The War of 1812: Part 3 - Back to Normal

With Brock's death, Tecumseh's dream of a native state largely went with him. Brock was ever the supporter of Tecumseh, both having a mutual respect through the fact that both men were, objectively speaking, awesome. However, without Brock in his corner, he lacked the cohesion he once had with the British forces.

Some time after Brock's death, a fierce battle raged between River Raisin and Frenchtown, a Canadian settlement. After a number of skirmishes back and forth, the Canadian forces (along with their native allies) retaliated and defeated the American force. They killed many Americans, some of which were surrendering. Worried about the consequences of staying too long and having American reinforcements turn the tide, the British retreated. With them, they took any able bodied prisoners and left the wounded, unable to bring them along. The native force, however, stayed behind and massacred the remaining Americans, leaving severed heads on sticks as a warning. This served to fuel resentment (and recruitment) for the Americans, furious at the treatment of their wounded. 

Afterwards, the American forces settled themselves and pressed forwards towards a new land, in Fort Meigs. If they succeeded in holding the fort and repelling any assaults in the times ahead, it would serve as a landing point to attack Upper Canada. Therefore, Tecumseh and the British knew that taking the fort, and quickly, would be of the utmost importance. Over two thousand were part of the assault, and... well, it started OK. Tecumseh brilliantly lured out a  large number of Americans under a false retreat, making the soldiers believe they were poorly prepared. The result was a large scale capture. A number of native warriors, with the British sitting idly by, began killing some of the prisoners. Fortunately, Tecumseh, ever the high-moraled hero, returned and put a stop to it. He did this with many of the warriors not speaking the same language as him - bear in mind they came from a number of tribes - making the feat all the more impressive. The British likely pulled on their collars a little and felt a wee bit embarrassed.

Fort Meigs reenactors firing time appropriate
muskets. The Americans in the background
are so comfortable with guns they declined to turn
around.

In the end it wasn't enough. The fight resulted in an American victory, pushing back the Canadians 'n' Friends contingents. They tried again - and failed. Then they tried taking a smaller position and failed there as well, which is kind of like flunking out of university, going to community college, and picking up a C-. Worse yet, they followed up with losing a major naval battle at Lake Erie (which equates to losing your job at Safeway after your failed stints at post secondary, if we're continuing with the metaphor). The failures caused the British commander, Henry Proctor, to panic and plan a hasty retreat. Proctor had such a terrible run that his wikipedia states he's "best known as the commander who was decisively defeated in 1813 by the Americans and left western Ontario in American hands." Poor Proctor. As inconsequential as my life may be, at least I don't have a wikipedia entry dedicated to how bad I suck. And it only gets worse. Tecumseh got word of this proposed retreat (Proctor didn't tell him) and Tecumseh began shaming him in front of the rest of his officers and officials. He compared him to a "fat animal, that carries its tail upon its back, but when affrighted, it drops between its legs, and runs off." It was the early 1800s equivalent of a mic drop. To further press the point, Tecumseh highlighted his own fearless nature, claiming he was "determined to defend our lands, and if it is his [the Great Spirit's] will, we wish to leave our bones upon them."

Sadly for Tecumseh, he got his wish. Sorely disappointed by the preparations Proctor had made in preparing to defend against the Americans, he fought on anyways. He was soon killed in battle, dying the way he lived; fiercely fighting for his cause, he himself a rallying cry for all the native tribes he had under his command. Unfortunately, he was so integral to holding them all together his death dealt a massive blow to the Native Confederacy, effectively ending the hope of native territory in the Ohio area.

The war, however, wasn't over. With Fort Meigs defended the U.S. was free to make their push into Canada. The Americans moved to attack the critical point of Montreal in the predominantly French Lower Canada. The attack there would cut off the St. Lawrence River, and without that Canada would be thrown into disarray. The defense of Montreal was absolutely critical to success, and both sides amped up the numbers of military forces. The Americans planned to attack with Major General Wade Hampton at the helm, with a pincer movement by General James Wilkinson attacking from the south. Hampton began the assault with attacking a defensive position he believed was only sparsely defended. While attempting to sneak up in the dead of night, they got lost in the trees and came out in broad daylight. The resulting attack hardly made a dent, and they retreated with many casualties and an equal amount of shame due to losing a battle on the grounds of getting lost in the woods. Better yet for Canada, it showed that the French would not only stand with them, but would hold their own. Wilkinson, not getting word of this, attacked a short time later and found no support when he had planned to have a flanking American fighting force. They bid a retreat, burning villages along the way, and the Canadians followed in pursuit.

This depiction of the death of Tecumseh was later used as the
Facebook cover art of the American generals. It averaged eight 'likes'.

With the Americans defeated in their advances into Canadian territory, the British entered into negotiations. Hoping to win some favour in the proceedings, they hoped to put the Americans on their heels and attacked into their territory. In the summer of 1814 they made their way into Chesapeake Bay, and found themselves with two options - meaning the Americans had to defend two routes. One, they could take the large and important city of Baltimore, or they could move on Washington and get revenge for York. They chose the later, and while there were American defenses along the way they couldn't hold off the powerful Canadian advance (you don't hear that often anymore except for perhaps from a hockey announcer with a flair for grandiose language). They set fire to the White House and other government buildings along the way, as an eye for an eye sounds a whole lot better than an eye for a diplomatic negotiations to be held in response. 

That was, however, the last major success of the campaign. They moved on Baltimore, but upon the death of their general, the advance slowed and the city held. From there, the States' national anthem was born out of the fighting, so... you're welcome, America.

This British military leader was named - and
I'm not joking here - Manley Power.
His name was Manley Power! How did
the British not win the war instantly?
He was even knighted, making him Sir
Manley Power!

The Americans continued their victories at Lake Champlain where Prevost, outnumbering his opponents, lost due to bad decision making and military tactics. Prevost was later court martialed, but died ten days before it occurred which saved him the humiliation. This helped the Americans in their negotiations greatly, with the British realizing that the shoddy tactics and poorly trained soldiers of the Americans was a thing of the past. They found their way as the war progressed, and became a honed, successful fighting force where once the British were defeating them, outnumbered, with fair frequency.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed shortly after. The boundaries between the two countries effectively didn't change. Impressment stayed (although was not as necessary due to Napoleon's war ending). The British gave up on the idea of a native state. After all the war, the bloodshed, the taking of territories and the burnings of towns and villages and government buildings, the two sides pretty well broke even and packed their bags. That is, of course, except for the natives - they got the short end of the stick. America was free to take their lands, and no territory was really anything they could call home. After all of this, pretty much nothing changed.

Oh, and one more thing happened. 

While I'm confused as to how or why this occurred (perhaps they didn't get the memo? maybe we can blame a lack of email?) the British attacked New Orleans after the treaty was signed. The casualties were about as one-sided as you would imagine; about twenty to one. It was a disastrous, shameful defeat - and one that occurred when all was said and done anyways. So if you're wondering why the Americans so strongly believe they won 1812, you're looking at it. A decisive win in a pointless battle.

______________

The information for this blog was taken from the book Tecumseh and Brock: The War of 1812 by James Laxer. It's a fairly quick read and covers what you want to know. If you're interested in 1812 and this blog series just didn't do it for you, give it a go.