Timeline of the War

Capture of Fort Mackinac

Capt. Charles Roberts

The war's first engagement secured the upper Great Lakes for Britain and prompted a wave of previously neutral Indigenou…

16 Aug 1812

Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock & Tecumseh

The Fall of Detroit

The surrender eliminated the American position in the northwest, secured the British-Indigenous alliance, and demonstrat…

N/A (Potawatomi warriors, loosely aligned with British)

15 Aug 1812

Potawatomi Victory

Fort Dearborn Massacre

The destruction of the Fort Dearborn garrison demonstrated the vulnerability of isolated American outposts following Hul…

British / Indigenous Strategic Success (siege lifted by Harrison)

5-12 Sep 1812

Siege of Fort Wayne

N/A (Potawatomi and Miami warriors, British-allied)

The siege of Fort Wayne was lifted by Harrison's relief column, but the episode demonstrated the vulnerability of Americ…

Battle of Fort Harrison

Capt. Zachary Taylor

A future president's first battle. Taylor's defence of Fort Harrison with 50 effective soldiers against several hundred …

4-5 Sep 1812

5 Aug 1812

Battle of Brownstown

Tecumseh

Tecumseh's ambush at Brownstown with just 24 warriors routed 200 American troops and severed Hull's supply line to Ohio.…

American Tactical Victory (strategic failure)

Battle of Maguaga

Lt. Col. James Miller

An American tactical victory that achieved nothing strategically. Miller's force won the engagement but Hull refused to …

British / Indigenous Strategic Victory

9 Aug 1812

17-18 Dec 1812

Battle of the Mississinewa

N/A (Miami warriors)

Campbell's punitive expedition against Miami villages was turned back by a dawn counterattack. The losses from combat an…

28 Nov 1812

Battle of Frenchman's Creek

Lt. Col. Cecil Bisshopp

A bungled American night raid across the Niagara. The raiding party crossed in two groups that failed to coordinate, was…

13 Oct 1812

Battle of Queenston Heights

Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock (killed), Maj. Gen. Roger Sheaffe

Brock's death deprived British North America of its finest commander. The battle exposed the fatal flaw in the American …

20 Nov 1812

Battle of Lacolle Mills (1812)

Maj. Charles de Salaberry (Voltigeurs)

The abortive American invasion of November 1812 was turned back at Lacolle in a confused night action. Dearborn's militi…

American Raid (British repulse)

Raid on Gananoque

Capt. Benjamin Forsyth

An early American cross-border raid that seized some military stores at Gananoque but was driven off by the Leeds militi…

21 Sep 1812

USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere

Capt. Isaac Hull

A tactical victory enabled by superior ship construction and a significant broadside disparity. Strategically inconseque…

American Victory (ship then recaptured)

19 Aug 1812

USS Wasp vs HMS Frolic

Capt. Jacob Jones

An American tactical victory nullified within hours when a British ship of the line captured both vessels. The episode i…

18 Oct 1812

Cutting Out of HMS Detroit and Caledonia

Lt. Jesse Elliott

The most humiliating American defeat of the war. Brock captured an army larger than his own through a combination of aud…

9 Oct 1812

USS Constitution vs HMS Java

Cdre. William Bainbridge

Constitution's second frigate victory reinforced the pattern of American heavy frigates defeating lighter British oppone…

29 Dec 1812

USS United States vs HMS Macedonian

Cdre. Stephen Decatur

The most one-sided of the early frigate actions. Macedonian was the only British frigate captured and sailed to an Ameri…

25 Oct 1812

23 Jun 1812

HMS Belvidera Escape

Capt. Richard Byron

The war's very first naval action. HMS Belvidera outran a three-frigate American squadron through superior seamanship an…

16 Jul 1812

Capt. Philip Broke (squadron)

Capture of USS Nautilus

The first American warship captured during the War of 1812. Nautilus was taken by Broke's squadron off the New Jersey co…

22 Nov 1812

Capt. James Yeo (later Lake Ontario)

Capture of USS Vixen

Another small American warship taken by a British frigate. The capturing captain was James Yeo, who would later command …

1812-1815 (progressive expansion)

The British Blockade of the American Coast

Adm. Sir John Borlase Warren (1812-13); Vice Adm. Alexander Cochrane (1813-15)

The blockade was the Royal Navy's most consequential contribution to the war. It strangled American trade, collapsed gov…

1813

22 Jan 1813

Battle of Frenchtown (River Raisin)

Col. Henry Procter

A British tactical success that provided America with a powerful propaganda tool. The conduct question shadowed British-…

