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36 unusual facts about War of 1812


258th Field Artillery Regiment

Predecessors of the 258th Field Artillery Regiment fought in the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, the United States Civil War, World War I, World War II, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

The 258th Field Artillery is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812.

Alton Adams

On June 2, 1917, Adams and his entire Juvenile Band were inducted into the United States Navy, thus becoming the first African-Americans to receive official musical appointments in the U.S. Navy since at least the War of 1812 and making Adams the navy’s first black bandmaster.

Apothecary General

Called upon to improve the Army’s failed system for providing medical supplies early in the War of 1812, LeBaron's task was doomed by the military’s lack of planning and resources, and further stymied by poor roads.

Charles Gratiot

As General William Henry Harrison's Chief Engineer in the War of 1812, he distinguished himself by planning and building Fort Meigs in 1813.

Closed sessions of the United States House of Representatives

The House met frequently in secret session until the end of the War of 1812.

Derby, Vermont

In the War of 1812, an expeditionary force of Quebec Eastern Townships' volunteers destroyed a barracks built at Derby with no personnel casualties.

District of Columbia National Guard

During the War of 1812, Key went on a mission of mercy to Baltimore, Maryland after the invasion and burning of Washington, D.C., seeking the release of a local doctor who had been arrested for arresting British Army looters.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company/372nd Military Police Battalion (ARNG DC), which traces its lineage to the Columbian Division, is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812.

Fort Shelby

Fort Shelby (Michigan), a military installation in Detroit, renamed from Fort Lernoult in 1813, and also commonly referred to as Fort Detroit during the War of 1812.

Friends Good Will

The Friends Good Will is a working American reproduction of the historical Friends Good Will (1811-1813), a merchant square topsail sloop that was overtaken by the events of the War of 1812.

Gouverneur Kemble

Along with other partners including his brother William and a consortium of investors including General Joseph Gardner Swift of the U.S. Army, in 1817 he founded the West Point Foundry Association to produce artillery pieces following the War of 1812.

Joe P. Martinez

The U.S. feared that the islands would be used as bases from which to launch aerial assaults against the West Coast, and it became a matter of national pride to expel the first invaders to set foot on American soil since the War of 1812.

John Anthon

During the War of 1812, he was in command of a company of militia, and served in the defence of New York City.

John Herkimer

During the War of 1812, he served in the State Militia as a Major, leading a battalion in the defense of Sackets Harbor, New York.

John Samuel Martin Fonblanque

In the American War (of 1812) he was present at the taking of Washington, at the Battle of Baltimore, and ultimately at the fatal repulse at New Orleans when he was made prisoner within the enemy's lines being one of the very few who had succeeded in crossing the works.

John Sanford Barnes

He devoted time also to collecting memorabilia of the Navy during the American Revolution and War of 1812.

Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul

His brother served as a leuitenant in the French Army during the War of 1812 and was killed in action.

Kelroy

This was probably because it appeared immediately before the War of 1812, so any publicity would have been overshadowed by war news.

Lewis Rendt

In the 1812 War he was an officer in the British-controlled Swiss Regiment De Wattville.

Colonel J. Fischer of Regiment de Watteville - action in Malta, Egypt, Sicily, Italy, Spain and the War of 1812.

Madison Barracks

Madison Barracks was a military installation at Sackets Harbor that was built for occupation by 600 U.S. troops, a few years after the War of 1812.

Marcus M. Drake

During his commissionership, a giant boulder was placed in the meadow of Delaware Park, marking the burial site of 300 unknown soldiers of the War of 1812.

Military General Service Medal

The MGSM was approved on 1 June 1847 as a retrospective award for various military actions from 1793–1814; a period encompassing the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Anglo-American War of 1812.

Moritz Fuerst

Thirty-three of his patriotic commemoratives and portraits, including his best-known work which honored heroes of the War of 1812, are still issued by the U.S. Mint.

Pitts' Folly

He was the son of Thomas Daniel Pitts, a veteran of the War of 1812 who moved his family to Uniontown in 1833.

