One of the most overlooked aspects of the Napoleonic period is the fighting in North America. This War of 1812, as the Americans came to call it, was both an extension of the Napoleonic world wars and a uniquely American conflict. As every schoolboy knows the popularly expressed principal cause of this war was the impressment by the British Royal Navy of American seamen into Royal Navy's ranks. But in reality there were a number of causes. These ranged from the British encouragement of the Indians in the regions of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley to American designs on Canada. But the one that rankled Americans more than any other was the overall British contempt for the United States and all things American. At the time hostilities opened, Britain did not formally recognize American citizenship and actively worked to handicap the "radical" American Republic in Europe. Britain treated the United States as wayward colonies that would eventually return to the fold. The British leadership patronized American diplomats and ignored American entreaties on the issues of impressment and national sovereignty. The majority of Americans, for their part, hated and despised the British Monarchy, the British government, the British military and the British Empire. The wounds of the Revolution still ran deep. Especially in the South and West, interestingly, the hot bed to the Revolution, New England, was the only area with a sizable pro-British element. It was American Honor rather than any other factor that led the United States to declare War on the British. Since achieving its independence, the United States had failed to maintain a navy or a sizable army. Thomas Jefferson believed that weapons caused wars. He reduced the American Navy to a coastal defense force and thereby hoped to avoid a conflict with anyone. He instituted an Embargo to avoid conflicts on the high-seas with the European powers. This embargo prohibited American ships from trading with belligerent powers. This virtually shut down US trade. His embargo nearly destroyed the merchants of New England without adversely affecting British policy. Britain for its part was forced by a manpower shortage to seek men for its struggle with Napoleon. The Royal Navy routinely stopped and searched ships and impressed seamen off American ships. These men were often ex- citizens of England or its empire. They spoke English and fit in well into the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy was authorized to block American trade with the French and their allies under the Rule of '56. The British garrisons throughout the Empire were stripped of "excess" troops for the defense of the mother country and the campaign in Spain. The long Canadian frontier with the United States was left almost devoid of troops. The British commander in Canada, General Henry A. Proctor, was faced with the unenviable job of defending 1,200 miles of front with less than 7,500 militia, Indians and regulars. The Americans had more than 25,000 militia and regulars in the border area and many more to the south. Despite its enormous advantages in North America, the United States started the war with a series of unmitigated disasters. General Sir Isaac Brock commanding a force of 1,300 Indians and militia captured Detroit and 2,500 American troops without a shot being fired. The planned three- pronged American invasion of Canada ended in three disasters for American arms. October 13, 1812, at the Battle of Queenstown 2,270 militia and 900 regulars were defeated by Brock and 600 British regulars and 400 Canadian militia. More than 700 Americans were captured and 250 others wounded and killed. The British lost 14 killed and 96 wounded. Unfortunately for the British Brock was among the dead. The American militia refused to cross over to Canada to support the regulars who were initially very successful. Meanwhile, Henry Dearborn's invasion up Lake Champlain likewise collapsed when the militia refused to cross over into Canada. And lastly the disaster at Detroit, as mentioned before, ended the invasion before it even started. The Americans had squandered their best chance for a quick victory in Canada. The poor quality of training and leadership crippled the Americans in the North. The year 1813, brought a few successes to each side. On the American side a new group of effective leaders was emerging through the political dead-beats and aged Revolutionary leaders. The most important of these were General William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson. Harrison re- captured Detroit after Perry's victory at the Battle of Lake Erie. At the Battle of the Thames, Harrison with 3,500 defeated Proctor and his mix of 800 regulars and 1,100 Indians. Meanwhile, Jackson started gathering the volunteers to secure the South from the British-backed Creek Indians. The Americans also advanced in central Ontario capturing and burning York. The British countered and captured Fort Erie and later in the year burned Buffalo. The last year of the war saw British hopes for victory dashed in the South at New Orleans, and in the North at the Naval Battle of Lake Champlain. The British, given a free hand by Napoleon's defeat were able to shut up the US Navy and deploy thousands of veteran troops to North America. The British deployed more than 15,000 to Canada, 7,500 to the South and 5,500 troops to amphibious operations in the central states. In the central Atlantic coast, although they managed to defeat the Americans at the Baffle of Bladensburg and burn Washington, D.C., the British advanced only to be stopped outside Baltimore. The other British offensives fizzled as well. Winfield Scott played a key roll in two major battles that re-established American arms, the Battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. The Battle of Lake Champlain ended the British advance on New York. The Baffle of New Orleans stopped the British advance on the Mississippi Valley with a victory that was as one sided as the first American loss at Detroit in 1812. Ironically, the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed before the battle was fought. Jackson, who hated the British more than any other American, did not mind the irony. On the high seas the American Navy demonstrated a ship to ship superiority that due to the British superiority in numbers had almost no effect on the British blockade of the American coast. On the high seas the Americans won several ship on ship fights including the LISS Constitution (44) vs. HMS Guerriere (38); USS Wasp (18) vs. HMS Frolic (20); LISS