1820 Portrait of John S. Smith

Francis Scott Key abt. 1825

Anacreontic Lyrics

To Anacreon in Heaven, where he sat in full glee,
A few sons of harmony sent a petition,
That he their inspirer and patron would be;
When this answer arrived from the jolly old Grecian: Voice, fiddle, and flute, no longer be mute,
I'll lend you my name and inspire you to boot
And besides I'll instruct you like me to intwine
The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine.

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Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843)[3] was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".[4] Key observed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814 during the War of 1812. He was inspired upon seeing the American flag still flying over the fort at dawn and wrote the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry"; it was published within a week with the suggested tune of the popular song "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song with Key's lyrics became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and slowly gained in popularity as an unofficial anthem, finally achieving official status more than a century later under President Herbert Hoover as the national anthem.

Francis Scott Key observing the flag the morning after the battle. by Edward Percy Moran, 1913

Black Hawk

"The Battle of Wisconsin Heights: Black Hawk's account"

During our encampment at the Four Lakes, we were hard put to, to obtain enough to eat to support nature. Situate in a swampy, marshy country…. there was but little game of any sort to be found--and fish were equally scarce. . . . We were forced to dig roots and bark trees, to obtain something to satisfy hunger and keep us alive! Several of our people became so much reduced, as actually to die with hunger! . . . . I concluded to remove my women and children across the Mississippi, that they might return to the Sac nation again. Accordingly, on the next day, we commenced moving, with five Winnebagoes acting as our guides, intending to descend the Ouisconsin…. we were proceeding to the Ouisconsin, with our women and children. We arrived and had commenced crossing them to an island, when we discovered a large body of the enemy coming towards us. We were now compelled to fight, or sacrifice our wives and children to the fury of the whites! I met them with fifty warriors, (having left the balance to assist our women and children in crossing) about a mile from the river, when an attack immediately commenced.

I was mounted on a fine horse, and was pleased to see my warriors so brave. I addressed them in a loud voice, telling them to stand their ground, and never yield it to the enemy. At this time I was on the rise of a hill, where I wished to form my warriors, that we might have some advantage over the whites. But the enemy succeeded in gaining this point, which compelled us to fall back into a deep ravine, from which we continued firing at them and they at us, until it began to grow dark.

My horse having been wounded twice during this engagement, and fearing from his loss of blood, that he would soon give out--and finding that the enemy would not come near enough to receive our fire, in the dusk of the evening--and knowing that our women and children had had sufficient time to reach the island in the Ouisconsin, I ordered my warriors to return, in different routes, and meet me at the Ouisconsin--and were astonished to find that the enemy were not disposed to pursue us.

In this skirmish, with fifty braves, I defended and accomplished my passage over the Ouisconsin, with a loss of only six men; though opposed by a host of mounted militia. I would not have fought there, but to gain time for my women and children to cross to an island. A warrior will duly appreciate the embarrassments I labored under--and whatever may be the sentiments of the white people, in relation to this battle, my nation, though fallen, will award to me the reputation of a great brave in conducting it. The loss of the enemy could not be ascertained by our party; but I am of opinion, that it was much greater, in proportion, than mine. We returned to the Ouisconsin, and crossed over to our people.

Myself and band having no means to descend the Ouisconsin, I started, over a rugged country, to go to the Mississippi, intending to cross it, and return to my nation. Many of our people were compelled to go on foot, for want of horses, which, in consequence of their having had nothing to eat for a long time, caused our march to be very slow. At length we arrived at the Mississippi, having lost some of our old men and little children, who perished on the way with hunger. Wisconsin State Historical Society

Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD

The War of 1812 pitted the young United States in a war against Great Britain, from whom the American colonies had won their independence in 1783. The conflict was a byproduct of the broader conflict between Great Britain and France over who would dominate Europe and the wider world.

In Britain’s effort to control the world’s oceans, the British Royal Navy encroached upon American maritime rights and cut into American trade during the Napoleonic Wars. In response, the young republic declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812. The two leading causes of the war were the British Orders-in-Council, which limited American trade with Europe, and impressments, the Royal Navy’s practice of taking seamen from American merchant vessels to fill out the crews of its own chronically undermanned warships. Under the authority of the Orders in Council, the British seized some 400 American merchant ships and their cargoes between 1807 and 1812. Press gangs, though ostensibly targeting British subjects for naval service, also swept up 6,000 to 9,000 Americans into the crews of British ships between 1803 and 1812. Some of the impressed sailors were born in British possessions but had migrated to the United States, while many others had attained citizenship that was either in question or simply could not be documented.

