War of 1812, 1812 to 1815

United States U.S. Military  War of 1812 The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain began formally on June 18, 1812. It involved about 60,000 U.S. Army forces supported by 470,000 militia and volunteer troops. To end the war, the treaty of Ghent was signed 24 December 1814, however another battle was fought 8 January 1815 at New Orleans. The U.S. Congress ratified the treaty on 17 February 1815, formally ending the war.

When war was declared, the Regular Army had about 10,000 men, and about half of those were new recruits. "Each Regular Army infantry regiment was recruited from a particular state (or states). Rifle, artillery, and dragoons were recruited at large...Most, but not all, of the men recruited for a particular infantry regiment were from the state of recruitment."

Map of the.

For a list showing the regimental recruiting districts, see William A. Gordon, A Compilation of the Registers of the Army of the United States from 1815 to 1837, 1 (Washington, DC: James C. Dunn, 1837). Digital version: Interenet Archive.

United States Military Units
Not all men enrolled in state militia units. Men also enrolled in federal (US) units. The records for the federal units are more extensive than those for the state militia units. United States (Federal) Units U.S. Infantry U.S. Rifles U.S. Cavalry U.S. Artillery and Engineers U.S. Navy U.S. Marines

States and Territories
Many men enrolled in state or territory militia units. The records for these men were kept by the state or territory. Check a state or territory below:

Battles

 * Queenston, Ontario (British victory) 13 October 1812
 * Battle of Queenston Heights (Wikipedia)
 * Battle of Queenston Heights (Archives of Ontario)
 * Battle of Frenchtown (Historyofwar.org) (British victory) - 22 January 1813 now Monroe, Michigan on the Raisin River
 * Battle of Lake Erie (Wikipedia) (United States naval victory) 10 September 1813
 * Battle of the Thames (Wikipedia) (Both sides claimed victory) - Moraviantown, on Thames River, Kent County, Ontario 5 October 1813
 * Batle of Lundy's Lane (Historycentral.com) (Both sides claimed victory) - about one mile from Niagara Falls 25 July 1814
 * Battle of New Orleans (Historycentral.com) (United States victory) (after peace treaty was signed) 8 January 1815
 * Campaigns of the War of 1812-1815, against Great Britain, sketched and criticised; with brief biographies of the American engineers, George W. Cullum,FHL Microfilm 1404257
 * Paine, Ralph Delahaye, The fight for a free sea: a chronicle of the War of 1812 New Haven Connecticut, Yale Univeristy Press, 1920) pagesFHL Book 235 973 H2

Documentaries

 * PBS The War of 1812 Website is a documentary about the war.


 * PBS, The War of 1812, has a short video with information about the war. It also has lists of historic sites with short histories of each.


 * History.com, War of 1812, has several short videos about the war as well as a brief written histories of the war and a few prominent people.


 * Galafilm, War of 1812, has brief histories of events, historical maps, a bibliography, and lists of links to other War of 1812 sites.


 * Naval History and Heritage, Bicentennial of the War of 1812, US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard, has videos, biographies, etc.


 * United States Navy, Bicentennial of the War of 1812, videos

Histories

 * Dudley, William S. The Naval War of 1812: a Documentary History. (Washington, District of Columbia, Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy 1985-2002). FHL Book 973 M3


 * Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler. Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, c1997). 636 pages. FHL Book 973 H26


 * Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812, a Forgotten Conflict (Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1989). 457 pages. FHL Book 973 H2 


 * Horsman, Reginald The War of 1812 (New York, New York, Alfred A Knophf, 1969) pages 286 FHL Book 973 H2


 * Jacobs, James Ripley and Glenn Tucker, The War of 1812 : a compact history (New York, New York, Hawthorn Books copyright 1969)


 * Latimer, Jon: 1812: war with America (Cambridge, Massachusette: Belknap Press, c2007 pages 637 FHL Book 973 M2


 * Lossing, Benson J. The pictorial field-book of the War of 1812: or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the history, biography, scenery, relics, and traditions of the last war for American independence (Salt Lake City: Digitized by the Genealogical Society of Utah c2009) View a great digital version


 * War of 1812 newspaper clippings and pictures (Frankfort, Kentucky, Kentucky Historical Society, 1966)

Guides

 * Fredriksen, John C. "Resource Guide for the War of 1812". ([S.l.]: J.C. Fredriksen, c1979).


