US Military Performance Against British in War of 1812

United States Military Performance Against the British in the War of 1812 In June 1812, the U.S. declared a war against the British and their North American allies. The war, according to Smith, was motivated by America's quest to take control of Britain's North American territories, Britain's punitive trade policy, Britain's support for Native Americans, and the forced enrolment of American sailors into the British navy. As a young nation, the U.S. was eager to safeguard its newly acquired independence.

Commonly known as the forgotten war (Hickey 1), the war had important lessons for the U.S. This paper briefly evaluates the performance of the U.S. military in the war. As depicted in the film The War of 1812, the U.S. initially employed an offensive strategy against the British (Public Broadcasting Service). Since the British navy was the strongest worldwide, the U.S. paid attention to land campaigns, especially in Upper and Lower Canada. America's ultimate objective was to seize British North America and take control over Native Americans.

Nonetheless, in spite of their ostentatious strategy, the Americans were inadequately prepared for the war. Notwithstanding its immense manpower advantage, the U.S. started the battle with a significantly lesser number of troops. Moreover, the majority of the U.S. soldiers were undertrained militiamen. This gave the British an important advantage over the Americans as the British had professionally trained soldiers. In essence, the British capitalized on military superiority while the Americans capitalized on numerical advantage. Though the U.S.

navy had competent and experienced sailors, it could not match Britain's Royal Navy (Smith). The American navy, therefore, directed its efforts towards disrupting Britain's trade activities and seizing the Great Lakes. Whereas the Americans impressively raided British trade and made considerable victory against British ships, they did not significantly hinder British trade and eventually did not succeed in seizing the Great Lakes. The British, on the other hand, used a defensive strategy (Smith).

Though Britain had the most powerful navy in the world at the time, it faced significant resource challenges. At the time the war started, Britain was already at war with Napoleon. Indeed, the Napoleonic war was a matter of life and death for the British; hence most of its resources and efforts were focused on the war. This left fewer resources for the war in North America.

Resorting to a defensive strategy, the British focused on protecting naval communications between Canada and England, guarding Upper and Lower Canada, and obstructing America's merchant activities. Though the British had more well-trained troops compared to the U.S., they faced a manpower disadvantage as American troops significantly outnumbered them (Smith). This disadvantage was, however, compensated by Britain's allies in North America, especially the Native Americans. The challenge of manpower for the British was further compounded by geographical complexities. While the U.S.

was in a position to scatter its troops everywhere, British forces could mainly be divided between remote areas in Upper and Lower Canada. Quebec and Montreal were particularly important in supplying Upper Canada with resources as well as receiving reinforcements from England. Since the Royal Navy had prioritized the Napoleonic war, the Americans came close to annexing the Great Lakes. America's attack against Canada was initially disastrous (Hickey 66-80). Their troops were disorganized and were quite reluctant to cross the U.S.-Canada frontier.

Instead of unifying its forces, the U.S. scattered its troops in a multi-pronged manner. Poor organization on the part of American troops presented a major advantage for British troops. Britain's commander in Canada, Isaac Brock, particularly capitalized on this disadvantage to conquer Detroit. America's assault against British forces at the Niagara River was also unsuccessful. Its objectives were to divide Upper Canada, demoralize the Canadians, and take revenge for the capture of Detroit. Nonetheless, it was quite difficult for the U.S.

to achieve these objectives due to logistical intricacies, poor equipment, and tension amongst troop leaders, in addition to poor military training on the part of its troops. Throughout 1812, the U.S. achieved little or no success in defeating the British -- most of its assaults failed. In 1813, however, with a shift from an offensive to a defensive strategy, American troops performed much better (Hickey 123-150). They won the assault in Michigan and took control over Lake Erie.

This gave American troops morale to advance into Upper Canada, an invasion that ended in the Battle of Thames, where American troops quickly overwhelmed British troops. This victory led to the recapture of Detroit, the Niagara Peninsula, and a substantial portion of Upper Canada for the remainder of the war. In spite of these successes, however, America's triumph did little to deter the British or win the war.

The remainder of the war, that is, 1814-1815, was characterized by a mixture of victories and failures for American troops (Hickey 183-240). They lost and won in Fort George, won in the Niagara Front, and lost in Montreal, Fort Niagara, and Buffalo, compelling American troops to revert to its initial offensive strategy. With.