Albert Bushnell Hart

“ EFFECT ON THE AMERICANS
On the face of it there was not much cause for congratulation in a war in which the United States trebled its national debt and lost 30,000 men and 1,500 merchant ships, without gaining any territory and without securing any promise at the end of the war that the disturbance of neutral trade and the impressment of American seamen would not begin again. ”

“ All that does not diminish the glory of Jackson's victory. He showed the energy and determination which brought together a force of 3,500 men, mostly raw militia. This little command lying behind the lines at Chalmette received the attack of 6,000 men. Over 2,000 of the British attacking column were sacrificed, and Jackson remained master of the field, with a loss of seventy-one.
This brilliant success proved that Jackson was a good soldier, which in due time helped to make him President of the United States. ”

“ The blockading British squadron pursued the ship, and after a desperate running fight forced Decatur to surrender.
Soon afterward Decatur returned to the United States, peace between England and America was declared. But the Barbary pirates were once more giving trouble. Decatur took a command in the Mediterranean.
He arrived before Algiers on June 22, 1815, and immediately demanded a treaty from the Dey. His terms were very brief: no more annual tribute or ransom for prisoners; all enslaved Americans to be released; and no American ever again to be held as a slave. ”

“ The War of 1812 also for the first time gave the United States an unquestioned place in the sisterhood of modern nations. Though the population in 1815 was only about eight and a half millions, the success of the navy inspired a wholesome respect for Yankee ships and Yankee sailors. In place of the captured ships a new merchant marine was quickly provided, which developed into the famous clipper ships, the triumph of American skill and the glory of the seas. ”

“ The American people were entitled to forget their weakness and defeats; for the net result of the War of 1812 was to inspire the greatest naval and colonial power in the world with a respect for American character and an acceptance of the United States as a great National power. ”

“ John Armstrong, Secretary of War, allowed the British to land 5,000 men on the Chesapeake and to march fifty miles overland to Washington. Within a distance of two days' land travel from that city lived nearly 100,000 able-bodied men, most of them accustomed to handle a gun. Yet the British force was allowed to capture Washington, to burn the public buildings, and to retire to its fleet almost without losing a man. ”

“ To most of Europe the American War of 1812 seemed an unwarrantable flank attack in the great running fight of the nations. Russia and [Pg 2] Prussia resented it that American statesmen should throw the weight of their country on the side of the great military despot of his time. They wanted none of the military and naval strength of Great Britain to be diverted across the ocean. The suggestion was even made in Congress that the United States ought to declare war at the same moment on both France and England. ”

“ If she had been content to "press" men from her own merchant ships, she would not have aroused the antipathy of the Americans. To save a few hundred thousand pounds and to assert a right to claim Englishmen who had become American citizens, [Pg 4] Great Britain gave unpardonable offense to the little United States.
When the war broke out, more than 5,000 Americans had been at one time or another impressed; and 2,000 or 3,000 were actually serving on board British men-of-war till the hostilities began. Then, having been originally seized without reason, they were made prisoners of war. ”

“ This squadron consisted of three brigs, five schooners, and one sloop. On the 10th of September Perry met the British fleet with Captain Robert H. Barclay in command in the Battle of Put-in Bay. This was the great fight of Perry's life, and he fought it with skill, bravery and perseverance.
The effects of this victory were felt all over the United States. National pride was kindled and the people celebrated the victory with enthusiasm. In reward Perry was made a captain in the navy and received the thanks of Congress. ”

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“ Six years later the Erie Canal was opened to Lake Erie. The people had suffered for want of a national bank during the war: in 1816 Congress created one. Their trade had been disturbed for over twenty years: in 1816 they passed a tariff, designed to establish American manufactures. War, and especially such a disappointing war as that of 1812, has many bad effects upon a nation; but it does strengthen the feeling of a common danger and a common duty.
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE
Commodore in the United States Navy. ”

“ The Americans appear to have had heavier guns, better training in handling the guns, better marksmanship, to have been quicker and smarter.
It was the privateers that were in the long run most effective. The London Times complained toward the end of 1814 that "there are [Pg 8] privateers off this harbor which plunder every vessel coming in or going out, notwithstanding we have three line of battle, six frigates, and four sloops here." ”

“ The father of Stephen Decatur, also named Stephen, was a native of Newport, Rhode Island, and a captain in the United States navy. Stephen Decatur, Jr., was born at Sinnepuxent, Maryland, on January 5, 1779. He entered the American navy as a midshipman in 1798 on board the frigate United States. A year later he was promoted to lieutenant and in that rank saw a little service in the short war with France. ”

“ The result was that, starting with a regular army of only 7,000, which finally included about 50,000 men, 400,000 additional recruits were raised during the war. The total number of Canadians and British troops engaged in the war was not over 20,000. The Americans lost 30,000 men; and when the war was over the United States was not in possession of one foot of Canadian territory, while the British were occupying about half of the present state of Maine. ”

“ They were a strange mixture of men, including long-limbed, hard-faced backwoodsmen, Portuguese and Norwegian seamen, dark-skinned Spaniards and swarthy Frenchmen, besides about 1,000 militiamen selected from the Creoles of Louisiana. They were a rough and violent lot. Theodore Roosevelt characterizes them as: "Soldiers who, under an ordinary commander, would have been fully as dangerous to themselves and their leaders as to their foes. ”