Brig. Gen. Henry Procter & Tecumseh

1-9 May 1813

Inconclusive (Fort held)

Siege of Fort Meigs

The fort held, but the relief column suffered a devastating defeat. The siege demonstrated both the effectiveness and th…

Master Cmdt. Oliver Hazard Perry

Battle of Lake Erie

Perry's victory was the most consequential American naval achievement in the western theatre. It compelled the British w…

10 Sep 1813

22 Feb 1813

Lt. Col. George Macdonell

Battle of Ogdensburg

The British crossed the frozen St. Lawrence to eliminate an American raiding base that had been harassing cross-river tr…

British Strategic Failure

21-28 Jul 1813

Second Siege of Fort Meigs

Brig. Gen. Henry Procter & Tecumseh

The failure to draw the garrison out by ruse demonstrated the limits of British-Indigenous cooperation. Tecumseh and Pro…

Maj. Gen. William Henry Harrison

Battle of the Thames

The destruction of Tecumseh's confederacy removed the principal barrier to American westward expansion. This, rather tha…

5 Oct 1813

Battle of Fort Stephenson

Maj. George Croghan

A minor engagement with outsized morale impact. Croghan's defence with 160 men and a single cannon against 500 demonstra…

Brig. Gen. Benjamin Howard, Gov. Ninian Edwards

2 Aug 1813

American Punitive Raid

Destruction of Peoria

The American destruction of the Potawatomi village at Peoria was a punitive expedition that found no military resistance…

Brig. Gen. Zebulon Pike (killed)

Oct 1813

American Victory (raid)

Raid on York

The American destruction at York provided the explicit British justification for the burning of Washington sixteen month…

27 Apr 1813

Col. Winfield Scott (Dearborn ill)

Battle of Fort George

An American tactical success undermined by the failure to pursue. Vincent's intact withdrawal to Burlington Heights set …

27 May 1813

Battle of Sackets Harbor

Brig. Gen. Jacob Brown

The British amphibious assault on the American Lake Ontario naval base was repulsed with significant casualties. The eng…

29 May 1813

6 Jun 1813

Lt. Col. John Harvey (under Brig. Gen. John Vincent)

Battle of Stoney Creek

The capture of both American generals in a single night action was exceptional. It reversed the momentum gained at Fort …

8 Jun 1813

Engagement at Forty Mile Creek

Cdre. Sir James Lucas Yeo (naval); Brig. Gen. John Vincent (land)

Yeo's naval intervention at Forty Mile Creek completed the rout begun at Stoney Creek. The American retreat to Fort Geor…

24 Jun 1813

Lt. James FitzGibbon; Capt. Dominique Ducharme

Battle of Beaver Dams

Underscored the military effectiveness of Indigenous warriors in woodland combat and further contracted the American per…

19 Dec 1813

Capture of Fort Niagara

Col. John Murray

The capture avenged the American destruction of Newark and secured the entire Niagara frontier for Britain. Fort Niagara…

30 Dec 1813

Burning of Black Rock and Buffalo

Lt. Gen. Gordon Drummond, Maj. Gen. Phineas Riall

Retaliation for the American burning of Newark. The destruction of Black Rock and Buffalo completed the British sweep of…

19 Dec 1813

The burning of Washington demonstrated that the United States, having invaded its neighbour and burned the capital of Up…

13 Nov 1813

Engagement at Nanticoke Creek

Lt. Col. Henry Bostwick (Norfolk militia)

Norfolk militia repulsed and largely destroyed an American raiding party that had crossed Lake Erie to plunder the settl…

British / Canadian Victory

26 Oct 1813

Battle of Chateauguay

Lt. Col. Charles de Salaberry

The war's finest defensive action. Lieutenant Colonel Charles de Salaberry's 339 Canadian Voltigeurs, militia, and Abena…

11 Nov 1813

Battle of Crysler's Farm

Lt. Col. Joseph Morrison

Crysler's Farm ended the last American attempt to capture Montreal. Together with Chateauguay two weeks earlier, it perm…

29 Jul - 3 Aug 1813

British Raids on Lake Champlain (1813)

Lt. Col. John Murray

British control of Lake Champlain following the capture of Growler and Eagle allowed a series of raids deep into America…

Jul-Aug 1813

British Raids on Vermont

Lt. Col. John Murray

British forces raided Vermont communities across Lake Champlain with impunity. Some Vermont communities openly traded wi…

