero of the War of 1812 on the Niagara front. I am looking forward to hearing billryan praise a member of my family.
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I have not done much research into the Northern Front in 1812. Your ancestor became the commanding General of the Army and led one of the two armies that invaded Mexico. He was one of the architects of The Anaconda Plan in the Civil War but retired when the war broke out.

Quote: billryan

Quote: gordonm888

My ancestor, Winfield Scott, was a significant American hero of the War of 1812 on the Niagara front. I am looking forward to hearing billryan praise a member of my family.
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I have not done much research into the Northern Front in 1812. Your ancestor became the commanding General of the Army and led one of the two armies that invaded Mexico. He was one of the architects of The Anaconda Plan in the Civil War but retired when the war broke out.
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Yeah, I own every biography of Winfield Scott ever published, including one book from the 1850s. I know everything about his history very well. He ran for President as the losing opponent to Franklin Pierce. He was the bodyguard to Lincoln upon his arrival in Washington DC after Lincoln first ascended to the Presidency. When Robert E Lee decided to stay loyal to his state of Virginia and go with the Confederacy, Lee went to Winfield Scott's house to turn in his commission to the U.S. Army.

We came close to having British accents. Literally.

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sorry, but imo that is not the darkest month in our nation's history and it is not even close

the darkest month was the month we began importing slaves

if you don't consider the U.S. to have been a nation at that time then I would say the darkest month was when we continued to import slaves after the drafting of the U.S. Constitution in 1787

by allowing the continuing importation of slaves after the drafting of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights the U.S. Government betrayed the spirit of its noble ideas and attempted to rationalize the abhorrent practice of slavery in various ways

it was understood by all that the word "freedom" in The Bill of Rights did not apply to slaves

"The U.S. Constitution mentions free people in Article I, Section Two, which is also known as the "Three-Fifths Clause":
Article I, Section Two: States that any person who is not free is to be counted as three-fifths of a free person when determining congressional representation. This clause increased the political power of slaveholding states, but did not ensure that slaves' interests were represented in the government. It also includes the phrase "including those bound to Service for a Term of Years".

"Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution restricts Congress's power by prohibiting them from prohibiting the migration or importation of people before 1808. However, Congress can impose a tax of up to $10 per person. This clause is also known as the slave trade provision and is the first clause in the Constitution to limit congressional powers."

"The exact word “freedom” did not appear in the original 1787 Constitution - the word “liberty” did, "

The word "freedom" is mentioned in multiple places in the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791, including the First Amendment and the Second Amendment:

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly. It also protects the right to petition the government and peacefully protest."

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The Civil War was fifty years after the War of 1812, but the Army had such a lousy pension plan that many heroes were given lifetime jobs. The limited size of the Army held back many younger officers' careers. One of the reasons for the South's early success was their Generals were selected by merit, whereas the Union originally went by strict seniority. Scott was a hero of the War of 1812. He was the head of the Army at the start of the Civil War. The man who held his job at the war's end was born in 1822, a full decade later.
General Scott has a unique place in US Army history. The longest-serving commander of the Army, he led troops against the British, was involved in the Indian Wars, and conquered Mexico. He was responsible for the Federal response to South Carolina's attempt to nullify specific federal laws that could have started the Civil War in 1832 instead of 1861.
Scott's campaign in Mexico defied almost every conventional plan and is legendary in military circles. After landing in Vera Cruz, he marched his small army into the Mexican interior, cut off from supplies and communications. Many considered his move folly and wrote off his entire army, but Scott conquered Mexico City after a year of fighting superior numbers. His decision to live off the land influenced Grant to order Sherman's march to the sea.
But I digress....

After Scott took Mexico City in 1848 the Mexican federal government offered him the position of Emperor of Mexico! The only American ever to be offered such a position. And he turned it down!

If he had accepted it, I might today have been the Emperor of Mexico, as I am oldest son in a direct line. Instead, I'm a WOV moderator.

Quote: gordonm888

After Scott took Mexico City in 1848 the Mexican federal government offered him the position of Emperor of Mexico! The only American ever to be offered such a position. And he turned it down!

