War of 1812

War of 1812
Part of the Sixty Years' War and
related to the Napoleonic Wars

Clockwise from top:
Date18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815
(2 years, 7 months, 4 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Result Inconclusive[a]
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
 United States
Allies:

 United Kingdom


Allies:
Commanders and leaders
United States James Madison
United States Henry Dearborn
United States John Rodgers
United States Stephen Decatur
United States Andrew Jackson
United States William Henry Harrison
United States William Hull
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Philip Broke
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George Prévost
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Isaac Brock 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Robert Ross 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George Downie 
Tecumseh 
Strength

Allies


Allies

  • Native American allies: 10,000–15,000[2][1]
Casualties and losses
  •  United States:
    • 2,200 killed in action[3]
    • 5,200 died of disease[4]
    • Up to 15,000 deaths from all causes[5][4]
    • 4,505 wounded[6]
    • 20,000 captured[7][8]
    • 8 frigates captured or burned
    • 1,400 merchant ships captured
    • 278 privateers captured
    • 4,000 slaves escaped or freed[9]
  •  United Kingdom:
    • 2,700 died in combat or disease[4]
    • 10,000 died from all causes[1][b]
    • 15,500 captured
    • 4 frigates captured
    • ~1,344 merchant ships captured (373 recaptured)[3]

Allies

  • Indigenous allies:
    • 10,000 dead from all causes (warriors and civilians)[1][c]
    • Unknown captured
  •  Spain:
    • <20 casualties
  •  * Some militias operated only in their own regions
  •   Killed in action
  •  ‡ A locally raised coastal protection and semi-naval force on the Great Lakes

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.[10][11]

Anglo-American tensions originated in long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support for Tecumseh's confederacy, which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in the Old Northwest. These escalated in 1807 after the Royal Navy began enforcing tighter restrictions on American trade with France and impressed sailors who were originally British subjects, even those who had acquired American citizenship.[12] Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both the House and Senate voted for war, they divided along strict party lines, with the Democratic-Republican Party in favour and the Federalist Party against.[d][13] News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway.

At sea, the Royal Navy imposed an effective blockade on U.S. maritime trade, while between 1812 and 1814 British regulars and colonial militia defeated a series of American invasions on Upper Canada.[14] The abdication of Napoleon in 1814 allowed the British to send additional forces to North America and reinforce the Royal Navy blockade, crippling the American economy.[15] In August 1814, negotiations began in Ghent, with both sides wanting peace; the British economy had been severely impacted by the trade embargo, while the Federalists convened the Hartford Convention in December to formalize their opposition to the war.

In August 1814, British troops captured Washington, before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh in September ended fighting in the north. In the Southeastern United States, American forces and Indian allies defeated an anti-American faction of the Muscogee. In early 1815, American troops repulsed a major British attack on New Orleans, which occurred during the ratification process of the signing of Treaty of Ghent, which brought an end to the conflict.[16]


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  1. ^ a b c d Clodfelter 2017, p. 245.
  2. ^ Allen 1996, p. 121.
  3. ^ a b Clodfelter 2017, p. 244.
  4. ^ a b c Stagg 2012, p. 156.
  5. ^ Hickey 2006, p. 297.
  6. ^ Leland 2010, p. 2.
  7. ^ Tucker et al. 2012, p. 311.
  8. ^ Hickey 2012n.
  9. ^ Weiss 2013.
  10. ^ Order of the Senate of the United States 1828, pp. 619–620.
  11. ^ Carr 1979, p. 276.
  12. ^ Hickey 1989, p. 44.
  13. ^ Hickey 1989, pp. 32, 42–43.
  14. ^ Greenspan 2018.
  15. ^ Benn 2002, pp. 56–57.
  16. ^ "The Senate Approves for Ratification the Treaty of Ghent". U.S. Senate. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

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