1812: The Navy's War by George C. Daughan

Author:George C. Daughan
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: United States, Military, 19th Century, History
ISBN: 0465020461
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2011-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

ON DECEMBER 30, 1813, His Majesty’s packet Bramble, under Lieutenant Pogson, arrived at Annapolis, Maryland, from Plymouth, England, with the momentous news: Napoleon had suffered a near fatal blow at Leipzig and had barely made it back to France. The Bramble also carried a letter from Castlereagh proposing direct negotiations between Britain and America without Russian mediation. The note was addressed to Secretary of State Monroe and dated November 4—after Castlereagh knew the outcome of Leipzig. Monroe immediately wrote back on January 5, 1814, accepting the offer.

Madison’s swift approval of Castlereagh’s proposal spoke loudly of how well the British were doing in America, and how desperate the president was to end the war. Liverpool and Castlereagh were confident that in any negotiation with Madison, they would dictate the terms. And although they had proposed talks, they were in no hurry to begin them until victories on the battlefield gave them the upper hand. The Bramble departed Annapolis on January 12 with Monroe’s reply, arriving in London three weeks later. Liverpool and Castlereagh were pleased with Madison’s acceptance and his unseemly haste.

The president moved quickly to augment his negotiating team. He added Jonathan Russell and Henry Clay to work with Bayard and Adams. Clay was particularly important as a symbol to the West and the South that their interests would be protected in the peace treaty. The president also reappointed Gallatin when he found out he intended to remain in Europe and not return to the Treasury. Admiral Cockburn issued a passport for Clay and Russell to travel to Europe, and on February 26, 1814, they sailed from New York on the John Adams.

At the beginning of 1814, things looked bleaker than ever for Madison. Repeated defeats along the Canadian border, except for Lake Erie, had undermined his hopes for a satisfactory peace. In addition, recruiting was going poorly. He had no hope of instituting conscription. Congress would never approve it. Militias from the New England states refused to march across the border into Canada, and money was hard to come by. Congress would not support a national bank or raise taxes enough to fund the war, and Federalist moneymen would not lend the president the money he needed to fight.

The British, on the other hand, were enormously gratified by their successes in Canada. They considered the defeat on Lake Erie an anomaly that would quickly be reversed. The future for Britain on the North American continent looked exceedingly bright.

Napoleon remained to be dealt with, of course, but optimism in London about finally destroying him was growing. He had returned to Paris in November 1813 and, as expected, immediately set about trying to raise another army of 300,000. At the same time, he held out to the allies the possibility of negotiations, and they responded on November 9 with a generous peace plan known as the Frankfurt Proposals. If accepted, they would allow Bonaparte to keep his throne, provided he evacuated the areas of Europe he still held, like Hamburg, and

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