Jun 1813 - Aug 1814

Barney's Flotilla and St. Leonard's Creek

Rear Adm. George Cockburn, Capt. Robert Barrie

Barney's flotilla was the only sustained American resistance to British control of the Chesapeake. Its eventual destruct…

Apr-Sep 1813

Cockburn's Chesapeake Raids of 1813

Rear Adm. George Cockburn

Cockburn's 1813 raids established British control of the Chesapeake Bay a full year before the Washington campaign. They…

3 May 1813

Rear Adm. George Cockburn

Raid on Havre de Grace

The most notorious of Cockburn's 1813 raids. A single American militiaman — John O'Neill — manned a battery alone after …

6 May 1813

Raids on Georgetown and Fredericktown

Rear Adm. George Cockburn

Cockburn's raids on the Sassafras River communities three days after Havre de Grace. The militia at Georgetown offered g…

Lt. Col. Henry Beatty, Lt. Neale (CSS Constellation battery)

Battle of Craney Island

A rare American defensive success in the Chesapeake that saved Norfolk and the frigate Constellation from capture. The r…

22 Jun 1813

25 Jun 1813

Lt. Col. Sir Sidney Beckwith

Battle of Hampton

The capture of Hampton was marred by atrocities committed by the Independent Companies of Foreigners against civilians. …

N/A — Red Stick Creek warriors (British-allied)

30 Aug 1813

Red Stick Creek Victory

Battle of Fort Mims

The Fort Mims massacre triggered the Creek War and Andrew Jackson's devastating campaign that culminated at Horseshoe Be…

USS Hornet vs HMS Peacock

Capt. James Lawrence

A swift American sloop victory that demonstrated competence beyond the heavy frigate class. Peacock sank so quickly that…

24 Feb 1813

USS Enterprise vs HMS Boxer

Lt. William Burrows (killed)

Both commanders were killed in action — a rare distinction. They were buried side by side in Portland, Maine, with full …

5 Sep 1813

1 Jun 1813

HMS Shannon vs USS Chesapeake

Capt. Philip Broke

The most consequential single-ship action of the Age of Sail. Shannon's eleven-minute destruction of Chesapeake ended th…

14 Aug 1813

Cmdr. John Fordyce Maples

HMS Pelican vs USS Argus

The capture of Argus ended a month-long commerce raid in the Irish Sea that had embarrassed the Royal Navy. Pelican's gu…

12 Jun 1813

Capture of USS Surveyor

Lt. John Crerie

A small cutting-out action in which British boarding parties captured an American cutter at Gloucester Point, Virginia. …

3 Jun 1813

Capture of USS Growler and USS Eagle

Cmdr. Thomas Everard, garrison commander at Isle aux Noix

The capture of two American sloops on the Richelieu River gave the British temporary control of Lake Champlain and force…

The Lake Ontario Arms Race

1813-1814 (ongoing naval competition)

Strategic Stalemate

Cdre. Sir James Lucas Yeo

The extraordinary arms race on Lake Ontario produced HMS St. Lawrence, a 112-gun first-rate ship of the line built at Ki…

1814

17-20 Jul 1814

Battle of Prairie du Chien

Lt. Col. William McKay

British capture of this remote fur-trading post on the upper Mississippi extended their control deep into the American i…

4 Aug 1814

Battle of Mackinac Island (1814)

Lt. Col. Robert McDouall

The failed American attempt to retake Mackinac ensured British control of the upper Great Lakes for the remainder of the…

21 Jul 1814

Sgt. James Keating (RM); various Indigenous war leaders

Battle of Credit Island

The future President Zachary Taylor was driven back by Indigenous warriors and a single British cannon. The engagement c…

Capt. Arthur Sinclair's expedition

American Victory (raid)

Raid on Sault Ste. Marie

The Americans burned the North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie — a civilian target of marginal military value. The…

20 Jul 1814

19 Jul 1814

Engagement at Campbell's Island

British-allied Sauk warriors

Another failed American attempt to reassert control of the upper Mississippi. The Sauk warriors, allied with Britain, ma…

Jul-Aug 1814

Barrie's Lake Huron Expedition

Lt. Col. Robert McDouall & Lt. Miller Worsley, RN

A comprehensive British campaign to maintain control of the upper Great Lakes. The destruction of Nancy, followed by the…

3-6 Sep 1814

Capture of USS Tigress and USS Scorpion

Lt. Andrew Bulger

The capture of the last two American warships on Lake Huron completed British control of the upper Great Lakes. Both sch…

Brig. Gen. Winfield Scott

Battle of Chippawa

A genuine American tactical achievement reflecting the maturation of regular forces. It demonstrated that professional t…

