New York and the War of 1812 | A New York Minute in History

A New York Minute In History

This episode delves into New York State’s role in the War of 1812, which is often considered America’s “second war of Independence.” With a particular focus on the State Historic site at Sackets Harbor, we learn the particularly important role that New York, and New Yorkers, played in the war.

Marker of Focus: War of 1812, Village of Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County.

Interviewees: Constance Barrone, Site Manage, Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site and Dr. Harvey J. Strum, Professor of History and Political Science at Russell Sage College.

A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Museum, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Urbanczyk. Our theme is “Begrudge” by Darby.

Video: History Happened Here, William G. Pomeroy Foundation https://youtu.be/3Izr1CpHreU

Further Reading:

Harvey J. Strum, “New York City and the War of 1812,” New York History Review, 2024.

Harvey J. Strum, “New York Militia and Opposition to the War of 1812,” New York History, 2020.

“Special Issue on the War of 1812,” New York History, 2013.

Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels and Indian Allies, 2011.

Richard V. Barbuto, New York’s War of 1812: Politics, Society and Combat, 2021.

Teaching Resources:

The War of 1812, PBS Learning Media.

Battles of the War of 1812 Lesson Plans, American Battlefield Trust.

Follow Along

Devin Lander: Welcome to A New York Minute in History. I'm Devin Lander, the New York State historian.

Lauren Roberts: And I'm Lauren Roberts, the historian for Saratoga County. On this episode, we're talking about a marker located in Jefferson County on the eastern shores of Lake Ontario. The address is 448 Ontario Street in the village of Sackets Harbor, and the text reads: War of 1812. At daybreak on Saturday May 29, 1813, British forces waded ashore from Horse Island and engaged American forces defending the harbor. William G Pomeroy Foundation, 2013.

So of course, here we're talking about the War of 1812 and I'm guessing that many of our listeners might have some remembrances about the War of 1812. I know there's a few things that stick out in my head, such as, that's the war that gave us the Star Spangled Banner, and also the role that Dolly Madison played in saving the portrait of George Washington from the White House as the British burn the White House and the Capitol in Washington, DC. But I'm going to guess that most people probably can't remember any of the battles or the premise. So Devin, why don't you give us a quick summary so that we can refresh our memories on the War of 1812?

Devin: So the first thing we have to remember about the War of 1812 is that at that point, the United States was less than 30 years old. So it was really a matchup between a very young nation with a very small Navy and a small armory, versus one of the world's superpowers, Great Britain. Great Britain was embroiled in a world war, essentially, with France at the time, the Napoleonic Wars.

Lauren: You mean another one?

Devin: Another one, exactly. They can't help themselves during the 18th and 19th century, seemingly. But the War of 1812 was kind of an offshoot of this larger conflict, and the British Royal Navy, which was controlling - or attempting to control - the world's oceans at the time, began to encroach upon the United States maritime rights by impressing sailors to become part of the Royal Navy, and they justified this - feloniously - by suggesting that they were impressing only citizens of Great Britain, when in fact, most of the people that they were impressing the sailors on merchant vessels were actually American citizens, and some of the estimates for how many sailors are between 6,000 and 9,000. The British also took up to - and perhaps more - than four hundred American merchant ships in an effort to stop trade between the United States and France. And that's really the impetus behind the declaration of war from the United States and the President, James Madison and Congress, against Great Britain on June 18, 1812.

New York played a major role in the War of 1812 mostly because it shared a border with Canada. And one of the strategies early on for the American side was not to challenge Great Britain at sea. At the beginning of the War of 1812 the United States Navy had 16 warships. Great Britain had over 500, so that would have been a bloodbath. So instead of that, they went after Canada, which at the time was controlled by the British. So, much of the offenses that the United States made in the War of 1812, at least, initially, were launched from New York and were launched across the Canadian border and as an attempt to - not necessarily take Canada over, although some historians have argued that - but more of an attempt to force Great Britain to acknowledge the demands of the United States.

There were several major battles that took place in New York state during the War of 1812 and we're going to talk more about the Battle of Sackets Harbor and its importance, but one of the most important battles of the entire war was the Battle of Plattsburgh, which is also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, which happened in September of 1814, and really was a victory for the small American Navy who turned back the British warships and their invasion of Lake Champlain at the Battle of Plattsburgh, and really forced the British out of New York and away from that part of North America for the rest of the war. Now, the war was taking place in other parts, for example, the British had taken over Washington, DC and burned it. There was a major battle in Baltimore that gave us the Star Spangled Banner from Fort McHenry, and, of course, the Battle of New Orleans, which was led by at the time, General Andrew Jackson, who would go on to become president, based on the fame that he encountered as the victorious general the Battle of New Orleans. So there was a lot going on. It wasn't just happening in New York. But again, New York played a strategic role because of its border with Canada and also the fact that it remained the largest port in the United States, New York City. So New York City was a target. As a result of this, New York is really a center of the story of the War of 1812.

