The Turning Point of the War of 1812
In the years following its inception, the U.S. struggled to find an "acceptable" and defensible boundary between Canada and the United States on the eastern half of the continent. Many lawmakers and diplomats nicknamed the area as "Pandora's Box" that could unleash the problems and perplexities that plagued the upper northwest borderlands. Boundary-making in the Great Lakes Basin had challenges beyond just diplomacy; nature also posed significant barriers in creating a defensible boundary. The War of 1812 played a crucial role in determining the northern boundaries of the U.S. in the 19th century. Feelings between the U.S. and Great Britain had been strained since the American Revolution.
American shipowners and merchants had grown more and more frustrated with Great Britain since they had declared war on Napoleon in 1803. The Royal Navy had blockaded many neutral ships from leaving ports in Europe and had insisted on searching merchant vessels on the high seas. In 1807, a British warship attacked the USS Chesapeake, killing three men and wouding eighteen. The incident increased the mounting tensions between the two nations. In 1811, a similar incident happened when an American warship attacked a smaller British warship, killing nine men and wounding twenty-three more. In 1812, President Madison declared war on Great Britain and made plans to invade Canadian territory. Unlike previous wars where Detroit had played a supporting role, in 1812, Detroit would become a main theatre of war. On the eve of war, the two sides of the Detroit River delineated the boundary between the U.S. territory of Michigan and British Canada. The boundary derived from the 1783 peace treaty and had only come into effect in 1796 after the British evacuated their fort in Detroit. In a region of Francophone, Catholic, and Native peoples, the Americans sought to break traditional ties with the British and squash resistance to American expansion.
When war broke out, the British controlled Lake Erie. With a small force of warships already present, the U.S. lacked any real counter to the British vessels already in the region: the sloop-of-war Queen Charlotte, the brig General Hunter, and the schooner Lady Prevost under construction at the outbreak of war. The only U.S. vessel on the lake—the brig Adams—was not ready for service and was pinned down in Detroit after the unsuccessful invasion launched by Brigadier General William Hull. Before Hull even managed to get his cannon across the Detroit River, however, the U.S. fort at Mackinac Island had fallen to the British, emboldening their Native allies in the region. As a result, Hull abandoned his mission to invade Canada and took up a defensive position in Detroit. Hull's army was defeated at the siege of Detroit by British Major General Isaac Brock. The surrender of Detroit was a stunning blow to U.S. aspirations in the northwest. Hull was courtmarshalled for his cowardice in surrendering to the British armies.
While the British held Fort Erie and all the nearby batteries that dominated the Niagara River, the U.S. vessels at the navy yard in Black Rock were no use to the war. Late in 1812, Daniel Dobbins—long-time Great Lakes mariner—escaped British arrest at Detroit and brought information on British forces at Lake Erie to the U.S. Dobbins recommended the use of Presque Isle (modern day Erie, Pennsylvania) in Lake Erie as a base for naval operations. Despite complaints about the lack of facilities and difficulties facing launching ships, Dobbins was dispatched to construct four gunboats.
The arrival of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to command the ongoing operations in Lake Erie improved U.S. conditions in the region dramatically. After the British abandonment of Fort Erie, Perry retrieved the ships from Black Rock by towing them along the river and received reinforcements from Commodore Isaac Chauncey, who was heading up the U.S. naval forces in Lake Ontario. The Battle of Lake Erie (September 10, 1813) was a major U.S. naval victory, which ensured the U.S. maintained control over Lake Erie and precluded any British territorial claims in the peace settlement. Perry's fleet of nine ships set sail and engaged with Captain Robert Barclay's six warships in September, 1813. After the U.S. flagship Lawrence suffered heavy damage and casualties, Perry rowed to a sister ship, the Niagara, to continue fighting. Barclay had expected the Niagara to lead the U.S. ships in retreat; Perry had very different ideas, firing straight into the broadsides of the British line and forcing their surrender.
Perry sent a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison following the conclusion of the battle, in which he wrote, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours."
This affidavit (1824) by Samuel C. Lasley accounts the surrender of the fort by Michael Dousman to the British. Lasley himself was at Mackinac during the surrender in 1813. Lasley describes that they had received intelligence that a large British and native force had been gathered for the purpose of taking the fort. Michael Dousman, who had come to the island and warned its citizens to get to safety, denounced the U.S. effort to secure the fort or die trying. He said, "By God you will die then and cause every man, woman, and child to be massacred." He believed that the British also appointed Dousman as either "high road master or supervisor of highways" and was presented to the British native allies as a "friend." Perhaps even more damning was that Dousman's house was the recruiting rendezvous point. Lasley also goes on later to mention that he was a prisoner at Fort Malden when the news arrived that "Com. Perry" had captured the British fleet on Lake Erie. Lasley described a "general confusion immediately ensued" after the news of the British defeat arrived. Lasley was to deliver a letter to British command on Mackinac Island for his freedom; the letter detailed that the fleet on Lake Erie had been "lost" and advised those on the island that if they did not have "sufficient force and provisions" to evacuate the post immediately.
The contested nature of the Great Lakes region as a boundary is effectively conveyed in the words and actions of the Treaty of Ghent (1814). International treaties in most cases seek to end wars, and are often condemned by the people on the ground who have been negotiated for. Great Lakes boundaries had been a cause for controversy for nearly 200 years; fur traders had been a dominant presence, alliances stretched across peoples and armies, and the British and Native alliance in particular had caused irrevocable tension with the Americans. During the War of 1812, the U.S. lost much of the Great Lakes territory. Only Detroit was recaptured by General William Henry Harrison. Francis Carroll has commented that the northern boundaries that stretched over a thousand miles attracted attention because of the encroachment of lumbermen and settlers who sought to use the borderlands: "Thus much was at stake in the boundary proceedings, under article 6." Article 6 effectively created the boundary at the Great Lakes through Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie.
The Rush-Bagot Treaty (1818) reinforced the boundary by preventing any warships travelling on the lakes. It eliminated the fleets, except small patrol boats. Disarming the Great Lakes went a long way towards enforcing the international border between the U.S. and Great Britain. The agreement was ratified in April, 1818. Demilitarization along the lakes meant that the area would be very hard to defend if another war broke out. This eventually led to the Treaty of Washington (1871), which thoroughly completed the disarmament between the two countries.