5 Jul 1814

25 Jul 1814

Battle of Lundy's Lane

Lt. Gen. Gordon Drummond

The bloodiest engagement of the War of 1812. Both armies suffered casualties exceeding 25 percent in fighting that conti…

A minor frontier engagement in which an American raiding force defeated a British detachment in the woods of southwester…

4 Mar 1814

American Raid

Raid on Port Dover

Lt. Col. John Campbell

An American punitive raid that burned the Canadian town of Port Dover, destroying mills, distilleries, and private homes…

14-15 May 1814

12 Aug 1814

Capture of USS Somers and USS Ohio

British boats from Fort Erie vicinity

Two American schooners captured by British cutting-out operations on the Niagara River during the siege of Fort Erie. An…

24 Aug 1814

Battle of Bladensburg

Maj. Gen. Robert Ross

The collapse of the American defence despite numerical superiority reflected the fundamental disparity between Peninsula…

American Defensive Victory

Siege of Fort Erie

Maj. Gen. Jacob Brown, Brig. Gen. Edmund Gaines, Brig. Gen. Peter Porter

The bloodiest sustained operation of the war. Though the Americans held Fort Erie, they subsequently abandoned and destr…

4 Aug - 21 Sep 1814

3 Aug 1814

Engagement at Conjocta Creek

Lt. Gen. Gordon Drummond

A rearguard action during the American retreat from the Niagara battlefield. Drummond's pursuit confirmed that the Ameri…

24-25 Aug 1814

The Burning of Washington

Maj. Gen. Robert Ross, Rear Adm. George Cockburn

The burning of Washington demonstrated that the United States, having launched an invasion of its neighbour, could not d…

Brig. Gen. Duncan McArthur

Raid on Malcolm's Mills

The last American raid into Upper Canada. McArthur's mounted force destroyed mills and supplies in the Grand River valle…

Inconclusive (British withdrew, Americans withdrew next day)

6 Nov 1814

Battle of Cook's Mills

Brig. Gen. Daniel Bissell

The last engagement of the Niagara Campaign. Both sides withdrew, confirming the strategic exhaustion that would lead to…

19 Oct 1814

30 Mar 1814

Battle of Lacolle Mills

Maj. Richard Handcock

Wilkinson's final disgrace. An American force of 4,000 with artillery was repulsed by 300 defenders in a stone mill. Wil…

1 Sep - Oct 1814

Capture of Castine and the Penobscot Expedition

Lt. Gov. Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, Rear Adm. Edward Griffith

The eight-month occupation of eastern Maine demonstrated that Britain could seize and hold American territory at will. T…

American Victory (ambush)

Battle of Big Sandy Creek

Maj. Daniel Appling

A sharp American ambush that captured an entire British boat expedition. The loss of experienced sailors and marines wea…

30 May 1814

6 May 1814

Cdre. Sir James Lucas Yeo, Lt. Gen. Gordon Drummond

Raid on Oswego

A well-executed British amphibious assault that captured Fort Ontario and destroyed American military supplies intended …

Brig. Gen. Alexander Macomb (land); Cmdt. Thomas Macdonough (naval)

Battle of Plattsburgh

The most significant American defensive victory of the war and the largest engagement fought by either side. Macdonough'…

Inconclusive (Ross killed)

11 Sep 1814

12 Sep 1814

Battle of North Point

Maj. Gen. Robert Ross (killed), Col. Arthur Brooke

The death of Ross fundamentally altered the Baltimore campaign. Without his aggressive leadership, the British advance s…

Lt. Col. Philip Reed (Maryland militia)

Battle of Caulk's Field

A rare American militia victory in the Chesapeake. Captain Parker — Byron's cousin and a rising naval star — was killed …

31 Aug 1814

28 Aug - 3 Sep 1814

Raid on Alexandria, Virginia

Capt. James Gordon, RN

While Washington burned, a British naval squadron ascended the Potomac and forced Alexandria to surrender without a shot…

Bombardment of Fort McHenry

Maj. George Armistead

The defence of Fort McHenry ended British operations in the Chesapeake and provided the United States with its national …

British Strategic Positioning (pre-empted by Jackson)

13-14 Sep 1814

Aug-Nov 1814

British Operations at Pensacola

Maj. Edward Nicolls, Capt. William Percy RN

British use of Spanish Pensacola as a staging base for Gulf operations and recruitment of Creek/Seminole warriors. Jacks…

Battle of Horseshoe Bend

Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson

Ended the Creek War and established Jackson's military reputation. The territorial gains came at the expense of Indigeno…

