Customer Reviews

Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence

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First two explanations: Amazon won't print this response without a rating of stars. I'm the last person to offer a judgment, but since the computer is implacable, I settled on a four. Then, too, I had originally sent this note to follow Mr. Heater's, but again the Amazon computer had its own ideas. Perhaps interested persons should first read his thoughtful remarks before my answer to them.

Authors should not respond to criticism that concerns matters of taste, but matters of fact deserve a reply:

First, my thanks to Mr. Heater for pointing out a mistake on page 106 of "Union 1812." Of course, Meriwether Lewis was Jefferson's secretary, not William Clark. It was one of those inexplicable slip-ups that sometime happen, especially when the paragraph is peripheral to a 482-page book. But any error is deplorable, and that one will be corrected in future editions.

Mr. Heater is on shakier ground with his complaint about my referring to Francis Scott Key as "Frank." Then, as now, it was a common nickname. For example, John Randolph, as their friendship progressed, started a letter on May 10, 1813, "Dear Frank, for so without ceremony permit me to call you."

It may console Mr. Heater that my choice could have been even more distressing to him. Victor Weybright, in his biography of Key, "Spangled Banner," reports that Revolutionary War comrades of Key's father, John Ross Key, had stopped at the Key family home after the war ended to see John's new baby. When the infant grew up to be a lawyer, he sometimes represented those veterans and always refused to take a fee.

As for the veterans, Weybright tells us, "They called him Frankie Key as long as he lived."

This book has many of the same quirks as Lagguth's previous book Patriots (it does tend to be gossipy and jump around) but don't let that stop you from reading about one of the most fascinating period's in American history. Traditional sources tend to write as if the Revolutionary War was finished and the country bounced along until the Civil War. A.J. Langguth proves that the first years of American Independence were trying and difficult and while the results were amazingly successful there was a great deal of anguish we were proceeding down the wrong path. This book is fascinating and engrossing and well worth your time if you're a student of the path's less travelled in American History.

I just finished A. J. Langguth's Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. This is the sequel to Langguth's excellent 1991 Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution, and is written in the same style. Instead of being a solid historical narrative, it instead focuses on individuals and their contributions to the subject. In this instance, it addresses the American politicians and soldiers who brought about and fought the War of 1812. While this is an interesting and novel approach, it means that there are large gaps in the coverage of the conflict. As just one example, there is no coverage of some of the important land battles such as Lundy's Lane. Langguth focuses on the great Indian leader Tecumseh, who played a critical role in the War of 1812, and was killed in battle while fighting alongside the British. Tecumseh was a born and charismatic leader who earned the respect of friend and foe, including his arch enemy, William Henry Harrison. While I've read a few books on the War of 1812 over the years, I've never seen one that addresses it from the perspective of the political and military leaders of the United States. The focus on Tecumseh, who was definitely an American legend, is particularly interesting because it focuses on the role that the Indians played, and the fact that they entered into a marriage of convenience with the British in the hope of regaining the lands that they lost to the white settlers.

Langguth is a journalist by training, and he's a terrific writer. The book is very well written, with an easy, flowing style. At the same time, I did find the fact that the book jumps aroudn quite a bit to be a bit frustrating and disconcerting, as it emphasizes the gaps in the coverage of the book. The book suffers from a paucity of maps, and, as pointed out above, there are some significant gaps in the coverage of the war itself. Having said that, it's a novel and unique approach to a forgotten conflict, and Langguth does a good job of building his case that the War of 1812 was really just an extension of the American Revolution. He also makes an interesting and persuasive argument that the Civil War was a direct result of the conflicts that emerged from the War of 1812, including the tension between north and south.

This was an enjoyable and worthwhile read, and one I recommend undertaking. It's a worthy addition to any War of 1812 library.

Most historians think of America's second war with Britain as an American defeat, an embarrassment. After the Revolutionary War there was little doubt that we would clash with Europe again. With Spain to our South and West, England to our North, and France seeking Canada and New Orleans back, none of these three belligerents showed the slightest bit of respect for the newly independent Nation. All three thought the US a short lived experiment to be plucked. But after Jefferson completes the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the US Western Boundary jumps the Mississippi River, Britain redoubles its efforts to control the borders of the Northwest Territory and the fur trade, while Spain continues to constrict American expansion to the South.

For the next 10 years tensions mount, particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee, as the British and Spanish both waged a vicious frontier war against America by offering munitions and safe haven to their Indian allies. Assailed by the Brits to the North and the Spanish to the South, vicious clashes with the Indians were common and several movements, particularly by Aaron Burr, were underway to cleave those States from the US and move them into Spain's and Britain's orbit. The War Hawks finally succeed in declaring war on Britain and the stage is set for America to accomplish its goals. We were horrifically weak militarily yet we managed to control Lake Erie, regain Detroit, defeat Tecumseh, stop a British invasion down Lake Champlain, invade Spanish Florida with impunity and defeat Wellington's best at New Orleans.

Langguth's title, Union 1812, says it all. Britain's second resounding defeat by American arms was not only as singular as its first, it accomplished more. The War of 1812 defined us for the first time as a Nation, North, South, East and West. As subsequent treaties proved, the stage was set to reinforce our Northern boundaries as agreed to with Britain in the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War and, under John Quincy Adam's Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain in 1818, extend the Continental limits of the US westward to the Pacific Ocean while, in the same document, acquiring all of Florida. Rather than the embarrassment most historians think it was, the War of 1812 was a significant, strategic victory for the young United States that not only defined our continental limits, it reinforced the American Union and ushered in a period of prosperity our country had never before experienced, called The Era of Good Feelings.

