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The War of 1812: Writings from America’s Second War of Independence

A first-of-its-kind collection of letters, speeches, diary entries, newspaper and magazine articles, memoir excerpts, poems, sermons, songs, and military reports that provides a rich firsthand panorama of the War of 1812. More

Edited by Donald R. Hickey

“This book was actually hard to put down, which is probably the first time in recorded history that this cliché was applied to a book about the War of 1812.”—Stephen F. Knott, Library of Law and Liberty

Overview
Table of Contents
Contributors

Overview

Interviews Donald R. Hickey on The War of 1812: Writings from America’s Second War of Independence
April 29, 2021

Story of the Week James Monroe, “The President in Peril”
February 21, 2020

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We have met the enemy and they are ours . . . Don’t give up the ship! . . . O! say can you see? . . . Even as these words have lived in America’s national memory, the war that gave rise to them remains little remembered and less understood. Now, this first-of-its-kind collection brings together letters, speeches, diary entries, newspaper and magazine articles, memoir excerpts, poems, sermons, songs, and military reports to provide a rich firsthand panorama of the War of 1812 as it was experienced by a wide range of participants—Americans, Britons, Canadians, and Indians.

Opening with President James Madison’s war message to Congress, the volume traces the debate surrounding the U.S. declaration of war against Great Britain, a controversial decision that divides the nation and precipitates a series of bloody riots in Baltimore. Meanwhile tensions between the United States and Indian tribes flare as future presidents William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson fight regional wars in the Old Northwest and Old Southwest.

Carefully selected sources, including some only recently uncovered, record the unfolding of a far-ranging conflict that was waged from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Chile to the Azores. Ordinary seaman Moses Smith presents a gripping account of the USS Constitution’s defeat of HMS Guerrière; Shawnee leader Tecumseh criticizes the strategy of his British allies; Washington Irving describes the making of an American war hero; Laura Secord recounts the courageous nighttime adventure that would make her a Canadian national icon; Benjamin F. Browne of Salem, Massachusetts, recalls (with some help from his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne) his wartime imprisonment in England; Dolley Madison and her slave Paul Jennings offer differing accounts of their flight from the White House as British forces march on the nation’s capital; the Duke of Wellington, fresh from his victory over Napoleon’s forces in Spain, advises the British prime minister to cut his losses in America; former president Thomas Jefferson provides spirited commentary from the wings in letters to Madison, John Adams, Madame de Staël, and others. Here is the War of 1812 as it has never been seen before: a complex story, profound in its implications for the national destinies of its combatants, and rife with lessons for today.

The War of 1812 includes an introduction, headnotes, a chronology of events, biographical and explanatory endnotes, and an index, as well as endpaper maps.

See the contents for this volume (PDF, 130 KB)

Donald R. Hickey, editor, is professor of history at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. He is the author of The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict and Don’t Give Up the Ship!: Myths of the War of 1812, and co-author of The Rockets’ Red Glare: An Illustrated History of the War of 1812.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Bodman Foundation.

