War of 1812, Part 32: Washington in Chaos

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

On August 18, 1814, a messenger arrived at the President’s House with news that the British were in the Patuxent River, fifty miles from Washington. As conflicting scouting reports filtered in, chaos reigned supreme in the capital. President James Madison ordered the militia to assemble but few responded to the call; Secretary of War John Armstrong continued to insist that Baltimore was the target; General William Winder, district commander, realized he was not up to the task and that the 15,000-man army he had been promised was no more than a dream. Secretary of State James Monroe rode to the front to scout out the British invaders. The next day, 4,500 Redcoats disembarked unopposed at the town of Benedict. While the British fleet under Admiral George Cockburn moved up the river in search of Commodore Joshua Barney and his flotilla of American gunboats, the British army under General Robert Ross marched on a road parallel to the river. 

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the chaotic response of the Madison administration led to the British march on Washington and why it still matters today. 

 

Images courtesy of Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command, Wikimedia. 

RELATED ARTICLES
War of 1812, Part 32: Washington in Chaos
War of 1812, Part 32: Washington in Chaos

On August 17, the British flotilla ordered to Chesapeake Bay arrived off the mouth of the Patuxent River, fifty miles from Washington. With Congress adjourned and most of the well-to-do citizens away from the city to escape the smothering heat wave, there was little activity in the capital. Unfortunately, that lack of activity also extended to those responsible for defending Washington. But all that changed the next day when a messenger arrived with the long-dreaded news that the British invasion force was at hand.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 31: British Set Their Sights on Washington
War of 1812, Part 31: British Set Their Sights on Washington

The grand strategic plan of the British in 1814 was to attack up the Lake Champlain corridor and drive deep into New York State, splitting New England off from the rest of the country, a plan similar to the one they had envisioned during the American Revolution. Accordingly, 15,000 men were dispatched to the Canadian front, and, to distract the Americans and force them to divide their meager resources, the British also decided to make a diversionary movement in the Chesapeake Bay, and it was to that part of the country that a British fleet proceeded in early August.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 30: The Battle of Craney Island
War of 1812, Part 30: The Battle of Craney Island

In the spring of 1813, the British Admiralty initiated a push to wreak havoc in the Chesapeake Bay and gave command of an expedition to Admiral John Warren. Cautious by nature, Warren would prove to be a poor choice, but his second-in-command was a tough sailor named George Cockburn, a Royal Navy Captain who first entered the service at the age of nine and would eventually rise to be the First Sea Lord, the highest-ranking officer in the Royal Navy. More importantly, Cockburn was a man who relished the chance to chastise the Americans.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 29: American Prisoners of War
War of 1812, Part 29: American Prisoners of War

In 1812, President James Madison asked Congress to declare war on Great Britain over two maritime offenses that the American people found unacceptable: greatly restricted American commercial traffic and the impressment of our sailors. And around these transgressions was created a slogan that aptly summed up American demands, “Free Trade and Sailors Rights.” While the odious Orders in Council that restricted our trade were repealed a few days before war was declared by the United States, Great Britain steadfastly maintained its ancient right to impress any sailor who was a British citizen into its national navy.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 28: Privateers Take on the British
War of 1812, Part 28: Privateers Take on the British

The British blockade of the United States during the War of 1812 was both suffocating and irresistible, and the great preponderance of Royal Navy ships relative to American fighting vessels left America with few offensive options with which to strike back at the British. Although our frigates and other warships had been victorious in several single-ship combats in 1812, by the summer of 1814 nearly all had been captured or were blockaded within ports along the Atlantic Coast. But there was one offensive operation that the Americans pursued masterfully, and that was their broad attack on British commerce.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 27: United States Suffers Under British Blockade
War of 1812, Part 27: United States Suffers Under British Blockade

With Napoleon's abdication on April 6, 1814, not only was the British Army freed up to go to North America, but so too was the Royal Navy, which had been blockading much of the European coast for nearly a decade. But now that their main adversary had been vanquished, British warships were on their way to enforce a strict blockade of the American coastline and finally teach the upstart “Yankees” a lesson.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 26: The Battle of Valparaiso
War of 1812, Part 26: The Battle of Valparaiso

Following a summer during which Captain David Porter and USS Essex captured a dozen British whaling ships in the eastern Pacific, Porter sailed west to continue his work destroying British commerce. Additionally, Essex had been at sea for nearly a year and needed caulking, and her copper bottom was wearing off and required repairs. Perhaps more importantly, the ship's hold was infested with rats, who destroyed the provisions, and Essex could not remain at sea much longer unless the rats were smoked out.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 25: The Cruise of USS Essex
War of 1812, Part 25: The Cruise of USS Essex

The longest cruise of a United States Navy ship during the War of 1812 and the one most financially damaging to the British occurred in the Pacific Ocean. It was the result of a bold captain who saw the opportunity to strike at the heart of the British whaling industry and, by doing so, harm the British economy and help drive Great Britain to the bargaining table.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 24: Don’t Give Up the Ship
War of 1812, Part 24: Don’t Give Up the Ship

