Today in 1814, in Ghent, Belgium

Representatives of the British Empire and the United States of America signed the Treaty of Peace and Amity thereby ending the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned by both sides and special commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada.

Belgian postage stamp commemorating the treaty

The two sides had battled, primarily on the North American continent, since June 1812 when the newly-minted United States declared war against Great Britain in reaction to three issues:

(1)  the British economic blockade of France,

(2)  the induction of thousands of neutral American seamen into the British Royal Navy against their will, and

(3)  the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier.

Larger, less defined war aims included the capture and annexation of Canada, but this was never really well defined or realistically attainable and each invasion of Canada by US forces was repulsed.  However, US naval forces did enjoyed considerable success against British forces on the open sea as well as on the Great lakes, including critical victories by the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) and other American frigates, convincing the British that the Americans were serious.  In fact, the American victory in the Battle of Plattsburg Bay on Lake Champlain led to the conclusion of U.S.-British peace negotiations in Belgium.

British regulars storm the American ramparts south of New Orleans

In an unusual postmortem, news of the treaty took almost two months to cross the Atlantic, and British forces were not informed of the end of hostilities in time to end their drive against the mouth of the Mississippi River. On January 8, 1815, a large British army attacked New Orleans and was decimated by an inferior American force under General Andrew Jackson in the most spectacular U.S. victory of the war.

[December 23, 1814]