[PDF] The Niagara Campaign Of 1814 A Study Of American Military Leadership eBook

Author : Richard V. Barbuto
Publisher : Lawrence : University Press of Kansas
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 37,23 MB
Release : 2000
Category : History
ISBN :

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Most books on the War of 1812 focus on the burning of Washington, D.C., the Battles of Baltimore and New Orleans, and the war in the Old Northwest. Scant attention, however, has been paid the Niagara Campaign of 1814-the American army's ambitious but failed attempt to wrest Canada from British control. While a few writers have dealt with aspects of this effort, Richard Barbuto is the first to offer a comprehensive study of the entire campaign. Barbuto covers every aspect of a campaign that saw the American army come of age, even as its military leaders blundered away potential victory and the acquisition of a coveted expanse of North American territory. Vividly recreating the major battles on the Niagara peninsula—at Chippawa, Lundy's Lane, Fort Erie, and Cook's Mill—Barbuto also clarifies the role of these engagements within the overall framework of American strategy. Despite early success at Chippawa, four long months of fighting finally ended in something like a draw, with the British still in control of Canada. Barbuto argues convincingly that the American government was never really able to harness, coordinate, and focus its tremendous resources in ways that would have allowed the campaign to succeed. Much of the blame, he shows, can be attributed to the poor leadership and confused strategic thinking of President James Madison and his secretary of war, John Armstrong. The American effort was further undermined by manpower shortages, a few ineffective field commanders, and the army and navy's inability to coordinate their objectives and operations. Even so, Barbuto contends that the American soldier, led by the likes of Jacob Brown and the legendary Winfield Scott, performed surprisingly well against one of the great armies of the nineteenth century. Barbuto's analysis, unmarred by national bias, presents a balanced picture of these events from the perspective of all participants—American, British, Canadian, and Native American. He also fills an important gap by providing the first ever capsule histories of all regimental-sized units involved in the campaign. Breathing new life into these events, his far-ranging study should become the definitive work on this long-neglected campaign.

Author : Jon Latimer
Publisher : Osprey Publishing
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,50 MB
Release : 2009-05-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9781846034398

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The War of 1812 (1812-1814) has the strange distinction of being a war largely forgotten by both of its main participants. Despite being overshadowed by the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe, the War of 1812 saw Americans, British, Canadians, and Native Americans wage an increasing brutal conflict all along the border. By 1814, with war coming to a close in Europe, the Americans decided to launch one last, major land offensive in an attempt to seize Canada. Although previous attempts had most often ended in disaster, the American army of 1814 contained several highly trained units under competent leadership including the legendary Winfield Scott. This final Niagara campaign saw a number of pitched battles including Chippawa, Lundy's Lane, and Cook's Mill, where the American Bluecoats matched the British shot for shot. However, due to poor planning at the highest levels of American office, the campaign was ultimately a failure and the result ensured the survival of Canada as an independent state. A critically-acclaimed researcher on the War of 1812, author John Latimer presents a new look at an oft-forgotten yet crucially important campaign in the history of North America.

Author : U. S. Military
Publisher :
Page : 91 pages
File Size : 14,75 MB
Release : 2018-05-11
Category :
ISBN : 9781981069941

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American military historians have identified a trend in the US Army to start wars unprepared and ultimately emerge victorious having improved along the way. The War of 1812 set the standard in showing up unprepared, learning in early defeat, and emerging with a valid claim of martial competence. Historians tend to focus on the popular wars such as the Civil War and the World Wars, and forget the War of 1812. This forgotten war took place in the midst of profound changes in western military affairs. As the wars in Europe and North America ended, warfare once again stood at the precipice of change. This thesis identifies the ways in which these concepts improved, why they improved, and how leaders made the changes. It uses the evidence available to show that the Army learned from its mistakes and implemented changes. Leaders at all levels identified failures and made changes without any senior leader taking full ownership of any of the mistakes, mostly blaming circumstances or other leaders. During the northern campaigns, from the Niagara to Lake Champlain between 1812 and 1814, the Madison administration made annual changes to the force leadership and logistics systems hoping to improve the fighting force. This thesis investigates one significant battle each year from 1812-1814. It analyzes the preparation, the fight, and the aftermath with a focus on broader tactics and formations used from the beginning of each battle to its climax, while recognizing the impact of leadership. The focus is the specific identification of shortcomings on the part of the battle leadership, whether the changes had any tangible effects, or if the force just improved from experience verses actual changes in the conduct of the war. The thesis examines the conditions politically that led to the U.S. conducting this war with an unprepared Army, untrained volunteers, and a grand militia only on paper. It addresses training with regard to discipline and tactics to discuss clearly the way in which the United States Army prepared for and fought battles. Finally, it examines leader impact as the keystone that implements or inhibits change. It answers the question, "How did U.S. Army leaders change their tactics and training methods between 1812 and 1815, why did they change, and to what effect did those changes influence the fight?" To begin, one must understand how the U.S. Army and its governing administration entered into the fight in the first place. How did the US Army train and fight at the beginning, middle, and end of the war in terms of preparation, employment, and execution in combat? What tactics and training were in use in each of the studied battles? What changes occurred, between battles, and were they institutional or leader driven? Did doctrine follow or lead these changes? What improvements if any, did leaders make? It shows that the U.S. Army and the War Department at all levels identified shortcomings in their efforts to raise, train, equip, and fight. They made adjustments, albeit rather slowly and ineffectively. Probably the most important change made was the selection process of the Army's leadership.