Sara Galbraith Beemer

She was a granddaughter of James Gage whose farm, which he owned with his uncle, was the site of the Battle of Stoney Creek during the War of 1812.

Simon Favre

At the outset of the War of 1812, the Americans were interested in assessing the alignment of the native tribes in regards to their loyalty to Britain.

A "talk" that Favre gave to the Choctaws on the eve of the War of 1812 was touted by historian Russell Guerin as a masterpiece of diplomacy, and displayed Favre's deep understanding of the native language and culture.

Spencer Houghton Cone

During the War of 1812, he was at the Battle of Bladensburg with Norvell and the account of this experience has been chronicled in "Some Account of the Life of Spencer Houghton Cone, A Baptist Preacher in America," published in New York in 1856.

Sylvanus Thayer

During the War of 1812, Thayer directed the fortification and defense of Norfolk, Virginia, and was promoted to major.

The Great Rapprochement

There had been the War of 1812, U.S.–Canadian border disputes, and a general suspicion between the two.

Thomas Jefferson Building

Jefferson offered to sell his personal book collection to Congress in September 1814, one month after the British had burned the Capitol in the War of 1812.

Tim N. Machin

Machin was the son of Thomas Machin Jr., a Brigadier General of the militia and veteran of the War of 1812; and grandson of Captain Thomas Machin the architect of the great West Point Chain which was emplaced in 1778 to prevent the British from ascending the Hudson River.

Tuscarora Reservation

The Tuscarora and Oneida became allies of the American Continental cause during the American Revolution, and of the United States during the War of 1812.

William McRee

During the War of 1812, McRee was chief of artillery for the Northern Army then chief engineer for the Army of the Niagara Frontier.


7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment

His father and mother, John W. and Rebecca (Merritt) Robinson, were natives of Connecticut and had two sons, the only brother of Colonel Robinson being Andrew N. The father was a lieutenant in the War of 1812 and fought at Sackets Harbor, Plattsburgh and Stone Mill, being severely wounded in the last.

Alexander Croke

During the War of 1812, the ever-conservative Croke even found guilty merchants who had been granted licences by colonial authorities to trade with New England, on the grounds that he could not support an illegal policy.

Alvin Bronson

During the War of 1812, several of Bronson's ships were used by the U.S. Navy to transport supplies on Lake Ontario, and the loss of the schooner Penelope during the Battle of Oswego led to a claim for compensation that was denied first by the New York Supreme Court, and then by the House of Representatives in 1821.

Andrew Dexter, Jr.

During the War of 1812 Dexter relocated to Athens, New York, where he lived with his father and brother, who assisted him in using New York's lenient bankruptcy laws to partially satisfy his creditors and rebuild his finances.

Battle of Cook's Mills

The Battle of Cook's Mills was the last engagement between U.S. and British armies in the Niagara, and the penultimate engagement (followed by the Battle of Malcolm's Mills) on Canadian soil during the War of 1812.

Camp Perry

The original land for Camp Perry was purchased in 1906, and the reservation was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the American naval commander who won the Battle of Put-in-Bay during the War of 1812.

Charles de Salaberry

The Royal Canadian Mint released a quarter with Salaberry's picture on it, on March 18, 2013, to celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the third in a series of four quarters.

Chief Tishomingo

He served with distinction in the United States Military in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the Red Stick War with the Creeks and the War of 1812.

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Exhibits focus on the island's natural and cultural history, including the Timucua Indians, cotton plantations that were established by American Revolutionary hero General Nathaniel Greene and cotton-gin inventor Eli Whitney, the history of the ruined mansion Dungeness and the Plum Orchard estate, and area activities during the War of 1812.

Eliza Allen

Eliza, who says in her autobiography that she had read about Deborah Sampson in the American Revolution and Lucy Brewer in the War of 1812, determined that she would follow him and volunteered herself under the alias George Mead the next day.

Étienne Ranvoyzé

He was lieutenant and later captain in the local militia during the War of 1812 and fought at the Battle of Châteauguay and at Plattsburgh.

