There were more British regular troops in North America when the War of 1812 broke out than 
there were men in the U.S. Regular army.


The Battle of the Brass: 
The battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 was the only battle in American history where the 
President, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of State were 
all present. The Americans lost.

The Rockets’ Red Glare: 
Although it gave the United States a national anthem, there is no evidence that any of the 
notoriously inaccurate Congreve rockets fired at Fort McHenry ever hit the fort.


Food Service: 
The British army in Canada lived largely on American beef smuggled openly across the 
borders of New York and Vermont.


Late News: 
The last major battle of the war was fought at New Orleans on 8 January 1815, 15 days 
after the peace treaty was signed between Britain and the United States.


The Age of Technical Miracles: 
During the War of 1812, new steam-powered vessels were introduced on the St. Lawrence, 
on Lake Champlain and on the Hudson River. The United States constructed a steam-powered, 
armoured warship, Demologos in New York harbour, and Philadelphia was defended with an 
electronically detonated command mine.

Senior Soldier: 
General Winfield Scott, an American hero of the war, entered the U.S. regular army in 
1809 and was still on active service as commander-in-chief when the civil war broke out in 
1861. By this time, he was too fat to mount a horse.

Intelligence Service: 
American newspapers regularly published accounts of troop movements, official military 
correspondence and letters from officers describing operations and actions. They were 
avidly read by British generals and formed a prime source of intelligence. In 1814, the 
adjutant general of the U.S. army was forced to publish an order forbidding the publication 
of military information in newspapers.


The Real Johnny Appleseed 
John Chapman is best known by his famous nickname and his life long passion for planting 
apple trees. But his horticulture skills were aptly applied during the War of 1812 where his 
knowledge of herbal medicines became of great use. Retiring a hero, he set out across the 
Ohio Valley planting apple trees and preaching the Bible. 

James Madison was the only president to face enemy gunfire WHILE IN OFFICE. 
When the British invaded and burned Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812, Madison 
took command of a battery of artillery, exercising his authority as commander-in-chief 


It is a little known fact that cannonballs were made for the War of 1812 in Weirton, 
West Virginia. There also came from Weirton a young musician named Hiram Hapworth. 
He had made his way to the Poca River Valley by the late 1800s, and had found a position 
as music director of the Poca River Free Baptist Church. While in this position, Hiram 
developed the notion of performing the "1812 Overture" in recognition of West Virginia's 
part in that war.

Although Marie Antoinette's famously callous remark, "Let them eat some cake," sparked 
the French Revolution and the War of 1812, many cakes are actually nutritious and delicious.


Orleans has the distinction of being the only Cape town fired upon by enemy craft—first by 
the British during the War of 1812 and then by Germans during both World War I and II.

Women during the War

The women that were in the camp during the War of 1812 were wives of the soldiers, they were 
choosen by a lottery system. Only six wives were allowed in camp for every one hundred 
soldiers.
The women were employed as seamstresses, nurse maids, laundry maids and scullery maids. 
It is said that the women were given the hard jobs and the men looked after the dangerous jobs.
The women also had to cook and clean for their own families, the life was very hard and the 
women were very much respected by the men.
If a woman's husband was killed or died she had three to six months to greive and then she had 
to re-marry or leave the camp, most re-married for the security. There are at least two reports of 
women who married four times in five months because their husbands died.









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