There were many memorable battles during the War of 1812 that have become part of the American legend; Perry's great naval victory on Lake Erie and Jackson's coup de grace at the Battle of New Orleans immediately come to mind. But one of the more compelling stories of the war was an engagement between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon, a single-ship duel fought roughly twenty miles northeast of Boston near Cape Ann in the late spring of 1813. Known as the Battle of Boston Harbor, it was fought by two courageous Captains with a spirit of chivalry for the glory of their country.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 23: USS Wasp and Hornet Sting British
War of 1812, Part 23: USS Wasp and Hornet Sting British

Besides the much-heralded frigates, of which the United States Navy was justifiably proud, there were eight smaller vessels that also contributed to the growing respect for our country’s Navy. These were sloops-of-war and roughly half the size of frigates, carrying eighteen to twenty guns and about one hundred thirty sailors. Like their larger brothers, they too went to sea as soon as war was declared on Great Britain and, in the first six months of the year, recorded two notable victories.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 22: American Frigates Shock British
War of 1812, Part 22: American Frigates Shock British

At the start of the War of 1812, there was little confidence outside American naval circles that the United States Navy could hold its own against Great Britain’s vaunted fleet. Politicians both within and without the Madison administration fully recognized that woeful defense funding practices for the previous twelve years had left the navy in a disreputable state. But the next six months would demonstrate that ship for ship and man for man, American sailors were more than a match for the Brits.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 21: The Great Naval Chase of 1812
War of 1812, Part 21: The Great Naval Chase of 1812

When the United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812, the nation's army was woefully unprepared for the conflict, and its navy was not much better off. This deficiency would have been a problem against any European nation, but especially when the adversary was the greatest naval force in the world. And to compound matters, the United States was dependent on overseas trade for its economic prosperity and many of its manufactured goods, and those sea lanes were controlled by our newly declared adversary.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 20: The U.S. Navy Comes of Age
War of 1812, Part 20: The U.S. Navy Comes of Age

One generation after John Paul Jones and the Continental Navy first went to sea, several great American naval Captains who would fight so capably in the War of 1812 came of age in two important but little-known conflicts, the Quasi-War and the Barbary War. The real-world training our seafaring men received in these wars was instrumental in honing their skills and allowed them to compete favorably with the Royal Navy on an element that the British had come to dominate.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 19: The Origins of the United States Navy
War of 1812, Part 19: The Origins of the United States Navy

The United States Navy that performed so well in the War of 1812 can trace its roots to October 13, 1775, for on that memorable day the Continental Congress passed a resolution that created the Continental Navy. This law authorized the purchase of two merchant vessels to be converted into warships, the first of which was USS Alfred, commissioned on December 3, and named after the 9th-century English monarch Alfred the Great. Then, on December 22, Commodore Esek Hopkins stood on the deck of Alfred as Lieutenant John Paul Jones ran up the Grand Union flag, and the U.S. Navy went to sea.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 18: Macdonough Triumphant on Lake Champlain
War of 1812, Part 18: Macdonough Triumphant on Lake Champlain

Besides the pending land battle at Plattsburgh, there was a naval battle to be fought for the control of Lake Champlain, the two-hundred-mile waterway that had served as the main invasion route for American, British, and French troops since the 1750s. In many ways, the naval contest was more critical than the land battle, for without control of the lake, invading armies could not be resupplied given the dearth of roads in that part of the country.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 17: British Invade the North
War of 1812, Part 17: British Invade the North

With the collapse of Napoleon’s empire in the spring of 1814, Great Britain was able to finally focus its attention on the American army. From April to December 1814, the British sent thirty-three infantry battalions, ten artillery companies, and one cavalry regiment, roughly 28,000 veteran troops, to North America. Of these, roughly one quarter were sent to Lower Canada to augment the sizable forces already in that area with the intention of invading up the Lake Champlain corridor and punishing the United States for initiating a war Great Britain never wanted to fight.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 16: Battle of the Chateaugay
War of 1812, Part 16: Battle of the Chateaugay

When Secretary of War John Armstrong moved General Henry Dearborn from his command of the northern army to a desk position in New York and replaced him with General James Wilkinson, Armstrong also needed to find a new Major General to take over the command at Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain. Armstrong's choice for this position was Wade Hampton I, an interesting choice in that Hampton was the avowed enemy of Wilkinson, and yet the two generals would have to work hand in hand for the campaign to be successful. The results of the campaign would prove the folly of Armstrong’s choice of commanders.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 15: Battle of Crysler’s Farm
War of 1812, Part 15: Battle of Crysler’s Farm

The American flotilla of 300 boats conveying General James Wilkinson’s army to Montreal entered the St. Lawrence River on November 5, 1813, but the British were not idle and immediately began to harass the Americans on both land and sea. British Captain William Mulcaster had pierced Commodore Isaac Chauncey’s blockade of Kingston with several gunboats and proceeded to snipe at the rear guard of the American contingent from the river. At the same time, six hundred British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison marched down the north shore of the St. Lawrence to further annoy the Americans with musketry and cannon shot from the banks.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 14: Command Issues in the American Army
War of 1812, Part 14: Command Issues in the American Army