If he had accepted it, I might today have been the Emperor of Mexico, as I am oldest son in a direct line. Instead, I'm a WOV moderator.
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Well, you probably wouldn't have been such a nice person.

Quote: gordonm888

After Scott took Mexico City in 1848 the Mexican federal government offered him the position of Emperor of Mexico! The only American ever to be offered such a position. And he turned it down!

If he had accepted it, I might today have been the Emperor of Mexico, as I am oldest son in a direct line. Instead, I'm a WOV moderator.
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Wait... Isn't Emperor of Mexico = WoV Moderator?

😉

Dog Hand

Quote: gordonm888

After Scott took Mexico City in 1848 the Mexican federal government offered him the position of Emperor of Mexico! The only American ever to be offered such a position. And he turned it down!

If he had accepted it, I might today have been the Emperor of Mexico, as I am oldest son in a direct line. Instead, I'm a WOV moderator.
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Considering what the Mexicans did to their last foreign emperor, you should be glad he did.

Quote: gordonm888

My ancestor, Winfield Scott, was a significant American hero of the War of 1812 on the Niagara front. I am looking forward to hearing billryan praise a member of my family.
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Any idea where his Congressional Gold Medal is today? Family private collection? Museum? Local historical society?

Quote: GenoDRPh

Quote: gordonm888

My ancestor, Winfield Scott, was a significant American hero of the War of 1812 on the Niagara front. I am looking forward to hearing billryan praise a member of my family.
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Any idea where his Congressional Gold Medal is today? Family private collection? Museum? Local historical society?
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I do own a heavy bronze (or some metal alloy) casting of a large medal commemorating Winfield Scott's battles in the Mexican War. No idea where a gold medal is.

I also agree that "Emperor of Mexico" sounds like the punch line of a "Good news - Bad news" joke.

"First the Good News. You're going to be an Emperor!"

In December 1861, Winfield Scott retired, splitting his time between New York City and West Point, New York. When he died on May 29th, 1866, he was at West Point, and was subsequently buried at West Point Cemetery. His grave is about 50 feet from two of my relatives and about 150 feet from General Custer. It is fairly ornate and enclosed within a wrought iron fence.

If one gets the chance to visit the cemetery, it's really amazing who has ended up there. Some are locally famous, like Col Sylvanus Thayer, some are very well known, like Molly Pitcher, George Goethals (built the Panama Canal), and Ed White (first US spacewalk). You're going to want to budget a few hours--the place is pretty large.

Quote: MDawg

The War of 1812, was Britain giving it one last go after losing the Revolutionary War. If that's all you know about it, that's pretty much good enough.
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Strangely enough, the War of 1812 is almost completely forgotten in England.

Quote: lilredrooster

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"The U.S. Constitution mentions free people in Article I, Section Two, which is also known as the "Three-Fifths Clause":
Article I, Section Two: States that any person who is not free is to be counted as three-fifths of a free person when determining congressional representation. This clause increased the political power of slaveholding states, but did not ensure that slaves' interests were represented in the government. It also includes the phrase "including those bound to Service for a Term of Years".


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I applaud this portion for not stating that this article in the constitution was an attempt to put down black people and say slaves, Blacks, were 3 fifths of a person, something that is often claimed. It goes on to say what it *did* mean, good. But it is missing the explanation that those wanting to limit the power of the slave states wanted slaves to not be counted at all, ie a slave be *zero* fifths of a person, and I feel that should always be stated.

Quote: GenoDRPh

Quote: MDawg

The War of 1812, was Britain giving it one last go after losing the Revolutionary War. If that's all you know about it, that's pretty much good enough.
link to original post

Strangely enough, the War of 1812 is almost completely forgotten in England.
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When I visited England as a teenager, I talked to a distant cousin, and he'd never heard of it. It was a bit of a sideshow to containing the little French Emperor. It's too bad Sharpe and his Rifles never made it across the pond. Then, the war would be famous.

