War of 1812, Part 11: Americans Seize the Offensive

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

In the spring of 1814, Napoleon fell from power and British troops that had been fighting him were now freed up to fight the United States. Secretary of War John Armstrong knew he had to strike before these troops arrived and ordered an invasion of the Niagara Peninsula. Armstrong selected General Jacob Brown to lead this effort. Although Brown’s military experience was limited, he had shown excellent fighting qualities in the defense of Sackett’s Harbor the previous year. Brown's army consisted of 3,500 men and would prove to be a formidable fighting unit, while the British had 4,000 men led by General Phineas Riall, but they were thinly spread across the Niagara frontier.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses what happened during the War of 1812 when the Americans went on the offensive, and why it still matters today. 

 

Images courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Institution, Naval History and Heritage Command, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, World History Encyclopedia, Library of Congress, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brown University Library, Government of Canada, Wikimedia. 

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While General Henry Dearborn was trying to make headway along the Niagara front, the British were busy launching an offensive of their own against Sackett’s Harbor. This was not the first British attack on the American outpost, as the previous summer, on July 19, a British fleet had attempted to destroy Sackett’s Harbor’s critical navy yard, but the British were repulsed in that attack which marked the first armed engagement in the War of 1812.

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In early May 1813, Commodore Isaac Chauncey loaded General Henry Dearborn’s army onto his waiting ships and sailed back across Lake Ontario for the second phase of Dearborn’s campaign, the capture of Fort George. Between the men stationed at Fort Niagara and Dearborn’s contingent, the American force consisted of roughly 4,000 men, with command of the army falling to 26-year-old Colonel Winfield Scott, destined to be one of the great military commanders in American history.

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Tom Hand
Next

War of 1812, Part 10: The Battle of Sackett’s Harbor