This volume is available for adoption in the Guardian of American Letters Fund.
Table of Contents
James Madison: War Message to Congress
- “A solemn question”: Washington, D.C., June 1812
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Relations: Report on the Causes and Reasons for War
- “An immediate appeal to Arms”: Washington, D.C., June 1812
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
- “A solecism worthy of Don Quixot”: Virginia, May 1812
Andrew Jackson to Willie Blount
- “The spirit of the whole people is on fire”: Tennessee, June 1812
Tecumseh: Message from the Confederate Nations to Their British Allies and Huron Brothers
- “All this Island will rise as one man”: Northwestern Frontier, June 1812
James Monroe to John Taylor
- “Trade & fight, & fight & trade”: Washington, D.C., June 1812
James Madison: Proclamation of War
- “The last resort of injured Nations”: Washington, D.C., June 1812
Hezekiah Niles: “War against England”
- “Long live America”: Baltimore, June 1812
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
- Canada, Commerce, and War: Virginia, June 1812
Thirty-four Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: from “An Address of the Minority to Their Constituents”
- “What are the United States to gain by this war?”: Washington, D.C., June 1812
Maryland House of Delegates, Committee of Grievances and Courts of Justice: Report on the Baltimore Riots
- Silencing the Anti-War Press: Baltimore, Summer 1812
Israel Pickens: Circular Letter to His Constituents in North Carolina
- “Your country calls”: Washington, D.C., July 1812
William Ellery Channing: A Sermon, Preached in Boston, July 23, 1812, the Day of the Publick Fast
- “It is a war fraught with ruin”: Boston, July 1812
William Hull: Proclamation
- “I come to find enemies not to make them”: Upper Canada, July 1812
Isaac Brock: Proclamation
- “Repel the invader”: Upper Canada, July 1812
Thomas Verchères de Boucherville: Journal
- With Tecumseh and the British: Northwestern Frontier, July–August 1812
Nathan Heald to Thomas H. Cushing
- The Fort Dearborn Massacre: Northwestern Frontier, August 1812
Caleb Strong to William Eustis
- Massachusetts Defiant: Boston, August 1812
James Madison to Thomas Jefferson
- “The wheels of war”: Washington, D.C., August 1812
Robert Lucas: Journal
- Hull’s Capitulation: Michigan Territory, August 1812
Cornelius Flummerfelt: “The Bold Canadian”
- A Ballad of Detroit: Upper Canada, August 1812
Moses Smith: from Naval Scenes in the Last War
- “Old Ironsides” Captures HMS Guerrière: North Atlantic, August 1812
New-York City Committee of Correspondence: from Address . . . in Support of the Nomination of The Hon. De Witt Clinton
- De Witt Clinton for President: New York City, August 1812
James Madison: Address to the Delegations of Several Indian Nations
- Advice to America’s Indian Friends: Washington, D.C., August 1812
Stephen Van Rensselaer to Daniel D. Tompkins
- Alarm and Distrust in New York: Niagara Frontier, August 1812
Daniel Curtis to Jacob Kingsbury
- Siege of Fort Wayne: Northwestern Frontier, September 1812
A. W. Cochran: from a letter to Rebecca Cochran
- Circumstances and William Hull: Lower Canada, September 1812
John Strachan to John Richardson
- Fifteen Reasons for War on America: Upper Canada, September 1812
George McFeely: Diary
- Yankee Ingenuity: Pennsylvania, October 1812
Jared Willson to Alvan Stewart
- Battle of Queenston Heights: Upper Canada, October 1812
John Strachan to William Wilberforce
- The British–Indian Alliance: Upper Canada, November 1812
Alexander Smyth: Proclamation
- “The hour of renown”: Niagara Frontier, November 1812
William Atherton: from Narrative of the Suffering & Defeat of the North-Western Army
- A Chronicle of Wretchedness: Northwestern Frontier, September 1812–January 1813
William B. Northcutt: Diary
- Battle of the Mississinewa River: Northwestern Frontier, December 1812
Elias Darnell: Journal
- “Remember the Raisin!”: Northwestern Frontier, January 1813
James Madison: Second Inaugural Address
- War and the American Character: Washington, D.C., March 1813
Henry, Earl Bathurst to Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith
- The Rules of Engagement: London, March 1813
Patrick Finan: from “Recollections of Canada”
- Battle of York: Upper Canada, April 1813
John Richardson: from “A Canadian Campaign”
- Siege of Fort Meigs: Ohio, May 1813
Thomas Jefferson to Madame de Staël
- Tyrants of Land and Sea: Virginia, May 1813
George McFeely: Diary
- “The flag from Fort George”: Upper Canada, May 1813
John Le Couteur: Journal
- Battle of Sackets Harbor: Upstate New York, May 1813
Joseph Penley Jr.: from The Sanguinary and Cruel War of 1812–14
- Life Aboard a British Prison Ship: Lower Canada, June–August 1813
Philip B. V. Broke to John Borlase Warren
- HMS Shannon Defeats USS Chesapeake: Massachusetts Bay, June 1813
John C. Calhoun to James Macbride
- “Party sperit”: Washington, D.C., June 1813
Laura Ingersoll Secord: Incident at Beaver Dams
- A Canadian Paul Revere: Upper Canada, June 1813
