The War of 1812; The United States Army 1812-1815

[Chuckman]

The United States in the War of 1812

History and Bias From Both Sides

Spoiler: show

Many modern historians refer to this war most recently as "the second revolutionary war" or the "second war of independence", this is not accurate at all. Really this was the first (failed) american expansionist war. To look up more of these look up the Mexican American War and the various Indian Wars. The American goals were to conquer / liberate Canada, the British/Canadian goals were to stop that from happening. Some Americans claim that it was an American victory; since Canada is still here that hardly seems possible. A more accurate idea would be that it was a draw for the US.

Also, it is often portrayed that the US was the little guy in this war; the US in 1812 had 7.5 million, Canada had 800 000; that is 10 to 1; overall militarily there were 4 times more US regulars than Can/ British. The British forces were here as well; though only 1 cavalry regiment, 11 battalions and several batteries (spread across the maritimes, Ontario and Quebec) until 1814; and even then most peninsular vets were involved in the counter invasion of the US.

If you were to talk to an American about this war they would probably remember the whomping that the British regulars got at New Orleans and the naval wars. Though there were many US naval defeats as well, especially from 1814 on. The vast majority of land battles happened here in Canada though; and though outnumbered on average 2.5 to 1, the British / Canadian forces won the majority of battles, but more importantly defeated all of the invasion armies over this 1000 day war. They don't want to know about the multiple failed campaigns into Canada in which much smaller forces defeated them. But by the end of the war, the US forces had vastly improved, this war was the testing grounds for both militaries.

But Canadians don't want to know about the failed counter invasions of the US. At first the first British force had some successes at Bladensberg (then burned down Washington) , and North Point but the Battle of Baltimore the first force was driven off only to be soundly beaten at New Orleans. The second force withdrew back into Canada when their supply route was cut off by an excellently fought naval battle.

Really the losers of this war were the native peoples, they fought for Canada and then when the war was done, the Indian state which had been whispered of near Lake Michigan disappeared. The Kentucky troops cut Tecumseh's body into strips and took them as trophies after they killed him at the Battle of the Thames. He is a war hero along with Brock in Canada though.

Note; the US Creek War was not related to the War of 1812 though it happened at the same time.

United States Army 1814
35 000 regulars
10 000 volunteers with the army
3 000 rangers
5 000 seamen and marines
450 000 militia (other estimates say 700 000)

US Regular Army 1812-1815
2 Regiments of Light Dragoons
48 Battalions of Line Infantry; British company system (in 1812 they had half this number)
1 Battalion of Line Rifles; the 26th, this unit looked like the regular line units
1 Battalion Marines Guards (peak strength 750 men)
4 Battalions of Rifles
3 Artillery Regiments (each with several batteries except the third which was used as infantry)
1 Light Artillery Regiment *note that this unit fought in a couple of battles as artillery (Plattsburgh) but elements also fought as infantry
1 Company Engineers
1 Company Bombadiers and Sappers; This unit was combined with the engineers at Lundy's Lane with 2 18 pounder cannons (they did not fight at the battle but were nearby)

US Irregulars and Militia
Kentucky Militia Cavalry 3 regiments worth *probably the best cavalry in the army
Horse Guards (Connecicut); 1 squadron?
Dragoons; est 8 regiments
Light Dragoons; est 30 to 60
Hussars; 6 or more troops units; possibly totalling 1 regiment (they were part of larger combined units)
Mounted Rifles; perhaps 30 companies
Kentucky Militia; 20 battalions *some of the best infantry in the army
Militia; 800 or so battalions (New York and Pennsylvania alone had over 100 each)
Rifles; perhaps 100 companies
Native Units; Small quantities (500 at most at any battle; usually none)
Militia Artillery; 200 batteries

[Chuckman]

1812 to 1815 American Army

Infantry Units
1. Marine Guards (cap 1) source; http://www.1812marines.org/uniforms.htm
mostly fought on ships


2. Scott's Brigade; These several battalions were considered the best (25th, 22nd, 11th, and 9th) They were given grey uniforms (the only line units that were) just before Chippawa. They fought hard at Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, but by the end of the battle were reduced to between 300 and 500 men so were formed into 1 battalion.



