War of 1812 Timeline

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Explore our timeline of the War of 1812 and learn about the important events and battles that happened throughout this period of American history – from the Battle of Tippecanoe to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. 

Pre-War1812181318141815

1793

• February 1 – France declares war on Great Britain

1794

• August 20 – General Anthony Wayne defeats a Native American confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, paving the way for the settlement of present-day Ohio

1804

• April 30 – The Louisiana Purchase is finalized, adding more than 800,000 square miles to the western frontier of the United States
• December 4 – Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France following a coup d'etat

1806

• April 18 - Non- Importation Act passed
• November 21 – Napoleon issues the Berlin Decrees

1807

• June 22 – HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake
• November 11 – Great Britain passes the 1807 Orders in Council, restricting international trade with France
• December 22 – Embargo Act Passed

1809

• March 4 – James Madison is sworn in as the 4th President of the United States.

1811

• May 16 – The American frigate USS President fires on the British sloop HMS Little Belt
• October 9 – Major General Isaac Brock is appointed Administrator of Upper Canada
• November 11 – Battle of Tippecanoe

1812

• June 18 – The United States declares war on Great Britain
• June 22 – A mob in Baltimore destroys the printing offices of an anti-war newspaper
• July 12 – General William Hull invades Canada from Detroit
• July 17 – Fort Michilimackinac surrenders to British-Canadian forces
• August 5 – Skirmish near Brownstown, Michigan
• August 8 – General Hull returns to Detroit
• August 15 – British forces bombard Detroit
• August 16 – General Hull surrenders Detroit
• August 19 – The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
• October 13 – British-Canadians win the Battle of Queenston Heights, Ontario
• November 27 – Skirmish at Fort Erie
• December 28 – William Henry Harrison formally resigns as Governor of Indiana Territory and takes the rank of Brigadier General.
• December 29 – USS Constitution defeats the HMS Java

1813

• January 9 – Great Britain declares war on the United States
• January 13 – John Armstrong replaces William Eustis as Secretary of War
• January 18 – American forces seize Frenchtown, Michigan
• January 22 – The Battle of River Raisin; roughly 40 to 60 American soldiers are killed in “The River Raisin Massacre”
• February 22 – Battle of Ogdensburg
• March 4 – James Madison inaugurated for the second term as President
• March 27 – Oliver Hazard Perry takes command of the flotilla at Lake Erie
• April 27 – Attack on York [modern today Toronto]; General Zebulon Pike is killed
• April 29 – Raid on Frenchtown, Maryland by a British flotilla under the command of Admiral George Cockburn
• May 1 – American forces evacuate York; Siege of Fort Meigs near modern-day Toledo Ohio begins
• May 3 – Royal Marines land and burn Havre de Grace, Maryland
• May 27 – Engagement at Fort George
• May 29 – Battle at Sackets Harbor
• June 1 – USS Chesapeake captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon; Captain James Lawrence dies days later
• June 6 – Engagement at Stoney Creek
• June 22 – Battle of Craney Island
• June 24 – Battle of Beaver Dams
• June 25 – Burning of Hampton, Virginia
• August 10 – Battle of St. Michaels
• August 30 – Attack on Fort Mims, Alabama
• September 10 – Battle of Lake Erie
• October 5 – Battle of the Thames; Tecumseh is killed
• October 7 – Andrew Jackson establishes camp at Fayetteville, TN to recruit American forces to combat the Creeks in Alabama
• October 26 – Engagement at Chateauguay
• November 11 – Battle of Crysler’s Farm
• November 29 – Battle of Autossee
• December 19 – Capture of Fort Niagara

1814

• March 19 – Winfield Scott is promoted to Brigadier General at the age of 27
• March 27 – Engagement at Horseshoe Bend
• April 4 – Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany; Great Britain now turns its focus to the war in America
• July 3 – American troops under Major General Jacob Brown cross the Niagara River and capture Fort Erie
• July 5 – Battle of Chippawa
• July 22 – Treaty of Greenville
• July 25 – Battle of Lundy’s Lane, one of the fiercest battles of the war
• August 8 – Peace negotiations begin
• August 9 - Treaty of Fort Jackson
• August 9 – Stonington, CT raid begins
• August 12 – Stonington Raid Ends
• August 14 – General Robert Ross in command of a reinforcement consisting of 4,500 veteran British troops arrive at the Chesapeake Bay
• August 19 – British troops land at Benedict, Maryland
• August 24 – Battle of Bladensburg
• August 24 – Burning of Washington, D.C.
• August 27 – Abandonment of Fort Warburton
• August 28 – Alexandria Raid
• September 6 – Battle of Plattsburgh
• September 11 – Battle of Lake Champlain
• September 12 – Battle of North Point; General Ross is killed
• September 13 – Bombardment of Fort McHenry
• September 14 – Francis Scott Key writes the first lines of the poem which would become “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• November 6 – Battle of Malcolm's Mills
• November 9 – Battle of Pensacola
• December 1 – Peace delegates reconvene at Ghent
• December 14 – Delegates to the Hartford Convention meet in Hartford, Connecticut
• December 24 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed
• December 28 – The Treaty of Ghent is ratified by the British

1815

• January 5 – The Hartford Convention concludes
• January 8 – The Battle of New Orleans; death of Edward Packenham
• February 16 – The United States Senate ratifies the Treaty of Ghent
• February 18 – The Treaty of Ghent is declared; the War of 1812 is over
• February 20 – USS Constitution engages the HMS Cyane and HMS Levant, not knowing the war was over
• April 6 – Seven American prisoners are killed and 32 wounded in the “Dartmoor Massacre” at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, England
• May 24 – Battle of the Sink Hole