John Le Couteur: Journal
- Battle of Beaver Dams: Upper Canada, June 1813
James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson
- The President in Peril: Washington, D.C., June 1813
“P.” (Richard E. Parker) to the Richmond Enquirer
- British Atrocities at Hampton: Virginia, June 1813
Blackbird: Message from the Ottawa Nation to William Claus
- The Death of Joseph C. Eldridge: Upper Canada, July 1813
William B. Northcutt: Diary
- Skirmish on the Sandusky: Ohio, July 1813
George Croghan to William Henry Harrison
- Battle of Fort Stephenson: Ohio, August 1813
Black Hawk: from Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak or Black Hawk
- The White Man’s Way of War: Northwestern Frontier, Summer 1813
James Fenimore Cooper: from Ned Myers; or, A Life Before the Mast
- Storm and Shipwreck: Lake Ontario, August 1813
James Inderwick: Journal
- The Wounded of USS Argus: Southwest Coast of Britain, August 1813
Thomas Hart Benton: Broadside
- A Brawl with Andrew Jackson: Nashville, September 1813
Philip Freneau: “The Battle of Lake Erie”
- “We have met the enemy and they are ours”: Lake Erie, September 1813
Washington Irving: “Biographical Memoir of Commodore Perry”
- “The nerve of a hero”: Lake Erie, September 1813
Tecumseh: Speech to Henry Procter
- “We are determined to defend our lands”: Upper Canada, September 1813
John Richardson: from War of 1812
- Battle of the Thames: Upper Canada, September–October 1813
William Henry Harrison: Proclamation
- An Armistice with the Indians: Northwestern Frontier, October 1813
Red Jacket: Message to Erastus Granger
- Indian Grievances: Niagara Frontier, October 1813
John Le Couteur to Philip Bouton
- Terror, Delight, and Thoughts of Home: Upper Canada, October 1813
Robert Purdy to James Wilkinson
- Battle of Châteauguay: Lower Canada, October 1813
Charles Ball: from Slavery in the United States: A Narrative
- Runaway Slaves in the Chesapeake: Maryland, Summer–Fall 1813
James Scott: from Recollections of a Naval Life
- American Characteristics: Maryland, Winter 1813–14
Francis Jeffrey: A Conversation with James Madison
- A British Editor Interviews the President: Washington, D.C., November 1813
Henry Clay to Thomas Bodley
- “If Canada is conquered”: Washington, D.C., December 1813
Cyrenius Chapin to the Buffalo Gazette
- The Case Against George McClure: Niagara Frontier, December 1813
Eber D. Howe: from “Recollections of a Pioneer Printer”
- Revenge by Fire: Niagara Frontier, December 1813
Amos Hall to Daniel D. Tompkins
- The Burning of Black Rock and Buffalo: Niagara Frontier, December 1813
George Prevost: Proclamation
- “A full measure of retaliation”: Upper Canada, January 1814
Henry Kent: A Winter’s March
- Across the Northern Ice: Saint John, New Brunswick–Kingston, Upper Canada, Winter 1814
Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington, to Henry, Earl Bathurst
- Prosecuting War on America: Garris, France, February 1814
The Crew of USS Essex to the Crew of HMS Phoebe
- Fighting Words: Valparaiso Harbor, Chile, March 1814
A Midshipman of HMS Phoebe to the Crew of USS Essex
- “Your vile infamy”: Valparaiso Harbor, Chile, March 1814
David G. Farragut: from The Life of David Glasgow Farragut
- The Capture of USS Essex: Off Valparaiso, Chile, March 1814
Andrew Jackson to John Wood
- Words Before an Execution: Mississippi Territory, March 1814
Andrew Jackson to Rachel Jackson
- Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Mississippi Territory, March 1814
Robert Young to Phineas Riall
- British Unrest at Fort Niagara: Niagara Frontier, March 1814
George McFeely: Diary
- Second Battle of Lacolle Mill: Lower Canada, March 1814
Benjamin F. Browne: from “Papers of an old Dartmoor Prisoner”
- The Rough Allies of Dartmoor: Devon, England, Spring–Summer 1814
Alexander Cochrane: Proclamation
- A British Appeal to American Slaves: Bermuda, April 1814
Thomas Jefferson: from a letter to John Adams
- “The Attila of the age dethroned”: Virginia, April 1814
Henry, Earl Bathurst to George Prevost
- British Aims in North America: London, June 1814
Albert Gallatin to James Monroe
- “Pride and vindictive passions”: London, June 1814
Stephen Popham to James Yeo
- Battle of Sandy Creek: Upstate New York, May 1814
N. W. Hibbard to Alvin Hunt
- Carrying the Cable: Upstate New York, May–June 1814
Jarvis Hanks: Memoir
- A Tale of Five Deserters: Niagara Frontier, June 1814
William E. Horner: from “Surgical Sketches”
- The U.S. Wounded at Fort Erie: Niagara Frontier, July 1814
Winfield Scott: from Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Scott
- Battle of Chippawa: Upper Canada, July 1814
Isaac Chauncey to Jacob Brown
- “A higher destiny”: Lake Ontario, August 1814
John Le Couteur: Journal
- Battle of Lundy’s Lane: Upper Canada, July 1814
William Dunlop: from “Recollections”
- A British Surgeon’s Lot: Upper Canada, July 1814
Shadrach Byfield: from “Narrative of a Light Company Soldier’s Service”
- The Loss of an Arm: Upper Canada, August 1814
John Le Couteur: Journal