3. 4 Rifle regiments / battalions skirmishers


4. 26th Rifle regiment *confirmed
Uniform; as line; used as light infantry fought as a battalion unlike the rifle regiments which were distruted in units of a couple of companies

5. 15th Regiment *this unit had a unique organization; it fought in 3 ranks instead of 2 like the other units; the third rank was given pikes and carbines slings so it could fight in 3 ranks. An interesting unit, though I doubt this would have been very effective. The US did not seem to think so either as it was the only one if its kind. This unit fought in the Fort York campaign in 1813, after which they were equipped normally. *Not worth making as it would not have been more effective IMO



6. American Regulars *44 regiments / Battalions by wars end (38 with above units subtracted)
1812 uniforms may be good to represent veteran troops; at least some units seem to have had this uniform until 1814. All newer regiments were given the leather tombstone shako seen below. A taller tombstone shako was introduced in 1814 but probably not used in the war. Units had a variety of colours for jackets; blue, dark brown, light brown, grey, green as the war went on just blue or grey. Pants were white, blue, grey, brown or sometimes green.



7. Kentrucky Irregulars *these troops were amongst the best US troops, fought as light infantry
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... e_jpg.html

8. Maryland Mlitia (Pictured are the 5th Maryland Volunteers) *there were quite a few volunteer units that were better quality than militia (conscript/volunteer level). Here is a typical uniform from the Battle of North Point the 5th Maryland Volunteers did well vs British regulars


http://srra-reenactment.org/1812war.htm

9. Native Warriors *much less on the US side than on the Brit/Can side
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... 2_jpg.html

10. Militia (no cap) *800 battalions, New York and Pensylvania alone had over 100 each; 3 to 6 battalions would form to make an actual battalion (around 200 bat total)
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... e_jpg.html
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... e_png.html




Massachusets Militia; These were not engaged but had some the nicest uniforms of the US miliita.

Troops and Militia at New Orleans

Vermont Militia; Engaged at Plattsburgh (otherwise was against the war)

Georgian Militia

Indiana Militia

Mississipi Militia

North Carolina

South Carolina

DC

Ohio Militia


11. Rangers; several units were used vs natives in the west. Also used in the Western Battles (Fort Meigs, River Raisin campaign, Fort Stephenson, Battle of the Thames)


Cavalry
1. Light Dragoons *The only regular cavalry (2 regiments of around 400)
uniforms; as british dragoons but with blue jackets and black lace
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... r_jpg.html




2. Kentucky Mounted Militia *about 4 regiments worth


3. Hussars *3 units of militia hussars; these were probably wealthier volunteers
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... 7_jpg.html

4. 8 Units New York Dragoons (militia) *some of these were light, but it seems that the red coated ones may have been medium or heavy
Uniform; red jacket, british horse artillery helmet
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... n_png.html

5. Light Horse Militia (lots of these; Philadelphia, Maryland Plus others) about 30 regiments
Uniform; blue jacket white piping, british horse artillery helmet was most common
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... 9_jpg.html

Artillery
1. Foot Artillery; usually fought in 3 gun batteries, also 2; 18 pounders, 12 pounders, but mostly 6 with mortars








2. 6 pound or 4 pound light artillery batteries; there was a regiment worth; at Plattsburgh there was a battalion of 400 used as infantry; also fighting were 2 batteries of guns
http://imageshack.us/f/27/1812w.jpg

3. Militia Artillery; every state had these; blue uniforms with white pants, bicorn hats were most common from different states. Would have had a variety of uniforms however.

4. Engineers, Bombadiers and Sappers; 1 company of Engineers and 1 of Bombadiers and Sappers; these fought at Lundys Lane with 2 18 pounders

[Lord Bloody Bill]

I know of no Americans that refer the War of 1812 as the Second American Revolution. Not sure what this is from. As for the info as always it is welcome.

[Chuckman]

Really? I have seen it referred to many times.

