[motto]

As I understand it the War of 1812 came about as a result of the Napoleonic War in Europe and involved the US essentially because of British interference with American shipping. As a result of a desperate shortage of manpower for the Royal Navy which was virtually fighting a global war British men o' war were stopping American vessels not only on the high seas but in American waters and seizing any British born seamen on board even if they were US citizens. They went so far as to stop an American naval vessel and take crewmen from it as it left its home port.

The fledgling US navy could not challenge the Royal Navy which subsequently blockaded the entire eastern seaboard of the United States from New England to New Orleans reducing American shipping to almost zero.

The only place the Americans could challenge British interests was on land and that's how the fighting in Canada came about.

To me the most astonishing aspect of the war was the demonstration of the sea keeping abilities of what we would consider to be primitive wooden ships. They were able to keep station and remain effective off the US coast for months at a time. This kind of endurance was not equalled or exceeded until the advent of nuclear power.

David