The two time periods coincide, yet one rarely ever hears a mention of fighting Americans from Regency authors.

That GB was embroiled with Napoleon didn’t hurt either.ĭespite our prowess at sea, our land battles were embarrassing losses, yet we walked away with the Northwest Territory, which includes my home state of Michigan, probably one reason for my fascination with the time period.īut another time period with which I am forever fascinated is the Regency. This means we ended up with a fleet of independent privateers that took so many British merchantmen prizes, the men in England with the money, the merchants, cried “Uncle” and Great Britain promised to cease impressing our sailors and stopping us from trading with France. We also had experienced and tough sailors. The USA didn’t have a Navy to speak of, but we still built great sailing vessels-fast and seaworthy. The answer ends up being pretty simple: Money. That why has fascinated me since I first learned of the war way back in the dark ages. In two and a half years, we got a treaty with everything we wanted. In other words, England was messing with our sailors and our trade freedom, and we didn’t like it. Yet President Madison and Congress declared war on our old enemy to prove a point. Our Army was a joke, and half the country was against the war. Tiny little United States, with our 18 naval vessels, not all in commission, declared war on powerful Great Britain, with its 506 naval vessels in commission. Well, maybe most or all war is silly, and the War of 1812 has to be among the silliest.

The Price of Glory by Caroline Warfield