So not only was the Battle of Plattsburgh one of the most important battles of the war, but New York actually plays host to the first battle of the War of 1812 and that's also known as the first battle of Sackets Harbor, which took place on July 19, 1812 - just over a month after the two countries declared war on each other.

Lauren: For more information about Sackets Harbor, we spoke with Constance Barone, the site manager, Sackets Harbor, Battlefield State Historic Site. A note about the audio quality here. We apologize for the distortion, and we did everything we could to fix it. As a reminder, there is a transcript on the website.

Constance: So my name is Connie Barrone, and I'm the site manager at the Sackets Harbor battlefield State Historic Site. Sackets harbor is my hometown. My parents, my grandparents, on both sides of the family, lived here. And our state historic site is only one of about, well 30 or so in New York State, in state parks. Our site focuses on education and preservation, and I think we're probably most well known for our War of 1812 history, although our story continues through today, of course.

Constance: So, the Sackets Harbor was settled around 1801, 1802, by two gentlemen, Augustine Sackett and Elijah Camp, and they looked at this as a most perfect harbor. So it was pretty obvious to the US military, when the War of 1812 began that here in the northern frontier, that Sackets was going to be the center for the army, of the Navy and the Marines, because we're also about 30 miles across Lake Ontario, from Kingston and with the military base there, then the creation of the military base here at Sackets Harbor, both of these communities were competing with control of Lake Ontario and the access to the St Lawrence River, and both communities became very heavily involved with shipbuilding.

Devin: So the first battle of Sackets Harbor was a brief battle; the British firing upon the United States ship, the Oneida, and then an attempt by British forces to essentially storm Sackets harbor and capture the shipbuilding facility there, and they were repelled by the garrison that was there, but the small garrison had a 32 pound cannon, which they were successful in using to repel the British invaders as they attempted to take over the shipbuilding facility, and as a result, they knew that they were a target. So they built up the garrison. They continued the shipbuilding, and they attempted to expedite how quickly they could build these ships again to compete with the British. And they enforced the area with a larger garrison in preparation for what would essentially be the second battle of Sackets Harbor.

Lauren: So the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor took place at the end of May in 1813. At that point in the war, there was kind of a stalemate, and the British decided to attack Sackets Harbor to try to eliminate all of the shipbuilding and take away the military supplies that had been accumulating there. And they knew at the time many of the soldiers were away attacking York, so they saw a weakness and decided to take advantage of it.

Constance: Our troops had left Sackets Harbor to go to the other end of the lake. They were attacking York, which is today Toronto, and so everybody was there. And then the Crown forces in Kingston said, “There's nobody over at Sackets. Let's go attack Sackets,” which they did. So a little defense. The battle was in the early morning, May 29 1813, it was about three hours. The Crown forces, opposing forces, were trying to recapture their supplies that had been captured at York and brought to Sackets. They were also trying to destroy the shipbuilding. So the battle went back and forth, back and forth. It was pretty much a draw, although we like to say that this was our victory, because we did not become - we were not captured and taken off by the Crown forces. But when we thought we were losing the battle, we set fire to all those supplies, so we pretty much destroyed all the supplies ourselves.

So because of that second battle, the National Park Service recognizes Sackets Harbor as one of the top two or three sites of the War of 1812 in the country, based on the outcome of the battle, but also the continual threat to battlegrounds, the preservation of battlegrounds, and that, of course, is an ongoing legacy, and we're doing actually rather well in the preservation of battleground.

Lauren Roberts : That battle really helped to cement the fact that Sackets Harbor was a stronghold of the Americans, and that they were going to be able to hold on to their harbor, and it would remain a significant military establishment for many years, not even just through the War of 1812 but up until World War II.

In talking about the War of 1812 it's important to remember there were essentially two theaters that were being fought in North America. The first one is in New York with Sackets Harbor. But the fact that the Canadian border was there and access to the Great Lakes was what made New York such an important front. The other front was in the south, where the British were supplying indigenous people with weapons and supplies to fight back against the United States citizens that were trying to push for westward expansion and continued to take over indigenous lands.

