Lambert asked for an armistice to remove the wounded and bury the dead, and Jackson agreed. The British hastily interred their dead in common graves. “The bodies [were] hurled in as fast as we could bring them,” recalled an officer.221 Pakenham’s body was shipped to England for burial. “Our lamented General’s remains,” said a fellow officer, “were put in a cask of spirits and taken home by his Military Secretary.”222 Although Cochrane apparently urged Lambert to renew the attack, the British general refused, convinced that this would only lead to more slaughter. The battle was therefore over.223
The battle on January 8, 1815—which was the Battle of New Orleans—was the most lopsided engagement of the war. The British lost over 2,000 men (including close to 500 captured). The United States, by contrast, lost only about seventy men, and only thirteen on Jackson’s side of the river.224 “The vast disparity of loss,” said the National Intelligencer, “would stagger credulity itself, were it not confirmed by a whole army of witnesses.”225 During the major engagements in the New Orleans campaign—from December 23 to January 8—the British lost 400 killed, 1,500 wounded, and 550 missing or captured—a total of 2,450 men. The United States, by contrast, suffered only 50 killed, 200 wounded, and 100 missing or captured, for a total loss of 350 men.226
The British held their positions for another ten days, and additional skirmishing occasionally took place. Cochrane also brought his fleet into action by sending a squadron of ships up the Mississippi to bombard Fort St. Philip, which was located sixty-five miles downriver from New Orleans. The British reportedly spent 70 tons of shells and 20,000 pounds of powder in the ten-day assault but failed to batter the fort into submission.227 This was the last battle in the series of engagements around New Orleans. When the British withdrew from the area, they carried off some runaway slaves but left behind eighty seriously wounded soldiers and a large quantity of war material.228
Jackson’s Iron Grip
Jackson realized that the British attack was over but was reluctant to loosen his grip on the Crescent City.229 This exasperated local residents. In late December Jackson had heard that the Louisiana legislature was considering capitulation. Although skeptical of the report, he asked Governor Claiborne to investigate and if the report proved true “to blow up the legislature.”230 Claiborne responded by dispatching armed men to close down the legislature. Although the legislators reconvened several days later, they were much perturbed with Jackson. When they later voted their thanks to those who had saved the city, Jackson’s name was conspicuously absent.231
Jackson had proclaimed martial law in New Orleans on December 16, mainly to prevent spies from moving freely into and out of the city.232 Although reports of peace arrived as early as February 19, 1815, Jackson refused to lift martial law until official news came on March 13.233 In the meantime, he continued his dictatorial rule in the city. When a member of the legislature wrote a newspaper article complaining, Jackson had him jailed, and when the federal district court judge, Dominick A. Hall, ordered the victim released, Jackson had the judge jailed. When the war ended, Hall hauled Jackson into court, where he was convicted of contempt and fined $1,000.234 “The only question,” said the judge, “was whether the Law should bend to the General or the General to the Law.”235 (In 1844, the year before the aging and now destitute hero of New Orleans died, Congress refunded the fine with interest—$2,733 in all.)236
Jackson also dealt severely with 200 Tennessee militia who had allegedly deserted in September 1814. Although ordered out for six months of duty, the men were convinced that they could be required to serve only three months and hence had gone home. Jackson ordered the men seized and tried by military tribunal in Mobile in December 1814. The court found them guilty. Most were sentenced to forfeit part of their pay and make up lost time and then were drummed out of camp with their heads partly shaved. The six ringleaders—a sergeant and five privates—did not get off so easily. Convicted of desertion and mutiny, they were executed by a firing squad on February 21, 1815. Although the Battle of New Orleans catapulted Jackson into the limelight, his enemies never let the public forget his severe brand of military justice.237
Capture of Fort Bowyer
The fighting was not quite over on the Gulf Coast, for having failed at New Orleans, the British turned again to Mobile as a consolation prize. In early February, Fort Bowyer was surrounded on three sides by warships, and 5,000 men under Major General Lambert were put on shore. The British landed cannons, which were placed within 100 yards of the fort. On February 11, after some light skirmishing, Major William Lawrence, who had only 375 men with which to defend the fort, surrendered. This closed out the campaign, since news of peace arrived before the British could occupy Mobile.238
The United States made a good showing in the fighting on land in the campaign of 1814. On the northern frontier, American troops had been rebuffed at Mackinac but had defeated the British at Chippawa, fought them to a draw at Lundy’s Lane, and beat them twice at Fort Erie. American forces also had compelled the British to retreat from Plattsburgh—a result of Macdonough’s great victory on Lake Champlain. On the Atlantic Coast the British had occupied eastern Maine and burned the nation’s capital but had been repulsed at Baltimore. Moreover, they had suffered one of the greatest military disasters in British history when they attacked New Orleans. The American victories were largely a tribute to good leaders—Scott, Brown, Macomb, and Macdonough in the North; Smith at Baltimore; and Jackson at New Orleans—and effective troops. After two years of campaigning, Madison finally had found competent generals and soldiers to fight his war.