Major General Henry Dearborn was tasked by President James Madison with conducting the right wing of the American invasion of Canada. The objective of this thrust was to capture Montreal and close off the Saint Lawrence River, thereby severing the British supply line to Upper Canada. This responsibility would have been formidable for any commander, but it was especially so for a General in his sixty-second year and in poor health who had not seen active military service since the American Revolution.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 13: British Retake the Niagara
War of 1812, Part 13: British Retake the Niagara

On July 3, 1814, the American army under General Jacob Brown had invaded Canada, marking the third straight year that American forces tried to gain a foothold on Canadian soil along the Niagara frontier. But following a resounding American victory on July 5 in the Battle of Chippawa and a bloody stalemate at Lundy’s Lane three weeks later, the American army was in no condition to renew the fight and had withdrawn back to Fort Erie.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 12: The Battle of Lundy’s Lane
War of 1812, Part 12: The Battle of Lundy’s Lane

A few days after the resounding American victory at Chippawa, General Phineas Riall moved the British Army north along the Niagara River to Fort George and began to gather a force adequate to strike the Americans and push them from Canadian soil. The American commander, General Jacob Brown, meanwhile was imploring Commodore Isaac Chauncey, commander of the Lake Ontario fleet, to come to his assistance and help drive the British from the Niagara peninsula. But as was often the case, the Army and Navy did not see eye to eye on the matter and that would cause a problem in the days ahead.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 11: Americans Seize the Offensive
War of 1812, Part 11: Americans Seize the Offensive

On March 31, 1814, the allied armies marched into Paris and with that came the collapse of Napoleon's empire. That was good news for Europe who had been fighting French armies for more than two decades, but it was bad news for the United States as with Napoleon's demise, Wellington’s veteran British regiments would now be freed up to fight in North America, and by mid-summer, four brigades of Wellington's best troops sailed from Bordeaux for Canada.

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

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.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 9: An Opportunity Lost for the Americans
War of 1812, Part 9: An Opportunity Lost for the Americans

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.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 8: Americans Burn a Capital
War of 1812, Part 8: Americans Burn a Capital

The man to whom President James Madison and Secretary of War William Eustis gave command of the overall war effort for the War of 1812 was Henry Dearborn from New Hampshire. In addition to the overall command, Dearborn was assigned the right wing of the three-pronged American attack into Canada, up the Lake Champlain corridor to the St. Lawrence River and then onward to Montreal. Arguably, this invasion sector was the most critical, as the St. Lawrence represented the only means of communication between Lower Canada and Upper Canada.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 7: Disaster at Queenston Heights
War of 1812, Part 7: Disaster at Queenston Heights

The center thrust of the three-prong American advance into Canada was along the Niagara River frontier. This thirty-five-mile stretch was the most contested piece of real estate during the War of 1812 and would change hands several times over the course of the war. Secretary of War William Eustis entrusted the command of this sector to Stephen van Rensselaer.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 6: The Battle of the Thames
War of 1812, Part 6: The Battle of the Thames

On September 12, 1813, General William Henry Harrison received word of Captain Oliver Hazard Perry's great victory on Lake Erie two days before. Recognizing that the Navy had done their part and cleared the lake of British warships, Harrison knew the time had finally come for the invasion of Upper Canada, and the General immediately put the wheels in motion to strike the British while he held the advantage.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 5: We Have Met the Enemy
War of 1812, Part 5: We Have Met the Enemy

The key to controlling Upper Canada in the War of 1812 was gaining naval mastery of the Great Lakes, especially Lakes Erie and Ontario. Given the lack of adequate roads in that area, neither side could hope to sustain an army of any size in the field without the ability to deliver supplies and reinforcements via these lakes. As 1813 opened, the British were in firm control of both and, despite the clamor of the Madison administration and Americans living west of the Appalachians to invade Canada, General William Henry Harrison, commander of the western army, was painfully aware that he must wait for a situational change on Lake Erie before beginning his advance.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 4: British Invade Ohio
War of 1812, Part 4: British Invade Ohio

Following the American disaster at Frenchtown, General William Henry Harrison gathered another force to turn the tide in the West. On February 1, 1813, Harrison returned to the rapids of the Maumee with 1,800 Pennsylvania and Virginia militiamen and tasked Major Eleazer D. Wood of the Engineers, an early graduate of West Point, to construct Fort Meigs. Wood finished the fort by the end of the month, but unfortunately the enlistments of most of the men expired at the same time and Harrison was left with a formidable fort but a garrison of less than 500 soldiers.

Read more →
War of 1812, Part 3: Debacle on the River Raisin
War of 1812, Part 3: Debacle on the River Raisin

Following General William Hull’s ignominious surrender of Fort Detroit, the outlook for the United States in Upper Canada was bleak. The western army essentially had been eliminated with Hull’s surrender, and a new army had to be raised. But perhaps more importantly, a new commander had to be found, and that man would be William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory and acclaimed in the West as the hero of Tippecanoe.

Read more →
Tom Hand
Next

War of 1812, Part 31: British Set Their Sights on Washington