Fairlee, Maryland

The Battle of Caulk's Field during the War of 1812 occurred near Fairlee on August 31, 1814; it was a victory for the local militia, and the British commander was killed during the fighting.

Fire Along the Frontier: Great Battles of the War of 1812

Fire Along the Frontier is a history of the War of 1812, written by Canadian writer and historian Alastair Sweeny.

Fort Cap au Gris

Fort Cap au Gris, also called Capo Gray, was a temporary fort built in September 1814 near Troy, Missouri during the War of 1812 by Missouri Rangers under the direction of Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone.

Fort Severn

Americans suspected that the British Army might attack the area during the War of 1812, but no conflict occurred at the fort during the war.

George E. Royce

Rice's father Captain Alpheus Royce (who was born Alpheus Rice and changed his name in middle age) led a company of Vermont militia in the War of 1812 at the Battle of Plattsburgh.

Hardeman County, Tennessee

Hardeman County was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1823 from parts of Hardin County and "Indian lands." It is named for Thomas Jones Hardeman (1788-1854), a Creek War and War of 1812 veteran and prominent figure in the fight for Texas independence, and a Republic of Texas congressman.

History of Covington, Kentucky

The men named their new riverfront enterprise the "Covington Company," in honor of their friend, General Leonard Covington, an American officer who once trained troops in the area and was killed in the War of 1812.

Irvine Bulloch

Filled with his mother and uncle's stories, by the time T.R. went to Harvard, he was already dreaming of writing a book on a neglected aspect of American Military History, role played by the US Navy during the War of 1812.

Joshua B. Howell

His father, Colonel Joshua Ladd Howell had served in the War of 1812 and his grandfather, also named Joshua Ladd Howell, served as a quartermaster during the American Revolution.

Maryland Route 231

Before reaching the river, the state highway passes to the north of the village of Benedict, which was the site of the landing of British troops to march toward Washington prior to the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812.

Mercerville-Hamilton Square, New Jersey

Hamilton Square was named after Alexander Hamilton in a wave of anti-British sentiment at the time of the War of 1812.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Monroe County, Michigan

Located along the River Raisin, the park, which is still under construction, will commemorate the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812.

North West Company

The destruction of the North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie by the Americans during the War of 1812 was a serious blow during an already difficult time.

Oneida Carry

Built in 1813 and used until 1873, the Rome Arsenal was a three-acre fortification complex which included barracks, arsenal, magazine, workshops, and other buildings, built to support American forces waging the War of 1812, Mexican–American War, and the American Civil War.

Origin of the Book of Mormon

The Late War is an account of the War of 1812 which is written in the style of the King James Bible.

Patterson Park

The high ground at the northwest corner of Patterson Park, called Hampstead Hill, was the key defensive position for U.S. forces against British ground forces in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.

Pierre de Rastel de Rocheblave

During the War of 1812, he was named captain of the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs and served as major in the militia after the war.

Post Office Packet Service

At the start of the War of 1812, Joshua Barney in the American privateer Rossie captured the mail packet Princess Amelia after a short but intense fight on 16 September 1812.

Ripley County, Missouri

The county was officially organized on January 5, 1833, and is named after Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a soldier who served with distinction in the War of 1812.

Sir John Beresford, 1st Baronet

During the War of 1812, he served as captain of HMS Poictiers, during which time he ineffectually bombarded the town of Lewes, Delaware.

Westville, New Jersey

Stephen Decatur (1779–1820), naval officer notable for his heroism in the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War and in the War of 1812.

William Colfax

In 1811 he was Brigadier-General of the Second Division of Infantry, Bergen Brigade where in the War of 1812 he had a command at Sandy Hook.

William Henry Roach

For a time, he was based on the Hudson River in New York state, but he was forced to return to Nova Scotia at the start of the War of 1812, settling in Digby.

William Tharp

Nevertheless, like the unwanted War of 1812, Tharp and Delaware in general responded to the recruiter, and many served honorably from Buena Vista to Vera Cruz.