The Americans experienced early successes at sea. Days after the formal declaration of war, two small squadrons sailed, including the frigate USS President and the sloop USS Hornet under Commodore John Rodgers (who had general command), and the frigates USS United States and USS Congress, with the brig USS Argus under Captain Stephen Decatur.
Meanwhile, USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, sailed from Chesapeake Bay on July 12. On July 17, a British squadron gave chase. Constitution evaded her pursuers after two days. After briefly calling at Boston to replenish water, on August 19 Constitution engaged the British frigate HMS Guerriere. After a thirty five-minute battle, Guerriere had been dismasted and captured and was later burned. Hull returned to Boston with news of this significant victory.[9]
On October 25, the USS United States, commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the British frigate HMS Macedonian, which he then carried back to port.[10] At the close of the month, Constitution sailed south under the command of Captain William Bainbridge. On December 29, off Bahia, Brazil, she met the British frigate HMS Java. After a battle lasting three hours, Java struck her colours and was burned after being judged unsalvageable.[11]
In January 1813, the American frigate USS Essex, under the command of Captain David Porter, sailed into the Pacific in an attempt to harass British shipping. Many British whaling ships carried letters of marque allowing them to prey on American whalers, nearly destroying the industry. Essex challenged this practice. She inflicted considerable damage on British interests before she was captured off Valparaiso, Chile, by the British frigate HMS Phoebe and the sloop HMS Cherub on March 28, 1814.[12]
In all of these actionsexcept the one in which Essex was takenthe Americans had the advantage of greater size and heavier guns. However, the United States Navy's sloops and brigs also won several victories over Royal Navy vessels of approximately equal strength. While the American ships had experienced and well-drilled volunteer crews, the cream of the over-stretched Royal Navy was serving elsewhere, and constant sea duties of those serving in North America interfered with their training and exercises.[13]
The capture of the three British frigates stimulated the British to greater exertions. More vessels were deployed on the American seaboard and the blockade tightened. On June 1, 1813, off Boston Harbor, the frigate USS Chesapeake, commanded by Captain James Lawrence, was captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon under Captain Sir Philip Broke.
Answer the following: Is it valid to call the War of 1812 "America's worst-fought war"? Was the cause of the failure essentially military, or was it an inevitable result of the political disunity over the war's purposes? Provide support for your stance and "discredit" the opposing view. Maximum of 2 pages/ 15 Points
The War of 1812 otherwise known as the “Forgotten War”, was a three year military conflict between America, Britain and their Native allies. It was a relatively small war that arguably shaped a continent for centuries to come. Around the time of 1812 there was tension in and around America because of several controversial acts that Britain had passed out. Because of the Napoleonic Wars Britain had a “You are either with us or you are against us”, approach to other nations. However the British did whatever it took to get out of a war however that could not happen because of what they were doing. The British had forgotten America after the war of Independence and didn’t regard them as a powerful Nation. Their focus was on France however America managed to tangle themselves in this conflict between the two Nations by trading with the French. America wanted to make some money off France and had engaged in trade a while back. The British, because of their approach of dealing with other nations, had set up an embargo that made American ships pay a duty to the British before they could trade with the French. They had also engaged in what was called impressment in which they would take men of American ships, if the men had even the most vague connection to Britain they would take them hostage and put them on their own boats to go to war for the British. Theses acts angered the Americans and they wanted to go to war with Britain so a new breed of congress and government were put in place. They were called Warhawks, these men were more aggressive and were known to act before thinking. The Battle of Profits town had most probably been the tipping point for going to war, when Sir Governor William Henry Harrison and his militia had attacked P...
The American Turtle was ready for her initial mission on September 6, 1776, just after midnight in the New York Harbor. The operator, Ezra Lee, failed in his attempt to sink the HMS Eagle because he failed to secure the screw of the gunpowder magazine to the ship. The Turtle made two more attempts to sink enemy ships but they both failed. The end of the American Turtle is unknown. Some think she was accidentally sunk, dismantled, or destroyed. The Turtle was the very first submarine to be used in the...
His first ship was the Alfred. The navy at this time consisted of the ships Alfred and Columbus, the brigantines Andrew Doria and Cabot and the sloop Providence. Thirteen frigates were ordered to be built. As lieutenant of the Alfred and later the Providence, Jones gained many skills and a variety of experience in naval warfare. In 1777 he sailed in the "Ranger" for France, where he struck up a connection with the American commissioner in Paris, with Benjamin Franklin and at Quiberon forced the French to salute the American flag.
It was July 30th around 11:30 at night. Hashimoto, the captain of the I-58 Japanese submarine climbed up on the bridge. He picked up binoculars. Hashimoto saw a ship because the moon was behind it and gave the order to dive. Hashimoto was very concerned that it was a destroyer ship coming to attack the submarine. Hashimoto could not get a good look at the Indianapolis because it was not zigzagging.
