trevornewsham-61085

This "documentary" is closer to propaganda. It paints a picture of patriotism and American success. I'm retired from the military (USAF 20 yrs) and extremely patriotic, but that doesn't mean I'm in favor of rewriting history. The war of 1812 was a lesson on how NOT to fight a war. We had severe internal strife between the Federalists and the Republicans (no, not those Republicans), we had poorly trained officers some of which were more in favor of seeing the British win rather than the Republicans under Maddison and we had very few "regulars" with which to fight. We lost far more battles than we won, were terrified of the Indians supporting the Brits, and our logistics were a disgrace. Soldiers didn't have food, weren't paid for months, and resorted to destroying and pillaging local farms and orchards to feed themselves. Which didn't exactly endear them to the locals on either side of the border. We didn't have a clear goal to achieve, and goals we did have were poorly communicated to the generals fighting the war. We were lucky that the Brits were so consumed and focused on France and Napoleon for most of the war. Had the Brits not been worriedaboutwar with France or actuallyfightingthe French and focused all their attentionon us we'd be speaking English today...but with a funny accent. By the time we entered into peace talks in Gent we had less bargaining power than we did at the beginning of the war. If it hadn't been for issues going on at the Congress of Vienna and another potential war with France (ultimately the 100 days war under Napoleon again) we would have lost our shirt. Yes we won a big battle in New Orleans but that actually occurred after the peace treaty had been agreed to...although not yet ratified. That final battle led by Andrew Jackson left a far more positive spin on the war than I think it deserved. In most respects, it was a monumental failure.