Thomas Jefferson Reacts to News of the End of the War of 1812, Comparing It to the American Revolution

He analyses U.S. military successes and failures, American honor and unity, British perfidy and miscalculations, their burning of Washington, Napoleon and his impact, improvements in U.S. armed forces, the significance of the Battle of New Orleans, the rise in American manufacturers, and methods to finance the war

This letter is his first reaction to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, written just after he received the news

An extraordinary letter of the highest historical importance

* On British Progress in the American Revolution, and American Independence from Britain: The War of 1812, “as in the Revolutionary War, their [the British] conquests were never more than of the spot on which their army stood, never extended beyond the range of their cannon shot….If England is now wise or just enough to settle peaceably the question of impressment, the late treaty may become one of peace, and of long peace. We owe to their past follies and wrongs the incalculable advantage of being made independent of them…”

* Napoleon, and Jefferson’s bravado over the British: His “downfall was illy timed for us. It gave to England an opportunity to turn full handed on us, when we were unprepared. No matter. We can beat her on our own soil…”

* The War: “The 1st year of our warfare by land was disastrous. Detroit, Queen’s town, French town, & Bever dams witness that. But the 2d was generally successful, and the 3d entirely so, both by sea and land, for I set down the coup de main at Washington as more disgraceful to England than to us. The victories of the last year at Chippewa, Niagara, Fort Erie, Plattsburgh, and New Orleans, the capture of their two fleets on Lakes Erie and Champlain, and repeated triumphs of our frigates over hers, whenever engaging with equal force, show that we have officers now becoming prominent, and capable of making them feel the superiority of our means…”

* Andrew Jackson and his victory at New Orleans: “It may be thought that useless blood was spilt at New Orleans, after the treaty of peace had been actually signed and ratified. I think it had many valuable uses. It proved…that New Orleans can be defended both by land & water; that the Western country will fly to its relief…that our militia are heroes when they have heroes to lead them on…”

* The Burning of Washington: “The coup de main at Washington as more disgraceful to England than to us.”

The War of 1812 was the result of the impulse of the young American republic to expand western and assert the reality of its independence. It was a bold and dangerous gamble, one that paid off but could have ended otherwise.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution awarded the western frontier to the United States, but the British did not give up the idea of setting up a Native American buffer state between its holdings and the U.S. on that frontier. This hoped-for state would act as a block to American immigration west, hinder U.S. use of the new Louisiana Purchase lands and the Mississippi River, discourage American trade in the west to the benefit of British merchants, set up an ally on the western border of the U.S., and make Canada safer from potential U.S. incursions. So the British took to supplying and arming the Indians living in what is now the United States from their base in Canada. Though the Indians under Chief Tecumseh was defeated in Indiana by General William Henry Harrison in 1811, in 1812 threats of Indian uprisings remained a reality.

American trade was in a state of crisis by 1812. The British were seizing American ships on the high seas, and forcing seamen to join the Royal Navy or merchant navy.  This impressment of seamen was deemed necessary because of the difficulty in obtaining enough recruits in Britain. Probably in the neighborhood of 6,000 Americans were impressed by the British leading up to the War of 1812. Americans considered this action as a violation of their sovereignty, a real slap in the face. In addition, Britain seized vessels bound for Europe that did not first call at a British port. France retaliated, confiscating vessels if they had first stopped in Britain. Together they seized nearly 1,500 American vessels between 1803 and 1812. This was a staggering number, and as many of the cargoes were sold as prizes, the loss to American merchants was enormous.

On June 1, 1812, President James Madison, sufficiently persuaded by the pro-war position, sent the U.S. Congress a war message, and war was declared a few weeks later. The U.S. was unprepared for war, however, and the fortunes of war proved vacillating. There were successes, such as William Henry Harrison’s victory in the Battle of the Thames, in which Indian Chief Tecumseh was killed, and Oliver H. Perry’s victory on Lake Erie. But there were also failures, such as a winter expedition against Montreal; also, Fort Niagara was lost, Black Rock and Buffalo were burned, and great quantities of provisions and stores destroyed. Colonel Charles Boerstler surrendered the U.S. Army detachment under his command at the Battle of Beaver Dams which took place on June 24, 1813, a few miles outside of Fort George, Canada. The British blockade of the U.S. eastern seaboard was constantly growing more rigid; not a single American man-of-war was on the open sea. Meanwhile the discontent with the war prevailing in New England, which was destined to culminate in the Hartford Convention, continued to be active and to threaten rebellious outbreaks.