With only 16 warships, the United States could not directly challenge the Royal Navy, which had 500 ships in service in 1812. Instead, the new nation targeted Canada, hoping to use the conquest of British territory as a bargaining chip to win concessions on the maritime issues. Most Americans assumed that the conquest of Canada would be, in the words of former president Thomas Jefferson, “a mere matter of marching.” The United States enjoyed a huge population advantage over Canada—7.7 million to 500,000—and it was widely believed in America that U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators. But events did not play out as Americans expected. Waging war at the end of extended supply lines over the vast distances of the North American wilderness was no easy task. The British and their allies from indigenous nations in North America proved a formidable foe.

American armies invaded Canada in 1812 at three points, but all three campaigns ended in failure. One army surrendered at Detroit at the western end of Lake Erie, a second army surrendered at Queenston Heights at the other end of the lake, and a third army withdrew after little more than a skirmish north of New York. A similar multi-pronged invasion went better in 1813, but only in the West, where an American victory on Lake Erie paved the way for a land victory at the Thames in Upper Canada, which restored U.S. ascendancy throughout the region. But further east, American forces made little headway.

In 1814, the United States was thrown on the defensive because the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in Europe enabled the British to shift additional resources to the war in America. The U.S. continued to remain on the offensive on the Niagara front, but the bloody fighting there was inconclusive. Elsewhere the British took the offensive, although their forces encountered the same problems waging wilderness warfare across vast distances that had plagued the United States earlier in the war. The British occupied Washington, DC, burning the public buildings there, and successfully occupied a hundred miles of the Maine coast. Elsewhere however, the British were rebuffed. British forces withdrew from New York when they lost another inland naval battle, this time on Lake Champlain. They had to give up an assault on Baltimore when they were unable to compel Fort McHenry to submit, and they were decisively defeated at New Orleans.

If the war went worse than Americans expected on land, it went surprisingly well at sea, at least initially. Early in the war, the new nation won a series of single-ship duels between American and British warships. Especially noteworthy were the four successful cruises made by USS Constitution in the war. The frigate outran a large British squadron in 1812 and subsequently defeated four Royal Navy ships in combat. Constitution also earned her nickname, “Old Ironsides,” when round shot in the duel with HMS Guerriere appeared to bounce off the ship’s 22-inch-thick hull. An American seaman exclaimed, “Huzza! Her sides are made of iron!” Soon after, Constitution was known as “Ironsides,” which in time became “Old Ironsides.” American privateers also took a toll on British shipping early in the war.

In the end, however, British naval power held. The British used their navy to ship troops to Canada, to keep them supplied, and to blockade and raid the American coast. The blockade had a devastating impact on the U.S. economy and public finance, and also kept most American warships in port. The British convoy system—in which warships escorted merchant vessels—cut down on the success of American privateers. Furthermore, the British evened the score in single ship duels by defeating USS Chesapeake, USS Essex, and USS President.

Ultimately, the War of 1812 ended in a draw on the battlefield, and the peace treaty reflected this. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in modern-day Belgium on December 24, 1814, and went into effect on February 17, 1815, after both sides had ratified it. This agreement provided for returning to the status quo ante bellum, which meant that the antagonists agreed to return to the state that had existed before the war and restore all conquered territory.

Both sides could claim victory, the British because they held on to Canada and their maritime rights, and the United States because just fighting the “Conqueror of Napoleon” and the “Mistress of the Seas” to a draw vindicated its sovereignty and earned the respect of Europe. As British diplomat Augustus J. Foster acknowledged at war’s end, “The Americans . . . have brought us to speak of them with respect.”

The only real losers in the war were the indigenous nations of North America, who were defeated in two wars connected to the War of 1812: Tecumseh’s War in the Old Northwest and the Creek War in the Old Southwest. American success in these wars opened the door for westward expansion and threatened the indigenous peoples and their ways of life east of the Mississippi River.

The war was fraught with a host of other consequences. It laid the foundations for the emergence of Canada as an independent nation and induced the British to seek peaceful relations with the United States for the remainder of the 19th century and beyond. It also helped forge the United States into a nation. Americans could celebrate their victories on the high seas and on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, as well as at Fort McHenry and New Orleans. These victories introduced new American heroes (including Oliver H. Perry and Dolley Madison) and future United States presidents (William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson), developed new expressions (including “We have met the enemy and they are ours” and “Don’t give up the ship!”), established American symbols (USS Constitution, the Fort McHenry flag, and Uncle Sam), and inspired a patriotic song that eventually became the national anthem (“The Star-Spangled Banner”).

The War of 1812 may have been a small war, but it left a profound and lasting legacy that reverberated through history and continues to be felt even today.  USS Constitution Museum

[The Battle of Lake Champlain, 11 September 1814]