Although President Madison` was reluctant to enter into
a war with Great Britain, he acquiesced as early as November 1811
to repeated calls from members of his party to a buildup of American
arms. On the fifth of that month, he appeared before Congress to
issue his call to arms. It was actually in the middle of his campaign
for reelection to the presidency, on June 17, 1812, when Congress
declared war of the British, marking the official start of the War
of 1812. When Madison swore in for his second term, his primary
occupation was the fulfillment of duties as Commander-in-Chief
of a nation at war.
The War of 1812 was also known as the Second War for Independence.
It was fought primarily because Americans detested the heavy-handed
treatment their countrymen received from the British on the high
seas. It was a constant irritation tothe young nation that men
on American merchant ships who engaged in trade with the French
were repeatedly taken captive by British naval officers and impressed
into military service for the Crown.
Even though Madison was reluctant to go to war, the Federalists, concerned
about their commercial interests, labeled the conflict "Mr. Madison's
War," and their opposition to it made sure and swift American engagement
in the struggle difficult to pursue. The militias in some of the
New England states did not rise up readily to fight the British,
and when Maine (still at this time part of Massachusetts) was threatened,
the Massachusetts militia refused even to defend the northern part
of their state from British attack. The people of Maine felt very
injured, and were glad to acquire state independence some years
later in 1820.
America's fighting was done by state militias and volunteers,
and in the first part of the war went badly. General William Hull
failed in his attempt to invade Canada, instead surrendering to
the British at Detroit. Several other attempts at invading Canada
also failed. President Madison responded to these defeats by focusing
on building up the navy, sending fleets into the Great Lakes to
defend the United States from British attacks from Canada. The
American navy saw victories in the first year of the war: three
of its ships, named the United States, the President, and most
famously the Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," were more
formidable than any ships in the British navy. Though outnumbered
by the very large British fleet, the American ships held their own
in close naval combat.
The Americans suffered naval setbacks, however, with the
onset of the British blockade of the Atlantic coastline. The most
remembered event in the war occurred when the British landed south
of Washington, D.C. and, on August twenty-four, 1814, after defeating
an American army at Bladensburg, Virginia, marched into the capital
city and set fire to it. The White House was one of the buildings
which was destroyed–it was hollowed out in the fire. President Madison
had evacuated the city before seeing his house in flames; Dolley
Madison, evacuating after her husband, saved a precious, life-size
portrait of George Washington while leaving some of her own belongings
behind in the conflagration. Many Americans viewed the First Lady
as a heroine for this action. The President reacted to the destruction
of Washington by firing his Secretary of War and replacing him
with James Monroe, who continued to serve simultaneously as Secretary
of State.
The burning of Washington marked a turning point in the
war. The image of their capital in flames had the effect of rallying
Americans to a spirited defense of their country, and the British
were soon turned back in their attempts to capture the city of
Baltimore. America won a great victory in their defense of Fort
McHenry–the battle which was the inspiration to onlooker Francis
Scott Key's poem, "The Star Spangled Banner," which would become
the lyrics to America's National Anthem.