 * Fredriksen, John C. The United States Army in the War of 1812: Concise Biographies of Commanders and Operational Histories of Regiments, with Bibliographies of Published and Primary Sources. (Jefferson, North Carolina c2009). 303 pages. FHL Book 973 M2


 * Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, From Its Organization, September 29,1789 to March 2, 1903, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903). Digital version: Internet Archive. Abbreviations, vol. 1, page 9. Army organization, vol. 2, page 560. Artillery and Engineer Regiments, vol. 1, page 50. Forts and soldiers homes, vol. 2, page 475. Battles, vol. 2, page 280, 298, 301, 391. Cavalry Regiments, vol. 1, page 65. Dragoon Regiments, vol. 1, page 79. Fencibles and mounted riflemen, vol. 1, 143. Infantry, vol. 1, page 81. Legion, vol. 1, page 139. Rangers and riflemen, vol. 1, page 141. Voltigeurs and Sea Fencibles, vol. 1, 143. War with Great Britain, vol. 281. Officers of Regular Army, killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, vol. 2, page 13. Quartermaster's Department, vol. 1, page 40. Record and Pension Office, 1892, vol. 1, page 45. Topographical Engineers, vol. 1, page 43.


 * Rose, Christine. Military bounty land 1776 - 1855. (San Jose, California: Cr Publications, c2011). FHL Book 973 M27


 * Malcomson, Robert. Historical Dictionary of the War of 1812. (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2006). 701 pages. FHL Book 973 H26 


 * Schweitzer, George K., "War of 1812 genealogy" (Knoxville, Tennessee, 1983) - Includes general history of the war, the types of records created, and the titles of those records.


 * Scott, Craig Roberts: Medical holdings in the National Archives: patient records prior to World War II Including War of 1812 (journal article) pages 114-130 FHL Book 973 B2ng


 * Skeen, C. Edward: Citizen soldiers in the War of 1812 (Lexington, Kentucky: Universtiy Press of Kentucky, c1999). Includes description of the militia system in the states before the War of 1812, how the militia was combined with the regular army, and what happened. Bibliography: p. 215-220. Includes index. 229 pages..

Navy and Privateers

 * Naval History and Heritage Command, Officers of American Naval Victories in the War of 1812.


 * Naval History and Heritage Command, Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the War of 1812.


 * Naval History and Heritage Command, War of 1812, has links to many interesting sites, some with lists of soldiers names.


 * Good, Timothy S. American Privateers in the War of 1812: the Vessels and their Prizes as Recorded in Niles' Weekly Register (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, c2012). 209 pages. FHL book 973 B38

Soldiers' Claims

 * Higgins, Francis J. "Index of Awards on Claims of the Soldiers of the War of 1812" (Baltimore, Maryland, 1969, 1994)

Biographies

 * Muzzey, A. B. Reminiscences and Memorials of Men of the Revolution and their Families (Salt Lake City: Digitized by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 2009 View Digitized version

Bounty Lands

 * War of 1812, military bounty land warrants, 1815-1858 (The National Archives, Washington, District of Columbia) FHL Film 15 Microfilm reels

African Americans
During the War of 1812, many African Americans fought in the U.S. armed forces, especially in the Navy. Many others fought on the side of the British.


 * Van Thienen, Erik, The War of 1812, 1812-1815, (Yahoo! Answers, accessed 29 May 2012), has a good explanation of the role of African Americans in the War, including the names of over 20 soldiers. It also gives several sources for more information.

Web Sites

 * War of 1812 - US Army Infantry, Rangers and Riflemen


 * NARA, War of 1812 Discharge Certificates, has an explanation of the records, and the following appendixes: Appendix I: List of Units and Subunits Appendix II: List of Company/Detachment Commanders Appendix III: List of Soldiers by Name Appendix IV: List of Soldiers by Unit


 * The USGENWEB Project has a special project relating to the War of 1812. Look under the state your ancestor came from and then click on military records.


 * Wikipedia contributors, War of 1812 Article


 * US Navy and Marines, Bicentennial of the War of 1812, especially the history section.


 * War of 1812 Genealogical Research has links to various War of 1812 web sites.


 * Causes and events of the War of 1812: a Timeline - includes political events, military events, and military events in Europe.


 * War of 1812 Timeline


 * War of 1812 Resources - list of resources available in the Newberry Library.


 * Society of the War of 1812 The purpose of this page is to providelinks to other websites that relate to the War of 1812.


 * Illinois Society War of 1812


 * Online War of 1812 Indexes &amp; Records


 * War of 1812


 * Ely Parker's List of Oneida Indian Volunteers, War of 1812


 * Major William McIntosh’s Company of Creek Indians, Creek War of 1814


 * Department of the Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command, Officers of the War of 1812, Marine Corps Officers


 * Department of the Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command, Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the War of 1812


 * Cyndi's List


 * Olive Tree Genealogy, War of 1812 Genealogy and History


 * The Man Who Captured the White House - Brief histories of the activities of General Ross, including the burning of the White House and the events for the writing of the Star Spangled Banner.