A Short History of the United States Part 30

_d_. Life and manners in 1800.

SUGGESTIONS

The purchase of Louisiana and the early development of the West are leading points in this period. With the latter must be coupled the important inventions which made such development possible. Commercial questions should receive adequate attention and should be ill.u.s.trated by present conditions.

Jefferson's att.i.tude toward both the Louisiana Purchase and the enforcement of the Embargo Act is an ill.u.s.tration of the effect which power and responsibility have on those placed at the head of the government. This can also be ill.u.s.trated by events in our own time.

IX

WAR AND PEACE, 1812-1829

Books for Study and Reading

References.--Higginson's _Larger History, _365-442; Scribner's _Popular History, _IV; Lossing's _Field-Book of the War of 1812; _Coffin's _Building the Nation, _149-231.

Home Readings.--Barnes's _Yankee Ships; _Roosevelt's _Naval War of 1812; _Seawell's _Midshipman Paulding; _Holmes's _Old Ironsides; _Goodwin's _Dolly Madison._

CHAPTER 25

THE SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1812 1815

[Sidenote: American plan of campaign, 1812.]

[Sidenote: Objections to it.]

260. Plan of Campaign, 1812.--The American plan of campaign was that General Hull should invade Canada from Detroit. He could then march eastward, north of Lake Erie, and meet another army which was to cross the Niagara River. These two armies were to take up the eastward march and join a third army from New York. The three armies then would capture Montreal and Quebec and generally all Canada. It was a splendid plan.

But there were three things in the way of carrying it out: (i) there was no trained American army; (2) there were no supplies for an army when gathered and trained; and (3) there was a small, well-trained and well-supplied army in Canada.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DETROIT, ABOUT 1815.]

[Sidenote: Hull's march to Detroit.]

[Sidenote: His misfortunes.]

[Sidenote: He surrenders Detroit, 1812.]

261. Hull's Surrender of Detroit, 1812.--In those days Detroit was separated from the settled parts of Ohio by two hundred miles of wilderness. To get his men and supplies to Detroit, Hull had first of all to cut a road through the forest. The British learned of the actual declaration of war before Hull knew of it. They dashed down on his scattered detachments and seized his provisions. Hull sent out expedition after expedition to gather supplies and bring in the scattered settlers. Tec.u.mthe and the other Indian allies of the British captured one expedition after another. The British advanced on Detroit, and Hull surrendered. By this disaster the British got control of the upper lakes. They even invaded Ohio.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PERRY'S BATTLE FLAG.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Lake Erie 1813. McMaster, 234-235.]

[Sidenote: Battle of the Thames, 1813.]

262. Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 1813.--But the British triumph did not last long. In the winter of 1812-13 Captain Oliver Hazard Perry built a fleet of warships on Lake Erie. They were built of green timber cut for the purpose. They were poor vessels, but were as good as the British vessels. In September, 1813, Perry sailed in search of the British ships. Coming up with them, he hoisted at his masthead a large blue flag with Lawrence's immortal words, "Don't give up the ship" (p.

212), worked upon it. The battle was fiercely fought. Soon Perry's flagship, the _Lawrence_, was disabled and only nine of her crew were uninjured. Rowing to another ship, Perry continued the fight. In fifteen minutes more all the British ships surrendered. The control of Lake Erie was now in American hands. The British retreated from the southern side of the lake. General Harrison occupied Detroit. He then crossed into Canada and defeated a British army on the banks of the river Thames (October, 1813).

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "CONSt.i.tUTION." From an early painting of the escape of the _Const.i.tution_ from the British fleet. The men in the boat are preparing to carry out a small anchor.]

[Sidenote: The _Const.i.tution_.]

[Sidenote: Chased by a British fleet, 1812.]

[Sidenote: She escapes.]

263. The Frigate _Const.i.tution_.--One of the first vessels to get to sea was the _Const.i.tution_, commanded by Isaac Hull. She sailed from Chesapeake Bay for New York, where she was to serve as a guard-ship. On the way she fell in with a British squadron. The _Const.i.tution_ sailed on with the whole British fleet in pursuit. Soon the wind began to die away. The _Const.i.tution's_ sails were soaked with water to make them hold the wind better. Then the wind gave out altogether, Captain Hull lowered his boats and the men began to tow the ship. But the British lowered their boats also. They set a great many boats to towing their fastest ship, and she began to gain on the _Const.i.tution_. Then Captain Hull found that he was sailing over shoal water, although out of sight of land, so he sent a small anchor ahead in a boat. The anchor was dropped and men on the ship pulled in the anchor line. This was done again and again. The _Const.i.tution _now began to gain on the British fleet. Then a sudden squall burst on the ships. Captain Hull saw it coming and made every preparation to take advantage of it. When the rain cleared away, the _Const.i.tution_ was beyond fear of pursuit. But she could not go to New York, so Captain Hull took her to Boston. The government at once ordered him to stay where he was; but, before the orders reached Boston, the _Const.i.tution_ was far away.

