Peaceful Coercison By Embargo

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December 1807 - Thomas Jefferson attempts "peaceful coercion" of the British with his embargo but it results in economic disaster for merchants.

Vice President Elbridge Gerry

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From The Writings Of James Madison

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Memoir Of Alexander Macomb

Shortly after Macomb had entered the encampment beyond the Alleghany, an incident occurred which came near doing him a serious injury.

An officer visited him in his tent, and in the course of conversation, broached the politics of the day, the principal theme of which was the change of administration, Mr. Jefferson having been not long before elected to the Presidency. This officer was very abusive of the new President, in terms not merely indecorous, but punishable by the Articles of War. Disapproving of such intemperance, Macomb begged him not to continue a language, so disrespectful to the head of the Army and the Nation, and which, used any where but in his own tent, he would feel constrained to notice, as a breach of discipline. The expressions were overheard, attributed to Macomb, and reported to Head Quarters, for which he received a severe reprimand. He, however, soon succeeded in satisfying the General of his innocence of the charge, though without exposing the officer guilty of the indecorum.[Source]

Joseph H. Nicholson Presided

"Early in 1812 the advocates of war determined on a public expression of their opinions, and on May 16 a called meeting was held at the Fountain Inn in Baltimore City...

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...by supporters of President Madison's administration, over which Joseph H. Nicholson presided. In the course of an address he said: ' No one can be insensible to the great crisis to which the affairs of our country are rapidly approaching."' [Source]

Charles J. Ingersoll, Historian

Charles Jared Ingersoll papers

Collection 1812

© The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

"Lawyer, politician, and author Charles Jared Ingersoll was born in Philadelphia on October 3, 1782 to Jared Ingersoll, a member of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and district judge, and Elizabeth Pellet."

"Over the course of his governmental career, Ingersoll worked with a few U. S. presidents such as James Monroe, John Tyler, and James K. Polk. In addition to his political career, Ingersoll worked as a lawyer in Philadelphia and was an accomplished writer. Beyond his early works, he published the two-volume History of the War of 1812-15 (1845, 1852)." [Source]

Captain John Whistler In The Van Buren Papers

Calendar of the papers of Martin Van Buren ...,  By Library of Congress. Manuscript Division, Elizabeth Howard West:

The Diplomatic Policy Of Mr. Madison Unveiled

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"The Political History of Mr. Madison will be first and briefly discussed m order to shew us what we had a right to expect of him and to prove that hatred to Great Britain and attachment to French politics were deeply root d in his own character totally independent of his connection with Mr. Jefferson."

James Madison Letter Of August 23rd

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Letter From Auction House Brochure

Zachary Taylor's Early Career

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Colonel Taylor destined his son William for the Army, while Zachary was to be a farmer. The former died soon after entering the service and Zachary, earnestly desiring a military career, received from President Jefferson a commission as first lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry. This commission was dated May 3, 1808, a few months before Zachary Taylor s relative, James Madison, was elected president of the United States.

The young officer reported to General Wilkinson at New Orleans, but was soon stricken with yellow fever and forced to return home to be nursed back to health. His marriage occurred about a year later and on November 30, 1810, he was promoted and became a captain. In 1811 his regiment, the Seventh, marched northward with the Fourth Infantry to serve under General Harrison, then governor of the Northwest territory, who was endeavoring to subdue the Indians.

The battle of Tippecanoe was fought November 7, 1811. The second war with Great Britain began in less than a year the act declaring war was dated June 18, 1812 and in September the young captain had his first real baptism of fire. In command of a single company of the Seventh, he was defending Fort Harrison when, on September 10, 1812, it was attacked by the Indians, who greatly outnumbered the little garrison, and there he displayed such bravery, skill, and resourcefulness in defense that he was warmly praised by his superior officers and was brevetted major by the President.

His service against the Indians of the North west continued until the close of the war, and on May 15, 1814, he received the full rank of major and was assigned to the Twenty-sixth Infantry. He then led
an expedition against the Indians and their British allies on Rock river and further distinguished himself. [Source]

View Of The War

The life and times of Martin Van Buren: the correspondence of his friends ...
 By William Lyon Mackenzie

"Col. Wm. Duane, the friend of Jefferson... .  Hear his account of the war of 1812--I quote the Aurora of August 17, 1816."

