Despite being a “forgotten war”, there is at least one lesson that can be learned from the War of 1812.
As I continue my long, page-flipping journey through Jon Latimer’s book about 1812, I have been struck again and again by the theme of arrogance. The War of 1812 was brought about more or less by arrogance. Despite Britain’s desperate situation fighting against Napoleon, it was only arrogance brought on by overwhelming naval power that made them think that they could stop American ships and seize sailors off them, and not face any consequences. In response, it was only a great degree of American arrogance that could have ever convinced them to go to war with Britain. At the outbreak of the war, America had a small army, with only a few aged veterans and Indian fighters to lead it.
When war was declared, both sides arrogantly believed that Britain would rule the waves, and that the US would be unstoppable on the land. In both cases, that arrogance led to disaster. The Americans sent a poorly led, poorly organized attack into Canada that was bloodily repulsed. On the seas, the British sent inferior ships and inferior sailors to fight the Americans and promptly lost several ship actions.
War is always a last resort and it has no room for arrogance. Arrogance blinds people to the true challenges and the true cost of an undertaking. We would do well to study these mistakes of our forefathers and do our best not to repeat them.
