Thursday, February 27, 2014

General Jackson reported

General Jackson reported a grand total of 55 killed, 185 wounded and 93 missing for the entire siege, including December 23 and January 8.[4] Six currently active battalions of the Regular Army (2-7 Inf, 3-7 Inf, 1-5 FA, 1-6 FA, 1-1 Inf and 2-1 Inf) and one Mississippi Army National Guard regiment (155th Inf) are derived from American units that fought at the Battle of New Orleans. HP Pavilion dv7-3190ev CPU Fan Although the engagement was small compared to other contemporary battles such as the Battle of Waterloo, it was important for the meaning applied to it by Americans in general and Andrew Jackson in particular.[53] Americans believed that a vastly powerful British fleet and army had sailed for New Orleans (Jackson himself thought 25,000 troops were coming), and most expected the worst. HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan The news of victory, one man recalled, "came upon the country like a clap of thunder in the clear azure vault of the firmament, and traveled with electromagnetic velocity, throughout the confines of the land."[54] The battle boosted the reputation of Andrew Jackson and helped to propel him to the White House. HP COMPAQ NX9420 CPU Fan The anniversary of the battle was celebrated as a national holiday for many years, and continues to be commemorated in south Louisiana. In honor of Jackson, the newly organized Louisiana Historical Association dedicated its new Memorial Hall facility on January 8, 1891, the 76th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.[55] HP Mini 110-1110ET CPU Fan A federal park was established in 1907 to preserve the battlefield; today it features a monument and is part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. "The 8th of January" became a traditional American fiddle tune, honoring the date of the battle. More than a century later, the melody was used by Jimmie Driftwood to write the song "The Battle of New Orleans", HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan which was a hit for Johnny Horton and Lonnie Donegan. With the Americans outnumbered it seemed as though the city of New Orleans was in danger of being captured. Consequently, theUrsuline nuns along with many faithful people of New Orleans gathered in the Ursuline Convent's chapel before the statue ofOur Lady of Prompt Succor. HP Pavilion dv6-3163eo CPU Fan They spent the night before the battle praying and crying before the holy statue, begging for the Virgin Mary's intercession. On the morning of January 8, the Very Rev. William Dubourg, Vicar General, offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed. HP Pavilion dv9740us CPU Fan The Prioress of the Ursuline convent, Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, made a vow to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung annually should the American forces win. At the very moment of communion, a courier ran into the chapel to inform all those present that the British had been defeated. ACER Aspire 4743 CPU Fan General Jackson went to the convent himself to thank the nuns for their prayers: "By the blessing of heaven, directing the valor of the troops under my command, one of the most brilliant victories in the annals of war was obtained." [56] The vow made by Mother Ste. Marie has been faithfully kept throughout the years. HP Pavilion dv6-2170us CPU Fan The Battle of Lake Borgne was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in the American South theatre of the War of 1812. It occurred on December 14, 1814 on Lake Borgne and was part of the Britishadvance on New Orleans. The defeat of the British attack in September on Fort Bowyer prevented the British from taking Mobile, Toshiba Satellite L675-S7018 CPU Fan Alabama, and moving to cut off U.S. trade via land towards the Mississippi River. Next, the British decided to attack New Orleans and the Americans began receiving warnings of a British fleet approaching Louisiana. The warnings reached Commodore Daniel Patterson of the New Orleans Squadron, ASUS F80Q CPU Fan who immediately began to assemble any and all types of naval defenses to protect the state's waterways and naval ports. When the British forces under Admiral Alexander Cochrane arrived off the Louisiana coast on December 9, Patterson dispatched Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones and a small flotilla to patrol Lake Borgne. ACER TravelMate 4200 CPU Fan The American force consisted of five Jeffersonian gunboats - No. 156No. 163No. 5No. 23, and No. 162 - the schooner USS Sea Horse with Sailing-Master Johnson commanding, and two sloops-of-war, USS Alligator and USS Tickler, serving astenders. Gunboat No. 156, the flagship of the squadron, mounted one long 24-pounder, HP 434678-001 CPU Fan four 12-pounder carronades, and four swivel guns. She had a crew of forty-one men. In all, the squadron comprised 245 men, sixteen long guns, fourteen carronades, two howitzers and twelve swivel guns. Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, British Commander-in-Chief of the North American Station, HP G70-120EA CPU Fan ordered HMSSeahorseArmide and Sophie from Pensacola to Lake Borgne. They were to proceed to the Bayou Catalan, or De Pecheurs, at the head of the lake and 60 miles (97 km) from the troopship anchorage. This was to be the disembarkation point for the attack on New Orleans. Toshiba Satellite A300-034 CPU Fan The three British vessels reported that as they passed Cat Island, Mississippi, two American gun boats had fired at them. Furthermore, lookouts on the masts had seen three more. When the fleet arrived on December 11, Cochrane decided to hunt out the Americans. Cochrane put all the boats of the British fleet under the command of Commander Nicholas Lockyer of Sophie, HP 606609-001 CPU Fan with orders to find and defeat the American flotilla. The boats came from TonnantNorgeBedfordRoyal Oak,RamilliesArmideCydnusSeahorseTraveSophieBelle PouleGorgonManly and Meteor. Compaq Presario CQ60-301sl CPU Fan The British deployed forty-two longboats, launches and barges with one 12, 18 or 24 pounder carronade each, as well as three gigs, each mounting a long brass 12 pounder cannon. The force consisted of some 1200 sailors and Royal Marines At night on December 12, the British boats, under Lockyer, set off to enter Lake Borgne. Before reaching Lake Borgne, they encountered the one gun schooner Sea Horse. TOSHIBA Satellite L300 CPU Fan She was on a mission to destroy a powder magazine at Bay St. Louis in order to prevent its capture by the Royal Navy. The schooner, with the protection of a shore battery, fought off two of Lockyer's longboat attacks but then was burnt later that night to prevent the main British fleet from capturing her. ASUS Eee PC 701 CPU Fan After rowing for about thirty-six hours, the British located the five American vessels drawn up in line abreast to block the channel between Malheureux Islandand Point Claire on the mainland. As the British advanced, they spotted Alligator and immediately sent a few longboats under Roberts to cut her off and the British quickly captured her. Compaq Presario CQ60-305sa CPU Fan At 10 o'clock on the morning of December 14, the boats had closed to within long gunshot by St. Joseph’s Island. At this point Lockyer ordered the boats' crews to breakfast. Lockyer formed the boats into three divisions. He took command of the first and gave Montresor of Manley command of the second and Roberts of Meteor command of the third. HP 637607-001 CPU Fan When the British had finished their breakfast they returned to their oars and pulled up to the enemy. The main battle came at 10:30 am. The Americans in the gunboats saw the British rowing towards them and opened fire while the boats were still out of reach. The British were rowing against a strong current and under a heavy fire of round and grapeshot. HP Pavilion dv7-3067nr CPU Fan The Americans fired as many times as possible before the range closed. They were able to sink two of the attacking longboats and damaged many others. They killed or wounded a number of Britons in the process, including most of the men in Lockyer's boat. Eventually the range closed and the British sailors and marines began to board the American vessels. HP Pavilion dv5-1210ez CPU Fan Lockyer personally boarded Gunboat No. 156, Jones's ship. In the close quarters combat the two sides usedcutlasses, pikes, bayonets and muskets. Both Lockyer and Jones sustained severe wounds. The British captured Gunboat No. 156 and turned her guns against her sister ships. The gunboat fired her broadsides and assisted the capture of the remaining American watercraft. Compaq Presario CQ50-211nr CPU Fan One by one the British took the other four American gunboats; boarding and capturing the entire American flotilla took five minutes. Tickler, the small fifty ton sloop, anchored a short distance behind the five gunboats, watched the battle but stayed out of the fight as Jones ordered beforehand. When her captain saw that the British had captured all five American gunboats, he scuttled and burnt his vessel. HP G56-114SA CPU Fan It is not known if the crew was captured or escaped to New Orleans on their life boats. In all, the engagement lasted around two hours, though the actual hand-to-hand fighting had only lasted five minutes. The British forced the greatly outnumbered American seamen to surrender but the Americans had inflicted considerable damage. SONY Vaio VGN-CR21Z/N CPU Fan The British won control of the lakes but the delay gave General Andrew Jacksonmore time to prepare his defenses. The Americans lost their gunboats, a sloop, six men killed, thirty-five wounded and eighty-six captured. The American casualties numbered 10 killed, 35 wounded and 86 captured according to the British, and 60 killed, wounded, HP Pavilion dv7-4060eo CPU Fan or captured according to the Americans. Jones was aprisoner of war for three months and would later be decorated for his bravery and delaying the British advance. The British reported that in the fighting they had lost 17 dead and 77 wounded, some of whom died later. Captain Lockyer was among the wounded. Toshiba Satellite M70-252 CPU Fan The British also lost two longboats sunk and had several others damaged. Originally the Americans claimed that the British had suffered some 300 killed or wounded, as well as losing four boats sunk. Cochrane rated the captured flotilla as the equivalent of a 36-gun frigate and appointed Lockyer to its command as