In “Battles of Lexington and Concord”, the goals of the British were hindered due to American preparation. One of the goals of the British was “capturing pat...
The British chose to attack the Americans from the north by way of Isle aux Pois in the mouth of the Pearl River because this was the only only stable water they had found that ships could ride and anchor. When hearing that the british where coming this way, Lieutenant Thomas Ap Catesby Jones and his five gunboats went to try and Barackade the Rigolets trying to make sure they wouldn’t enter. His 185 men and 23 guns awaited the British. At 10:30 on December 14th 1814 three columns of British ships, 42 to 45, armed with 43 guns and 1,200 under the command of Captain Lockyer met the American blockade. Fierce fighting began and the British had finally captured the five American boats. Losses were 17 British and 6 Americans killed, 77 British and 35 Americans wounded. This gave Gerneral Andrew Jackson six days more to improve his defenses. The British at the very beginning of the war had demolished almost all of Jacksons sea power. Jackson only had the Carolina, Louisiana, and one gunboat left.
After the U.S gained their independence form Britain, they faced the greatest obstacle that would threaten their independence. This was a second war fought against Great Britain called the War of 1812. The war was fought on land and on sea and lasted almost three years. There were many forces that led Americans to declare war on Britain in 1812.
The Americans started out as a bunch of uncivilized colonies, but after the revolutionary war, they become a strong country that beat Britain for freedom. On Christmas night General George Washington makes a bold decision to cross the Delaware and ambushed the Hessians. Although risky, Washington brought new life to his rag tag army. General Burgoyne decides that in order to win this war, he needs to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Burgoyne’s plan sounded like a good idea to the British, but this action could be argued to be the reason why Britain did not win this war. Nearing the end of the war, the British were scarce on man and supplies. Washington took his army and his French allies to Yorktown and finished the British off ending the war. The most pivotal battles in determining the outcome of the American Revolution were battle of Trenton, Battle of Saratoga, and battle of Yorktown.
After the British captured the fort, Quebec was the next military target. The following June, Major General James Wolfe led the British up the river. Helping Wolfe were Brigadiers General Robert Monkton, James Murray, and George Townsend. The flotilla had forty-nine men-of-war, fully one-quarter of the entire Royal Navy, two hundred transports, storage vessels and provision ships. (digitalhistory.org) The fleet was commanded by three admirals, Saunders, Holmes and Durrel. The chief navigator was Captain James Cook. He would later explore the Pacific Ocean.
On 19 December 1818, the United States’ Vessel, the Emma Sophia was held up by a Spanish privateer in the Santaren Channel. She surrendered because she was not armed. In the struggle, an officer was taken to be hange...
On June 1st, 1812, President James Madison declared war on the British for many reasons. In his war message, Madison brought three unpardonable British acts to Congress’s attention. The first, impressment. “Thousands of American citizens, under the safeguard of public law and of their national flag, have been torn from their country and from everything dear to them,” (War Message to Congress, Paragraph 4). British Navy ships would stop American ships to search for British deserters. This often resulted in natural American citizens being apprehended and forced into the British navy. During this time, Britain was at war with Napoleon and wanted to hurt France economically. To do so, Britain tried to restrict French trade with other nations, including America. “Not content with these occasional expedients for laying waste our neutral trade, the cabinet of Britain resorted at length to...
The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and the United States fought primarily in Upper Canada. It had many causes, few which involved British North America. The results of the war include the fact that there was no clear winner or loser among them. The only real losers in the situation were the Natives in the region. They were driven out of their lands and customs. None of the borders was changed by the war, though many attempts were made. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, did nothing to advance the state of the countries. It went so far as to end the war and put things back the way that they were, but the main causes of the conflict were not addressed or dealt with. In order to evaluate the significance of this war, Canadian victories and losses, as well as overall results, must be analyzed.
The colonists might have over exaggerated the whole problem a tiny bit. Also in His home colony, Rhode Island, a naval vessel from the British kept watch on the Islanders. The British were there to make sure the Islanders didn't smuggle, steal, or disrespect other commanders already watching over his colony. During the battle the red coats were devastated by 270 casualties and 73 of them died and around fifty Americans died.
The USS Maine was the United States Navy’s second commission battleship; however, Maine was classified originally as an armored cruiser. Heavily armed with guns and torpedoes, this ship was ready for battle. The USS Maine, named after the state of Maine, and completed on November 18, 1889. The battleship remained stationed near the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean. In January 1898, President William McKinley sent the 6,789 ton ship, from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba in hopes to help protect the United States’ interests during the Cuban Revolt against Spain. Three weeks later the battleship mysteriously exploded inside the Havana Harbor. The captain, Charles Sigsbee and several officers aboard the ship survived, because of their location in the rear end of the ship.