This guide explains how to trace ancestors who served in militia or volunteer units during the War of 1812, covering federal and state records, online indexes, and archival procedures for both American and British/Canadian forces.
Charles-Michel d’Irumberry de Salaberry was a French-Canadian officer in the British Army and commander of the Canadian Voltigeurs during the War of 1812, best known for his decisive victory at the Battle of the Châteauguay in 1813.
A survey of the major land and naval battles of the War of 1812, fought between 1812 and 1815 across the Great Lakes, Niagara, St. Lawrence, Chesapeake, and Gulf theaters. It traces key engagements, commanders, Indigenous participation, outcomes, and the primary sources on which accounts of the fighting rest.
Sackett’s Harbor, New York, was the chief American naval base and shipbuilding center on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. It survived British attacks in 1812 and 1813, and its defense was critical to maintaining American naval control of the lake.
The St. Lawrence Campaign of 1813 was the most ambitious American offensive of the War of 1812, a two-pronged attempt to capture Montreal that ended in defeat at Chateauguay and Crysler’s Farm, permanently securing the St. Lawrence corridor and ending realistic hopes of conquering Canada.
The Hartford Convention was a secret meeting of New England Federalist delegates in December 1814 to voice opposition to the War of 1812 and federal policies, ultimately proposing constitutional amendments. It marked a peak of political dissent but contributed to the Federalist Party’s decline after peace and the Battle of New Orleans.
During the War of 1812, Indigenous warriors from the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and other nations played decisive roles in the Niagara Campaign, serving as allies to both the British and Americans. Their skillful use of forest warfare shaped key battles from Queenston Heights to Lundy’s Lane and influenced the war’s outcome in Upper Canada.
The American naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813 gave the United States control of the lake, severed British supply lines, and forced the retreat that led to the Battle of the Thames and the death of Tecumseh. This shifted the strategic initiative in the Northwest and altered the course of the War of 1812.
The Treaty of Ghent, signed December 24, 1814, was negotiated by five American commissioners—John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin—and three British delegates—Admiral James Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams—who met in Ghent, Belgium, to end the War of 1812 with a return to prewar conditions.
The Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, championed the War of 1812 as a defense of American maritime rights and national honor, but faced internal divisions over its prosecution and consequences.