Devin: One of the things we should realize when we're talking about the War of 1812 is - very similar to the American Revolution - there was an indigenous presence within these conflicts. There were still indigenous people allied with the British. There were indigenous people allied with the Americans, and they were very much involved in several of these battles throughout New York and elsewhere. Indigenous people, as noted, were involved in the Southern Campaign. They were very much players in the War of 1812 as they were in the American Revolution. And a similar result happened for indigenous peoples, where they were ultimately forced from their lands, something that had begun very early in colonial times in New England and elsewhere, continued through the American Revolution, certainly in New York, and also continued after the War of 1812, and more. And more and more non-Indigenous people moved into traditional indigenous territory, something that would play out through the rest of the 19th century.

One of the main issues of the War of 1812 was that there was a major anti-war movement that was actually led by the Federalist party. And part of the reason that there was this anti-war movement was the restriction on trade in New York City, which caused economic hardship for many New Yorkers, and the fact that, essentially, the United States was not really well prepared for the war. So the militia in New York and elsewhere, and even the regular army weren't well supplied. So as a result of that, there were mass desertions in Militia outfits. But there was also a movement to remedy this situation, led by regular, average citizens and civic organizations to kind of step into that role of supplying the military and the militia. So Lauren, you as Saratoga County Historian, have discovered a letter that directly speaks to this issue and also shows that even in places where there wasn't necessarily a battle happening, there was still an engaged citizenry who was very much behind the war effort.

Lauren: Yes, I found in the collection of the county Historian's Office a transcription of a letter written by a gentleman named Howell Gardner, and he was a resident of the town of Greenfield in Saratoga County. And this letter is written to a Mr. Silas Adams on October 22 of 1812 so this is going into the first winter season during the war. And this is the letter:

Dear Sir, You have probably heard that Colonel Prior has sent down to the people that some of his men are much in want of winter clothing. Elder Finch, their chaplain, is now down on the same business and has engaged wagons to take on such articles of clothing as people may furnish. Messengers are sent to the different towns of this county to make collections. I shall attend myself and some others in this town and neighborhood, and I wish that you and any other that will do it would go about Milton for the same purpose. They want woolen shirts, stockings, trousers, mittens, shoes and any kind of winter dress to make them comfortable, old garments past worn or anything that will keep a soldier warm. One month, I would receive, and if any person wishes to send to any particular person, roll them up and sew on a billet of their name. Judge child is going directly to Sackets Harbor. Starts on Tuesday next, the articles must be to his house by Monday night, and he will see them safe there. -Howell Gardner

This is a direct appeal to the people of Saratoga County for their local militia that had been sent to Sackets Harbor that were looking for warm clothing at the end of October, as it's getting colder and they know that they're in need of supplies, so they had put out a call to the residents of the county to collect these type of supplies and send them up to Sackets Harbor.

Devin: So as we noted, there were shortages for militia soldiers as well as regular military which led to an anti-war sentiment. There was also a political anti-war sentiment based on the fact that the two major parties in the United States were in conflict with each other, and this would be the Democratic Republican Party, which was co-founded by President James Madison, who was president at the time, and the Federalist Party, which opposed Madison and opposed the democratic Republicans and wanted power on its own, and therefore was often the anti-war party. So beyond even the conflict between the two parties at the national level, there was another layer of complexity in New York State. To learn more about the political side of the War of 1812 and how that played out in New York, we spoke with Harvey Strum, Professor of History at Russell Sage College.

Harvey Strum: My name is Harvey Strom, I am a faculty member for the last 38 years at Russell Sage College, I teach history, political science and film history. I have been working on the issues related to the War of 1812 for the last 50 years.

New York entered the War of 1812 bitterly divided. First of all, in the April elections, the state elections that occurred before the war was declared in June, the Federalists picked up 20 seats in the New York State Assembly. Won three New York Senate seats, even future President Martin Van Buren had a hard time just barely winning his seat in the New York State Senate because of opposition to the idea of going to war and because Congress, at the request of President Madison, imposed a 90 day embargo. And that issue of an embargo directly affected a lot of people in New York who switched parties temporarily and voted for the Federalists.

The other issue was the Republicans. There were several different factions of Republicans in 1812; two factions had real reservations about the war, the Clintonians, led by DeWitt Clinton. But also there had been the Robert Livingston Morgan Lewis faction, and the people in that faction thought the war was a mistake. It was stupid. We were unprepared for it, and it would help the Federalists. The people who supported were Governor Daniel Tompkins.