On September 10th and 11th, the British probed the American outer defenses while thousands of civilians rushed to complete their second line of defense. Just as they finally prepared to launch an attack, a surprise charge by some three thousand Americans disrupted them and set back the attack until the next day. The British commander was worried about the guns of Fort McHenry so he decided to reduce the fort before launching the ground attack.
On September 12th, the British fleet opened up its guns and attacked. They had as many as twenty main ships of the line, and a couple dozen smaller boats. They had well over 300 guns vs. three dozen in the fort. That afternoon, British ships anchored just out of range of McHenry's guns and began blasting away with immunity.
As I mentioned earlier, the original British commander had been killed, and his replacement wasn't up to coordinating his forces.
Much of the British fleet had been on its way to New Orleans when it was diverted to Maryland to replace the ships damaged by the storm. The fleet had been ordered to depart Baltimore no later than September 15th, but somehow, that wasn't passed along to the new commander.
That afternoon, a large force of British marines attempted to storm the fort by small boats but the attack was disjointed and failed almost immediately. The British admiral called off the land attack and decided to reduce the fort by long distant bombardment. In the fort, George Armistead ordered the smaller flag replaced with the much larger one he'd ordered. Nightfall found the fort pounded by hundreds of guns and unable to mount any offense. The capture of Baltimore was the springboard for attacks on Boston and several thousand troops were set to invade NY State. All night, the fort was illuminated by exploding shells, and the guns fell silent just before dawn. Had the fort been taken?
The sun came up, but the harbor was shrouded in gunsmoke. It cleared up slowly, the giant banner waved over the fort, and the British fleet was nowhere to be seen. The British army had no choice but to retreat, and the planned attacks on Boston and New York state were canceled. The British government had nearly bankrupted the country fighting Napoleon, and its population was tired of endless wars. Rather than raising new forces to send to fight, Parliment negotiated an end to the war. An agreement was reached relatively quickly, and a treaty was signed. Before word could reach America, the British launched their attack on New Orleans, where an unknown frontiersman put together an unlikely coalition of merchants, pirates, runaway slaves and society dregs to defeat it.

Until the 20th Century, the Battle of Baltimore was considered to be America's greatest victory as it was achieved almost entirely by citizens who answered the call for help. Of the thousands who defended the city, only a couple of hundred were US soldiers, and the rest were all men( and a few women) who took up arms to defend their city and our way of life.
George Armistead was given the flag that had flown that night. It soon became famous when a tune called The Defense of Fort McHenry swept the land. Today, the song is known as the Star-Spangled Banner.
The flag remained in the Armistead family and was inherited by his nephew Lewis. Lewis Armistead led a Confederate Brigade during Picketts Charge in 1863 and was one of a handful of men who managed to breach the Union line before being fatally wounded.
The Armistead loaned it to the federal government in the early 20th century, and it became permanent during WW2. Over the years, the family had given away patches of the flag as gifts to friends and family, but luckily, one of the women kept records, so they were recovered when Ralph Lauren arranged to have the flag restored.

Baltimore celebrated September 15th as Defenders Day for many years. On this day, the city's defenders would gather and march across the city to the inner harbor. As years went by and the defenders got older, many casualties occurred as hot weather, wool uniforms, and old age can be a lethal combination. The parade was canceled sometime before the Civil War as the defenders aged out and politics got rougher. While Maryland stayed neutral during the Civil War, Baltimore was pro-confederate and was garrisoned by federal troops, and hundreds of its citizens were imprisoned for their sympathies It is said that more Americans died celebrating the victory over the years than did in the battle, which was incredibly bloodless.

After Baltimore, hundreds of British soldiers surrendered in mass and were allowed to migrate to the Ohio Valley. Their presence helped turn the tide in the battles with the tribes being pushed off their lands.

Well written! Lots of details and perspectives that are not easily found. Good job and interesting.

The War of 1812 was still fought with muskets which were terribly inaccurate. Don't know about the quality of cannon technology at the time. I imagine that some of the casualties arose from hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets.