Here is a book, and not the only one I have seen with second revolution/ second war of independence in its title;
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Union-1812-Ameri ... 20c0f00768


On the internet with a quick search;

http://www.ushistory.org/us/21e.asp

http://www.nps.gov/revwar/unfinished_re ... _1812.html

http://nicholelouise.tripod.com/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_the_War_o ... ependence'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/madis ... war_1.html

[Lord Bloody Bill]

Thats funny, thanks for this. I am a very Patriotic American. I served six years in the USMC. Even I think titles like that are just crap. The war of 1812 was most certainly not a second Revolution.

[Chuckman]

Bill, I meant no disrespect. If you read my original post I was just saying that the current of most recent US historians were saying that. And I agree with you it is wrong.

My grandfather was also in the marines for a very long time, after which he owned rental cabins on the Missisippi river. He also spent some time here in Canada which is where he met my grandmother.

I think there are crappy and good historians on both sides. I have also read a new Canadian idea about the "Militia Myth". The average Canadian would say, what is that? Canadian historians have really grabbed onto it, it is a new (crap) idea. Basically it states that Canadians and Americans believed that the invasion forces on both fronts were defeated by militia, and how wrong those people that believe this are. The first problem is that no one actually thinks this, I was taught this unit in grade 7, and I teach it now. No books, no one, actually thinks that just militia fought/won this war. So the basis of this idea is wrong. Having said that both the US invasion of Canada and the British invasion of the US would have been successful without militia defence, they were essential for the defence of both countries, so that part of it is also wrong. So the whole "militia myth" is just garbage, clearly they have never looked at the order of battles of this war, which clearly show 1/3 to 1/2 of all armies were militia. In some cases, such as Chateuaguay there were NO regulars at all present on the Canadian side.

[Chuckman]

Added uniform plate for Scott's brigade. These were considered the best line troops; 4 battalions / regiments worth. Reduced to 1 combined battalion after Lundy's Lane, fought also fought at Chippewa as shown (1814 on). Scott himself lead the troops at the disastourous Queenston Heights Battle at lead more regulars at Bladensberg.

This site has been adding new plates at a quick rate. It has the best source of uniforms for the War of 1812.

http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/#

[Chuckman]

Notes on the Best American Troops;

Source; "The United States Infantry" and "The United States Cavalry" both are "An Illustrated History"

These two volumes each have a section on the War of 1812, and provide some insight into both of these arms.

The best American Cavalry according to all sources was the Kentucky Mounted Riflemen Militia from the Battle of the Thames. These were excellent cavalry. They only took part in this one battle in Canada and then elements fought in some of the Indian Wars (unrelated to 1812) on the Western Frontier with more successes. If they had stayed in the Northern theatre they may have changed the course of the war in my opinion (this would be a very large cavalry force in this war).

There were 1000 of these lead by Richard Johnson. He drilled them in creative ways, trained them to charge through an enemy and then dismount and attack from behind. They were drilled heavily. All other American cavalry were of poor quality.

The best infantry according to these sources were the infantry units drilled by Winfield Scott. He became a Brigadier in 1814. He immediately began drilling the 9th, 11th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 25th infantry heavily. Most of these units were the units of the Battle of Chippawa and Lundy's Lane; these units were excellent but were not representative of other US line in 1814 and 1815 which would have still been quite poor in my opinion. 4 of these were clothed in grey as shown above and were placed in Scott's brigade, the other 2 units were in the normal blue and in the other brigade at those battles. Scott used the regulations of the French army to do this. At Lundy's Lane; the culminating battle of the Northern Canadian invasions, they volleyed with British and Canadian troops, both sides suffered from 1/3 to 1/2 casualties with neither breaking. The battle closed with nightfall. The US retreated back to the US the next day.

Also added plate of Maryland militia. Late war (1814-1815) uniformed militia would have looked like Scott's brigade; all in grey with mostly tombstone shakos; there were many varieties of militia however. Also, I mentioned above about the number of militia regiments, militia regiments on both sides were often composites of several units, which is the case for the famous Maryland Militia pictured above.