Loss of the President
Most American warships were bottled up in port in 1814, and the U.S. Navy actually lost more vessels inland than on the high seas. The occupation of Washington forced the destruction of the Columbia (rated at 44 guns) and the Argus (rated at 22 guns), and the conquest of eastern Maine led to the burning of the Adams (28 guns). Ships in the North had the best chance of getting to sea because westerly winds sometimes blew blockading vessels off their assigned stations. Finding enough experienced seamen for a crew, however, was not always easy because of competition from privateers and the army.239
The nation’s greatest loss at sea was the U.S. Frigate President (53 guns). This heavy frigate had such a fine reputation that in 1812 Captain William Bainbridge, who commanded the Constitution, had offered Captain John Rodgers $5,000 to trade ships.240 Rodgers had refused, which enabled Bainbridge to make his reputation in the Constitution. By 1815 Captain Stephen Decatur commanded the President. Taking advantage of a severe snowstorm, he slipped out of New York harbor on January 14, 1815. His plan was to sail to the Straits of Malacca and target the East India Company’s rich China fleet. Although considered a good sailer, the ship ran aground on a sand bar shortly after leaving port and got so twisted around before breaking free that she evidently lost some of her speed.241
The following day the President was chased by a squadron of British ships that included one heavy frigate, the Endymion (47 guns), and two light ones, the Pomone (47 guns?) and Tenedos (47 guns?). The Endymion was one of the fastest ships in the Royal Navy, and her commander, Captain Henry Hope, made the most of her speed. In a superb display of seamanship, Hope kept his ship on President’s starboard quarter and repeatedly battered the American ship. Decatur could not respond with his superior firepower unless he brought his ship around, and he could not do this for fear of being caught by the trailing British ships. Decatur eventually forced the Endymion off by disabling her with star-shot, but by then he had lost a fifth of his crew, his ship was badly damaged, and the rest of the British squadron was upon him. Decatur therefore surrendered. The British carefully studied this heavy frigate before she was condemned. They also built an exact copy as a trophy ship.242
Last Cruise of “Old Ironsides”
The Constitution (52 guns), on the other hand, continued her run of good luck. Commanded now by Captain Charles Stewart, she slipped out of Boston harb
or in December 1814. On February 20, 1815, 200 miles from Madeira, she met two British ships, the Cyane (33 guns), Captain Gordon Falcon commanding, and the Levant (21 guns), Captain George Douglass. The British commanders were so confident of their seamanship that instead of fleeing they engaged the more powerful American ship. The Constitution was superbly handled by Stewart and his men, and their gunnery was equally sharp. The Constitution was able to rake both her antagonists without being raked herself, and as a result both British ships were forced to surrender. The Constitution had to flee from a British squadron, but “Old Ironsides” made it back to port with her reputation much enhanced. The British recaptured the Levant, but a prize crew made it to the United States with the Cyane.243
The United States constructed six new sloops during the war. Like the heavy frigates, they were designed to outsail any ship they could not outfight, but their principal purpose was commerce destruction. Although finding guns and crews for these vessels was difficult, three of them—the Hornet (20 guns), Peacock (22 guns), and Wasp (22 guns)—made successful cruises in 1814. These vessels defeated a number of British ships, including the Penguin (19 guns), Reindeer (19 guns), Avon (18 guns), and Epervier (18 guns), the last of which was carrying $128,000 in specie. The British, in turn, captured the Frolic (22 guns), Syren (16 guns), and Rattlesnake (16 guns). The Wasp was lost at sea when she went down with all hands for unknown reasons.244