Quote: odiousgambit

Quote: lilredrooster

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"The U.S. Constitution mentions free people in Article I, Section Two, which is also known as the "Three-Fifths Clause":
Article I, Section Two: States that any person who is not free is to be counted as three-fifths of a free person when determining congressional representation. This clause increased the political power of slaveholding states, but did not ensure that slaves' interests were represented in the government. It also includes the phrase "including those bound to Service for a Term of Years".


link to original post

I applaud this portion for not stating that this article in the constitution was an attempt to put down black people and say slaves, Blacks, were 3 fifths of a person, something that is often claimed. It goes on to say what it *did* mean, good. But it is missing the explanation that those wanting to limit the power of the slave states wanted slaves to not be counted at all, ie a slave be *zero* fifths of a person, and I feel that should always be stated.
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Self-deleted political post.

Quote: gordonm888

Well written! Lots of details and perspectives that are not easily found. Good job and interesting.

The War of 1812 was still fought with muskets which were terribly inaccurate. Don't know about the quality of cannon technology at the time. I imagine that some of the casualties arose from hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets.
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American military tactics for the British at the time were simple. In an open field, you form three lines ten yards apart. Standing shoulder to shoulder, your line fires as one, and you fall back twenty yards and reload. The second line does the same and if the enemy is still advancing, the third line does the same. If the enemy is broken, the third line advances. The American philosophy was to bloody the enemy and then fall back. The British launched mass attacks while attempting to flank their enemy. In Europe, flanking the enemy would cause their enemy to retreat, and then the British Calvary would sweep in among the retreating enemy, usually routing them. You could send twenty men for every cavalry man and horse transported to America, so Calvary units were scarce on the British side.

Cannons of the day usually fired shots that didn't explode. They fired balls that just went through things. As Napoleonic tactics called for troops to attack in tight formation, a cannonball could mutilate a dozen men on the frontlines and psychologically affect the ranks that had to step over the scattered limbs. The first few lines of attackers were referred to as cannon fodder. American cannons were made from iron, which was much cheaper than bronze and more accessible. So, while the Americans had more guns, they were inferior and couldn't sustain the same rate of fire. Some American guns could only fire five shots an hour before overheating, while the bronze cannons could fire twenty rounds at further distances and more accurately. The American guns were lighter and easier to reposition.

There wasn't a lot of hand-to-hand fighting in most battles, but it was not uncommon for men on both sides to bayonet the seriously wounded opposition after the battle
Fighting on the frontier was different. The British recruited Indian allies, and most of the fighting was savage small unit fighting. Soldiers in that area carried hatchets and put them to deadly use. I recently read a biography on Simon Girty, the American renegade who fought a war of annihilation on the frontier. The book put him in a much nicer light than I'd expected. He was the original American boogeyman.

Quote: GenoDRPh

Quote: MDawg

The War of 1812, was Britain giving it one last go after losing the Revolutionary War. If that's all you know about it, that's pretty much good enough.
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Strangely enough, the War of 1812 is almost completely forgotten in England.
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I confirm that as true.It's barely mentioned in our high school history curriculum.
I actually know zero about it that I didn't read in this forum.

It is taught in Canada. A friend who was a history teacher in NYC did an exchange to teach a semester in Toronto. He was stunned by how different Canadian history was. There were a few ill-fated attempts to invade from both sides. In what is now a suburb of Toronto, American raiders captured Fort York. The retreating Brits set fire to what the Americans thought was a granary. Unknown to them, there were 300 barrels of gunpowder inside, and it went off as the Americans were rounding up the injured British troops. Hundreds of Americans were killed, and their fellow raiders burned the town to the ground in revenge. That isn't taught in American schools.

As a kid I remember going to a museum and seeing people working on restoring the flag. It’s at the Museum of American History now. I took my niece there last year and it has one star missing.

Quote: OnceDear

Quote: GenoDRPh

Quote: MDawg

The War of 1812, was Britain giving it one last go after losing the Revolutionary War. If that's all you know about it, that's pretty much good enough.
link to original post

Strangely enough, the War of 1812 is almost completely forgotten in England.
link to original post

I confirm that as true.It's barely mentioned in our high school history curriculum.
I actually know zero about it that I didn't read in this forum.
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Do they teach the French and Indian War?

The War of 1812 is well remembered in these parts because (a) we gave the Brits a beating and (b) the undefeated exploits and successes of the USS Constitution during the war, which is still home-berthed here.