Author : Donald E. Graves
Publisher : Baltimore : Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 24,52 MB
Release : 1993
Category : History
ISBN :

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Brigadier General Winfield Scott, United States Army, regarded the red-coated infantry before him. He had not expected to find the British in strength on this side of the Niagara River. His small, isolated brigade now faced an apparently superior enemy and could not rely on immediate assistance from his divisional commander, Major General Jacob Brown. A lesser man would have been daunted, but Winfield Scott - six feet, five inches tall, deep-chested, stern-visaged, and twenty-eight years old - decided to attack. What followed was one of the bloodiest and most hard-fought military actions in North American history. For nearly five hours, American, British and Canadian soldiers struggled desperately into the night in a close range, vicious battle. As one participant recalled, it was "a conflict, obstinate beyond description." When dawn came, more than 1600 men lay dead or wounded. In his interpretation of a still controversial action, Donald E. Graves fills in the planning and operational background of the Niagara campaign of 1814 - one of the most bitterly contested of military operations of the War of 1812. He narrates the action at Lundy's Lane and provides a thorough examination of the weaponry, tactics, organization, and prominent personalities of the two opposing armies. In what is possibly the most detailed analysis of musket-period combat to appear in print, The Battle of Lundy's Lane will appeal to readers interested in the much-neglected War of 1812, American and Canadian local and regional history, and the development of the U.S. and Canadian armies.

Author : Donald E. Graves
Publisher :
Page : 366 pages
File Size : 45,94 MB
Release : 1997
Category : History
ISBN :

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This is the story of one of the most hard-fought actions in North American history. On a summer evening in July 1814, within sight of Niagara Falls, American, British and Canadian soldiers struggled desperately in a close-range battle that raged on into the dark. By morning more than a third had become casualties. The two armies had fought to the point of exhaustion, and who won has long been a matter of dispute. Lundy's Lane was the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812 and the bloodiest fought on what is now Canadian soil. It was the high mark of the 1814 Niagara campaign, which was the longest of the war and the last time Canada suffered a major foreign invasion. In his analysis of this still-controversial battle, Donald E Graves narrates the background and events in detail while providing a thorough examination of the weapons, tactics and personalities of the opposing armies. The result is possibly the most complete analysis of a musket-period action to appear in print.

Author : William Glenn Robertson
Publisher : Government Printing Office
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 18,74 MB
Release : 2014-12-11
Category : Staff rides
ISBN : 9780160925436

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Discusses how to plan a staff ride of a battlefield, such as a Civil War battlefield, as part of military training. This brochure demonstrates how a staff ride can be made available to military leaders throughout the Army, not just those in the formal education system.

Author : Richard V. Barbuto
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 524 pages
File Size : 21,61 MB
Release : 2021-01-28
Category : History
ISBN : 080616963X

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Popular memory of the War of 1812 caroms from the beleaguered Fort McHenry to the burning White House to an embattled New Orleans. But the critical action was elsewhere, as Richard V. Barbuto tells us in this clarifying work that puts the state of New York squarely at the center of America’s first foreign war. British demands to move the northern border as far south as the Ohio River put New York on the first line of defense. But it was the leadership of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins that distinguished the state’s contribution to the war effort, effectively mobilizing the considerable human and material resources that proved crucial to maintaining the nation’s sovereignty. New York’s War of 1812 shows how, despite a widespread antiwar movement and fierce partisan politics, Tompkins managed to corral and maintain support—until 1814, when Britain agreed to peace. Retrieving New York’s War of 1812 from the fog of military history, Barbuto describes the disproportionate cost paid by the state in loss of life and livelihood. The author draws on in-depth research of the state’s legislative, financial, and militia records, as well as on the governor’s extensive correspondence, to plot the conduct of the war regionally and chronologically and to tell the stories of numerous raids, skirmishes, and battles that touched civilians in their homes and communities. Whether offering a clearer picture of the performance of the state militia, providing a more accurate account of the conflict’s impact on the state’s diverse population, or newly detailing New York’s decisive contribution, this deeply researched, closely observed work revises our view of the nation’s perhaps least understood war.

Author : Army Center of Military History
Publisher :
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 21,99 MB
Release : 2016-06-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781944961404

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American Military History provides the United States Army-in particular, its young officers, NCOs, and cadets-with a comprehensive but brief account of its past. The Center of Military History first published this work in 1956 as a textbook for senior ROTC courses. Since then it has gone through a number of updates and revisions, but the primary intent has remained the same. Support for military history education has always been a principal mission of the Center, and this new edition of an invaluable history furthers that purpose. The history of an active organization tends to expand rapidly as the organization grows larger and more complex. The period since the Vietnam War, at which point the most recent edition ended, has been a significant one for the Army, a busy period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational changes. In particular, the explosion of missions and deployments since 11 September 2001 has necessitated the creation of additional, open-ended chapters in the story of the U.S. Army in action. This first volume covers the Army's history from its birth in 1775 to the eve of World War I. By 1917, the United States was already a world power. The Army had sent large expeditionary forces beyond the American hemisphere, and at the beginning of the new century Secretary of War Elihu Root had proposed changes and reforms that within a generation would shape the Army of the future. But world war-global war-was still to come. The second volume of this new edition will take up that story and extend it into the twenty-first century and the early years of the war on terrorism and includes an analysis of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq up to January 2009.