- Battle of Fort Erie: Upper Canada, August 1814
Jarvis Hanks: Memoir
- The Day After Fort Erie: Upper Canada, August 1814
Andrew Jackson: Address to the Cherokee and Creek Nations
- The Treaty of Fort Jackson: Mississippi Territory, August 1814
Big Warrior to Benjamin Hawkins
- “Think for your red friends”: Mississippi Territory, August 1814
Alexander Cochrane to Commanding Officers of the North American Station
- “Destroy & lay waste”: Bermuda, July 1814
Robert Rowley to Owsley Rowley
- British Depredations in Chesapeake Bay: Maryland and Virginia, August 1814
James Scott: from Recollections of a Naval Life
- From Benedict to Bladensburg: Maryland, August 1814
Joshua Barney to William Jones
- Battle of Bladensburg: Maryland, August 1814
Dolley Madison to Lucy Payne Washington Todd
- “Dear sister, I must leave this house”: Washington, D.C., August 1814
Paul Jennings: from A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison
- A Slave’s View from the White House: Washington, D.C., August 1814
George R. Gleig: from The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans, 1814–15
- Storming the Capital: Washington, D.C., August 1814
Mary Stockton Hunter to Susan Stockton Cuthbert
- “The most suicidal act ever committed”: Washington, D. C., August 1814
George R. Gleig: from The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans, 1814–15
- The British Retreat from the Capital: Washington, D.C., August 1814
Thomas Boyle: Proclamation
- A U.S. Blockade of the British Isles: London, August 1814
Philip Reed to Benjamin Chambers
- Battle of Caulk’s Field: Maryland, August 1814
George Gordon, Lord Byron: “Elegiac Stanzas on the Death of Sir Peter Parker, Bart.”
- Death of a Kinsman: London, August 1814
Isaac Monroe to a Friend in Boston
- The Bombardment of Fort McHenry: Maryland, September 1814
Francis Scott Key: “Defence of Fort M‘Henry”
- “The Star-Spangled Banner”: Maryland, September 1814
Roger B. Taney to Charles Howard
- The Life and Legend of Francis Scott Key: Maryland, September 1814
William Dunlop: from “Recollections”
- Thinning the Ranks at Fort Erie: Upper Canada, Summer 1814
Jarvis Hanks: Memoir
- The New York Militia Redeemed: Niagara Frontier, September 1814
Thomas Macdonough to William Jones
- Battle of Lake Champlain: Upstate New York, September 1814
Thomas Jefferson to Samuel H. Smith
- The Library of Congress: Virginia, September 1814
Samuel C. Reid to the New-York Mercantile Advertiser
- A Naval Battle in a Neutral Harbor: Fayal, Azores, September 1814
Benjamin F. Browne: from “Papers of an old Dartmoor Prisoner”
- Democracy and Royalty in Dartmoor: Devon, England, Fall 1814
Timothy Pickering to Caleb Strong
- The British Terms for Peace: Washington, D.C., October 1814
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
- Ways, Means, and Ends of an Ongoing War: Virginia, October 1814
Charles Willing Hare to Harrison Gray Otis
- A Federalist Calls for a Convention: Philadelphia, October 1814
John C. Sherbrooke to Henry, Earl Bathurst
- The “Federal States” of America: Halifax, November 1814
The Duke of Wellington to the Earl of Liverpool
- Wellington Weighs In: Paris, November 1814
Daniel Webster: “Speech on the Conscription Bill”
- “Is this civil liberty?”: Washington, D.C., December 1814
Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America
- The Peace of Christmas Eve: Ghent, December 1814
Albert Gallatin to James Monroe
- “As favorable as could be expected”: Ghent, December 1814
The Earl of Liverpool to George Canning
- The Prime Minister on the Peace: London, December 1814
George R. Gleig: from The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans, 1814–15
- Target New Orleans: Louisiana, December 1814
Thomas ap Catesby Jones to Daniel T. Patterson
- Battle of Lake Borgne: Louisiana, December 1814
Harrison Gray Otis and Fellow Delegates from New England: Report and Resolutions of the Hartford Convention
- “If the Union be destined to dissolution”: Connecticut, December 1814–January 1815
Harry Smith: from Autobiography
- “A most murderous fire”: Louisiana, January 1815
A Kentucky Soldier’s Account of the Battle of New Orleans
- “Like a sea of blood”: Louisiana, January 1815
Harry Smith: from Autobiography
- Reckoning the Loss: Louisiana, January 1815
Andrew Jackson to James Monroe
- Report on the Battle of New Orleans: Louisiana, January 1815
Thomas Jefferson to Marquis de Lafayette
- The “Robespierres of Massachusetts”: Virginia, February 1815
James Madison: Special Message to Congress
- The War Ends: Washington, D.C., February 1815
National Aegis: “The Peace.”
- “We have gloriously triumphed!”: Massachusetts, February 1815
George Prevost: General Order
- A Commander’s Farewell: Lower Canada, March 1815
Lewis Peter Clover: from “Reminiscences of a Dartmoor Prisoner”
- The Dartmoor Massacre: Devon, England, April 1815
John Quincy Adams to William Eustis
- An Uncertain Peace: Ealing, England, August 1815
James Madison: Seventh Annual Message to Congress
- Mr. Madison’s War: Washington, D.C., December 1815
Contributors