On a Personal Note I am converting Perry Minitiatures and some Victrix into an American War of 1812 army; around 30 men per battalion; 1 man =15 or so for most battles; 1 man = 8 or 9 for small battles such as Queenston Heights. I am going to use a lot of Old Glory and Knuckleduster as well. One of my friends already has a large British collection as well as 60 French and Indian War natives so that side is taken care of.

[Chuckman]

Added plates for 1814-1815 US Artillery, Engineers and Bombadiers and Pennsylvanian Militia.

Each state had their own uniforms. The militia that saw the most action were NY, Pennsylvania and Kentucky (some minor elements of others such as Michigan). The Pennsylvanian and NY were most involved in the multiple invasion attempts of Canada. Pennsylvania can be seen above, NY was similar.

In the invasions of the US the following militias fought the British; Maryland, DC, Vermont and NY in the North. In the South, New Orleans (inluding Plaunche's French uniformed militia; uniformed as french line and guard grenadiers), Tennessee and Kentucky.

[spad]

thanks for appreciating my site (history-uniform)
be sure that a lot of new plates will come, if you want some informations on any particular unit of the war of 1812 maybe i could help.

[Chuckman]

You are a member here on NTW3? Too funny! What a coincidence. Thanks for doing such fantastic work!

I do have some ideas to suggest, perhaps I should e-mail you on your site. Also, if you are looking for any help with anything such as orders of battles let me know. Looking at your site, it is clear you have a lot of background information and sources so perhaps you need no help.

A List;

Canadian / British Plates in Order of Interest;
-a Plate showing different native factions; Mohawks, Western Indians etc
-V2 of Canadian Light dragoons showing the uniformed light dragoons in tartelans or crested tophats but also the round hat civilian looking variety
-V2 for Upper Canada militia; York, Norfolk, Leeds (most heavily engaged units)
-V2 for Glengarry Stormant etc
-a plate showing British line cavalry from the war; detachment of 6th Inniskilings, squadron of 14th and regiment of 19th dragoons
-Montreal Miliita; there were 3 uniformed battalions, cavalry and artillery
-Quebec Militia; 3 uniformed battalions, cavalry and artillery
-V2 of Lowe Canadian Sedentary Militia.

American Plates in Order of Interest;
-V2 Maryland Cavalry Plate from North Point and Bladensberg
-Massachusetts Militia including Boston Hussars
-Virginian Miliita including cavalry detachment from Bladensberg
-District of Columbia Militia from Bladensberg including DC Hussars
-V2 for NY INfantry and V2 for NY cavalry; I don't know what the 150 volunteer Ny dragoons from the Battle of Chippawa looked like.
-New Orleans Militia including Planche's Uniformed Battalion

Also, Orders of battles using Nafziger and other sources would be a nice addition (there are links in the thread on 1812 sources). I especially love the plates you made for battles that gave specific numbers and units. Keep up the great work!

Do you live in Quebec?

[spad]

Well, i 'd like to do most of this unit but it will take time.
the next one will be the 60th rifle V2, the incorporated militia battalion V2, the flag of Québec and incorporated Militia, the De Meuron regiment V2 and the louisiana militia.

i don't think that the natives warrior will have specific plates (very hard to find information about their clothes for each tribes) i will do like the article on the mohawks.

the most difficult is the canadian militia because most of them didn't had a specific uniform (only officer) for York or Leed militia for example i have inofrmation which says that they were in british redcoat and some other in civilian suits... so any information about militia of Montréal, Québec, Upper Canada sedentary militia flag and equipment are welcome.
but be patient i 'll make them.

And no, i m living in france, sorry.

[Chuckman]

If you were in Quebec I would have invited you to my 1812 28 mm games coming up!

I live very close to the Quebec border, the border of France not so close :). I am very glad you are appreciating our small war. Are you also the author of Mont. St. Jean (Waterloo plates)?

Yes the De Meuron unit deserves a plate too, interesting story for that unit. I am using your plates as painting guides for myself and for the painters I have hired to paint my army. By creating these plates you are making it easy for gamers to find information.

