The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.
The Battle of Fort Dearborn was an engagement between United States troops and Potawatomi Native Americans that occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois. The battle, which occurred during the War of 1812, followed the evacuation of the fort as ordered by the commander of the United States Army of the Northwest, William Hull. The battle lasted about 15 minutes and resulted in a complete victory for the Native Americans. After the battle, Fort Dearborn was burned down. Some of the soldiers and settlers who had been taken captive were later ransomed.
Fort Dearborn was a United States fort, first built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by U.S. troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn during the War of 1812, and a replacement Fort Dearborn was constructed on the same site in 1816 and decommissioned by 1837.
Henry Dearborn was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record. After being captured and exchanged, he served in George Washington's Continental Army. He was present at the British surrender at Yorktown. Dearborn served on General George Washington's staff in Virginia.
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit was the territorial capital.
William Hull was an American military officer and politician. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, he later served as governor of the Michigan Territory (1805–1813), where he negotiated land cessions with Native Americans through the Treaty of Detroit in 1807. Hull is most widely remembered, as the general in the first months of the War of 1812 (1812-1815), who surrendered Fort Detroit / Shelby to the British Army on August 16, 1812 following the Siege of Detroit. After the siege, he was paroled by the enemy and returned east, but court-martialed, convicted, and sentenced to death in a military court trial by the United States Army and the U.S. War Department, but later received a pardon from fourth President and military commander-in-chief James Madison, so his military and personal reputation somewhat recovered. He was assigned to several other commands in the next two years of the war, before the 1815 peace Treaty of Ghent and return to the pre-war status quo with the British,
Duncan McArthur was a military officer and a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 11th governor of Ohio.
The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the United States of America and a joint force of British and Native Americans near the River Raisin in Frenchtown.
The siege of Detroit, also known as the surrender of Detroit or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with indigenous allies under Shawnee leader Tecumseh used bluff and deception to intimidate U.S. Brigadier General William Hull into surrendering the fort and town of Detroit, Michigan, along with his dispirited army which actually outnumbered the victorious British and Indians.
Fort Wayne is located in the city of Detroit, Michigan, at the foot of Livernois Avenue in the Delray neighborhood. The fort is situated on the Detroit River at a point where it is under half a mile to the Ontario shore. The original 1848 limestone barracks still stands, as does the 1845 fort. On the grounds but outside the original fort are additional barracks, officers quarters, a recreation building, a theater, commissary, guard house, garage, and stables. A large warehouse and the post fire station were torn down in 1976 and the two-story hospital was torn down in 2007.
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a French and later British fortification established in 1701 on the north side of the Detroit River by Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac. A settlement based on the fur trade, farming and missionary work slowly developed in the area. The fort was located in what is now downtown Detroit, northeast of the intersection of Washington Boulevard and West Jefferson Avenue.
Fort Malden, formally known as Fort Amherstburg, is a defence fortification located in Amherstburg, Ontario. It was built in 1795 by Great Britain in order to ensure the security of British North America against any potential threat of American invasion. Throughout its history, it is most known for its military application during the War of 1812 as Sir Isaac Brock and Tecumseh met here to plan the Siege of Detroit. It was the British stronghold during the war and is now a National Historic Site of Canada. The fort also had an important role in securing Upper Canada's border with Detroit during the Upper Canada Rebellion.
The Battle of Prairie du Chien was a British victory in the far western theater of the War of 1812. During the war, Prairie du Chien was a small frontier settlement with residents loyal to both American and British causes. By 1814, both nations were anxious to control the site because of its importance to the fur trade and its strategic location at the intersection of the Mississippi River and the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a transportation route linking the Mississippi with the Great Lakes.
Savoyard Centre (1900), also known as State Savings Bank, is an office building at 151 West Fort Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1981 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Another historic marker erected November 13, 1964, also notes that the site was previously occupied by Fort Lernoult until July 11, 1796, when, in compliance with the terms of the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolutionary War, British troops had evacuated their last post in United States territory.
General Charles Larned was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician. He fought in the War of 1812 and was Attorney General of Michigan Territory.
Benjamin Franklin Graves (1771–1813) was a politician and military leader in early 19th-century Kentucky. During the War of 1812, Graves served as a major in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Kentucky Volunteer regiment. Together with other officers, he commanded Kentucky troops in the Battle of Frenchtown on January 22, 1813, in Michigan Territory. This was part of an effort by Americans to take the British-controlled fort at Detroit, Fort Shelby. This battle had the highest number of American fatalities in the war: of 1,000 American troops, nearly 400 were killed in the conflict, and 547 were taken prisoner. The next day an estimated 30-100 Americans were killed by Native Americans after having surrendered.
Abraham Edwards was an American physician and politician in the U.S. state of Michigan. He served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 and was president of the Michigan Territorial Council for a majority of its existence.
The Western theater of the War of 1812 was a theater of war during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Far from the Atlantic Coast and large cities, logistics and communication were more challenging in the western territories and the United States frontier. For many Native American nations involved, this war was a continuation of the defense of their lands against encroaching settlers.