John Quincy Adams
William Atherton
Charles Ball
Joshua Barney
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
Thomas Hart Benton
Big Warrior
Blackbird
Black Hawk
Thomas Verchères de Boucherville
Thomas Boyle
Isaac Brock
Philip B. V. Broke
Benjamin F. Browne
Shadrach Byfield
George Gordon, Lord Byron
John C. Calhoun
William Ellery Channing
Cyrenius Chapin
Isaac Chauncey
Henry Clay
Lewis (Louis) Peter Clover
A. W. Cochran
Alexander Cochrane
James Fenimore Cooper
George Croghan
Daniel Curtis
Elias Darnell
William Dunlop
David G. Farragut
Patrick Finan
Cornelius Flummerfelt
Philip Freneau
Albert Gallatin
George R. Gleig
Amos Hall
Jarvis Hanks
Charles Willing Hare
William Henry Harrison
Nathan Heald
N. W. Hibbard
William E. Horner
Eber D. Howe
William Hull
Mary Stockton Hunter
James Inderwick
Washington Irving
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Francis Jeffrey
Paul Jennings
Thomas ap Catesby Jones
Henry Kent
Francis Scott Key
John Le Couteur
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Robert Lucas
Thomas Macdonough
Dolley Madison
James Madison
George McFeely
James Monroe
Isaac Munroe
Hezekiah Niles
William B. Northcutt
Harrison Gray Otis
“P” (Richard E. Parker
Joseph Penley Jr.
Israel Pickens
Timothy Pickering
Stephen Popham
George Prevost
Robert Purdy
Josiah Quincy
Red Jacket
Philip Reed
Samuel C. Reid
John Richardson
Robert Rowley
James Scott
Winfield Scott
Laura Ingersoll Secord
John C. Sherbrooke
Harry Smith
Moses Smith
Alexander Smyth
John Strachan
Caleb Strong
Roger B. Taney
Tecumseh
Stephen Van Rensselaer
Daniel Webster
Arthur Wellesley (Wesley), 1st Duke of Wellington
Jared Willson
Robert Young

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