Of all the wars ever fought, surely the war of 1812 must rank among the most futile and non-productive.

What's up Oldtimer, trying to bait the bush haters into reading the history forum. :p

Sorry, actually while yes that surely was one of the stupidest moves, what about Korea. We fought all that time and lost all of those lives, just to finish back where we started. Now look at what's happening. Makes a person wonder.

But yea 1812 was pretty lame.

lol. Actually I was wondering how many had even heard of the war?

At least the US didn't start the Korean war (conflict), and the North Koreans ended up where they started. One could argue that was a victory over aggression.

The only reason George Bush knows about the War of 1812 is because there was a fire at the big house back in them olden days.

I would rate WWI as the most useless war ever. Millions of deaths in 'the war to end all wars' that didn't.

"The only winner of the war of 1812 was Tchaikovsky"
-Solomon Short

lol. I wonder if Tchaikovsky had even heard of Canada.

I think Mr. Short was referring to the napoleonic defeat of 1812 near Moscow, which mr T wrote a very ingenious overture about.

Bring back the Pink House!!!

My great great great grandpa, Abram Spencer, fought in this War--he served with Womeldorf's Mounted Regiment, Ohio.

He was only 18 when he signed up, and married Diadema Crippen ( where, unknown) just before he rode off to glory.

Go Grandpa--take it to the Redcoats!

If you want to know about the War of 1812, ask Red. I think she was 8 or 9 at the time.

Of all the wars ever fought, surely the war of 1812 must rank among the most futile and non-productive.


actually for america it helped them to remove almost all of the last native populations from the "old" northwest. they being the only true losers in the whole scheme.

The War of 1812 did not succeed in it's objective, which was the return of the United States to it's former status of British Colonies. In this sense it was futile. Many Native Americans chose to fight on the side of the British because they felt it would benefit them for the United States to return to it's former status. They felt a British victory would halt the westward expansion of the United States. They were probably wrong in any case, but when they lost they were forced out of their homes.

In one sense, any country that loses a war they start has engaged in a futile endeavour. Their are many such examples in history. History is never kind to the losers, because the winners write the histories.

The War of 1812 did not succeed in it's objective, which was the return of the United States to it's former status of British Colonies.

I'm sure that was not in Madison's mind when he declared war.

Thank you for your correction. I had misremembered the start of that war. The complaints the Americans had against the British were largely a result of the failure of the British to live up to the terms of the agreement ending the Revolutionary War, and the impressment of Americans into the British Navy. There was also the goal of annexing Canada, and the fear that Canada could be used as a base to launch an invasion of the United States, although the British had no such intentions.

I wouldn't say the War was fought for nothing. We were by now a constituted nation and wanted to be left alone to trade on the seas and to expand our frontiers west of the Mississippi.

One of the major battles of this conflict was fought at Lake Champlain.The British planned to march down the lake and attack Pittsburgh. With an army of 10, 000, they crossed into the US. We were totally unprepared---a meager force of around 3,000 had been left behind to defend.

The Redcoats stopped at Lake Champlain and waited for their mighty navy to back them up. Meanwhile, we moved our ships into position to counter an attack. Remarkably, we were able to push back the British fleet. John Paul Jones would have been proud---the British land forces packed up and skedaddled without firing a shot!

Historical side note--Catherine the Great, Tsaritsa of Russia, was quite impressed with John Paul Jones. She asked him to come over to her court and advise her about improving her navy. A case could be made for the fact that Jones is the father of two nation's navies--ours and Russia's. He is one of the more interesting characters in history-- a murderer with a English price on his head who went on to greatness. As of now, we now have two ships in our American Navy honoring this man--the USS John Paul Jones and the USS Bonhomme Richard.

I would actually consider it a fairly important war in U.S. history. Following the Revolutionary War England never truely acknowledged the United States as a new country. They always believed that it was only a matter of time until the colonies returned to the fold. The War of 1812 put the nail in the coffin of that idea.

On top of that the War of 1812 made it obvious that the U.S. needed a permanent standing army. This was a point of debate for all the years between the Revolution and 1812. There had been a standing army (though never of a very large size) but many thought that it was a throwback to the Old World way of doing things. Many thought that all the United States needed was state militias that would be united in times of national crisis. Those militias were very ineffective in the War of 1812 and it is around this time that West Point was founded and the military greatly expanded.

indeed quite a ridiclolous conflict. The British didnt care and the Americans hardly seemed bothered either its most important battle was after both sides had signed a peace treaty.

It's interesting that the even the TV show Jeopardy, mistakenly gave the Battle of New Orleans as the last battle of the War of 1812. True, it was the last battle the US won.

I've heard a song about this war. But I don't remember any of the words. Haha sorry for the useless comment. Anyone remember some really old songs about this war that maybe your grandparents have heard?

Battle of New Orleans
Lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.

[Chorus:]
We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

[Chorus]

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well

[Chorus]

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

[Chorus]

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Yes, so the song goes. Bears no relationship to the truth. As any student of history knows, the British actually built a road (took them just over a week) for their withdrawal to the Gulf.