From Book: Reports in Mackinac History and Archeology: This series is designed to provide a format for the publication of substantial reports relating to the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan. As the continued research efforts of the staff of the Mackinac State Historic Parks produce studies of the history and archeology of this region, they will be published in this series. Relevant papers by non-staff members will also be included. Research by the Mackinac State Historic Parks is primarily directed toward the restoration, reconstruction, and interpretation of the historic sites of Fort Michilimackinac, Fort Mackinac, Mill Creek, and other historic structure in Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. It is also the purpose of our program to present the results of our research to both the general public and the scholar. Museum displays, live interpretation, and attractive publications serve to accomplish this goal in their own unique ways. This report illuminates another aspect of our heritage in a way we trust will be interesting and informative. David A Armour, General Editor.

Accompanying histories explain the reasons behind the conflicts and include maps showing all theaters of operations for Michigan troops. The in-depth accounts of the state's role in these hostilities often serve as the first serious and comprehensive studies of the contributions made by its citizens in these events."--BOOK JACKET.

Listen to a short interview with Jon Latimer Host: Chris Gondek - Producer: Heron & Crane In the first complete history of the War of 1812 written from a British perspective, Jon Latimer offers an authoritative and compelling account that places the conflict in its strategic context within the Napoleonic wars. The British viewed the War of 1812 as an ill-fated attempt by the young American republic to annex Canada. For British Canada, populated by many loyalists who had fled the American Revolution, this was a war for survival. The Americans aimed both to assert their nationhood on the global stage and to expand their territory northward and westward. Americans would later find in this war many iconic moments in their national story--the bombardment of Fort McHenry (the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner); the Battle of Lake Erie; the burning of Washington; the death of Tecumseh; Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans--but their war of conquest was ultimately a failure. Even the issues of neutrality and impressment that had triggered the war were not resolved in the peace treaty. For Britain, the war was subsumed under a long conflict to stop Napoleon and to preserve the empire. The one lasting result of the war was in Canada, where the British victory eliminated the threat of American conquest, and set Canadians on the road toward confederation. Latimer describes events not merely through the eyes of generals, admirals, and politicians but through those of the soldiers, sailors, and ordinary people who were directly affected. Drawing on personal letters, diaries, and memoirs, he crafts an intimate narrative that marches the reader into the heat of battle.

The sixth and final book in the six-part series Upper Canada Preserved, War of 1812, examines the pivotal period between August 1814–March 1815, with particular emphasis on the final months of fighting, the march toward peace, and the aftermath of the war politically, economically, and socially.

The War of 1812 was an extremely complicated war motivated by British seizures of American vessels and goods, American desire to expand into Canada, and impressment of American sailors into the British Navy. However, these are merely the immediate causes. To fully understand the War of 1812, one must delve deeper into history. This book does just that, as it covers the period leading up to the war (1803-1812) and the events of the war itself (1812-1815) through the use of a dictionary consisting of more than 1,400 cross-referenced entries covering descriptions of engagements, ships, weaponry, the compositions of regiments, significant political and military figures, and a full list of key places, issues and terms. Also included are a chronology of events, an introductory essay, and a comprehensive bibliography, subdivided by topic and fully annotated.

Who was William Henry Harrison, and what does his military career reveal about the War of 1812 in the Great Lakes Region? In his study of William Henry Harrison, David Curtis Skaggs sheds light on the role of citizen-soldiers in taming the wilderness of the old Northwest. Perhaps best known for the Whig slogan in 1840—"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"—Harrison used his efforts to pacify Native Americans and defeat the British in the War of 1812 to promote a political career that eventually elevated him to the presidency. Harrison exemplified the citizen-soldier on the Ohio frontier in the days when white men settled on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains at their peril. Punctuated by almost continuous small-scale operations and sporadic larger engagements, warfare in this region revolved around a shifting system of alliances among various Indian tribes, government figures, white settlers, and business leaders. Skaggs focuses on Harrison’s early life and military exploits, especially his role on Major General Anthony Wayne's staff during the Fallen Timbers campaign and Harrison's leadership of the Tippecanoe campaign. He explores how the military and its leaders performed in the age of a small standing army and part-time, Cincinnatus-like forces. This richly detailed work reveals how the military and Indian policies of the early republic played out on the frontier, freshly revisiting a subject central to American history: how white settlers tamed the west—and at what cost.