soon as his wounds permitted. Toshiba Satellite A100-455 CPU Fan Montresor took command pro tem; in March 1815, Lockyer received promotion to post captain. The British took the five gunboats into service under the names Ambush (or Ambush No. 5), FirebrandDestruction,Harlequin, and Eagle. Several of these vessels remained in Royal Navy service into June 1815, and at least one perhaps beyond. HP Pavilion dv5-2112br CPU Fan Lake Borgne would become the landing zone for British forces preparing to attack New Orleans. After the population of the city learned of the engagement on Lake Borgne, panic overtook some of New Orlean's population so Andrew Jackson declared martial law. The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militiaand a British force led by Major General Robert Ross. DELL BFB0505HA CPU Fan Although tactically a British victory, the battle delayed the British advance against Baltimore, buying valuable time for the defense of the city. The engagement was a part of the larger Battle of Baltimore, a strategic American victory in the War of 1812. Major General Robert Ross had been dispatched to Chesapeake Bay with a brigade of veterans from the Duke of Wellington's army early in 1814, HP Pavilion dv6-3299en CPU Fan reinforced with a battalion of Royal Marines. He had defeated a hastily assembled force of Maryland and District of Columbia militia at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, andburned Washington. Having disrupted the American government, he withdrew to the waiting ships of the Royal Navyat the mouth of the Patuxent River before heading further up the Chesapeake Bay to the strategically more important port city of Baltimore. SONY Vaio VGN-NW11Z/T CPU Fan Ross's army of 3,700 troops and 1,000 marines[6] landed at North Point at the end of the peninsula between thePatapsco River and the Back River on the morning of September 12, 1814, and began moving toward the city of Baltimore. Major General Samuel Smith of the Maryland militia anticipated the British move, and dispatched Brigadier GeneralJohn Stricker's column to meet them. Toshiba Satellite L550-20W CPU Fan Stricker's force consisted of five regiments of Maryland militia, a small militia cavalry regiment also from Maryland, a battalion of three volunteer rifle companies and a battery of six 4-pounder field guns.[8] Stricker deployed his brigade half way between Hampstead Hill, just outside Baltimore where there were earthworks and artillery emplacements, and North Point. HP Pavilion dv7-4183sf CPU Fan At that point, several tidal creeks narrowed the peninsula to only a mile wide, and it was considered an ideal spot for opposing the British before they reached the main American defensive positions.[7] Stricker received intelligence that the British were camped at a farm just 3 miles (4.8 km) from his headquarters.[7] HP Pavilion dv7-3190ev CPU Fan He deployed his men between Bear Creek and Bread and Cheese Creek, which offered cover from nearby woods, and had a long wooden fence near the main road. Stricker placed the 5th Maryland Regiment and the 27th Maryland Regiment and his six guns in the front defensive line, with two regiments (the 51st and 39th) in support, and one more (the 6th) in reserve. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan He placed his men in mutually supporting positions, relying on numerous swamps and the two streams to stop a British flank attack, all of which he hoped would help avoid another disaster such as Bladensburg.[9] The riflemen initially occupied a position some miles ahead of Stricker's main position, to delay the British advance. HP G62-244CA CPU Fan However, their commander, Captain William Dyer, hastily withdrew on hearing a rumour that British troops were landing from the Back River behind him, threatening to cut off his retreat. Stricker posted them instead on his right flank. At about midday on the 12th, Stricker heard that the British had halted while the soldiers had a meal, while some sailors attached to Ross's force plundered some nearby farms. HP Pavilion dv7-3190ei CPU Fan He decided it would be better to provoke a fight rather than wait for a possible British night attack. At 1:00 pm, he sent Major Richard Heath with 250 men and one cannon to draw the British to Stricker's main force.[9] Heath advanced down the road and soon began to engage the British pickets. When Ross heard the fighting, he quickly left his meal and ran to the scene.[9] HP G62-244CA CPU Fan The British attempted to drive out the concealed American riflemen. Rear Admiral George Cockburn (the second in command of the Royal Navy' American Station, who usually accompanied Ross) was cautious about advancing without more support and Ross agreed that he would leave and get the main army.[9ASUS A6000R CPU Fan ] However, Ross never got his chance, as an American sniper, or snipers shot him in the chest.[9] Ross turned his command over to Colonel Arthur Brooke and died soon after. Brooke reorganized the British troops and prepared to assault the American positions at 3:00 pm.[9] HP Pavilion dv7-6011sg CPU Fan He decided to use his three cannon to cover an attempt by the4th Regiment to get around the American flank, while two more regiments and the naval brigade would assault the American center.[9] The British frontal assault took heavy casualties as the American riflemen fired right into the British assault, and the Americans loaded their cannon with pieces of broken locks, Toshiba Satellite L300D-01P CPU Fan nails and horseshoes, spraying scrap metal on the advancing British.[9] However, the British 4th Regiment managed to outflank the American positions and send many of the American regiments fleeing. Stricker was able to turn the flight into an organized retreat, with his men firing volleys as they continued to fall back.[9] Compaq Presario CQ60-409CA CPU Fan Not all the militia regiments performed with equal distinction. The 51st Regiment and some of the 39th broke and ran under fire. However, the 5th and 27th held their ground and were able to retreat in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the advancing enemy.[11] Only one American gun was lost. HP Mini 110-3010sf CPU Fan Our Regiment, the 5th, carried off the praise from the other regiments engaged, so did the company to which I have the honor to belong cover itself with glory. When compared to the [other] Regiments we were the last that left the ground...had our Regiment not retreated at the time it did we should have been cut off in two minutes. Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan With some of his units lost among woods and swampy creeks, and others in confusion, Brooke did not follow up the retreating Americans. He had advanced to within a mile of the main American position but he had suffered heavier casualties than the Americans, and it was getting dark, so he chose to wait until Fort McHenry was expected to be neutralized,[12Toshiba Satellite M70-142 CPU Fan ] while Stricker withdrew to Baltimore's main defences. The official British Army casualty report, signed by Major Henry Debbeig, gives 39 killed and 251 wounded. Of these, 28 killed and 217 wounded belonged to the British Army; 6 killed and 20 wounded belonged to the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Royal Marines; DELL Inspiron E1505 CPU Fan 4 killed and 11 wounded belonged to the contingents of Royal Marines detached from Cockburn's fleet; and 1 killed (Elias Taylor) and 3 wounded belonged to the Royal Marine Artillery.[4] As was normal, the Royal Navy submitted a separate casualty return for the engagement, signed by Rear-Admiral Cockburn, HP 532613-001 CPU Fan which gives 4 sailors killed and 28 wounded but contradicts the British Army casualty report by giving 3 killed (1 and 2 from HMS Madagascar and HMS Ramillies respectively) and 15 wounded for the Royal Marines detached from the ships of the Naval fleet.[13] A subsequent casualty return from Cochrane to the Admiralty, HP Envy 14-1080eo CPU Fan dated 22 September 1814, gives 6 sailors killed, 1 missing and 32 wounded, with Royal Marines casualties of 1 killed and 16 wounded.[14] The total British losses, as officially reported, were either 43 killed and 279 wounded or 42 killed and 283 wounded, depending on which of the two casualty returns was accurate. ACER TravelMate 5230 CPU Fan Historian Franklin R. Mullaly gives still another version of the British casualties, 46 killed and 295 wounded, despite using these same sources.[15][16][17] The American loss was 24 killed, 139 wounded and 50 taken prisoner. The battle had been costly for the British. Lenovo 3000 G430 CPU Fan Apart from the other casualties, losing General Ross was a critical blow to the British. He was a respected leader of British forces in the Peninsular War and the War of 1812. Ross's death proved a blow to British morale as well. The combined effect of the blow suffered at North Point and the failure of the Royal Navy to capture or get past Fort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore harbor, ASUS EEE PC 1215N CPU Fan despite a 25-hour bombardment, proved to be the turning point of the Battle of Baltimore. During the bombardment on Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key was detained on a British ship at the entrance to Baltimore and penned the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner". The day after the battle, Brooke advanced cautiously towards Baltimore. Dell Vostro 3750 CPU Fan There was no more opposition from Stricker, but when the British came into view of the main defenses of Baltimore, Brooke estimated them to be manned by up to 22,000 militia, with 100 cannon. He prepared to make a night assault against the defenses at Loudenslager Hill, but asked Vice AdmiralAlexander Cochrane to send boats and bomb ketches to silence an American battery, Toshiba Satellite L500-018 CPU Fan "Roger's Bastion", on the flank of his proposed attack. Despite a stiff fight between the boats, commanded by Captain Charles John Napier and the American batteries, the Bastion was unharmed and Brooke called off the attack and withdrew before dawn.[18] The British re-embarked at North Point. COMPAQ Presario CQ42-116TU CPU Fan Defenders Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Maryland[1] It commemorates the successful defense of the city ofBaltimore on September 12, 1814 from an invading British force during the War of 1812, an event which would lead to the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States. HP Pavilion dv6-2115eg CPU Fan In 1814, following the burning of Washington, a British force commanded by Major General Robert Ross landed near present day Fort Howard, Maryland and began an advance on the city. He was met almost immediately by a detachment from the Baltimore garrison led by American General John Stricker, commencing the Battle of North Point. Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan The resulting halt of the larger British force allowed Baltimore to organize its defenses against a later attempted naval invasion. It was during this conflict, the Battle of Baltimore, that Fort McHenry was shelled by the British but refused to surrender, and an inspired Maryland lawyer named Francis Scott Key composed the words to what would later become "The Star-Spangled Banner", eventually proclaimed the national anthem of the United States. HP 646578-001 CPU Fan Commemorations of the day of the victory, centering on Stricker's stand east of the city, began in the years shortly after the War. During the mid-19th century, Marylanders would informally picnic on the battlefield grounds, but later celebrations involved the entire city of Baltimore, with parades and speeches. SONY VAIO PCG-6L2L CPU Fan Initially, the commemoration of Defenders Day was divided between the two sites; one focusing on the Battle of North Point and the other on The "Star Spangled Banner" and the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The development of the holiday followed the evolution of the militia. Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349 CPU Fan The first phase was the transition from the involuntary militia system that existed prior to the War of 1812 to the Voluntary militia system that emerged during the war. The second phase was the development of the Voluntary Militia into the local parochial political-militia-business alliance that peaked with dominance of the Know Nothing (American Party) politics prior to the Civil War.  DELL yy529 CPU Fan The third was the transition from parochial patriotism to national patriotism during the Civil War. Finally in the fourth phase the local militia disappeared and the local parochial patriotic traditions were largely forgotten or replaced with new national patriotic ideas and traditions. In the first phase the local militia viewed the national government as allies. HP Pavilion dv7-3020es CPU Fan During the second the parochial political-militia-business alliance viewed the national government with increasing hostility, as expressed by the Maryland State Anthem "Maryland, My Maryland". During the second phase, the myth and lore of Defender's Day were used to support parochial Nativism (politics). HP G62-369TX CPU Fan In the third phase the parochial nationalism and nativism of the pre-Civil War militia disappeared since those groups had moved to Virginia to join the Confederate Army. In the fourth phase, nativism returned with the Confederate veterans and after a struggle between the militias, formed from the Union veterans and their rival militias formed from Confederate veterans, HP 13.V1.BJ195.F.GN CPU Fan the post Civil War militias were replaced by the creation of the National Guard. The replacement of the state militias by the National Guard also produced a replacement of the politics and cultural traditions that supported the militias. Hence, the commemoration of the Battle of North Point declined in favor of the celebration of the Star Spangled Banner. Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7016 CPU Fan The North Point celebrations focused on local parochial politics. These celebrations centered on the "Old Defenders" (the veterans of the Battle of North Point). The celebrations emphasized how the "Defenders" had stood against the British invader after the federal government had failed and Washington was burned. HP Pavilion dv7-1451nr CPU Fan The Fort McHenry celebrations focused on the image of the federal fortifications providing the bastion that saved the nation. While the "Old Defenders" survived, the commemorations of Defenders Day revolved around them. Following the War of 1812, many of the "Old Defenders" had become civic leaders in Baltimore. HP G62-a57SG CPU Fan The traditional program while the "Old Defenders" survived was for a "Defenders' Day" programs that started with a rally and speeches at Baltimore’s Battle Monument. Following the speeches, the militia units would march from the "Battle Monument" to the battlefield at North Point. At North Point the militia units would have a sham battle. SONY Vaio VGN-NR31S/S CPU Fan Following the sham battle the militia units would march to the former Loudenschlager's Hill (now Hampstead Hill, in what is now Patterson Park in the Highlandtown-Canton communities of East Baltimore). Hampstead Hill was the location of the final redoubts that stopped the British advance on the city. IBM 91P9252 CPU Fan The march and the sham battle were intended to replicate the events of the Battle of North Point and the troop movements to and from there. One of the unfortunate results of this schedule for the commemoration of "Defenders' Day" was that more militia died from heat stroke, from the march to and from the battlefield, Toshiba Satellite M70-122 CPU Fan and the occasional musket ball fired during the sham battle at the battlefield, than died during the actual battle. the commemoration in 1822 proved to be exceptionally lethal. An unusually hot September and dress parade uniforms produced a significant loss due to heat stroke, resulting in a one year break in the program.[2] SONY UDQFWPH22FQU CPU Fan The occasional musket ball fired during the sham battle produced additional fatalities. In the years following one notable fatality a new tradition appeared in Baltimore's newspapers that lasted until the Civil War; just prior to "Defenders' Day" perennial advertisements would appear in the Baltimore newspapers stating: “now available - blank ammunition.”.[3] HP Pavilion dv6-2150ei CPU Fan Prior to the Civil War, the "Defenders' Day" speeches held that the Battle of Baltimore to be the most noble battle in U.S. military history. The Battle of Baltimore was entirely defensive and was fought by the citizens themselves. Notable examples are the speeches given by One of the "Old Defender's" Nathaniel Williams on September 12, 1857.[4HP G42-367TU CPU Fan ]A monument, a play, and ballads to the two soldiers credited with killing Major General Robert Ross, Pvts. Daniel Wells and Henry Gough McComas of Captain Edward Asquith's Sharpshooters, were typical of this period. Today, numerous monuments to the War of 1812 remain throughout "The Monumental City" (the designation of Baltimore as the "Monument City" was made by President John Quincy Adams in 1827). Toshiba Satellite P100-238 CPU Fan In 1854, a committee gathered with the notion of erecting a monument to Wells and McComas. On September 10, 1858, after securing and investing the funds for the project, the bodies of the teen militiamen were exhumed and placed in the old Maryland Institute (then located above Centre Market - or "Marsh Market" on East Baltimore Street at the Jones Falls). ACER Aspire 5739 CPU Fan Thousands of people visited the coffins during the three days leading up to September 12, the anniversary of the Battle of North Point, when the official cornerstone for the memorial was laid. On that day, the bodies of Wells and McComas were paraded to Ashland Square, (near the intersection of North Gay, Monument, and Aisquith Streets in East Baltimore), IBM ThinkPad T40 2678 CPU Fan the site of interment, and placed below the obelisk’s foundation in ceremonial fashion. As documented in the Baltimore Sun, in articles written in September 1860, the Secession Crisis prior to the 1860 election caused a change in the Defenders Day program. The federal troops that were stationed at Fort McHenry were deployed to the Mexican border leaving Fort McHenry empty, except for an old sergeant serving as a custodian. IBM Thinkpad T43 CPU Fan Seeing the opportunity one of the Baltimore city secessionist militia units, the 5th Maryland, planned to seize the fort on Defenders Day 1860. The plot was discovered, an anti-secessionist militia unit (elements of the 53rd Maryland) rowed in the darkness from Fells Point to the fort the night before Defenders Day. IBM ThinkPad T43 2668 CPU Fan The 5th Maryland departed from the grounds of the Excelsior baseball club near Bolton Hill, but instead of turning to march to theBattle Monument, turned to march on the fort. When the 5th reached the fort they found it already occupied by the 53rd. Thereby the secessionist militia from one part of the city lost the race to the fort to a pro-Union militia unit from another part of the city.[5] IBM ThinkPad T43 1871 CPU Fan The result was a non-violent standoff that was resolved when the secessionist militia marched back to its neighborhood and the conflict was over, to be repeated in the later Secession Crisis that followed the presidential election of 1860, the crisis reached its highest point after the 6th Massachusetts was attacked by a mob in 1861. ACER Travelmate 8104WLMI CPU Fan The same units that attempted to prevent the movement of Federal troops through Baltimore were involved in the earlier demonstration at Ft. McHenry. The secessionist unit that featured most prominently on both occasions were the Baltimore Law Greys of the 5th Maryland.[5][6] DELL Latitude E4300 CPU Fan The Law Greys as part of Baltimore's First Light Division, Maryland Volunteers were disbanded in Baltimore and reformed in Virginia as the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA. The move away from the Battle of North Point to Fort McHenry was suggested by the "Old Defenders" themselves when they met at Govanstown, Maryland for their annual dinner to celebrate the Defenders Day during the Civil War. ASUS F80S CPU Fan The choice of the "Old Defenders" to do this was made as an open appeal to heal the wounds of the Civil War. The "Old Defenders" noted that troops from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia had rallied to Baltimore and Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore.[7] Nativism returned with the Confederate veterans after the Civil War. HP Pavilion dv5-1058eo CPU Fan After the Civil War the militia in Baltimore was divided between Union veterans and initially illegal militias of Confederate veterans. Prior to the 1877 riots the Confederate militia was legalized as the 5th Maryland. Baltimore's militia on the eve of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was composed of the 4th, 5th and 6th Maryland militia regiments. IBM 13N5182 CPU Fan The former Confederate 5th Maryland being drawn from veterans of the 1st Maryland CSA, the 6th Maryland being composed of Union veterans and the 4th Maryland of indeterminate origins. Each militia unit had its armory close to one of the large railroad stations. The 5th at Mount Royal Station, IBM Thinkpad T30 2366-AA3 CPU Fan the 6th across the street from Phoenix Shot Tower, near the President Street Station and the 4th at Camden Station. During the riot the 6th was attacked by a mob, the 6th broke and was chased by the mob through the streets of Baltimore, and the 6th's armory was attacked and the militia driven from their armory. IBM Thinkpad T30 CPU Fan The 6th Maryland was then disbanded and the unit blamed for all police and militia violence against the rioters. Governor Carroll then declared that the designation of "6th Maryland" would be forever stricken from the Maryland militia rolls. This left the formerly Confederate 5th Maryland as the dominant militia in Baltimore, HP 535438-001 CPU Fan thereby shaping how Defender's Day would be commemorated until the outbreak of World War I. The post-Civil War nativism peaked just after the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and then slowly faded with the growing popularity of the National Anthem. The demise of the 6th Maryland and the ascendency of the 5th Maryland can be viewed as part of the national political changes ending the Reconstruction Era of the United States and the Compromise of 1877. DELL Inspiron N3010 CPU Fan Nativism was dealt a decisive blow with the establishment of the National Guard of the United States since the creation of the National Guard effectively removed the militia as an active muscular component of local politics. A famous photograph from the early 1880s, shows the last of "The Old Defenders" as a group of a half-dozen old be-whiskered gentlemen, HP Pavilion dv6-3070tx CPU Fan garbed in black cut-away coats, cravat ties and top hats with gold-knobbed canes sitting on chairs in front of the steps of old "Druid Mansion", the headquarters of Druid Hill Park. After the Spanish American War, the expansion of Baltimore's harbor defenses included building Fort Howard on North Point and moving the garrison from Fort McHenry to Fort Howard. IBM 41W5269 CPU Fan The City of Baltimore began a campaign that would lead to Ft. Mc Henry being acquired by the city as a park. Before the transition of Fort McHenry to the City of Baltimore, the last of the "Old Defenders" died and the task of maintaining the traditions of Defender's Day passed to the Society of the Sons of the War of 1812. ASUS A8H CPU Fan This also coincided with the creation of the National Guard and the dissolution of the old militia units.The largest celebration was held on the hundred year anniversary in 1914, which included fireworks reenacting of the shelling of Fort McHenry.[8] The National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial was however overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I in Europe. SONY UDQFRZH13CF0 CPU Fan The dedication of the statue at Fort McHenry of "Orpheus with the Awkward Foot" [9] sealed the prominence of Fort McHenry in Defenders Day observances. The completion of the Orpheus statue at Fort McHenry further emphasized the story of the writing of the "Star Spangled Banner" following the bombardment of the fort by British naval forces, HP COMPAQ 2510P CPU Fan instead of the commemoration of Battle of North Point and Baltimore’s Battle Monument. The Great Depression of the 1930s curtailed the celebrations somewhat, and they continued to wane in popularity through World War II and the 1960s, when dissatisfaction with martial matters caused by the unpopular Vietnam War were noted. APPLE 661-4951 CPU Fan It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that Defenders Day began to be widely celebrated in Maryland once again, mostly through the increasing popularity of the Fort McHenry Guard, volunteers for the National Park Service, who brought new life to celebrations at Fort McHenry. HP Pavilion dv6-3034ca CPU Fan Even Baltimore's mayor (now Maryland governor), Martin O'Malley, has donned a War of 1812 uniform as a colonel of the Fort McHenry Guard to participate in Defenders Day reenactments. HP G56-126NR CPU Fan,Compaq Presario C556CA CPU Fan,HP Pavilion dv5170us CPU Fan

The British planned a combined operation

The British planned a combined operation, with Ross launching a land attack at North Point, and Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane laying siege to Fort McHenry, which was the point defensive installation in Baltimore Harbor.The British landed a force of 5,000 troops who marched toward Baltimore and first met heavy resistance at the Battle of North Point which was fought about 5 miles (8 km) from the city. ACER Aspire 4736ZG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The city’s defense was under the overall command of Major General Samuel Smith, an officer of the Maryland Militia. He dispatched roughly 3,000 men under the command of General John Stricker to meet the British in a forward engagement. General Stricker was to stall the British invasion force in order to delay the British advance long enough for Major General Smith to complete the defenses in Baltimore.  HP Pavilion dv4-1133tx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The land invasion force for the British was led by Ross, and would be killed in the second shift of the American defense by an American sharpshooter whose name has been lost to history. However, Daniel Wells, age 19, and Henry McComas, age 18, of Captain Aisquith's rifle company of the 5th Maryland Militia regiment have been attributed by Baltimore legend to have been responsible for his death,  HP Pavilion dv6-3043ee Laptop CPU Cooling Fan which was immediately followed by their own. With Ross's death the British army came under the command of the less competent Colonel Arthur Brooke. However, the British succeeded in driving the American militia back. Rodgers Bastion, also known as Sheppard's Bastion, located on Hampstead Hill (now part of Patterson Park),  Compaq Presario CQ61-421SG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan was the centerpiece of a 3-mile-wide earthworks from the outer harbor in Canton, north to Belair Road, dug to defend the eastern approach to Baltimore against the British. The redoubt was assembled and commanded by U.S. Navy Commodore John Rodgers, with General Smith in command of the overall line.  HP Pavilion dv6-1101au Laptop CPU Cooling Fan At dawn on September 13, 1814, the day after the Battle of North Point, some 4,300 British troops advanced north on North Point Road, then west along the Philadelphia Road (now Maryland Route 7) toward Baltimore, forcing the U.S. troops to retreat to the main defensive line around the city. British commander Col. HP Pavilion dv6-3125er Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Arthur Brooke established his new headquarters at the Sterret House on Surrey Farm (today called Armistead Gardens), about two miles east-northeast of Hampstead Hill. When the British began probing actions on Baltimore's inner defenses, the American line was defended by 100 cannon and more than 10,000 regular troops, HP 606575-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan including two shadowing infantry regiments commanded by general officers Stricker and Winder as well as a few thousand local militia and irregulars. The defenses were far stronger than the British anticipated. The U.S. defenders at Fort McHenry successfully stopped British naval forces but a few ships were still able to provide artillery support.  HP Pavilion dv7-6185us Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Once the British had taken the outer defences, the inner defences became the priority. The British infantry had not anticipated how well defended they would be so the first attack was a failure; however, Brooke's forces did manage to outflank and overrun American positions to the right. DELL DFS491105MH0T Laptop CPU Cooling Fan After a discussion with lower ranking officers, Brooke decided that the British should bombard the fort instead of risk a frontal assault and, at 3 AM on September 14, 1814, ordered the British troops to return to the ships. At Fort McHenry, some 1,000 soldiers under the command of Major George Armistead awaited the British naval bombardment. HP 532613-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Their defense was augmented by the sinking of a line of American merchant ships at the adjacent entrance to Baltimore Harbor in order to further thwart the passage of British ships. The attack began on September 13, as the British fleet of some nineteen ships began pounding the fort with Congreve rockets (from rocket vessel HMS Erebus) Compaq Presario CQ60-417DX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan andmortar shells (from bomb vessels TerrorVolcanoMeteorDevastation, and Aetna). After an initial exchange of fire, the British fleet withdrew to just beyond the range of Fort McHenry’s cannons and continued to bombard the American redoubts for the next 27 hours. HP Pavilion dv7-3060us Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Although 1,500 to 1,800 cannonballs were launched at the fort, damage was light due to recent fortification that had been completed prior to the battle. After nightfall, Cochrane ordered a landing to be made by small boats to the shore just west of the fort, away from the harbor opening on which the fort’s defense was concentrated.  HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan He hoped that the landing party might slip past Fort McHenry and draw Smith’s army away from the main British land assault on the city’s eastern border. This gave the British a good diversion for half an hour, allowing them to fire again and again. On the morning of September 14, the 30 ft × 42 ft (9.1 m × 12.8 m) oversized American flag, Dell Latitude E6510 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan which had been made a few months before by local flagmaker Mary Pickersgill and her 13-year-old daughter, was raised over Fort McHenry (replacing the tattered storm flag which had flown during battle). It was responded to by a small encampment of British rifleman on the right flank, who fired a round each at the sky and taunted the Americans just before they too returned to the shore line. HP Pavilion dv6-2019er Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Originally, historians said the oversized Star Spangled Banner Flag was raised to taunt the British. However, that is not the case. The oversized flag was used every morning for reveille, as was the case on the morning of September 14. Brooke had been instructed not to attack the American positions around Baltimore unless he was certain that there were less than 2000 men in the fort. HP Pavilion dv6-3126ea Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Because of his orders, Brooke had to withdraw from his positions and returned to the fleet which would set sail for New Orleans. An American lawyer and poet, Francis Scott Key, was on a mercy mission for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prisoner of the British. Key showed the British letters from wounded British officers praising the care they received from Dr. Beanes. HP 532613-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The British agreed to release Beanes, but Key and Beanes were forced to stay with the British until the attack on Baltimore was over. Key watched the proceedings from a truce ship in the Patapsco River. On the morning of the 14th, Key saw the American flag waving above Fort McHenry. Inspired, he began jotting down verses on the back of a letter he was carrying. HP Pavilion dv6-3300ss Laptop CPU Cooling Fan He composed the words to the tune of an old British drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven". When Key reached Baltimore, his poem was printed on pamphlets by the Baltimore American. His poem was originally called "Defence of Fort M'Henry". The song eventually became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Congress made it the national anthem in 1931. IBM Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Colonel Brooke’s troops withdrew, and Admiral Cochrane’s fleet sailed off to regroup before his next assault on the United States, the Battle of New Orleans. Armistead was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel. Much weakened by the arduous preparations for the battle, he died at age 38, only three years after the battle. HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Three active battalions of the Regular Army (1-4 Inf, 2-4 Inf and 3-4 Inf) perpetuate the lineages of the old 36th and 38th Infantry Regiments, both of which were at Fort McHenry during the bombardment. The lineage of the 5th Maryland Infantry Regiment, which played a major role in the Battle of North Point, is perpetuated by the Maryland National Guard's 175th Infantry Regiment. HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812.[5][6] American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army, under General Edward Pakenham, intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase.[ HP Pavilion dv5030 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The Treaty of Ghent, having been signed on December 24, 1814, was ratified by thePrince Regent on December 30, 1814, and the United States Senate on February 16, 1815. Hostilities continued until late February when official dispatches announcing the peace reached the combatants in Louisiana, finally putting an end to the war.[10][11] Compaq Presario CQ61-416EG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The Battle of New Orleans is widely regarded as the greatest American land victory of the war. By December 12, 1814, a large British fleet under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane with more than 8,000 soldiers and sailors aboard, had anchored in theGulf of Mexico to the east of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne.[13] HP 532614-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones, consisting of five gunboats. On December 14, around 1,200 British sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Nicholas Lockyer[14] set out to attack Catesby's force. Lockyer's men sailed in 42 longboats, each armed with a smallcarronade. HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Lockyer captured Catesby's vessels in a brief engagement known as theBattle of Lake Borgne. Seventeen British sailors were killed and 77 wounded,[15]while 6 Americans were killed, 35 wounded, and 86 captured.[15] The wounded included both Catesby and Lockyer. Now free to navigate Lake Borgne, thousands ofBritish soldiers, under the command of General John Keane,  HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan were rowed to Pea Island, about 30 miles (48 km) east of New Orleans, where they established a garrison. On the morning of December 23, Keane and a vanguard of 1,800 British soldiers reached the east bank of theMississippi River, 9 miles (14 km) south of New Orleans.[16] HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Keane could have attacked the city by advancing for a few hours up the river road, which was undefended all the way to New Orleans, but he made the fateful decision to encamp at Lacoste's Plantation[17] and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.[18] During the afternoon of December 23, after he had learned of the position of the British encampment, HP Pavilion dv5030 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Andrew Jackson reportedly said, "By the Eternal they shall not sleep on our soil."[19] This intelligence had been provided by Colonel Thomas Hinds' Squadron of Light Dragoons, a militia unit from the Mississippi Territory.[20][21] That evening, attacking from the north, Jackson led 2,131[22] men in a brief three-pronged assault on the unsuspecting British troops, Compaq Presario CQ61-416EG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan who were resting in their camp. Then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the city. The Americans suffered 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 missing,[23] while the British reported their losses as 46 killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing.[24] HP 532614-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Historian Robert Quimby says, "the British certainly did win a tactical victory, which enabled them to maintain their position".[25] However, Quimby goes on to say, "It is not too much to say that it was the battle of December 23 that saved New Orleans. The British were disabused of their expectation of an easy conquest. HP MCF-W13BM05 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The unexpected and severe attack made Keane even more cautious...he made no effort to advance on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth".[26] As a consequence, the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork.[27] On Christmas Day, HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca Laptop CPU Cooling Fan General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield and ordered a reconnaissance-in-force on December 28 against the American earthworks protecting the advance to New Orleans. That evening, General Pakenham met with General Keane and Admiral Cochrane for an update on the situation, angry with the position that the army had been placed in. HP Pavilion dv7-3050ec Laptop CPU Cooling Fan General Pakenham wanted to use Chef Menteur Road as the invasion route but was overruled by Admiral Cochrane who insisted that his boats were providing everything that could be needed.[28] Admiral Cochrane believed that the British Army would destroy a ramshackle American army and allegedly said that if the Army would not do so his sailors would. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Whatever Pakenham's thoughts on the matter, the meeting settled the method and place of the attack.[29] On December 28, groups of British troops made probing attacks against the American earthworks. When the British troops withdrew, the Americans began construction of artillery batteries to protect the earthworks, which were then christened Line Jackson. HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The Americans installed eight batteries, which included one 32-pound gun, three 24-pounders, one 18-pounder, three 12-pounders, three 6-pounders, and a 6-inch (150 mm) howitzer. Jackson also sent a detachment of men to the west bank of the Mississippi to man two 24-pounders and two 12-pounders from the grounded warship USS Louisiana. HP 489126-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Jackson's force was outnumbered by the attacking British forces. Jackson's army of 4,732 men comprised 968 US Army regulars,[30] 58 US Marines, 106 seamen of the US Naval battalion, 1,060 Louisiana Militia and volunteers (including 462 free people of color), 1,352 Tennessee Militia, 986 Kentucky Militia, 150 Mississippi Militia and 52 Choctaw warriors. DELL Inspiron E1405 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Additionally, Jackson had the support of warships in the Mississippi River, including the USSLouisiana, the USS Carolina and the Enterprise, along with the pirate Jean Lafitte and his Baratarians. The main British army arrived on New Year's Day, and attacked the earthworks using their artillery. An exchange of artillery fire began that lasted for three hours. DELL DFS541305MH0T Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Several of the American guns were destroyed or knocked out, including the 32-pounder, a 24-pounder, and a 12-pounder, and some damage was done to the earthworks. The British guns ran out of ammunition, which led Pakenham to cancel the attack. Unknown at the moment to Pakenham, HP G62-341NR Laptop CPU Cooling Fan the Americans on the left of Line Jackson near the swamp had broken and run from the position. Pakenham decided to wait for his entire force of over 8,000 men to assemble before launching his attack. In the early morning of January 8, Pakenham ordered a two-pronged assault against Jackson's position. HP Pavilion dv6648el Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Colonel William Thornton (of the 85th Regiment) was to cross the Mississippi during the night with his 780-strong brigade, move rapidly upriver and storm the batteries commanded by Commodore Daniel Patterson on the flank of the main American entrenchments and then open an enfilading fire on Jackson's line with howitzers and rockets.