The Americans initially agreed to mediation to end the war in 1813, but instead in early 1814 the British offered direct peace talks to be held at Ghent in Belgium. The U.S. accepted that offer. Only months later, an event Americans could only see as ominous took place: the downfall of Napoleon. After a series of wars that lasted 21 years, Napoleon, who had known so many triumphs and had changed the face of Europe, suffered stinging defeats and defections. In April 1814 he was compelled to surrender and in May found himself in exile at Elba. The likely conclusion of peace in Europe, and, in consequence, the liberation of the military, naval, and financial resources of Great Britain for a vigorous prosecution of the war in America, loomed large.

The peace negotiations did not begin until August 8, 1814 due to British stalling. The American delegation was led by John Quincy Adams and included Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell and James Bayard. As for the British, they initially demanded that the country now occupied by the states of Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, the larger part of Indiana, and about one third of Ohio, should be set apart for the Indians to serve as a buffer, a perpetual protection of the British possessions against American ambition. They demanded also that the United States should relinquish the right of keeping any armed vessels on the Great Lakes; and, in addition to all this, they asked for the cession of a piece of Maine, and for the right of navigating the Mississippi. The Americans rejected these demands out of hand, and actively considered going home.

On August 24, 1814, after defeating an American force at Bladensburg, Maryland, the British marched unopposed into Washington, D.C. Most congressmen and officials fled the nation’s capital, but President James Madison and his wife, Dolley, escaped just before the invaders arrived. British officers dined that night at the deserted White House. Meanwhile, the British troops, ecstatic that they had captured their enemy’s capital, began setting the city aflame. The White House, a number of federal buildings, and several private homes were destroyed. The still uncompleted Capitol building was also set on fire, and the House of Representatives and the Library of Congress were gutted before a torrential downpour doused the flames. While the peace talks were progressing, in his speech of November 8, 1814, at the opening of the British parliament, the Prince Regent George boasted that “The expedition directed from Halifax to the northern coast of the United States … has been followed by the immediate submission of the extensive and important district, east of the Penobscot river” in Maine.

Little progress was made in negotiations through the delivery of that speech, but on November 10 an American draft for a comprehensive treaty was provided to the British. The British suddenly, on instructions from London, lowered their demands, and the talks got serious. The Treaty of Ghent was signed December 24, 1814. It was February 1815, however, before the news of the end of the war reached America.

In the meantime, not knowing the war was over, the British prepared for a great assault on New Orleans, which they made on January 8, 1815. Seeing the British columns before them, composed of veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, Gen. Andrew Jackson’s inexperienced men courageously opened an intense artillery and rifle fire upon the enemy. In two separate assaults the British were completely defeated. They reported their losses as 291 killed, 1,262 wounded, and 484 captured/missing for a total of 2,037. U.S. forces suffered only 13 killed, 58 wounded, and 30 captured for a total of 101. The British defeat was so great that the entirety of British senior command on the field was killed or wounded. A stunningly one-sided victory, the Battle of New Orleans was the signature American victory of the War of 1812, securing the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, and ending British designs on the Louisiana Territory.

William H. Crawford was U.S. ambassador to France during the negotiations at Ghent in Belgium to end the War of 1812, and was responsible for superintending the American consuls in Europe and keeping them informed of developments. More than that, he was an advisor to President Madison on the happenings on the Continent, and kept former President Thomas Jefferson informed as well. As Ambassador to the Court of one of the two major adversaries in the conflicts in Europe, he was also actively involved in the Ghent negotiation process, advising the negotiators and responding to their confidential communiqués. He would return to the U.S. in the summer of 1815 to serve as Secretary of War, and would later be Secretary of the Treasury under both Presidents Madison and Monroe. When Napoleon fell, Crawford was right there observing the events, and in June 1814 he had written Jefferson about them, giving a seasoned, on-site perspective Jefferson much valued. Jefferson did not, however, respond until February of 1815, during which time period so many momentous events had taken place.

This is Jefferson’s wide-ranging response, with a remarkable depth of opinion and analysis.

Autograph letter signed, 4 pages, Monticello, February 14, 1815, to Crawford in Paris, touching on American independence, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Treaty of Ghent, Napoleon, the Battle of New Orleans, and much else of great import.  “I have to thank you for your letter of June 16. It presents those special views of the state of things in Europe, for which we look in vain into newspapers. They tell us only of the downfall of Bonaparte, but nothing of the temper, the views, and secret workings of the high agents in these transactions. Altho’ we neither expected, nor wished any act of friendship from Bonaparte, and always detested him as a tyrant, yet he gave employment to much of the force of the nation who was our common enemy. So far his downfall was illy timed for us. It gave to England an opportunity to turn full handed on us, when we were unprepared. No matter. We can beat her on our own soil, leaving the laws of the ocean to be settled by the maritime powers of Europe, who are equally oppressed & insulted by the usurpations of England on that element.

“Our particular and separate grievance is only the impressment of our citizens. We must sacrifice the last dollar and drop of blood to rid us of that badge of slavery; and it must rest with England alone to say whether it is worth eternal war, for eternal it must be if she holds to the wrong. She will probably find that the 6000 citizens she took from us by impressment have already cost her ten thousand guineas a man, and will cost her in addition the half of that annually, during the continuance of the war, besides the captures on the ocean, & the loss of our commerce. She might certainly find cheaper means of manning her fleet, or, if to be manned at this expense, her fleet will break her down. The 1st year of our warfare by land was disastrous. Detroit, Queen’s town, French town, & Bever dams witness that. But the 2d was generally successful, and the 3d entirely so, both by sea and land, for I set down the coup de main at Washington as more disgraceful to England than to us. The victories of the last year at Chippewa, Niagara, Fort Erie, Plattsburgh, and New Orleans, the capture of their two fleets on Lakes Erie and Champlain, and repeated triumphs of our frigates over hers, whenever engaging with equal force, show that we have officers now becoming prominent, and capable of making them feel the superiority of our means, in a war on our own soil. Our means are abundant both as to men and money, wanting only skilful arrangement, and experience alone brings skill. As to men, nothing wiser can be devised than what the Secretary at war [Monroe] proposed in his Report at the commencement of Congress. It would have kept our regular army always of necessity full, and by classing our militia according to ages, would have put them into a form ready for whatever service, distant or at home, should require them. Congress have not adopted it, but their next experiment will lead to it.

“Our financial system is least arranged. The fatal possession of the whole circulating medium by our banks, the excess of those institutions, and their present discredit, cause all our difficulties. Treasury notes of small as well as high denomination, bottomed on a tax which would redeem them in 10 years, would place at our disposal the whole circulating medium of the US., a fund of credit sufficient to carry us thro’ any probable length of war. A small issue of such paper is now commencing. It will immediately supersede the bank paper; nobody receiving that now but for the purposes of the day, and never in payments which are to lie by for any time. In fact, all the banks having declared they will not give cash in exchange for their own notes, these circulate merely because there is no other medium of exchange. As soon as the Treasury notes get into circulation, the others will cease to hold any competition with them. I trust that another year will confirm this experiment, and restore this fund to the public, who ought never more to permit it’s being filched from them by private speculators and disorganizers of the circulation.

“Do they send you from Washington the Historical Register of the US? it is published there annually, and gives a succinct and judicious history of the events of the war, not too long to be inserted in the European newspapers and would keep the European public truly informed, by correcting the lying statements of the British papers. it gives too all public documents of any value. Niles’s Weekly Register is also an excellent repository of facts & documents and has the advantage of coming out weekly, whereas the other is yearly. This will be handed you by mr Ticknor [future noted scholar and Harvard professor George Ticknor], a young gentleman of Boston, of high education, and great promise. after going thro’ his studies here, he goes to Europe to finish them, and to see what is to be seen there. he brought me high recommendations from mr Adams and others, and from a stay of some days with me, I was persuaded he merited them, as he will whatever attentions you will be so good as to show him. I pray you to accept the assurance of my great esteem and respect. Th: Jefferson.

“P.S. Feb. 26. On the day of the date of this letter the news of peace reached Washington, and this place two days after. I am glad of it, altho’ no provision being made against the impressment of our seamen, it is in fact but an Armistice, to be terminated by the first act of impressment committed on an American citizen. It may be thought that useless blood was spilt at New Orleans, after the treaty of peace had been actually signed and ratified. I think it had many valuable uses. It proved the fidelity of the Orleanese to the US. It proved that New Orleans can be defended both by land & water; that the Western country will fly to it’s relief (of which ourselves had doubted before), that our militia are heroes when they have heroes to lead them on; and that when unembarrassed by field evolutions, which they do not understand, their skill in the fire-arm, and deadly aim, give them great advantages over regulars. What nonsense for the mannequin Prince Regent [George IV] to talk of their conquest of the country East of the Penobscot river! Then, as in the revolutionary war, their conquests were never more than of the spot on which their army stood, never extended beyond the range of their cannon shot. If England is now wise or just enough to settle peaceably the question of impressment, the late treaty may become one of peace, and of long peace. We owe to their past follies and wrongs the incalculable advantage of being made independent of them for every material manufacture. These have taken such root, in our private families especially, that nothing now can ever extirpate them.”