Gilmer Letter Regarding The British In Hampton

Source - Library Of Virginia Online

Excerpts from the Educator Resource for Francis Walker Gilmer Letter (same link as above):

"Letter, Francis Walker Gilmer, Montevideo, Buckingham County, to William Wirt, Richmond, 8 July 1813. Personal Papers Collection, Accession 18763. Library of Virginia."

"Gilmer’s outrage at the conduct of the British forces at Hampton under British Admiral Sir Alexander Cockburn is one of the most controversial episodes of the war. After defeating elements of Virginia militia, British forces entered the city on June 25, 1813. During the withdrawal the next day, troops destroyed and looted property, murdered citizens, and raped several women. Cockburn and other officers blamed Canadian Chasseurs (French deserters recruited by the English) for the mayhem. Whatever the truth, the incident provoked deep outrage throughout America. “Remember Hampton” became a rallying cry for American troops, including those under Jackson at New Orleans."

Captain Gordon's Potomac Activity

Source
Illustration Of An 1808 Battle Between HMS Seahorse Ad Badere Zaffer

Letter To Capt. Gordon, H. M. S. Seahorse From Admiral Cochrane:

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Burning Washington

Psychological Warfare?

Source - View of White House Circa 1799

At 6 o'clock, after a rest of two hours, the British resumed their march and about dark, encamped a short distance east of the Capitol. Up to this time the raid had been conducted as an eminently proper military movement, but suddenly the British began to execute literally the orders given by Cochrane. The two wings of the Capitol were the only parts finished, but these were set afire and in the conflagration the Library of Congress and many valuable public documents were destroyed. Ross and Cockburn with about 200 men marched quietly along Pennsylvania Avenue to the President's house and set it afire...". [Source]

Cochrane's Plans

Description of a letter held in the Indiana University Archives:

Source

His Majesty's Ship Ann

Bermuda, 25th March 1814

Cochrane's Signature On Page 16 Of Letter Referenced Above

Sir Humphrey Le Fleming Senhouse; His Pre-War Years

The Gentleman's Magazine (London, England), Volume 170

Sir Humphrey was the third son of the late Sir William Senhouse, Surveyor-General of Barbadoes ,and of Nether Hall in Cumberland, by Mary, second daughter and coheiress of Joseph Ashley, of Ashby Ledgers, esq. High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1788. He entered the navy at an early age, and when midshipman was present at the capture of Surinam in 1799.

...appointed by Sir Alexander Cochrane...

Ship Island And The British

Fort At Ship Island

"Intelligence that the British Government had fitted out an expedition which was intended for the capture of New Orleans and Mobile reached the authorities at Washington December 9, 1814, and the President directed the Governors of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia to dispatch their militia to New Orleans."

"The British Army was in command of General Pakenham.  It was composed of 7,000 picked soldiers including veterans who had served under Wellington, and a portion of the British Chesapeake force under Admiral Cochrane. They were transported in fifty large vessels and anchored off the entrance to Lake Borgne in the latter part of December. A meager flotilla of American gunboats opposed their landing, but it was speedily and effectually dispersed. The enemy took full possession of Lake Borgne and effecting a landing on Ship Island crossed to the Northwestern end of Lake Borgne and on Dec 25 struck the Mississippi about nine miles below New Orleans." [Source]

A Summary Of The War In 1814

Excerpts from a sign at the Cumberland Island NPS Museum:

CRISIS, CLIMAX, AND PEACE - 1814

As Britain and her allies ended their war against Napoleon, thousands of battle-hardened British regulars boarded ships for America.  In July, they captured 100 miles of coastline in Maine.  In late July they turned back the last American attempt to invade Canada.  In August, British forces marched on Washington, the American capital.

In mid-September, on Lake Champlain, at Plattsburgh Bay, New York, Lieutenant Thomas McDonough's under gunned American squadron defeated a superior British fleet.  The tide of war changed and peace talks began in Ghent, Belgium.

Not knowing the war had ended, the Battle of New Orleans saw troops under General Andrew Jackson first slow then defeat a British advance on January 8th, 1815.

Note: The Battle of the Ice Mound, Battle at Point Peter and the Battle of Bowyer occurred after the Battle of New Orleans.