For Honour's Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy PeaceIn the tradition of Margaret MacMillan’s Paris 1919 comes a new consideration of Canada’s most famous war and the Treaty of Ghent that unsatisfactorily concluded it, from one of this country’s premier military historians. In the Canadian imagination, the War of 1812 looms large. It was a war in which British and Indian troops prevailed in almost all of the battles, in which the Americans were unable to hold any of the land they fought for, in which a young woman named Laura Secord raced over the Niagara peninsula to warn of American plans for attack (though how she knew has never been discovered), and in which Canadian troops burned down the White House. Competing American claims insist to this day that, in fact, it was they who were triumphant. But where does the truth lie? Somewhere in the middle, as is revealed in this major new reconsideration from one of Canada’s master historians. Drawing on never-before-seen archival material, Zuehlke paints a vibrant picture of the war’s major battles, vividly re-creating life in the trenches, the horrifying day-to-day manoeuvring on land and sea, and the dramatic negotiations in the Flemish city of Ghent that brought the war to an unsatisfactory end for both sides. By focusing on the fraught dispute in which British and American diplomats quarrelled as much amongst themselves as with their adversaries, Zuehlke conjures the compromises and backroom deals that yielded conventions resonating in relations between the United States and Canada to this very day. |
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
The Search for Satisfaction | 34 |
While Disunion Prevails | 83 |
Failures of Communication | 101 |
The Demons of War Unchained III | 111 |
The Valiant Have Bled | 125 |
Opportunities for Usefulness | 137 |
Under Great Danger | 242 |
Destitute of Military Fire | 257 |
Great Obstacles to Accommodation | 272 |
A Capital Burned a Campaign Lost | 313 |
The Blessing of Peace | 370 |
Honour Preserved | 382 |
The Text of the Treaty of Ghent | 391 |
Notes | 401 |
Failures of Command | 149 |
Peace Sincerely Desired | 169 |
Fields of Victory Fields of Shame | 228 |
Bibliography | 425 |
Other editions - View all
For Honour's Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace Mark Zuehlke Limited preview - 2007 |
For Honour's Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace Mark Zuehlke No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
aboard agreed Albert Gallatin American Archives Canada Armstrong army attack August Bathurst battle Bayard Berton blockade boats boundary Brant Brig Britain British commissioners Brock campaign Canadian cannon captured Castlereagh Chauncey Chesapeake colonies command Congress Dearborn declared defend Detroit Federalist fight fire fleet force Fort Malden France French frigate frontier Gambier George Ghent guns Harrison Henry Clay Henry Goulburn Hitsman House Hull Ibid Indians instructions James Madison Jefferson John Quincy Adams Kentucky Kingston Lake Ontario land Lawrence Library and Archives Liverpool London Lord March military militia militiamen minister Mississippi Monroe Montreal nation naval negotiation Niagara Niagara Peninsula North America officers ordered orders-in-council peace political President Press Prevost Procter proposed redcoats regulars Rensselaer reported Republican River Royal Navy Russell Sackets Harbor sailed secretary Senate ships soldiers surrender Tecumseh territory Toronto treaty troops United Upper Canada Viscount Castlereagh War Hawks warriors Washington Wilkinson William wounded wrote York