In 1814 the United States launched two ships-of-the-line, the Independence in June and the Washington in October. Apart from a small battleship given to France during the Revolution, these were the first such vessels constructed in America. Both were poorly designed and neither was ready for sea before the end of the war. Robert Fulton launched the world’s first steam frigate, Fulton the First (32 guns) at the end of October in 1814. This vessel was built for the protection of New York harbor, but the war ended before she could be given a fair test. Fulton and others also did pioneering work in the development of submarines and mines (which contemporaries called “torpedoes”). Several attempts were made to use crude submarines to attach mines to blockading British ships but without much success.245
Impact of Privateers
American warships and privateers continued to harass British commerce in the last year of the war. According to the Naval Chronicle, “The depredations committed on our commerce by American ships of war, and privateers, has attained an extent beyond all former precedent.” “On the ocean, and even on our own coasts,” the Morning Chronicle complained, “we have been insulted with impunity.”246 Although warships usually burned their prizes to prevent them from being retaken, privateers generally put a prize crew on board to try to get the vessel to a friendly port.
The Atlantic swarmed with so many American privateers and Royal Navy warships in 1814 that some British merchantmen were captured and recaptured several times. Insurance rates for British ships sailing from Liverpool to Halifax jumped to 30 percent, and underwriters publicly complained about their losses.247 “Each daily book at L[l]oyd’s [of London],” said one, “presents a tremendous list for our contemplation.”248
The favorite haunt of American privateers in 1814 was the British Isles. British merchantmen trading in these waters were not required to sail in convoy and thus made easy targets for privateers, which “in summer weather and light breezes eluded all attempts of the king’s ships to catch them.”249 American privateers were particularly active in the Irish Sea, and insurance rates for ships trading between England and Ireland rose to an unprecedented 13 percent.250 According to the Naval Chronicle, this rate was “three times higher than it was when we were at war with all Europe!”251
People living in Greenock, an unfortified city on the coast of Scotland, reportedly gave up their trade with the Continent and “live[d] in constant apprehension of a visit from an American national ship or privateer.”252 Merchants in Bristol complained that American depredations had “increased to a most alarming extent,” forcing them to suspend much of their trade.253 In Glasgow, merchants bitterly protested the lack of protection, calling the situation “discreditable to the directors of the naval power of the British nation.”254 There were similar complaints from London and Liverpool.255 “In the chops of the Channel . . . in our own seas,” said a member of Parliament, “the American privateers had come and carried off our vessels.”256
In the interest of economy, the British government had demobilized part of its fleet after Napoleon’s defeat, including many smaller vessels that had the best chance of catching privateers.257 Much to the chagrin of protesting British merchants, the Admiralty still claimed that “there was a force adequate to the purpose of protecting the trade, both in St. George’s Channel and the Northern Sea.”258 The Admiralty also criticized British merchants for not sailing in convoy, although, as the Times pointed out, even convoys were sometimes unsafe. “The American cruisers,” the paper said, “daily venture in among our convoys, seize prizes in sight of those that should afford them protection, and if pursued ‘put on their sea-wings’ and laugh at the clumsy English pursuers.”259 Such was the public outcry that members of the opposition were able to secure a Parliamentary investigation into the conduct of the war at sea.260
A number of privateers recorded spectacular cruises in 1814. The Prince-de-Neufchatel (17 guns) captured or destroyed $1 million in British property in a single cruise. The Governor Tompkins (14 guns) stripped and burned 14 prizes in the English Channel, while the Harpy (14 guns) returned to the United States after a 20-day cruise with booty worth more than $400,000.261 Captain Thomas Boyle, who commanded the Chasseur (16 guns)—“the pride of Baltimore”—added insult to injury by sailing into a British port and issuing a proclamation that mocked British blockade notices. Boyle announced a blockade of “all the ports, harbours, bays, creeks, rivers, inlets, outlets, islands and sea coast of the united kingdom of G. Britain and Ireland.”262
