War of 1812 - Essay 9

The war of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain from June 1812 to December 1814 when the peace treaty was signed. It was in fact a war that once and for all confirmed American Independence. From the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the United States had been irritated by the failure of the British to withdraw from American territory along the Great Lakes. Since this conflict did not end peacefully, the United States declared War on Great Britain on June 12, 1812. Even though United States did not win some of the battles, it did win most of the important battles, making it the winner of the war of 1812.

The Battle of Plattsburgh also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain ended the final invasion of the Northern states during the War of 1812. The Americans were out numbered and out gunned, but they managed to defeat 11, 000 British military units stragetically. The victory of Lake champlain denied the British any leverage to demand exclusive control over the Great Lakes and any territorial gains against the New England states. The Battle of Lake Champlain proved that under limited leadership and amateur militarry units, Americans could stand on their own against British invasions.

Battle of Baltimore was one of the turning points in the War of 1812. American forces defended against a combined British land and sea invasion of the busy port city of Baltimore. The British army of 5000 landed as planned, marched toward Baltimore but Baltimore had been well fortified, it had 15, 000 military units and they were supplied well. The British forces were crushed by the heavy defence of Americans and they had to retreat before they lost any more troops. They sailed off to regroup before the next assault on America at the Battle of New Orleans.

The last famous battle was the Battle of New Orleans. On January 8, 1815, American forces, under General Jackson, determinedly defeated the British forces trying to capture New...