27 Mar 1814

First Battle of Fort Bowyer

Lt. Col. William Lawrence

The repulse redirected British strategy toward a direct assault on New Orleans - a decision with far-reaching consequenc…

15 Sep 1814

14 Dec 1814

Battle of Lake Borgne

Capt. Nicholas Lockyer

The capture of the American gunboat flotilla on Lake Borgne removed the only naval obstacle to the British approach to N…

11 Jul 1814

Capture of Eastport and Moose Island

Lt. Col. Andrew Pilkington & Capt. Sir Thomas Hardy RN

The first step in Britain's systematic occupation of eastern Maine. Eastport was taken without a shot — the garrison of …

1-3 Sep 1814

Battle of Hampden and Capture of Castine

Lt. Gen. Sir John Sherbrooke & Rear Adm. Edward Griffith

The British occupied the entire Penobscot Bay region with minimal opposition. Captain Morris burned USS Adams to prevent…

28 Mar 1814

The capture of Essex eliminated America's most effective commerce raider from the Pacific and illustrated the fundamenta…

USS Peacock vs HMS Epervier

Capt. Lewis Warrington

An American sloop victory that captured a British brig and $118,000 in coin. The action demonstrated continued American …

29 Apr 1814

8 Apr 1814

Raid on Pettipaug (Essex), Connecticut

Capt. Richard Coote

The most devastating British boat raid of the war. 136 men in six boats destroyed 27 American vessels at Pettipaug Point…

British Victory (privateer destroyed)

26 Sep 1814

Battle of Fayal (General Armstrong)

Capt. Robert Lloyd (HMS Plantagenet, 74 guns)

A controversial engagement in a neutral Portuguese harbour. Reid's privateer inflicted severe casualties on British boar…

Jun-Dec 1814

British Occupation of Nantucket

Cdre. Sir Thomas Hardy

The island of Nantucket declared its effective neutrality after the British blockade destroyed the whaling industry. The…

20 Apr 1814

Capture of USS Frolic (sloop)

Capt. Hugh Pigot (HMS Orpheus)

The capture of USS Frolic — a brand-new heavy sloop named after the British vessel taken in 1812 — demonstrated that eve…

22 Jun 1814

Capture of USS Rattlesnake

Capt. George Collier (HMS Leander)

HMS Leander — one of the powerful new frigates built by the Admiralty specifically to counter the American super-frigate…

12 Jul 1814

Capt. Augustus Brine (HMS Medway)

Capture of USS Syren

A Barbary War veteran captured off the coast of Africa by a 74-gun ship of the line after an eleven-hour chase. Syren's …

13 Jun 1814

Raid on Wareham, Massachusetts

Capt. (from HMS Nimrod)

British raiders from HMS Nimrod penetrated deep into Buzzards Bay to attack the Massachusetts town of Wareham, burning a…

American Victory (town held)

Bombardment of Stonington

Local militia and volunteers

The failed bombardment of a Connecticut town by a powerful squadron demonstrated the limitations of naval firepower agai…

9-12 Aug 1814

12 Aug 1814

Capture of USS Tigress of Lake Erie

Lt. Radcliffe, RN

One of several British cutting-out operations on the lakes that demonstrated the Royal Navy's ability to project power t…

1815

Battle of New Orleans

Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson

A decisive American tactical victory with no bearing on the war's outcome, which was already settled by treaty. Its prim…

8 Jan 1815

8-12 Feb 1815

Second Battle of Fort Bowyer

Maj. Gen. John Lambert, Col. Burgoyne (RE)

The war's final land battle was a British victory. Fort Bowyer's capture positioned Britain to take Mobile and isolate N…

15 Jan 1815

Cdre. John Hayes (squadron); Capt. Henry Hope (HMS Endymion)

Capture of USS President

The capture of America's most powerful warship and most celebrated captain concluded the Atlantic naval war. Every Ameri…

USS Constitution vs HMS Cyane and HMS Levant

Capt. Charles Stewart

Constitution's final victory of the war — fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed. Stewart's manoeuvring against two…

American Victory (post-treaty)

20 Feb 1815

USS Hornet vs HMS Penguin

Capt. James Biddle

The last ship-to-ship naval action of the war, fought nearly three months after the Treaty of Ghent. Both commanding off…

British / Indigenous Victory (post-treaty)

23 Mar 1815

24 May 1815

Battle of the Sink Hole

Black Hawk and allied warriors

The actual last engagement of the War of 1812 — fought five months after the Treaty of Ghent. Future presidents Taylor a…