[Sidenote: _Const.i.tution_ and _Guerriere_, 1812.]

[Sidenote: Reasons for the victory.]

264. _Const.i.tution_ and _Guerriere_, 1812.--For some time Hull cruised about in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One day he sighted a British frigate--the _Guerriere_--one of the ships that had chased the _Const.i.tution_. But now that Hull found her alone, he steered straight for her. In thirty minutes from the firing of the first gun the _Guerriere_ was a ruinous wreck. All of her masts and spars were shot away and most of her crew were killed or wounded. The _Const.i.tution_ was only slightly injured, and was soon ready to fight another British frigate, had there been one to fight. Indeed, the surgeons of the _Const.i.tution_ went on board of the _Guerriere_ to help dress the wounds of the British seamen. The _Guerriere_ was a little smaller than the _Const.i.tution_ and had smaller guns. But the real reason for this great victory was that the American ship and the American guns were very much better handled than were the British ship and the British guns.

[Sidenote: _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_]

[Sidenote: Effect of these victories.]

265. The _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_, 1812.--At almost the same time the American ship _Wasp_ captured the British brig _Frolic_. The _Wasp_ had three masts, and the _Frolic_ had only two masts. But the two vessels were really of about the same size, as the American ship was only five feet longer than her enemy, and had the lighter guns. In a few minutes after the beginning of the fight the _Frolic_ was a shattered hulk, with only one sound man on her deck. Soon after the conflict a British battleship came up and captured both the _Wasp_ and her prize.

The effect of these victories of the _Const.i.tution_ and the _Wasp_ was tremendous. Before the war British naval officers had called the _Const.i.tution_ "a bundle of sticks." Now it was thought to be no longer safe for British frigates to sail the seas alone. They must go in pairs to protect each other from "Old Ironsides." Before long the _Const.i.tution_, now commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had captured the British frigate _Java_, and the frigate _United States_, Captain Decatur, had taken the British ship _Macedonian_. On the other hand, the _Chesapeake_ was captured by the _Shannon_. This victory gave great satisfaction to the British. But Captain Lawrence's last words, "Don't give up the ship," have always been a glorious inspiration to American sailors.

[Sidenote: Plan of campaign, 1814.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Lundy's Lane, 1814.]

266. Brown's Invasion of Canada, 1814.--In the first two years of the war the American armies in New York had done nothing. But abler men were now in command. Of these, General Jacob Brown, General Macomb, Colonel Winfield Scott, and Colonel Ripley deserve to be remembered.

The American plan of campaign was that Brown, with Scott and Ripley, should cross the Niagara River and invade Canada. General Macomb, with a naval force under McDonough, was to hold the line of Lake Champlain. The British plan was to invade New York by way of Lake Champlain. Brown crossed the Niagara River and fought two brilliant battles at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. The latter battle was especially glorious because the Americans captured British guns and held them against repeated attacks by British veterans. In the end, however, Brown was obliged to retire.

[Sidenote: Invasion of New York.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Plattsburg, 1814.]

267. McDonough's Victory at Plattsburg, 1814.--General Prevost, with a fine army of veterans, marched southward from Canada, while a fleet sailed up Lake Champlain. At Plattsburg, on the western side of the lake, was General Macomb with a force of American soldiers. Anch.o.r.ed before the town was McDonough's fleet. Prevost attacked Macomb's army and was driven back. The British fleet attacked McDonough's vessels and was destroyed. That put an end to Prevost's invasion. He retreated back to Canada as fast as he could go.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FORT McHENRY.]

[Sidenote: Burning of Washington, 1814.]

[Sidenote: "The Star-Spangled Banner."]

268. The British in the Chesapeake, 1814.--Besides their operations on the Canadian frontier, the British tried to capture New Orleans and the cities on Chesapeake Bay. The British landed below Washington. They marched to the capital. They entered Washington. They burned the Capitol, the White House, and several other public buildings. They then hurried away, leaving their wounded behind them. Later on the British attacked Baltimore and were beaten off with great loss. It was at this time that Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." He was detained on board one of the British warships during the fight. Eagerly he watched through the smoke for a glimpse of the flag over Fort McHenry at the harbor's mouth. In the morning the flag was still there. This defeat closed the British operations on the Chesapeake.