The War of 1812-1814/15: A Bicentennial Quiz

Answer: False

This should have been an easy one, because historians rarely agree about anything. For the full range of possibilities that have been suggested, see Jasper Trautsch's essay "The Causes of the War of 1812: 200 Years of Debate" in the January 2013 issue of "The Journal of Military History."

If impressment was the key issue, why did the majority of representatives from New England -- the region most impacted by it -- vote against the declaration of war? A more sustainable position might be that impressment was a stalking horse for deeper concerns about national pride and identity, even masculinity. Desire for Canadian real estate has been fingered by some, and there may also have been a "wag the dog" aspect to the decision for war, which was basically a party-line vote in which President Madison's Republicans overpowered the Federalists (who tended to be pro-British).

Answer: The garrison commander, Lt. Porter Hanks, was unaware that his country was at war with Britain.

Amazingly, although it was the U.S. that took the initiative in declaring war on Britain (June 18, 1812), Roberts learned of the outbreak of war before Hanks did. The fur trader John Jacob Astor had sent an express courier to alert his business partner in Canada, who in turn alerted the British military authorities. Although he was an American citizen, Astor was not prosecuted as there was (then) no U.S. law prohibiting what he had done.

The lacrosse ploy had enabled Indians to seize the old Fort Michilimackinac (nearby on the Michigan mainland) from the British on June 2, 1763, during Pontiac's "Rebellion."

After taking Fort Mackinac, the British captured several American vessels by continuing to fly the U.S. flag over the fort.

Answer: "Degenerate" Kentuckians

The British tended to regard Kentuckians as white men who had degenerated into savagery, scalping their foes just as the Indians did. On this point, see Alan Taylor's book "The Civil War of 1812" (especially pages 208-210).

Irish émigrés of the 1798 generation were strong supporters of the U.S. war effort and many of them served in the armed forces, but the British did not find them especially disturbing. Pirates and Marines were nuisances at best (the pirates a very temporary one at that).

Answer: Some influential people didn't want a war there, and the administration respected their wishes.

During the winter of 1812-13 a company of U.S. riflemen (recruited in North Carolina and Virginia) had raided across the St. Lawrence from Ogdensburg. After a British counter-attack (the Battle of Ogdensburg, February 22, 1813), the Madison administration virtually demilitarized the St. Lawrence front.

The key figure in bringing this about was David Parish, a German-born financier with Federalist political connections who had nevertheless made substantial war loans to the U.S. government. He also owned 200,000 acres of land around Ogdensburg. As a quid pro quo, Parish wanted the war kept out of his bailiwick. In general, the Americans of St. Lawrence County were Federalist in their politics and some made quite a lot of money by trading with Canada during the war.

Answer: April 1815

About 6,500 American prisoners, mostly sailors, were held at Dartmoor. On April 6, 1815, British guards opened fire on rioting POWs, killing seven and wounding at least 32. Tensions were high because everyone knew the war was over, but the British government insisted that the United States should assume the burden of their repatriation and the cash-strapped U.S. government was having difficulty coming up with funds to charter the 24 sailing ships that were needed to bring the boys home.

Answer: Hartford, Connecticut

The Hartford Convention met from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, with 26 delegates (mostly from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island). The fact that the proceedings of the convention were kept secret encouraged speculation that secession was on the agenda, and the Madison administration made contingency plans to deploy troops and secure the federal arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts.

The scent of treason, followed by the news of Jackson's victory at New Orleans, soon brought about the demise of the Federalists as a political party.

Answer: Most of the fighting took place after dark.

The battle began at 6:00 PM and did not end until midnight. The main U.S. contingent did not even become engaged until nightfall.

Answer: Hit by debris from an exploding powder magazine.

Gen. Pike was killed during the U.S. raid on York (today's Toronto), then the capital of Upper Canada, not by a bullet but by flying debris when retreating British troops blew up a powder magazine.

Both disease and dueling were serious problems for the U.S. Army, though. Dr. James C. Bronaugh was a real historical figure who did challenge his regimental commander, Col. Isaac Coles, to a duel. Coles declined, but opinion in the officer corps favored the (by modern standards) grossly insubordinate Bronaugh. Dueling was not unknown among British officers, but it was more widespread on the American side -- perhaps because of status anxieties in a society poised rather awkwardly between the old rule of deference and the new rules of democracy.

Answer: Privateers

Privateers were responsible for taking approximately 1,200 of the 1,600 British merchant vessels captured by the U.S. during the war.

By 1812 what was left of the French fleet was tightly blockaded, and in any case the U.S. and France were co-belligerents rather than allies.

Answer: 3 warships with no more than 1 cannon each

The agreement between Acting Secretary of State Richard Rush and Sir Charles Bagot, British minister to Washington, was signed in April 1817 and ratified the following year. None of the vessels could be more than 100 tons burden, and the cannon were to be 18-pounders (or less). Of the three warships allowed each side, one could operate on Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain while the other two were for Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior.