Our Final War for Independence
“The War of Revolution is won, but the War for Independence is yet to be fought" - Benjamin Franklin
One major struggle 214 years ago passed into the history books as something we’d rather forget than celebrate. It was sparked by acts of piracy on the high seas committed against American vessels, stripped of their cargoes and in many cases their sailors, some forced into servitude in the British Navy. When the USS Chesapeake was fired upon off the coast of Virginia, four men taken against their will, Congress called for action. After much debate, on June 18th, President James Madison signed the paperwork. The War of 1812 had begun.
As Britain purchased 80 per cent of our cotton and 50 per cent of all other U.S. exports, declaring war was a move many businessmen were strongly against. The American Navy was miniscule, facing a nation whose seagoing arsenal was 65 times larger. The Army was unimpressive, relying mostly on state militias. David versus Goliath? This was it.
The early results were not good. Fort Detroit was overwhelmed by the British; American troops evacuating Fort Dearborn were slaughtered by local Indians supporting English troops. An attempt by the Americans to retake Detroit ended in disaster, as did an attack led by explorer Zebulon Pike on York, the capital of Upper Canada.
Despite disappointments with the Army, America found success in an unlikely place- on the water. With nearby sources of oak, pine and spruce available, shipyards from Boston to Baltimore produced sturdy vessels which proved themselves outstanding in combat. Fells Point, Maryland was one area that spawned the swift-sailing clipper ships that successfully challenged British hegemony on the high seas.
Delivering our first naval triumph in the War of 1812 was Captain Isaac Hull commanding the frigate Constitution. Approaching the British warship Guerriere, Hull ordered a devastating broadside. Although the Guerriere got off several cannon shots, the sturdy construction of the Constitution caused the balls to literally bounce off its heavily reinforced bow, giving rise to shouts, “Her sides are made of iron!” With this victory, the Constitution became known as “Old Ironsides.” Americans had several naval successes. Commodore Oliver Perry’s victory on Lake Erie against a large flotilla turned the tide in the northern territories. His yell, “We have met the enemy and they are ours!” became ingrained in American consciousness.
The British knew the Chesapeake Bay was a lifeline of food and commerce. With that in mind, on August 24th, 1814, 2,600 British landed near Bladensburg, Maryland, overwhelming an enemy group more than twice their size. Americans were about to experience the horrors of war as they’d never seen before. The British entered Washington and set fire to the U.S. Capitol Building, the Treasury Department, the Library of Congress, the War Office and other facilities. President Madison fled into the countryside. His wife Dolley had servants remove the portrait of George Washington from the wall before enemy troops could steal it. Yet English officers entered the White House, ransacked the place and torched the structure, toasting to their victory as the metropolis burned. A low point for America.
It seemed only an act of God could save the city and its inhabitants. He must have heard their calls. The area received a drenching rain, extinguishing the blaze, but the British then had a new target: Baltimore and the Fells Point shipyards nearby. U.S. Major George Armistead was the commanding officer at Fort McHenry. He wanted a nice flag for the Fort, saying, “It is my desire to have a flag so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance…”
Mary Pickersgill, a “maker of colors” got the job, producing an enormous garrison flag measuring 30 by 42 feet. After the destruction of Washington, Armistead knew his stronghold would be next. The bombardment of Fort McHenry began early in the morning of September 13th, warships hurling more than 2,000 cannonballs at the citadel. Being held captive on a British ship nearby was Francis Scott Key, taking notes about the battle. For 25 straight hours the offensive continued, bombs exploding all around the Fort, but only about one-quarter of them reached their target. After expending thousands of rounds of ordinance to limited effect, the British withdrew. As they cruised away, one sailor noted in his diary that the Americans, “hoisted a splendid and superb ensign on their battery…” That flag would become the most celebrated symbol in American history.
Deeply moved at the sight of Fort McHenry’s survival, Key penned his famous poem. It was originally titled Defense of Fort McHenry. A few weeks after the battle, a local actor sang Key’s poem in public for the first time, calling it The Star-Spangled Banner. During the Civil War, The Star-Spangled Banner became a fight song for Union troops rallying around the flag. The U.S. Naval Academy adopted the poem as its anthem in 1889. In the following decades, the two together became endeared in the hearts and minds of Americans. Following an intense lobbying effort by civic and Veterans groups, President Hoover signed legislation denoting The Star-Spangled Banner as our National Anthem in 1931. The unbreakable bond between the two was complete. The song that inspired a nation and the flag that inspired the song were now inseparable. Today the banner has its own room at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Lessons of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was our first real test as a unified republic. Before it, we were a rag-tag collection of states; afterwards we’d again proved ourselves against the most formidable country on Earth. We emerged a budding economic and military powerhouse- and never looked back. President James Monroe later established the ‘Monroe Doctrine’- “hands-off” by foreign powers in the western hemisphere. Perhaps the most important thing that emerged was a new maxim: don’t bet against America.