[32] HP Pavilion dv7-6151ed Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Then, the main attack, directly against the earthworks manned by the vast majority of American troops,[33] would be launched in two columns (along the river led by Keane and along the swamp line led by Major General Samuel Gibbs). The brigade commanded by Major General John Lambert was held in reserve. Toshiba Satellite P100-386 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Preparations for the attack had floundered early, as a canal being dug by Cochrane's sailors collapsed and the dam made to divert the flow of the river into the canal failed, leaving the sailors to drag the boats of Col. Thornton's west bank assault force through deep mud and left the force starting off just before daybreak 12 hours late.  HP G42-380LA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The attack began under darkness and a heavy fog, but as the British neared the main enemy line the fog lifted, exposing them to withering artillery fire. Lt-Col. Thomas Mullins, the British commander of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot, had forgotten the laddersand fascines needed to cross a canal and scale the earthworks, and confusion evolved in the dark and fog as the British tried to close the gap.  HP G60-230us Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Most of the senior officers were killed or wounded, including General Gibbs, killed leading the main attack column on the right comprising the 4th, 21st, 44th and 5th West India Regiments, and Colonel Rennie leading a detachment of light companies of the 7th, 43rd, and 93rd on the left by the river. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Possibly because of Thornton's delay in crossing the river and the withering artillery fire that might hit them from across the river, the 93rd Highlanders were ordered to leave Keane's assault column advancing along the river and move across the open field to join the main force on the right of the field. SONY Vaio VPC-EB1E0E Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Keane fell wounded as he crossed the field with the 93rd. Rennie's men managed to attack and overrun an American advance redoubt next to the river, but without reinforcements they could neither hold the position nor successfully storm the main American line behind. Within minutes, the American 7th Infantry arrived,  Compaq Presario CQ70-220EO Laptop CPU Cooling Fan moved forward, and fired upon the British in the captured redoubt: within half an hour, Rennie and most of his men were dead. In the main attack on the right, the British infantrymen either flung themselves to the ground, huddled in the canal, or were mowed down by a combination of musket fire and grapeshot from the Americans. HP Pavilion dv7-3060sb Laptop CPU Cooling Fan A handful made it to the top of the parapet on the right but were either killed or captured. The 95th Rifles had advanced in open skirmish order ahead of the main assault force and were concealed in the ditch below the parapet, unable to advance further without support. The two large main assaults on the American position were repulsed. ACER Aspire 7720 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Pakenham and his second-in-command, General Gibbs, were fatally wounded, while on horseback, by grapeshot fired from the earthworks. With most of their senior officers dead or wounded, the British soldiers, having no orders to advance further or retreat, stood out in the open and were shot apart with grapeshot from Line Jackson. SONY UDQF2PH52CF0 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan After about 20 more minutes of bloodletting, General Lambert assumed command and eventually ordered a withdrawal. The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where Thornton's brigade, comprising the 85th Regiment and detachments from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, attacked and overwhelmed the American line. Compaq Presario CQ61-216TU Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Though both Jackson and Commodore Patterson reported that the retreating forces had spiked their cannon, leaving no guns to turn on the Americans' main defense line, this is contradicted by Major Mitchell's diary which makes it clear this was not so, as he states he had "Commenced cleaning enemy's guns to form a battery to enfilade their lines on the left bank".[42Toshiba Satellite A215-S5802 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan ] General Lambert ordered his Chief of Artillery, Colonel Alexander Dickson, to assess the position. Dickson reported back that no fewer than 2,000 men would be needed to hold the position. General Lambert issued orders to withdraw after the defeat of their main army on the east bank and retreated, taking a few American prisoners and cannon with them. Toshiba Satellite A210-1BC Laptop CPU Cooling Fan At the end of the day, the British had 2,042 casualties: 291 killed (including Generals Pakenham and Gibbs), 1,267 wounded (including General Keane) and 484 captured or missing.The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead; 39 wounded, and 19 missing. On January 9, British naval forces attacked Fort St. Philip which protected New Orleans from an amphibious assault from the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. DELL Inspiron 630m Laptop CPU Cooling Fan American forces within the fort withstood ten days of bombardment by cannon before the British ships withdrew on January 18, 1815. Three days after the battle, General Lambert held a council of war where he concluded that despite his request for reinforcements as well as a siege train, ACER Travelmate 4152nlci Laptop CPU Cooling Fan capturing New Orleans and continuing the Louisiana campaign would be too costly and thus agreed with his officers to withdraw. On February 4, 1815, the fleet, with all of the British troops aboard, set sail toward Mobile Bay, Alabama. The British army then attacked and captured Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay on February 12. HP Pavilion dv6-3034tx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The following day, the British army was making preparations to attack Mobile when news arrived of the peace treaty. The treaty had been ratified by the British Parliament but would not be ratified by Congress and the President until mid-February. It did, however, resolve that hostilities should cease, HP G62-107SA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and the British abandoned Fort Bowyer and sailed home to their base in the West Indies.Although the Battle of New Orleans had no influence on the terms of the Treaty of Ghent, the defeat at New Orleans did compel Britain to abide by the treaty.However, it would have been problematic for the British to continue the war in North America,  HP G62-455TX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan due to Napoleon's escape from Elba on February 26, 1815, which ensured their forces were needed in Europe. Also, since the Treaty of Ghent did not specifically mention the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, it only required both sides to give back those lands that had been taken from the other during the war. HP 532617-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan From December 25, 1814, to January 26, 1815, British casualties during the Louisiana Campaign, apart from the assault on January 8, were 49 killed, 87 wounded and 4 missing.[52] These losses, together with those incurred on December 23 and January 8, added up to 386 killed, 1,521 wounded and 552 missing for the whole campaign. HP Pavilion dv6-1101au CPU Fan

War of 1812 Campaigns

http://www.all-laptopfan.com/,http://www.all-keyboard.com/ The Battle of Bladensburg took place during the War of 1812. The defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C. It has been called "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms".Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 Keyboard For the first two years of the War of 1812, the British had been preoccupied with the war against Napoleon Bonaparte on the continent of Europe. Although the Royal Navy controlled Chesapeake Bay from early 1813 onwards, lack of troops restricted them to mounting comparatively small-scale raids, the largest of which was the Battle of Craney Island, which involved 2,000 troops from the British Army and the Royal Marines. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420S Keyboard By April 1814, Napoleon had been defeated and was exiled to the island of Elba. Large numbers of British troops were free to be sent to North America. Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, the Governor General of Canada and commander in chief in North America, planned for a dual invasion of the United States. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E425 Keyboard He personally led one invasion into the state of New York from Canada, headed for Lake Champlain. Meanwhile, a brigade under Major General Robert Ross, consisting entirely of veterans from the army of the Duke of Wellington, was transported to Chesapeake Bay to "effect a diversion on the coasts of the United States of America in favor [sic] of the army employed in the defence of Upper and Lower Canada".[4] Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S420 Keyboard Although Ross commanded the troops, the point of attack was to be decided by Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, the commander in chief of the Royal Navy's North American Station. Cochrane concentrated four ships of the line, twenty frigates and sloops of war and twenty transports carrying Ross's troops at Tangier Island.[5] HP Pavilion G61-336NR CPU Fan Cochrane's energetic second in command, Rear Admiral George Cockburn, was in favour of a quick attack on Washington, although Ross was not so eager. His troops had been confined aboard their transports for nearly three months, he lacked cavalry, artillery and transport, and he was wary of the American Chesapeake Bay Flotilla lurking in thePatuxent River.[6] HP Pavilion dv7-6184ca CPU Fan The first objective was to capture or destroy the American flotilla, and Ross's orders were to stay near the shipping and not to risk an attack on the American capital.