"The last war may be fairly considered, as it regards every thing--but the patience, hardihood and valor, of the line and the militia--one of the worst conducted, the most imbecile, inconsistent, and confused in its designs, that the world ever saw. The system of loans was a most villainous systematic cheat, for which every man who was concerned, ought to be recorded in a register of infamy."

Call For Additional Troops

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Thoughts Of War Compared To 1940

Napoleon

Excerpts from a book published Christmas, 1940 [before a "date that will live in infamy" and the Declaration Of War by the United States]:


"Across the sea, even as in 1940, a world-shaking conflict was going on. Although America desired to have no part in it, our national rights and our peaceful commerce were assailed with fine impartiality by both warring nations."

"...it was reserved for his [Jefferson's] political heir, President Madison, to pilot the country through a three-year war."

"...we declared war in 1812 upon the greatest military power in the world. If Denmark in the spring of 1940 had declared war upon Germany and confidently anticipated romping into Berlin in a few weeks' time, the exhibition of national folly suggested would have been scarcely more astounding." 

"As it turned out, such factors as our distance from Europe and the preoccupation of Great Britain with the Napoleonic struggle preserved America from the national defeat and dismemberment we had so rashly invited. Saved by a hairsbreadth from such a fate...".

William Lambert, Secret Agent

Below is an item found in the War of 1812 Papers of the Department of State:


REPORTS OF WILLIAM LAMBERT, SECRET AGENT. l8l3-
His reports to the Secretary of State concerned movements of the enemy in Maryland between Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River.

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Letter from William Lambert of Lancaster County, Virginia 

to 

James Monroe, Secretary of State

07/15/1814

"In this letter William Lambert shares information about large ships seen passing up the middle of the Chesapeake Bay as well as an additional force and his fear of an imminent attack in Virginia or Maryland."

Bissell And The Louisiana Territory

Louisiana Territory

Upon the purchase of the province of Louisiana from France, President Jefferson appointed [Daniel] Bissell as military commander of that portion which today embraces the states of Missouri and Illinois. Promoted to colonel on August 15, 1812, and later to general on March 9, 1814, Bissell participated in the last engagement of the War of 1812, when he led the United States forces in the battle of Lyon’s Creek. After commanding posts at Mobile, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge in the South, Bissell retired from the Army in 1821. [Source]

Excerpt From Letter Sent By Bissell From Saint Louis, Missouri Territory (Fold3)

Colonel William Russel

Present Day Peoria, Illinois

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"...Colonel Russel himself, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, was leading an expedition of mounted rangers, against the Indians of the Peoria towns, in Illinois."

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Among those listed in the 7th Regiment of Infantry:

William Russel, Colonel

Thornton Posey, Lieutenant-Colonel

Zachariah Taylor, Captain; Major by brevet

Pre-War Leanings Of Jacob Barker

Map During Pre-War And War Of 1812 Era

From Incidents in the life of Jacob Barker, of New Orleans, Louisiana...:

Politically, "the odious alien and sedition law fettered the press, and the stamp law of John Adams bothered him in his business; its repeal became an object of deep interest; this urged him on in the support of Jefferson."  "In those days party feeling ran very high; the purchase of Louisiana was a theme on which the Federalists rang all their changes; they denounced Jefferson as being under French influence...accused him as paying tribute to Bonaparte [when paying for the Louisiana Purchase]."

Rights Of Belligerents And Neutrals

The Naval War of 1812: Events of 1812-13,  By Theodore Roosevelt:

Inferior To None

Statue Of General Jackson In New Orleans

In fact, it might be contended that the battles of Plattsburg and New Orleans, in both of which our
soldiers proved far more than a match, man for man, for Wellington's seasoned and best soldiers, showed the most skillful and resourceful fighting done on this continent; and inferior to none anywhere in the history of war in bravery or brilliancy of achievement. [Source]

By Order Of The President?

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Taken from Opinions of attorneys general..., the Opinion of 25 January 1821:

After the opinion I had the honor to express to you in the case of General Armstrong on the 25th January last, there can remain no question of law in the case; the only question which can remain is one of fact, to wit: "Was the General's excursion to Canada by the direction or order of the President?"