Renee Chartrand has quite a bit of info on the Lower Canada militia. Knuckleduster miniatures has his interpretation up on his site. Here is a link to the Osprey British 1812 forces;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55235884/Brit ... -1793-1815
Based on your plates you probably have these already (or better sources). The Montreal and Quebec militia are described within; Basically each city had 3 uniformed militia battalions; 1 British and 2 French. The British looked like British line mostly, the French looked like British line but with blue jackets. I think the only elements that saw any action were the Royal Montreal Light Dragoons which looked like British light dragoons; blue jacket white braiding, tartelan helmet

Upper Canada Militia
Based on these sources an Upper Canada miltia unit would be a real hodge podge of uniforms;
I am creating these for Queenston Heights, though I am making them with 1814 in mind;
In a unit of 30;
Half will be in civilian clothes; long blue or brown jackets with round hats
1/4 will be in green British looking uniforms with red facings; some with shakos, some with round hats, some with British fatigue hats
1/4 will be in red British uniforms with green facings; some with shakos, some with round hats, some with British fatigue hats
Officer in round hat with regular sort of British jacket

Upper Canada Rifles, Light Infantry and Cavalry
-Militia light companies were trained much more frequently so would have been much better than militia foot companies.
-Leeds rifle company in captured american rifle jacket and round hat
-Light companies such as the york rifles would probably all have had British uniforms of either red or green (95th uniforms) but with a mix of head gear; york lights were in 95th jackets, probably most lights I assume, would have green 95th type uniforms
- I have found reference to 8 or 10 rifle companies in upper canada
-8 or 10 cavalry troops (only some units had uniforms) most were just used as couriers
*It seems as though the militia light companies were combined and used more often than other militia units which means they may have ALL had uniforms in some cases; though still a mix of head gear

A plate with these would be very useful, even if they are open to some interpretation:)
Here is a link with a photo from 1861 of the upper canada militia 1812 veterans; I assume these were their uniforms...
http://1812news.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/

[Chuckman]

American Equipment

Jackets
The US army was in its infancy in the War of 1812, as was the Canadian army. It had a lot of supply problems. In 1812 only about half of its unit were uniformed in blue, the rest being in brown, light brown, and less common black, green or grey uniforms. As the war wore on the uniform problems continued though it appears there were less varieties in colours. In early 1814 thousands of grey uniforms were sent North for the regular units; it appears that blue or grey were the common colours by that time (perhaps 3/4 wore blue, 1/4 wore grey this is an estimate only). In 1812 there were 25 regular units, by 1814 there were 45, all of the new units recieved the newest uniform whatever that was at the time. In 1812 the US jackets looked similar to the British with "button cover" stripes across the jackets. Many units did not have these and units formed in 1813 on tended to not have them at all. In 1813 half had the jacket stripes half did not. From 1814 on probably 3/4 did not have them, 1/4 did (estimate only). Most had red facings up until 1813, some of the newer regiments had blue facings as well.

American Shakos
In 1812 all US units wore the British style felt stove pipe shako, about half of the infantry units were still wearing this until the end of 1813 (if not longer). Most had shako plates, but some units did not. In 1813, a leather "tombstone" belgic shako was introduced, which looked very similar to the British version. It was slowly distributed to the units, so around half of the army still had the 1812 Stove Pipe. Reenactors are most often shown wearing the 1814 Leather Tombstone shako, the much taller version; In "Don Troiani's; Soldiers in America" on page 104, it states that these are rare so I am not sure how many were actually in service. It does look sharper and is unique which is I am sure why they want to use it.

1813 Version
http://www.historicalimagebank.com/gall ... g2_page=10
The 1814 taller version; Probably not used in the war; if it was, maybe during the invasion of the US.
http://www.cowansauctions.com/auctions/ ... emId=21056

American Pants
In summer they wore whitish pants, blue or grey overalls were common for winter or summer. Light brown was also common.

Backpacks
Most had a light blue and grey knapsack, some had French style backpacks (small minority). Blanket rolls on the backpack were rare. Canteens were usually light blue and round (like the British)

Muskets and Rifles
All US light Infantry companies had rifles (a few exceptions). They used Charleville muskets or models based on the French model. They often shot "buck and ball". A ball with buckshot as well. It sounds effective, though apparently was much less lethal. Probably more wounds though. US infantry did not have light companies until 1813, and even then they were often not used as such or when used not very effectively. American native troops and militia (when present) often did perform light infantry rolls effectively.