Thank you, Mr. Langguth, for setting the record straight.

In his Acknowledgement at the end of the book, the author gives an excellent short review of this book which reads that:

This book takes up the nation's story from the conclusion of the Revolutionary war and carries it through to the end of America's second war with Britain. To solve the riddle of why such a seemingly avoidable war was fought at all requires a review of the three decades between the two peace treaties, especially because names and events from that era likely, to be only dimly familiar--the alien and Sedition Acts, the X Y-Z Affair, Citizens Genet, the Louisiana Purchase, the Burr Hamilton.


The book is an excellent outline of the United State history from the American Revolution almost to the Civil War. The author has several interesting observations. He quotes Isaac Chauncey's remark . . . ."I have yet to learn that the color of the skin, or the cut or trimming of the coat, can affect a man's qualifications or usefulness . . . ." The author observes "American had declared in 1776 that it had outgrown England. In 1814, has Americans outgrown New England?" He further observes that "Launched by the promise of conquest and to avenge national honor, the War 1812 was no triumph by traditional standards. Finally, he states "But when Webster and Henry Clay both died in 1852 the age of compromise was over.

For both the "History Buff" and for the reader unfamiliar with this period of history, this work is well written and well worth reading.

"Union 1812" is not the most fact-filled, linear historical treatment of a war or any other period, but it was a great way to view this time from the perspective of a series of important people that shaped our history in the early 19th century. By focusing on a series of great and not-so-great men, some well-known and some forgotten, you really get a sense of how in our American tradition, people make history, history doesn't make people. It is a pretty fast-paced read and it is by no means a study of the strategy, tactics or politics of the time, but I came away understanding how we go in the mess, how we got out, and how we can avoid similar situations in the future.

I would recommend this to anyone who isn't terribly familiar with the events surrounding the War of 1812. They can dive into it and get caught up quickly. It's also great for those who already have a good knowledge of this era. Very well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

"Union 1812" tells the story of the War of 1812 through the stories of the Americans who participated, in one way or another, in its lead-up and fighting. Author A. J. Langguth does an excellent job of telling the story of the War through these cameos of the participants.

The individuals involved constitute could populate a pantheon of Early America. They include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Zebulon Pike, James and Dolly Madison, Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and many others.

I have read other books about the War of 1812 and do not recommend this as a first book for the study of the War. For one with a basic knowledge of it, this will pick your memory so as to enable you to appreciate aspects which may have been overlooked or have faded from memory.

This book brings to the reader's attention the crucial role played by the Indian allies of the British. It covers the main theaters of operation, Lake Erie, the Niagara Front, New Orleans and Washington-Baltimore. I particularly enjoyed the repeated reference to operations involving Fort Malden, Ontario, which my family visited several years ago. It ties together the military, political and social aspects of the war into an understandable package. I enjoyed this thoroughly. I trust that you will also.

I was looking forward to this book since I was not conversant with the War of 1812. Unfortunately, close to half of the book is not about the War. The first 160 pages are thumbnail rehashes of American history from Washington's retirement after the Revolution through the Constitutional Convention, through the administrations of Washington, Adams and Jefferson and the early life of Tecumseh. Suddenly, we're following an invasion into Canada led by an American named Hull and learn four pages into that description that Madison had signed a delaration of war against England and there was a plan, in fact, to invade Canada. Where either of those points came from was not described in detail as other facets of the war would be.

The relevant points of the first 160 pages could have been summed up in 10 pages - our first three presidents, given the opportunity, avoided foreign wars. Instead, it read like a survey book that was going to cover 100 years in 400 pages. For those who are mildly conversant with American history, these pages were needless. The 38 page Afterword was interminable and went into the next few presidential elections - long after the War of 1812.

On the other hand, the accounts of the battles, on land and on sea, are terrific. After Mr. Lagguth got into the war, the book improved tremendously, although I thought it a bit thin on the dissent of the New England states. If these two hundred pages had comprised the entire book, it would have been absolutely wonderful and a five star beauty. in addition to the battle scenes, he describes the participants and their motivations well.

Mr. Lagguth is obviously a good writer and it really shows through in his battle accounts. He obviously knows his stuff. However, I was reminded of the student who knows so much that he throws everything in whether it is relevant or not. So much of the ancillary accounts in this book did not illuminate the subject.

The account of the war itself is well worth reading. If I were to loan this book, I would tell the reader to skip to somewhere around page 150. At the very least, the first part can be skimmed as I found myself doing.

All in all, only mildly recommended with the cautions as noted above.

What I most enjoyed about the book is its coverage of the essential issues through dialogue. Rather than pontificating about what had happened as historians usually do, Langguth relives the events more like a play and quotes from the real players through their letters and other public documents. Amazing some of the things these characters said about each other and what they did to each other.

I also appreciated the background story he wove about the tensions between the states and the federal government, the teetering financial difficulties the nation faced and how shrewd men like Hamilton and others kept the country from bankruptcy, and how the relationship between the Indians and the Americans (Long Knives) evolved over time.