[citation needed] In Washington, the U.S. Secretary of War, John Armstrong, did not believe the British would attack the strategically unimportant city of Washington. HP Pavilion dv7-3125eo CPU Fan He believed that the likely target would be the militarily more important city of Baltimore. Armstrong was only half right; the British would eventually launch attacks against both Baltimore and Washington. Cochrane dispatched two forces to make diversions. The frigate HMS Menelaus and some small craft threatened a raid on Baltimore, while two frigates and some bomb ketches and a rocket vessel ascended the Potomac River, an expedition that resulted in the successful Raid on Alexandria. HP Pavilion dv7-2185dx CPU Fan His main body proceeded into the Patuxent. Ross's troops landed at Benedict on 19 August, and began marching upstream the following day, while Cockburn proceeded up the river with ships' boats and small craft. By 21 August, Ross had reached Nottingham, and Commodore Joshua Barney was forced to destroy the gunboats and other sailing craft of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla the next day, and retreat overland towards Washington. IBM MCF-C10AM05 CPU Fan From Nottingham, Ross continued up the Patuxent to Upper Marlboro, from where he could threaten to advance on either Washington or Baltimore, confusing the Americans. He might have taken the capital almost unopposed had he advanced on 23 August, but instead he rested his men and organised his force. SONY Vaio VGN-SZ2XP/C CPU Fan On the night of 23–24 August, at the urging of Rear Admiral Cockburn and British Army officers under his own command, Ross decided to risk an attack on Washington. He had four infantry battalions, a battalion of Royal Marines, a force of about 200 Corps of Colonial Marines comprising locally recruited black refugees from slavery, DELL Latitude E4300 CPU Fan arocket detachment from the Royal Marines battalion, 50 Royal Sappers and Miners, 100 gunners from the Navy and 275 sailors to carry supplies. His force totaled 4,370 men, with one 6-pounder gun, two 3-pounder guns and sixty frames for launching Congreve rockets.[7] Rear Admiral Cockburn accompanied his force. HP Pavilion dv7-2025es CPU Fan Ross had a choice of two routes by which he could advance: from the south via Woodyard or from the east via Bladensburg. The former route would involve finding a way across an unfordable part of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac (now called the Anacostia River) if the Americans destroyed the bridge on the route. FUJITSU LifeBook A6030 CPU Fan In the morning of 24 August, Ross made a feint on the southern route, before suddenly swerving northwards towards Bladensburg. On 2 July 1814, the United States Army had designated the area around Washington and Baltimore as the Tenth Military District. SONY Vaio VGN-FS115Z CPU Fan Its commander was Brigadier General William H. Winder, who had practiced law in Baltimore before being commissioned as a Colonel in 1812 and who had been recently exchanged after being captured at the Battle of Stoney Creek in July 1813. Winder could theoretically call upon 15,000 militia in total, but he actually had only 120 Dragoons and 300 other Regulars, and 1,500 poorly trained and equipped militia at his immediate disposal.[8] HP 532617-001 CPU Fan On 20 August, Winder ordered his force to advance south to the vicinity of Long Old Fields and Woodyard, off modern Route 5, to confront the British at Upper Marlboro. There was a brief clash with Ross's leading troops on 22 August, and Winder ordered a hasty retreat to the Long Old Fields.[7] ACER Aspire 5730Z CPU Fan Though Winder rode with the force directly challenging the British, he realized that Bladensburg was the key to the defense of Washington. Bladensburg commanded the roads to Baltimore and Annapolis, along which reinforcements were already moving towards the capital. It also lay on one of the only two routes available to the British for an advance on Washington— the preferable route, as it happened, HP G56-126NR CPU Fan because the Eastern Branch was easily forded there. On 20 August, Winder had ordered Brigadier General Tobias Stansbury to move from Baltimore to Bladensburg[9] and "take the best position in advance of Bladensburg ... and should he be attacked, to resist as long as possible".[10] On 22 August, Stansbury deployed his force on top of Lowndes Hill, just to the east of Bladensburg. HP Pavilion dv7-6166nr CPU Fan The road from Annapolis ran across the hill, and the road from Upper Marlboro ran to its right and rear. The roads to Washington, Georgetown, and Baltimore intersected behind it. From this position, Stansbury dominated the approaches available to the British while controlling all lines of communication. FUJITSU Lifebook A3210 CPU Fan At 2:30 a.m. on 23 August, Stansbury received a message from Winder, announcing that he had withdrawn across the Eastern Branch and that he intended to fire the lower bridge. Surprised, Stansbury was seized by an irrational fear that his right flank would be turned. Rather than further strengthen an already commanding position, DELL Precision M6400 CPU Fan he immediately decamped and marched his exhausted troops back across Bladensburg bridge, which he did not burn, to a brickyard 1.5 miles (2.4 km) miles further on. In doing so, he had thrown away almost every tactical advantage available to him. Winder had at least 1,000 regulars from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, Compaq Presario CQ60-615DX CPU Fan and some 7,000 militia and volunteers from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia at his disposal. Official reports of American strength range from 5,000 to 9.000 men. Winder's official report to the Secretary of Warstated that he was able "By the most active and harassing movement of the troops to interpose before the enemy at Bladensburg about 5,000."[11] HP Pavilion dv2660se CPU Fan Ross, the British commander, estimated the American force in front of him at between 8,000 and 9,000 men with 300-400 cavalry. From the various contemporary sources, the forces gathered for the defense of Washington most likely numbered about 7,170, of which some 6,370 were at Bladensburg. Stansbury's force consisted of the 1st (Ragan's), 2nd (Schutz's), and 5th (Sterrett's) regiments of Maryland Militia, Toshiba Satellite L500-1XC CPU Fan three companies of volunteer riflemen commanded by Major Thomas Pinckney and two companies of Baltimore artillery, with six guns. Ragan's and Schutz's regiments were hastily-drafted amalgamations of companies, without uniforms. Sterrett's 5th Maryland Regiment was a "Dandy" regiment of uniformed volunteers.[9] DELL GM0503PEB1-8 (L2.M) CPU Fan Stansbury had chosen a defensible position, but not the best position, on the western side of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, opposite the town of Bladensburg. The Baltimore artillery were posted in an earthwork which had been hastily constructed by Colonel Decius Wadsworth (the United States Army's Commissary General of Ordnance) to the north of the bridge.[12] HP Pavilion dv7-1098eo CPU Fan The earthwork was intended for larger weapons, and the field guns had a restricted field of fire through its embrasures. They could not prevent the bridge from being seized with oblique fire. The three Maryland Militia infantry regiments were posted in line to the south of the earthwork, too far away to protect the guns and exposed to British fire. Toshiba Satellite A205-S5804 CPU Fan Both Winder and Secretary of State James Monroe later tinkered with Stansbury's dispositions. Monroe moved companies and detachments about without correcting the major faults of his position, while Winder moved the three militia regiments into even more exposed positions further behind the Baltimore artillery's redoubt, HP Pavilion dv7-1240us CPU Fan although Monroe reinforced them with a militia artillery company under Captain Benjamin Burch.[13] Behind Stansbury's troops and to his right were a brigade of militia under Brigadier General Walter Smith of the District of Columbia militia, which had marched up from Long Old Fields to the south.  DELL yy529 CPU Fan Although Smith's brigade was strongly posted behind a creek, Smith had not conferred with Stansbury before deploying his brigade, so there was a gap of a mile between them, and Smith's men could not support Stansbury. Also, if Stansbury was overcome, Smith's left flank would be open to attack. A battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Kramer lined the creek. Toshiba Qosmio G40-10E CPU Fan Joshua Barney's men, with two 18-pounder guns and three 12-pounder guns drawn from the Washington Navy Yard, were posted astride the Washington turnpike. To Barney's left was the 1st Regiment of "District" Militia, a militia artillery company under Major George Peter with six 6-pounder guns and a provisional battalion of regulars under Lieutenant Colonel William Scott. SONY Vaio VGN-CR407E CPU Fan The 2nd District Militia and some companies of Maryland militia were posted behind Peter and Scott.[14] To Smith's right rear in turn was a column under Colonel William Beall, which had just arrived from Annapolis. A regiment of Virginia Militia under Colonel George Minor was delayed by administrative confusion and arrived on the field only as the battle ended.[15] HP Pavilion dv6-3131tx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Stansbury's troops were tired from two days' constant alarms and redeployments, and Smith's and Beall's men were equally exhausted from having force-marched to the battlefield through a hot and humid summer day, with many diversions and unnecessary panics. Around noon on 24 August, Ross's army reached Bladensburg. HP 622029-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Stansbury's tactical errors quickly became apparent. Had he held Lowndes Hill, Stansbury could have made the British approach a costly one (although this would involve fighting with the East Branch at his back, which would not improve his men's morale and might be disastrous in the case of a hasty retreat).[12] Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7047 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Had he held the brick structures of Bladensburg, which were ready-made mini-fortresses, he might have embroiled Ross's troops in bloody street fighting. Because the bridge had not been burned, it had to be defended. Stansbury's infantry and artillery were posted too far from the river's edge to contest a crossing effectively. HP Pavilion dv7-4170ez Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The British advance was led by Colonel William Thornton's 85th Light Infantry and the three light companies of the other line battalions. Although the Baltimore artillery stopped Thornton's first rush across the bridge, they had solid shot only, which was of little use against scattered skirmishers.