War of 1812 Timeline

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

April 18 – Non-Importation Act passed

November 21 – Napoleon issues the Berlin Decrees

1807

November 11 – Great Britain passes the 1807 Orders in Council, restricting international trade with France

June 22 – HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake

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 Frenchtown

January 23 – Between 30 and 60 American soldiers are killed in “The River Raisin Massacre”

February 20 – Battle of Ogdensburg

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

March 4 – James Madison inaugurated for second term as President

March 27 – Oliver Hazard Perry takes command of the flotila at Lake Erie

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 – Engagement at 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 26

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 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 Malcom'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 9 – 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