Privateers usually fled from British warships, and when unable to escape surrendered. But there were exceptions. In September 1814 boats from a squadron of Royal Navy ships attacked the General Armstrong (14 guns) while she was anchored in the territorial waters of the Azores, a Portuguese possession. Twice the privateer beat back the British boats, each time inflicting heavy casualties. Ultimately the privateer had to be scuttled, and her crew took refuge on shore. The British had suffered close to 200 casualties compared to only nine on the American privateer. “The Americans,” said an British observer, “fought with great firmness, but more like bloodthirsty savages than anything else.”263 Royal Navy officials were so embarrassed by their losses that they refused to allow any mail on the vessels that carried their wounded back to England.264
When boats from a Royal Navy squadron attacked the American privateer General Armstrong in the Azores in 1814, the British sustained heavy casualties. The privateer was eventually abandoned, the American crew escaping to the shore, but for the British it was a costly victory. (Lithograph by N. Currier. Library of Congress)
The following month H.M. Ship Endymion (47 guns) found herself becalmed off Nantucket in sight of the privateer Prince-de-Neufchatel (17 guns). The American ship had just completed a successful cruise and had more than $200,000 in prize goods on board. She had manned so many prizes that her original crew had shrunk from 150 to 40. The captain of the British frigate sent his boats to capture the American vessel, but the attack failed. The British lost 100 men, while the Americans lost only thirty. The privateer had only ten healthy seamen at the end of the engagement, but she managed to slip away and reach port safely.265
On February 26, 1815, near Havana, Cuba, the Chasseur, now carrying 14 guns but still commanded by Captain Boyle, fell in with H.M. Schooner St. Lawrence (15 guns). Mistaking the British vessel for an armed merchantman, Boyle closed. By the time he discovered his mistake, it was too late to escape. “I should not willingly perhaps, have sought a contest with a king’s vessel,” he reported, “knowing it was not our object; but my expectations were at fir
st a valuable vessel and a valuable cargo also.”266 After a bloody fifteen-minute engagement, the St. Lawrence struck her colors.267 This, of course, was an exceptional case, for the Royal Navy succeeded in capturing many privateers. But those that remained free continued to bedevil British commerce, although it is doubtful that they had much of an impact on the outcome of the war.
Results of the Campaign
All in all, the campaign of 1814 turned out well for the United States. Although thrown on the defensive everywhere but in the West, the nation was able to defeat British offensives at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The only notable successes of the British were the occupation of Maine and the burning of Washington. In all three campaigns during the war (1812, 1813, and 1814), the defending side had fared better than the attacking side. This was because most offensive operations required moving men and material long distances, often over rough and heavily wooded terrain. Defending armies, by contrast, operated closer to home and their sources of supply. Thus, after three years of campaigning, neither the United States nor Great Britain could claim any great advantage in the war, let alone victory. Militarily, the War of 1812 ended in a draw.
Chapter 9
The Crisis of 1814
By the fall of 1814 it was clear to everyone that the United States faced a crisis. The war had changed dramatically since the beginning of the year. Freed from the contest in Europe, Great Britain was able to mount one campaign in the Chesapeake and prepare a second against the Gulf Coast while still maintaining a large army in Canada. “We are contending with an exasperated foe,” said a Republican paper, “whose mighty power will soon be levelled at our liberties.”1 Menaced on every front, Americans viewed the war with a growing sense of foreboding. “Our affairs,” said Secretary of the Navy William Jones, “are as gloomy as can well be.” “These may be truly said to be the times that try men’s souls,” added the New York National Advocate.2
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