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The War of 1812: Difference between revisions
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* [[Cool Ship]]: The US Navy's secret weapon was a line of powerful frigates crewed by well trained sailors, particularly the USS ''Constitution'' ("Old Ironsides"). It only won a few victories, but arguably the war was really about [[Honor Before Reason|prestige]] after all.
** The ''Constitution'' and her sister ships outmatched any other ship in their class, being more heavily armed, faster, and better designed, despite being fifteen to twenty years old during the war, to the point that the British Admiralty issued orders forbidding one on one fights between British 38 gun frigates and the American 44's.
* [[Combat
* [[Command and Conquer Economy]]: In a rare [[Real Life]] example, both sides at the Battles of Lake Erie built the majority of their ships right at bases constructed for the purpose on the lake shore using wood harvested from the surrounding forests and then proceeded to fight over the lake.
** Justified in that the lack of proper passages through the St. Lawrence River prevented large ships from sailing into the lake from the ocean. This also occurred in Lake Huron to a lesser extent and for the same reasons.
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* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Subverted. The war was supposed to be this in the favour of the Americans, but the Canadians scrounged up several unexpected allies (mostly natives) and employed unconventional tactics, holding off the American invasion.
** Subverted again after the defeat of Napoleon. With British forces now freed up from fighting in Europe things looked grim for the Americans. Three major invasions of the U.S. were launched but all were thrown back.
** Played straight in the Battle of New Orleans (which actually happened after the war technically ended). 55 Americans died, 185 were wounded, and 93 were missing, with a grand total of 333 casualties and losses at the end of the battle. On the other side, 386 British died, 1,521 were wounded, and 552 were missing, with a grand total of 2,459 casualties and losses. The reason for the high casualties is because [[Andrew Jackson]] put his army in a position that made all of his flanks covered by swamps, thus forcing the British to attack head on, because they couldn't wade through the swamps. Pakenham forgetting to give the British soldiers ''siege equipment'' may also have had something to do with it. American morale soared after the battle, and was even made the subject of a popular American song called [[Exactly What It Says
** To make up for New Orleans, the Brits had the Battle of Frenchtown. The British had 25 dead and 161 wounded, plus 3 dead native allies, whereas the Americans had 410 dead, 87 wounded and 547 captured. Unfortunately, 30-100 of the wounded American prisoners were executed by the native auxillaries who helped the British.
* [[David Versus Goliath]]: A complicated example at sea. In the over all picture the US Navy was the ''David'' but it was often the ''Goliath'' in a given engagement. This is actually fairly common in warfare but worth remarking on.
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* [[Historical Hero Upgrade]]: Although Isaac Brock didn't think much of the Canadian colonists as militia, Canadians largely don't care and have adopted him with Tecumseh as the "Saviors of Canada" and among its greatest military heroes.
** There is also the "militia myth". Basically, no, Canadian militia didn't beat back the invasion of British North America; that was a combination of British regulars and native allies.
* [[Kill It
* [[Know When to Fold'Em]]: Part of Roger Hale Sheaffe's motif, most notable at his retreat during the Battle of York.
* [[La Résistance]]: After the capture of Fort George on the Niagara River in May 1813, a force of 50 British and Canadian soldiers under Lieutenant James FitzGibbon, along with a number of Native allies, carried out raids up and down the Niagara peninsula and kept ''thousands'' of American regulars and militia off balance and unwilling to advance. With prior warning of a coming American attack, courtesy of local resident Laura Secord (yes, [[I Thought It Meant|that Laura Secord]]), FitzGibbon and his 50 soldiers were able to enlist the help of a large Native force to trap and capture over 500 American soldiers in the Battle of Beaver Dams (now located in present-day Thorold, Ontario). The American forces eventually abandoned the eastern side of the Niagara River in December 1813.
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* [[Not So Different]]: It's hard to tell, but it's doubtful the distinctive American twangs had caught on by this stage. When American prisoners of war were paraded around for the benefit of the (paying) public, the general reaction was disappointment. They all looked and sounded some sort of British, this being on account of the great majority of Americans being either emigrants or the [great-](grand-)sons of emigrants from the Isles.
* [[The Neidermeyer]]: Governor of British North America Sir George Prevost, according to his men and the Duke of Wellington.
* [[Officer and
* [[Oh Crap]]: "Those are Regulars, by God!" British General Riall's reaction at the Battle of Chippewa to Winfield Scott's gray-coated brigade pressing forward through shot and shell. (Gray was the color of militia uniforms; there was no blue cloth available for uniform coats when Scott's brigade was outfitted. West Point cadets wear gray uniforms in memory of this incident.)
* [[Peace Conference]]: The war's eventual resolution.
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* The [[Alternate History]] ''[[Decades of Darkness]]'' has this time period as its point of divergence. [[Thomas Jefferson]] dies early in 1809, leading to war tensions ramping up earlier, a "War of 1811", and New England [[Divided States of America|seceding]] as a result, taking New York and New Jersey with it. The war ends with a British/Yankee [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb-stomp victory]] that sees Chicago (sorry, [[Istanbul Not Constantinople|Dearborn]]) becoming Canadian and Michigan becoming New England territory.
* An episode of ''[[Due South]]'' has a Canadian general reference a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] that the Canadians won during this war. A battle that the American police chief he was yelling at never heard of.
* The first Book of [[Eric Flint]]'s ''[[
* College Humor spoofs the relative obscurity of this war [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2AfQ5pa59A in the mock trailer] of a fictitious ''War Of 1812'' movie, where the characters can't even figure out what the war is being fought over and against whom.
* The [[Alternate History]] short story "Empire" by William Sanders has Napoleon moving the the US and coming into American military service. He then promptly backstabbed it (with the help of the likes of Arraon Burr, Andrew Jacskon, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston) and carved out his own Empire of the Louisiana. Said empire is embroiled in wars against the US and the Spanish colonies, which expand but later weaken it. The novel is set in an alternate War of 1812 fought between the British and Napoleon's Empire, leading to the defeat and dissolution of the Empire and [[The Duke of Wellington]] darkly commenting in the end that "perhaps we shall see about the damned Yankees and their so-called United States of America."
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