The War of 1812

Osprey Essential Histories #41

by Carl Benn

The War of 1812-1815 was a bloody confrontation that tore through the American frontier, the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada, and parts of the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The conflict saw British, American, and First Nations' forces clash, and in the process, shape the future of North American history. This exciting new volume explains what led to America's decision to take up arms against Great Britain and assesses the three terrible years of fighting that followed on land and sea, where battles such as Lake Erie and Lake Champlain launched American naval traditions.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, American History, Canada, British Literature, American

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2002

About the author

Dr Carl Benn has been a member of the Department of History at Ryerson University in Toronto since 2008, where he teaches native-newcomer relations, material culture, and museum studies. Previously, he worked in the museum field for 34 years, latterly as Chief Curator of the City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services, where he fulfilled senior curatorial and managerial duties, restored historical properties, curated exhibits, and produced other public resources. During that time he also taught part-time at the University of Toronto in undergraduate History and graduate Museum Studies. His books include: Historic Fort York (1993); The Iroquois in the War of 1812 (1998); The War of 1812 (2002); Mohawks on the Nile (2008); Native Memoirs from the War of 1812: Black Hawk and William Apess (2014), and the forthcoming A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812: John Norton – Teyoninhokarawen (2018). His currently is undertaking research for a book on the history of the Royal Ontario Museum. He also has published extensively in journals, online, and in other venues, and has provided historical and curatorial consulting services to First Nations communities, governmental agencies, and other clients in Canada and the United States.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent, short history of the war by a Canadian historian is fair and even-handed. It provides a long overdue corrective to the jingoistic and deluded American perspective on this conflict that is pervasive in our popular and even academic histories. Having grown up with these stories and interpretations this book was an eye-opener.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember when South Vietnam fell in 1975, a lot of my schoolmates referring to that event as America's first military defeat. I would immediately bring up the War of 1812, as I was deeply into Napoleonic warfare at the time, to disabuse them of this canard. Then, when I went to school in Canada a few years later, I learned who did win the war, as it is one of the real creation events for that Nation. In this book for the Osprey Essential Histories series. Carl Benn, a Canadian historian with a focus on North American history and foreign relations takes us through the war from start to finish, showing us causes, battles, and impacts from a war between a nascent US, a British Empire totally involved in an existential struggle with Napoleonic Imperial France, and Native American/First Nations Indigenous North Americans. It's a compelling story- the first US military test since the American War of Independence in 1783.

Today, most Americans think they won, because of a catchy song about a battle fought after the two sides had already signed a peace treaty in Belgium. Other than that, the war is largely forgotten. In Canada, the war is seen as the beginning of a real Canadian nationalism, as Canadians both Francophone and Anglophone united to resist US Invasions. Most Britons don't recall this war AT ALL- as it is obviously blotted out by the massive epic scale of the Napoleonic Wars that happened concurrently, making the North American Theatre of war seem like an after thought. The South American revolts against Spain is this period also are more famous as conflicts. And if the winner of the war might be obscured by time and national myth, the sure losers were to be the Indigenous tribes of North America- on both sides of the border. Once finished fighting each other- the two pioneer and settler entities went back to exploiting the natural resources and displacing those whose land contained them.

There are some adult themes, mostly political and exploitation, but no graphic injury passages, so this a good book for the Junior Reader over 10/11 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, its a mixed bag. No one battle is covered in detail, so this book is more on background for the Gamer- allowing the reader to pick battles, campaigns and factions. For the Modeler, also more background as the classic Osprey style with pics/drawings/paintings and maps all throughout are good- but probably not enough for full build/diorama options. For the Military Enthusiast having a little known war with some subtleties to it explained in an efficient manner is a good thing. I think the general audience reader will appreciate the fast factual delivery and the quick analyses as well.

[Lucius18 H · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and sweet

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author does a pretty good job on the War of 1812 (only in the battles he found important) - - but he skipped too much - which really annoyed me. There's one illustration of the Star Spangled Banner with a brief description - but the story of what happened to Francis Scott Key and what inspired him to write what would be the National Anthem is not written in the normal text of the book. The pirate Lafitte? No mention at all. The Battle of New Orleans? Barely touched. The British attempt to invade New York? Nothing!!!

I did detect an obvious bias in the stories - and later noticed that the author is Canadian - which is fine - but I wanted to read perspectives of all four participants (Canadian, British, American and Indian). Unfortunately - you'll read the stories of a Canadian priest and a Sauk Indian - - both of whom were on the British side. No perspective or story from the American side. It would have been nice to even read a little about a Brit's point of view, too. That really disappointed me - because there was much drama on the American and British side - especially during the invasion/burning of Washington, the bombing of Ft. McHenry and the Battle of New Orleans. It's still a good book overall (if you're Canadian) - but very incomplete and one-sided.

[Declan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

The War of 1812, declared by USA on Britain (or it's Canadian terrortories) is not one I knew much about, being much more interested in the larger, and closer, conflicts of the Napoleonic era in Europe which occured at the same time.

However it was very interested to read what was happening on the other side of hte Atlantic at the same time and declaration of war just before a presidential election to get re-elected... would never happen today!

Perhaps the most striking element is the complete lack of preparation for an invasion by the US military and politicians which provided the Canadian and British forces time to not only prepare a defense, but also strike back. Before settling back to peace in 1815 with no changes in land or ownership. Like many wars, utterly fruitless - but a good example of the success that can be had if you fight a defensive war.

[spike marlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good overview of the War of 1812 in crisp succinct language. The only complaint I have is in the section "Perceptions of Victory". There is no perceptions of victory from the Canadian point of view. The myth in Canada is that Canadian settles defeated the US on there own. Unbeknownst to them the Canadians had tremendous help from the First Nations and the British regular army.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief but still good overview of the war, covering the major campaigns and theaters. There are some good theater level maps showing the locations of battles but no maps for individual battles. There are also two and a half pages of suggestions for further reading.

[Jaap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent high-level overview of the conflict. It doesn't promise depth and does not deliver depth, but if you know little to nothing (like I do) it is a nice starter-for-10.