Cannons
They mostly used the French system. They had iron barrels and trim. Light blue paint on the wood. Red 'hub caps". They had 3 regiments foot artillery, 1 of light artillery and the sappers and engineers companies (which also served guns at Lundy's Lane). Light artillery used 4 or 6 pounders, foot used 6, 12, howitzers or 18 pounders.

[Chuckman]

Added new plates from Spad; American Light Dragoons and US Rangers (rangers were used in the Western Frontier against natives). Also, added plates for 15th US regiment. This unit was dressed all in dark grey; they fought in 3 ranks unlike other US regulars who fought in 2. The third rank had carbines, a pike and no bayonet.

http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 28869.html

[Chuckman]

Added plate of Massachusetts militia. This state had some very sharp uniforms! Look at those American Hussars! These and the Connecticut Militia had the nicest uniforms of the US army.
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 71133.html

*Note there were several US hussar companies;
Washingon Hussars; black uniforms
New York Orange Hussars; tartelans and red jackets with hussar braiding
Maryland Hussars; blue jackets with white braiding, stove pipe
Connecticut Hussars; green with red pelisse with czapzka

There may have been others...

[Chuckman]

Added New Orleans plate. You are not seeing things, the French uniformed battalion were uniformed as French Grenadier Guards and Line! 2 ompanies were dressed as shown, 2 more as line infantry.

http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 75725.html

http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/p ... 01412.html

There were 2 battalions of Free Men of Colour in this campaign.


There were Tenesse and Kentucky militia present at New Orleans as well. Kentucky can be seen in the second post. Tenessee was very similar to Kentucky. *As stated earlier, the Kentuckians were the best cavalry and amongst the best infantry of the army; they were also just as brutal as the natives that they hated so much. Leading up to the famous "River Raisin massacre" they had been searching and destroying the very tribes that "massacred" them. Also they were shooting enemy wounded at the battle as they attempted to crawl to safety. The British had a difficult time stopping the natives from massacring men women and children throughout the war. Proctor was forced to fight the much larger force at the Battle of the Thames by Tecumseh, who threatened to massacre the smaller British force if he did not fight (Tecumseh was killed at the battle).

Kentucky Militia
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 75130.html

Tennessee Militia
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 02300.html

*Note that Spad's Uniform site has more militia units than I have shown here, though most were similar to types already shown. Out of the 20 or so states at the time only around half of these states militia saw any action. All of the North Eastern States and Canadian provinces would not / refused to participate in the war.

Militia in Combat by state
New York, Kentucky and Pennsylvania were the heaviest involved. Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Mississipi and Ohio Militia fought but less heavily. Maryland, Washington and Louisiana were only involved in defence when the US was invaded by the British. All other states not mentioned had militia that was either not involved at all, very lighly involved, or refused to participate in the war (Delaware, Massachusets, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island...)

[Chuckman]

Added newest plates from 1812 History Blog; Vermont Militia, Virginia Militia, and US Artillery Equipment. The US artillery used the French system.

[Chuckman]

Added plate for Georgian militia.

[Chuckman]

Added Several Militia Plates. Olivier /Spad has covered them very thoroughly. Not sure if any states are left, they may be all accounted for.

Many of my links have to be updated on this page, as Spad moves them off of his front page. I will do this when I have more time.

The DC militia had several regiments at Bladensburg. Also added North and South Carolina, Indiana and Mississipi.

[Chuckman]

Here are some photos from Spad's new section on 1812 wargaming.
http://history-uniforms.over-blog.com/a ... 99442.html

I am using General De Brigade rules with a scale of 1 equals 10.

These are from my American army; I have 8 regiments and 3 cannons so far and several British /canadian units.





I have replaced my cannons with correct French cannons and rebated them since this photo. I also corrected the infantry shako lace by painting it white. These two units were painted by a local painter.


Here are Spad's Victrix American conversions.

[freedomfighter316]

Hi,

I am doing some reasearch on uniforms used by the US Corps of Artillary when defending Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore.
I'm interested in learning what Major George Armisted, Commander of Fort McHenry would have worn, as well as
Captain Frederic Evans (US Corps of Artillary) and any of the US Corps of Artillary militia men might have worn.

When I was doing my research I came across this particular website (which is wonderful) but I can't quite figure out which picture I should go by.

I need the information so that I can make the right type of costuming for an upcoming parade celebrating the Star Spangled Banner.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Michelle

[Chuckman]

Here is the order of battle for a Fort Mchenry for September 13-14, 1814
Major George Armistead, US Corps of Artillery
US Regular Army Units
US Corps of Artillery-Captain Frederick Evans (60 men)

*many Artillerists would have still had the 1813 uniform in June 1814, but given the location (not in a frontier area) I would say the above uniform is accurate for the regulars. The captain's uniform is at left. The major would have had a bicorn.
US Sea Fencibles-Capt. Matthew Simmones Bunbury (82 men)
US Sea Fencibles-Capt. William H Addison (98 men)
Sea Fencibles signed up as regulars for 10 months. They were uniformed exactly the same as the US navy, seen here;


1st Maryland Volunteer Artillery
Baltimore Independent Artillerists-Capt. Charles Pennington (85 men)
Washington Artillery-Capt. John Berry (98 men)
Baltimore Fencibles (US Volunteers)-Capt. Joseph H Nicolson (79 men)
http://fortmchenryguard.blogspot.ca/201 ... litia.html
Maryland Artillery would have had this uniform; but some units would have had all blue coats with round hats. In 1814, the US government also gave out regular uniforms to militia; especially volunteers. The Maryland militia was beginning to adopt the same uniform as the regulars in 1814. So unfortunately there are 3 possibilities for these units. My guess is most units in June would have still had the uniform shown at the link above (blue jacket with red facings and front, all ranks with bicorn).

US Navy
US Chesapeake Flotilla- Sailing Master Solomon Rodman (75 men)
http://www.nps.gov/stories/american-lib ... apeake.htm
Can be seen above.

Here is a print showing the defence of Fort Mchenry; the major is at left, and a Maryland artillery officer also at left (the officer with the red fronted coat). The Sea Fencibles are in the foreground. It appears to be accurate.
http://www.historicalartprints.com/stor ... uct_id=459

Order of Battle from; The Chesapeake Campaigns 1813-1815 (osprey Campain Series)

Uniform plates from "war of 1812 Uniform Blog"

Main Uniform Reference; A Most Warlike Appearance by Renee Chartrand

[Lord Crow]

I'm no expert in this war although I found Brock brilliant but wasn't the battle of New Orleans concluded after the treaty was signed for peace? So it doesn't really count for nothing apart from a lot of people losing their lives?

Also wasn't the film 'Master and Commander' set in this war? Only in the film it showed one of the Iron side American ships crewed by the French when in reality it was an American ship crewed by Americans but then Hollywood would never show Americans in a bad light, lol.

[Chuckman]

Yes the battle of New Orleans was after peace had been declared. Really the position was unassailable and the attack should not have been attempted. At any rate, it was not the last battle of the war; the British army from New Orleans captured the American Fort Bowyer.

Brock helped get native allies, and captured Fort Detroit and had his Western forces capture Mackinac before they knew the war was happening. The vast majority of the war, including the victory of Queenston Heights happened after his death. He was a general of action though, and the British did not have good overall commanders after Brock (they had some excellent colonels and Brigadiers; De Salaberry, Morrison, Norton (Mohawk)

It's hard for the Americans to claim victory. They invaded Canada 12 to 15 times, a couple of those were raids, the rest ended in failure. Though their army was a professional force by the end of the war, they had not conquered any of Canada.

The British failed to conquer New York, Baltimore and New Orleans but did hold Maine, Western Michigan, fort Niagara and Fort Bowyer at the end of the war. The American forces on the other hand had captured no Canadian territory.