And also, there was a faction in New York City called the Martling Men, because they met at the tavern of Abraham Martling. Later on, they built their own place that opened up in 1812 called Tammany Hall. They'll later be called Tammany Hall. And so they became an anti Clinton, pro- Madison faction in New York City. And then, of course, in 1812 just as the war is about to begin, DeWitt Clinton has ambitions to run for president. And so that's a further division that splits everything up in New York politics. And so that's the chaos in New York politics at the start of the war.

Devin: So what happens? Does any of this settle down during the war? Does the war plan in any kind of unifying role, or is it, as you noted, when we come out of the war, there's still great divisions?

Harvey Strum: There'll be a brief period in 1814 of some degree of unification, but a brief period, the war is the issue. New York State, in December of 1812 will end up sending the largest anti-war delegation to Congress of any state. And so this was the peak of anti-war sentiment in New York. What will change opinion briefly is in December of 1813 and January of 1814 the British burn Buffalo, burn Lewiston, basically the whole Niagara Frontier, 12,000 New Yorkers are refugees. This will lead to, throughout the state, people raising money for the refugees. In Albany, the state legislature will pass some money for the refugees in New York City, there will be voluntary efforts, in fact, there will be a special meeting at the only synagogue in New York State in early 1813 trying to raise money for the victims of the attacks by the British. And so there's a brief period of essentially support. And what happens is, in April of 1814, in the Assembly elections, it's the landslide for the pro-war Republicans. So it looks like there's a movement towards support for the war, but it won't play out along the militia, and that support will only less for a time period, the support will reappear in August of 1814 because of the British attack on Washington and in Baltimore, the assumption is the British are coming in New York.

And so Federalists and Republicans in New York City joined together to create a defense committee and literally 100 Columbia College students are picking up picks and shovels to build fortifications around New York, lawyers, merchants and every ethnic group. You've got 500 Englishmen. You have 1000 Irishmen, 1000 African Americans. And even part of Tammany Hall, where one of the Tammany Hall leaders provides free liquor for 1000 Tammany Hall Braves to work on the fortifications around New York City. So there's a brief period again, in the summer of 1814 because of fear: the British are coming.

In the end, the British decided to negotiate an end to the war. The Treaty of Ghent - and actually the most famous battle was fought two, two weeks after the war had ended, the battle at New Orleans, which gave us a presidential candidate, Andy Jackson, although the peace treaty of the War of 1812, Main issues: impressment was never mentioned. The British attacks on American shipping: not mentioned. The British gave back whatever territory they controlled, and we gave back the small amount of territory we controlled on the other side of the Niagara River, opposite Buffalo. And so essentially, the wars ended the way it started. No territorial changes, the conditions that produced the war. The reason for Madison's asking for a declaration of war: forgotten about.

One of the consequences of the war is widespread smuggling, and one of the consequences is that trade, which had tended to be all directed in New York City, now became split and northern New York, they began to essentially do their trade down the St Lawrence to Montreal. So Montreal benefits from - internationally - from the War of 1812.

Another consequence is in New York City: widespread poverty, and actually supporting people in that winter is the largest item on the municipal budget. And this problem of the impact, both on the people and on the trade, New York City does not recover from the impact of the War of 1812 until 1825. Now, impact nationally? It kills the Federalists, and because of that victory in Jackson, Americans can portray the War of 1812 as an American victory, which it wasn't. It was a stalemate. There's a brief period of increased American nationalism across the country that will only last for five years, because by 1820 the sectionalism over slavery reappears.

Internationally, the British found that they failed twice against the Americans. One time they lose American Revolution the second time, the stalemate, and it will lead, actually, to an improvement, ironically, of America's relations with Great Britain after the War of 1812 ironically,

Lauren Roberts: The War of 1812 was a risk for America because they were such a young country. They didn't have a large standing army. They weren't prepared for a large military fight, but you know, in diplomatic matters, they needed to show that they were strong enough to stand on their own. And so even though this war is thought of as the Forgotten War, as scholars look back and do more research and bring new perspectives to it. We learn more about it and how important it actually was, especially in New York State, in establishing ourselves as a sovereign nation that was able to defend itself and become players in diplomatic strategy.

Harvey Strum: It was the second American Revolution. That's how the Republicans saw it from the very beginning. But objectively, it was - the rhetoric of the war paralleled some of the rhetoric from the revolution. And they kept talking about the revolution, that this is, in effect, a second American Revolution against the British