United States (44) vs. HMS Macedonia (38). On the Great Lakes, the Americans under the leadership of Oliver Hazard Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. In 1814, the underrated Lieutenant Thomas MacDonoungh defeated the British squadron on Lake Champlain and saved up-state New York from the depredations of 14,000 British troops under Prevost. It is fitting that the American Navy would fight the two decisive battles of the war on fresh water lakes. Wargaming Chippewa and More Wargaming the War of 1812 offers a number of interesting challenges and game possibilities . Although there are only a few troop types, their qualities range from elite to raw militia. The majority of units on both sides were infantry. Both sides employed artillery in mixed batteries, often artillerists used heavy caliber guns to make up for the smaller numbers employed. The cavalry arms of both sides were weaker than the forces employed in Europe. Cavalry were often little more than mounted riflemen on the American side and mounted dragoons on the British side. The small numbers employed precluded their use as shock troops. The quality of the officers on both sides was questionable. Although the British commanders tended to be better, the British officer corps has never been known for its intelligence and skill. British officers were usually brave in battle (As an old British Sergeant Major told me ... British officers are there "to show us how to die."). The American officer corps was little more than a collection of inept politicians and aging Revolutionary commanders who were more suited to geriatric care than combat. The British with the exception of Isaac Brock and Tecumseh (Tecumseh was made a general in the British Army during the war) were uninspiring and lacked the vision to succeed in North America despite their superiority in troop quality. Men like Dearborn and Van Rensselaer on the American side were gradually replaced by men like Winfield Scott, Zackery Taylor and Andrew Jackson. There are a number of actions worthy of duplication on the wargames table. On land; Lundy's Lane, Stony Creek, The Thames, Queenstown, Blandensburg, Detroit, Sackets Harbor, Chateaugay, Chrysler's Farm, Chippewa, La Colle Mill, Fort Erie, Fort Niagara, Plattsburg, Ft. Mimms, Ft. McHenry, Horseshoe Bend, and the Battle of New Orleans are all suitable for scenarios. Remember that all these actions took place in three years in an area of over 200,000 square miles. In this article I've chosen a battle that Jim Arnold worked up in his rules, GENERALSHIP: THE AMERICAN WARS. The baffle of Chippewa is one that includes a variety of the troop types and includes a strong American commander and a weak British commander. See the map below for the troop dispositions. The British commander, Riall, held the Americans in contempt and was quite surprised by the performance of Scoff's regulars once the battle started. Remember the story of General Riall who upon seeing the American grey uniforms, assumed them to be militia and only when the Americans deployed into battle line did he realize that he had engaged a force of "regulars". The forces were as follows: American Commander Winfield Scott, a charismatic leader with exceptional command skills. Scott's Brigade 9th Inf. Regiment 350 menHigh morale/high training 11 th Inf. Regiment 433 menGood morale/high training 22nd Vol. Regiment 229 menHigh Morale/high Training 25th Inf. Regiment 370 menHigh morale/high training Porter's Brigade Pennsylvania Militia 480 Men Decent morale/low training NY Light Dragoons 200 Men Low morale/low training Indians 600.Men Low morale/low training Engineer Company 50 Men Good morale/good training Towson's battery (4) 12 lbs.Guns, 60 men Good morale/good training The British Forces are outlined below (One Brigade): First Royal Scots 1-) 500 menGood training/good morale 100th Regiment of Foot 460 men Average morale/ good training 104th Foot Flank Cos.(It.) 120 men Excellent Tr. and Morale 2nd Lincoln Militia 300 menPoor training and morale Indians 300+menPoor training and morale 19th Light Dragoons 100 menGood training and morale Royal Art. (4) 24 lb guns (2) 12 lb gunsAvg morale /good training The total British manpower was 1,840 men to the total American strength of 2,565 men. Note that the Indians will be of little value in a stand up fight. The 600 Indians on the American side and the 300 on the British side, if removed, would change the troop values to 1,965 for the Americans and 1,540 for the British. In the actual battle the Americans advanced and attacked the British frontally. In this case the quality being roughly even, the numbers told the story and the Americans carried the day. On the high seas any number of ship to ship actions are possible. The Americans lacked a battle line although one was under construction in Philadelphia, New York and Charleston. The American smaller vessels, sloops, brigs and frigates all operated in a Guerre de Course (War of Commerce). This offers both a campaign and a number of possible small actions for wargaming. Remember that the American Frigates were of a superior design and construction than their British opposites. The British may need a handicap to be able to stand up to the Americans. I suggest that a British Brig (12) and Frigate (38) be used against one American frigate (44). For large actions we have to move to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. For ships on the Great Lakes the Minifig line of "Limeys and Slimeys" is an excellent vehicle. The 14 and 12 gun sloops are roughly the equals of the ships that fought these actions. A typical fleet would have two to four 12-14 gun "ships ofthe line" and five to ten smaller vessels from one gun gunboats to 8 to 10 gun demi-sloops. The crews for the ships were often drawn from the local sea-faring (lake-faring) population. The officers and mates came from the regular Navies along with a few ratings. The local armies also provided crewmen. The ships were often constructed on the lakes for action but some local boats were converted for naval use especially in the early stages of the conflict. The British even started construction of an eighty gun ship of the line in Canada for the lakes. American seamanship was the equal to the British on the lakes. The American naval officer corps was superior to that of the British. Ships were equal in terms of capabilities. Next issue will include a set of campaign rules for The War of 1812, including land and sea actions. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #56 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com