The War of 1812 Quotes

“The threat of an uprising steadily mounted after 1805, when a Shawnee spiritual leader, Tenskwatawa (better known as the Prophet), launched a religious movement that called for rejecting of the white man’s ways.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“The Battle of Tippecanoe (1811) The other development that contributed to Anglo-American discord in 1811 was the outbreak of an Indian war in the Old Northwest. Since the Jay Treaty, British officials had walked a fine line with their native allies, whom they called “Nitchies” (a corruption of the Ojibway/Chippewa word “Niigii,” which means “friend” or “comrade”).”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“of an Indian war in the Old Northwest. Since the Jay Treaty, British officials had walked a fine line with their native allies, whom they called “Nitchies” (a corruption of the Ojibway/Chippewa word “Niigii,” which”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“Secretary of the treasury Albert Gallatin is accused of treason by war enthusiasts merely for suggesting budget adjustments to pay for war measures.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict

“Initial uniformity can be deceiving, warns the author, because parties arrive at that state from so many different motives which will be exposed over time.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict

“Andrew Jackson, on the other hand, later said that if he had been stationed in New England, he would have court-martialed the “monarchists & Traitors” who were behind the Hartford Convention.172 Given his record in the Southwest and later in Spanish Florida, this was probably no idle boast.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“To deal with unconstitutional measures for filling the ranks of the army and navy, the report recommended nullification, asserting that it was the right and the duty of a state “to interpose its authority” to protect its citizens.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“His troops routed the militia and gained possession of the American guns, one of which was a brass howitzer that carried the inscription “taken at the surrender of York town 1781.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“Far more demoralizing to Americans than British operations in New England was their invasion of the Chesapeake. In 1814 London officials ordered Major General Robert Ross “to effect a diversion on the coasts of the United States of America in favor of the army employed in the defence of Upper and Lower Canada.” At the same time, Prevost, who was angry over the burning of Dover and other depredations in Upper Canada, asked Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane to “assist in inflicting that measure of retaliation which shall deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages.”104 The British had successfully targeted the Chesapeake in 1813, and both Ross and Cochrane regarded it the best place to achieve their goals in 1814. The bay’s extensive shoreline remained exposed, and the region’s two most important cities—Washington and Baltimore—offered inviting targets.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“The British Blockade the Atlantic Coast Warren had already established a blockade from Charleston, South Carolina, to Spanish Florida in the fall of 1812.156 With his enlarged fleet, he extended this blockade in early 1813 to the Chesapeake and Delaware bays and then to other ports and harbors in the middle and southern states. Thus by November 1813, the entire coast south of New England was under blockade. Warren exempted New England, both to reward her for opposing the war and to keep up the flow of provisions to Canada and the British West Indies.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“The Battle of the Thames (known as the Battle of Moraviantown in Canada) was a great victory for the United States. Although the casualties on both sides were light, close to 600 British soldiers were captured. The Americans also captured a large quantity of war material, including a cannon that had been taken at Saratoga in 1777 and then lost by Hull in 1812.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“The American navy captured fifty merchantmen, but the real damage to British commerce in 1812 was done by what one Republican called “our cheapest & best Navy”—American privateers.181 Congress laid down the rules for privateering a week after the declaration of war, and several days later the administration began issuing commissions.182 The first privateers were small pilot boats armed with one large center-pivot gun, called a “Long Tom,” and carrying fifty or sixty men armed with assorted small arms: muskets, sabers, boarding pikes, and the like. According to one privateer captain, this “was quite enough to capture almost any British merchantman, at this stage of the war.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition

“Although Congress outlawed whipping in 1812, army officers had other means of maintaining discipline. Deprivation of pay or spirits, public penance, and paddling as well as other corporal punishments were common. In more serious cases, the offender might be branded on the face, his ears might be cropped, or he might be executed.”
― Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition