Enough to write a vast symphonic work, to inspire a magnificent novel and bring down a great emperor. On this day of battle more russians died than were killed or would die of illness in the whole of the war of 1812 on all sides. This really was a titanic clash of two emporers and two vast armies numbering close on 200,000 men each. The war of 1812 would not be fought by armies of 200,000 men. In fact, it wouldnt be fought by 200,000 men all told. As 1813 began James Madison knew that napoleon had lost. His army was in full retreat. Indeed, it was in complete collapse. He had taken his country to war on the premise the french would win. They had lost. Now what was going to happen . This also took the pressure off brittain and it released naval reinforcements from the british fleet in the baltic which had been keeping it open for trade the previous five years. Those ships and key personnel were moved across to the north american station. The british picked out the right ships and the right officers to send to blockade the United States, their best men, many of them proteges of nelson one of whom we will come to. Furthermore, with russian trade open, the british didnt need to buy any grain from the americans anymore. The russians had plenty of grain and it was a lot closer to brittain. By the summer of 18 1813 vast british battleships and more numerous friggets were available to blockade new york, boston and the chesapeake. The United States navy would find it difficult to get to sea and the privateers would find it difficult to attack british convoys. Among the men who would arrive in 1813, none would be more famous and relevant than admiral george coburn. He was picked out as one of the stars of the future by the great man himself. He was sent over here very specifically to take the offensive onto the american coast and i quote, accelerate the return of peace. We know what he did. These reinforcements allowed him to have a reinforcement pinning american sloops and friggets in boston and new york. This was mainly from a group of privateers. This was safe from american predation. By may 1813 the economic blockade was biting too. New york, the largest american port producing 1 4 of the National Revenue from customs dues, was closed. The revenue was drying up because most federal revenue came from import and export dues. It was impossible to pay for the war. It would have to be paid for on borrowing. American governments stopped, failed to sell at sustainable rates. A clear sign that something was fundamentally wrong. As henry adams observed, i quote, the pressure of the blockades was immediately felt. The war seat turned in brittains favor on june 1st, 1813. First the frig gets, United States and macedonia were driven into london from wince they never emerged and then the u. S. S. Chesapeake seen here with the stars and stripes under the union jack was captured in a battle that lasted 11 minutes at the most brilliant, brave, and heroic defeat of either navy in the entire war. The fact that captain phillip broker won the battle meant that James Laurence captured the chesapeake had captured the wrong enemy. With those three frig gets removed from the american navys list of ships at sea the American Naval threat effectively evaporated. It focused on privateers. They were locked up in south devin which was a particularly unpleasant place to send them. We built it for the french but we ran out of french men so we sent the americans there as well. The british still hoped war would go away. They just wanted the americans to say, you know what, were sorry. Well sort of go back and stay quiet. It was on the table from day one till the very last day. Thats what the peace treaty was. Thats all the british wanted. In 1813 the action got the british excited. Here is a contemporary cartoon by george crook shank. It summed up the british view of the war. This was annoying and they rather wished it would go away. 1813 was not about america, it was about napoleon. There was another great battle. September 1813 napoleon lost 73,000 men from an army core of 1 million. His german empire collapsed. He retreated in france. The writing was on the wall of his empire. The british poured money and munitions into england. They did not send money or men to north miracle america. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything else. America. They defended canada but they didnt have any resource toss do anything el in 1813 they damaged property of those who voted for war. At the end of the 1813 the economic blockade was stretched up to maine. New england was blockaded as well, too. This would promote sectional conflict. British options were very limited. In the autumn of 1813 they did something they wanted to do for 20 years, to capture northern belgium, the one place you can invade england from. They sent all the troops you can find to do this. They lost. It was embarrassing. They didnt have the manpower to do anything serious in europe and europe was far more important than north america. The idea they had any offensive plans here is untrue. Throughout the war there would be more british troops defending west indies than canada. This was far greater than political interest in canada. West indian commercial interests saw admiral warren replaced by Alexander Cochran and he, too, will feature in the war. As peace approached in europe the British Foreign secretary told the europeans that he would not discuss maritime belligerent rights at a peace conference. Blockade, impressment, and he told the americans the same thing. These were the bases of british power. Brittain is a sea power, not a land power. Control of the seas is brittains only strong arm. As a strong, weak state it maximized the strength of its navy. British naval power kept the american war and the european war apart and condemned president madison to a solitary conflict. Once the americans had taken maritime belligerent rights off the agenda, peace could be discussed again. A town in belgium then occupied by british troops. They might as well have had the treaty in brittain. The americans resorted to some interesting mechanisms to defeat the royal navy but the british were not impressed. Not impressed. Heres a german cartoon of napoleon. He went from emperor of the world to emperor of elra. Here is the main player in our story. This is admiral george coburns officially commissioned portrait. This is how he wished to be remembered. This isnt accidental. He was telling us about himself. He thought this was one of his more important events. As we know, the occupation of washington and the destruction of the public buildings was a major event, but more important, it sparked a run on the american banks. Anyone who had any cash took it out of american banks and put it into canadian banks in British Government securities which paid better and werent defaulting. On october the 4th United States became insolvent. A month later it defaulted on the terms of the Louisiana Purchase but neither the destruction of washington nor the defeat of plattsburgh had any serious effect on british policy. The british offered status quo ante because they wanted the war you to go away even after the downfall of napoleon. There was not a war here they wished to fight. The peace treaty signed on the 24th of december 1814 at ghent was little more than a recognition of that fact. Here is some of coburns handiwork. Heres some more of it. The battle of north point, an interesting event, but far more important signing off the treaty of ghent. By the time the treaty was signed the United States was in default by 3 million pounds. 15 million was outstanding on interest payments. The National Debt rose by 200 . Little wonder that canada wants impressment and belligerent rights were a ban donald. Two more battles, new orleans you all heard of. This one is not in the textbooks. The british captured the s. S. President off sandy hook in 1815 in another action in which both captains fought brilliantly but the british captain was more brilliant. It is no accident that headquarters of the royal navy in london is hms president. If you stop before you get to the bath, you will see four engravings of this battle. This is the one the british remember. This is the war of 1812. This is what 1812 is all about, not interfering in the settlement of europe. The congress of vienna created a system open for business and unlikely to lead for another major conflict. That was brittains war aim. In the whole course of 22 years fighting the french the british took from the rest of europe two very small islands, one in the mediterranean called malta. The other one called heligoland. That is the entire access of european territory in this war. They gave it all up for peace and stability. Then, of course, napoleon came back but not for long. He was rapidly arrested for the man who ran the blockade of new york for the previous two years. When the war was over the Republican Party did when youve presided over a failure, theyve declared it a great success. Republican partys speech writers, newspaper men and everybody else declared it a victory. Three frig get victories which came down through the years. So arthur scott who understood how to create fabulous stories realized what they had been doing and rather wished they had been taught a more severe lesson. He knew that the american pens would create a victory that had a hue to their swords and he also understood that the endearing legacy of 1812 would be not territory, not maritime belligerent rights but a distinct american culture. The war of 1812 forced the United States to face up to itself and recognize that it wasnt part of something else, it was of itself, it was a country that would have its own culture. It would paint its own pictures. It would write its own stories. It would create an american identity and this war is the start from which that emerged. The war drove america to acquire a distinctive new world identity, one that privileged landscapes, scale, the westward opportunities over the narrow confines and dusty histories of europe. Perhaps the fiery destruction was the conflictss most appropriate metaphor. Thank you very much. [ applause ] we now have a short opportunity for some questions and answers, and i will be more than happy to do some questions. Please. How did the american finances recover after the war . Was the resumption of trade duty sufficient to refill the treasury . Did we undefault on the loans . Yes. The economic problems of the United States were ended by the conclusion of peace. It opened up the International Money markets to america. It also persuaded american financiers that there was something worth investing in. Youve just seen the capital city trashed and the government fleeing. You dont think this country is something you want to invest in long term so the resumption of peace opens up the domestic taps. It also leads to a massive boom in trade. All of that trade that didnt happen from 18121815, it happens pretty much as the war ends. News of peace in london trumped every merchant to load ships up with goods that they think will sell in america. This huge ar mad da of trade crosses the atlantic. The east coast ports of flooded with goods. Business booms again. Theres then an economic set back but its supposed to rebuild the equilibrium in the aftermath. Peace is really good for business. Its really good for the economy. War is not. Thats a lesson the british had learned many years before. Go to the mic please for questions. Yes. Have you seen what you would call the public mic. Sorry. Have you seen in the Public Record office any orders to coburn and ross to burn the public buildings in washington and the implication being retaliation, question mark . Yes. Thanks very much. This is one of the Great Questions about what happens in washington. Were coburn and ross operating under specific orders to do something as specific as burning the white house . Certainly there was a sense that after the occupation of what is now toronto and the destruction of the public buildings there and in other parts on the niagara front where there had been some cross border destruction of public and private buildings of both sides, that the public buildings of the state that started the war were fair game. Nobody in europe would have thought this was in any way surprising. The whole organization was organized by george coburn. Hes the only one who has been here long enough to work out what were talking about. The chronology is quite clear. The army with ross and Alexander Cochran arrives in the chesapeake and the next morning they set off up the pawtuxan and land towards bladensburg. He didnt have a problem with it but he didnt have specific orders to do it. His boss, Alexander Cochran, was very supportive. He lost his brother and harbored some dislike of the americans as a consequence. It was a decisive war. They fought in the conflict either as young men or in the case of Alexander Cochran as a ship captain in the royal navy. So memories of the last war were very strong. They were quite raw for many people. The government buildings, but weve heard it often said that no private buildings were burned. But pamela scott showed me a drawing the ore day that i had noticed before but hadnt thought about in this context. A drawing by latrobe in december of 1815 that shows George Washingtons buildings burned, ruins of them, and a large tavern nearby near the capital that was also in ruins. This is a year after the british were there and it seems as though they must have done the burning. Thank you for that. Did the british destroy other buildings than the government buildings. The only building was from which a sniper missed general ross. The britts didnt burn the building it was part of tariff. They pulled it down. They destroyed the office of National Intelligence, any sound a general would like to see the press suppressed. George coburn took all of the letters c out of the box so they couldnt write anymore scurrilous letters. He took a particular delight. He decided he had not done enough so he got the press out and burned that as well. Remember in the aftermath of that occupation there was a tremendous storm and there was a lot of damage done by the storm as well so that may have been storm damage. But theres certainly no record of the british deliberately destroying any other private buildings. Thank you very much for being here. When as part of the coburns operation and rosss operation of course there was the squadron under captain gordon which came, ascended the potomac river, a rather remarkable adventure in itself. As they came up and before they engaged fort washington, they sailed by mount vernon. The very symbol of america with George Washington. Why didnt they just blow up mount vernon . Thank you very much. Tomorrow evening im going to be speaking in the masonic hall in alexandria about that very operation. The reason the british didnt blow up mount vernon is because George Washington was a liberal hero. As far as british liberals certainly on the left of politics were concerned, George Washington was the very significant leader. He taught the british some very important lessons about representation so they didnt burn the building, they stopped and the band came up and they played watching tops march in his honor. So the british were not making war on america, they were making war on the american government. The federalists response to the war was not particularly engaged. They saw that this was very much a partisan conflict within america and they very carefully targeted those americans who they believed to be the causes of the war, hence, the use of the congressional division list. George washington, hes off limits. Hes part of the history of brittain and america. And hes spared, as are almost all public buildings that the british can spare. Thank you. One there and one there. Why dont you go first. Okay. At one point was part of the british war aims for concluding the conflict to create some sort of a native american territory in the midwest . What happened for that for it to go status quo . The British Governments position on the piece treaty was not entirely unified. The british minister most involved in running the war was also responsible for british colonies and his view was it would be a good idea if we could build some kind of buffer zone between the United States and british north america to reduce the possibility of future conflict. The native American Peoples were seen as an ideal opportunity to do this. His cabinet colleagues disagreed vehemently. They didnt want to spend 10 million a year to improve the war against canada. Bathos was out voted. They were looking at a way to create a buffer zone who have no residential qualifications and did not have any National Identity. At law it would have been almost impossible to have created a ter tore riff to give to the native americans. There was certainly no framework to do this. European systems did not recognize the rights of native peoples which is how youre able to sweep right west across the whole continent. There was no Legal Framework for giving them National Identity. It was an idea. It was mooted. It was used as a way of pushing the americans away from talking about maritime