[16] HP Pavilion dv4-1506tx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Pinckney's riflemen, posted to protect the American guns, were driven back and as Thornton's men closed in, the Baltimore artillerymen retreated with five of their cannon, being forced to spike and abandon another. The British 1/44th Regiment had meanwhile forded the East Branch above the bridge. Compaq Presario CQ61-411WM Laptop CPU Cooling Fan As they prepared to envelop the American left, Winder led a counter-attack against Thornton by Sterrett's 5th Maryland militia, joined by other detachments.[17] As the 5th Maryland exchanged fire with British infantry in cover on three sides, Schutz's and Ragan's drafted militia regiments broke and fled under a barrage of Congreve rockets. IBM FRU 46L4753 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Winder issued confused orders for three of Captain Burch's guns to fall back rather than cover Sterrett's retreat, and the 5th Maryland and the rest of Stansbury's brigade fled the field. The British pressed on and were engaged by Smith's brigade and Barney's and Peters's guns. Thornton's light brigade made several frontal attacks over the creek, but were repulsed three times by artillery fire, and were counter-attacked by Barney's detachment.[18] HP Pavilion dv6-3190sf Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Thornton was badly wounded and his light infantry were driven back with heavy casualties. However, as the 1/44th threatened Smith's open left flank, Winder ordered Smith to retreat also.[19] Smith's brigade fell back in good order, but Winder's orders to retreat apparently did not reach Barney, SONY Vaio VGN-FZ21E Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and his situation worsened when the civilian drivers of the carts carrying his reserve ammunition joined the general rout,[20] leaving the Marine gun crews with less than three rounds of canister, round shot and charges in their caissons. Barney's 300 Flotilla men and 103 Marines nevertheless held off the British frontal attacks. HP G42-415DX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Eventually, as the British 1/4th and 1/44th Regiments enveloped their left flank, Barney ordered his men to retreat to avoid capture.[21] Barney himself was badly wounded with a musket ball in the thigh. Beall's troops were also driven from the hill they held, after an ineffectual resistance.HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Winder had not given any instructions before the battle in the case of a retreat and as the American militia left the battlefield, he issued contradictory orders to halt and reform, or fall back on the Capitol where Secretary of War John Armstrong, Jr. hoped vainly to make a stand, using the federal buildings as strongpoints, or retreat through Georgetown to Tenleytown. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Most of the militia simply fled the field with no destination in mind, or deserted the ranks to see to the safety of their families. Although the British had suffered heavier casualties than the Americans (many inflicted by Barney's guns), they had completely routed the defenders. The British casualties were 64 dead and 185 wounded.[1]  Dell Latitude E6500 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Some of the British dead "died without sustaining a scratch. They collapsed from heat exhaustion and the strain of punishing forced marches over the five days since landing at Benedict".[23] Heidler's Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 gives the American loss as "10 or 12 killed, 40 wounded" and "about 100" captured.[1] SONY Vaio VGN-NR120Q Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Henry Adams and John S. Williams both give the American casualties as 26 killed and 51 wounded.[24] Joseph A. Whitehorne says that the Americans lost "120 taken prisoner, many of these wounded".[25] Ten cannon and a color[26] were captured by the British. The hasty and disorganized American retreat led to the battle becoming known as the Bladensburg Races from an 1816 poem. Toshiba Satellite A205-S5879 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The battle was termed "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms" and "the most humiliating episode in American history".[19]The American militia actually fled through the streets of Washington. President James Madison and most of the rest of the federal government had been present at the battle, and had nearly been captured. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan They too fled the capital, and scattered through Maryland and Virginia. That same night the British entered Washington unopposed and set fire to many of the government buildings in what became known as the Burning of Washington. Lieutenant General Prevost had urged Vice Admiral Cochrane to avenge the Raid on Port Dover on the north shore of Lake Erie earlier in the year, Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan in which the undefended settlement had been set ablaze by American troops. Cochrane had issued a proclamation that American property was forfeit; only the lives of the civilian inhabitants were to be spared. He had issued a private memorandum to his captains however, which allowed them to levy what was effectively protection money in return for sparing buildings. HP Pavilion dv6-2016ax Laptop CPU Cooling Fan In practice, there was little or no looting or wanton destruction of private property by Ross's troops or Cochrane's sailors during the advance and the occupation of Washington. However, when the British later withdrew to their ships in the Patuxent, discipline was less effective (partly because of fatigue) and there was considerable looting by foraging parties and stragglers and deserters.[27] SONY Vaio VGN-CR11S/P Laptop CPU Cooling Fan After Major General Ross was killed at the Battle of North Point on 12 September 1814, his descendants were, by royal warrant dated 25 August 1815, given an augmentation of honour to their armorial bearings and their family name was changed to the victory title Ross-of-Bladensburg in memory of Ross's most famous battle.[28] HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The lineages of the 5th Maryland Regiment and the Columbian Division are perpetuated by the present-day 175th Infantry (ARNG MD) and the HHD/372nd Military Police Battalion (ARNG DC), respectively, two of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812. APPLE MacBook Pro 15 inch MA610LL Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The lineages of the old 36th and 38th Infantry Regiments are perpetuated by three currently active battalions of the 4th Infantry (1-4 Inf, 2-4 Inf and 3-4 Inf). The Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812HP G71-340US Laptop CPU Cooling Fan. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading British forces. The British defeated an American force at North Point,[8] however they made no further progress and later withdrew. HP Pavilion dv7-6166nr Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The resistance of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during bombardment by the Royal Navy inspired Francis Scott Key to compose the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" which later became the lyrics for "The Star-Spangled Banner," the national anthem of the United States of America. HP Pavilion dv6-3050et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan   Tied down in Europe until 1814, the British at first used defensive strategy, repelling multiple American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. However, the Americans gained control over Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and ended the prospect of an Indian confederacy and an independent Indian state in the Midwest under British sponsorship. Dell Vostro 3500 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan In the Southwest, General Andrew Jackson destroyed the military strength of the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 on April 6, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending in three large invasion armies. The British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed them to capture and burn Washington, D.C. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan American victories in September 1814 and January 1815 repulsed all three British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans. With the recent defeat of Napoleon the previous year, thousands of British troops along with many seasoned officers, including Major General Robert Ross, were deployed to America to undertake a major campaign on America's East Coast. HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan In August, 1814, British forces sailed from the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda to attack the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.[9] On August 24, the British Army had overrun confused American defenders at the Battle of Bladensburg and marched into Washington, which had been abandoned by the military[10] . HP Pavilion dv7t-6100 CTO Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Afterburning and looting the White House, Capitol, Treasury, War Department and other public buildings and forcing the destruction of the Washington Navy Yard, the British carted public and private possessions back to their ships. President James Madison and the entire government fled the city, and went North, to the town of Brookeville, Maryland. Compaq Presario CQ61-435SA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The British also sent a fleet up the Potomac to cut off Washington's water access and threaten the prosperous ports of Alexandria, just downstream of Washington, and Georgetown, just upstream. The mere appearance of the fleet cowed American defenders into fleeing from Fort Warburton without firing a shot, and undefended Alexandria surrendered.  ASUS M51SE Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The British spent several days looting hundreds of tons of merchandise from city merchants, then turned their attention north to Baltimore, where they hoped to strike a knockout blow against the demoralized Americans. Baltimore was a busy port and was thought by the British to harbor many of the privateerswho were raiding British shipping. HP G42-415DX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan