Existing comment:
The War of 1812:
Important events took place on Virginia soil during the War of 1812. Although the war ended in stalemate, Americans remembered only the victories, resulting in an upsurge of national unity and patriotism.
The United States declared war in June 1812, citing British interference with America's trade with Europe, then under the control of Britain's enemy, Napoleon. Also, the British had seized American seamen as deserters and had encouraged Native American attacks on US frontier settlements. Some American politicians hoped to conquer and annex British Canada.
In 1813, an intended British attack on Norfolk was skillfully driven off. Chosseurs d'Angleterre or English hunters [actually French loyalists serving with the British] looted Hampton. Alexandria was spared destruction in 1814 by surrendering without firing a shot, but the enemy took away twenty-one ships and all they could carry. The British then made Tangier Island the staging area for their unsuccessful attack on Baltimore. One of the last military actions in Virginia was the plundering of Tappahannock in December 1814, the month in which the peace treaty was signed.
Virginia created a state army in 1813 out of fear of a slave revolt but disbanded it when the national government agreed to post regular soldiers in Norfolk to suppress any insurrection. Several hundred Tidewater slaves sought refuge with the British and were resettled mostly in Canada. |