The War of 1812

An Annotated Bibliography

John Grodzinski

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780415956314
• eBook ISBN: 9781135912185
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

John R. Grodzinski's volume in the Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies covers the origins of the War of 1812 - the major post-revolutionary conflict fought between the United States and the British Empire - providing a general overview of the significant battles that occurred at sea and in the area of the present-day Great Lakes and U.S.-Canadian border. The key features of this research guide are the bibliographical elements, namely lists of published books, articles, and on-line resources pertaining to the War of 1812, as well as references to archival resources available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

The War of 1812 is a valuable supplementary resource for institutional libraries on both sides of the Atlantic.

CHAPTER 1

Bibliographies and Encyclopedias

1 Albion, Robert Greenhalgh. Naval and Maritime History: An Annotated Bibliography. 4th ed., rev. and enl. Mystic, Conn.: Munson Institute of American Maritime History, Marine Historical Association, 1972.

  Contains a brief section on the War of 1812. Other, more general, sections may also be helpful.

2. Boyle, Gertrude M., and Colbeck, Marjorie, eds. A Bibliography of Canadiana, First Supplement: Being Items in the Public Library of Toronto, Canada, Relating to the Early History and Development of Canada. Introduction by Henry C. Campbell. Toronto: Toronto Public Library, 1959.

  Additional acquisitions since publication of the initial volume (see item 19, below). Special emphasis is given to Ontario imprints.

3. Dictionary of American Biography. 22 vols. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1958–64.

  A biographical dictionary providing the details of key American figures related directly or indirectly to the War of 1812.

4. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vols. 5–9. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976–88.

  The relevant volumes of a biographical dictionary providing the details of Canadian key figures related directly or indirectly to the War of 1812.

5. Dictionary of National Biography. 65 vols. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885.

  A biographical dictionary providing the details of key British figures related directly or indirectly to the War of 1812.

6. Dodds, Gilbert F. Bibliography of the War of 1812: Commemorating the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the War of 1812. Columbus, Ohio: Franklin County Historical Society and Museum, 1961.

  Pamphlet. Alphabetical listing with standard bibliographic data.

7. An Exhibit to Commemorate the One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Beginning of the War of 1812. Foreword by Cecil K. Byrd, Keith C. Kern, and John Neu. Bloomington: Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1962.

  An exhibition catalog of 160 manuscripts, broadsides, pamphlets, books, and other items, some with illustrations, from the War of 1812 Collection of the Lilly Library.

8. Fredriksen, John C. Officers of the War of 1812 with Portraits and Anecdotes. The United States Army Left Division Gallery of Honor. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen: 1989.

  A collection of portraits and biographies of select senior officers of the U.S. military during the War of 1812.

9. Fredricksen, John C. War of 1812 Eyewitness Accounts: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1997.

  A bibliography of eyewitness accounts organized by theme: military (American, British, Canadian, regular, and militia), naval (American, British, professional navy, and privateers) and civilian (American, British, and foreign nationals).

10. Fredriksen, John C., comp. Resource Guide for the War of 1812. Los Angeles: Subia, 1979.

  A listing of 1,674 items dealing with the War of 1812 entirely or in part, classified by theater of operations and by topic. Also lists manuscript repositories of the United States and Canada and regiments that served. Includes a brief chronology.

11. Grolier Club. Exhibition of Naval and Other Prints, Portraits and Books Relating to the War of 1812. November 7th to 23d, 1912. New York: De Vinne, 1912.

  Pamphlet listing 211 paintings, engravings, portraits, caricatures, and books.

12. Higham, Robin D. S., ed. A Guide to the Sources of United States Military History. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1975.

  Bibliographic essays, each appended with a bibliography. The War of 1812 is best served by Roger L. Nichols, “From the Revolution to the Mexican War,” 125–51; and Kenneth J. Hagan, “The Navy in the Nineteenth Century, 1789–1889,” 152–84.

13. Klyberg, Albert T. “What So Proudly We Hail’d”: An Exhibition in the William L. Clements Library Marking the Sesquicentennial of the War of 1812. Ann Arbor: Michigan U.S. Daughters of 1812/University of Michigan, 1964.

  Describes manuscript collections, books, maps, prints, and cartoons in a bibliographic essay.

14. Lane, Jack C. America’s Military Past: A Guide to Information Sources. American Government and History Information Guide Series. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980.

  An annotated bibliography. Contains a section on the War of 1812. Includes what the bibliographer considers as major works—i.e., those that are most interesting and attempt analysis and evaluation.

15. Lowe, John W. Catalogue of a Collection of Books and Manuscripts on the War of 1812, and Other Americana Made by the Late Mr. John W. Lowe, Exhibited by the Caxton Club in Gunsaulus Hall of the Art Institute of Chicago from the Eighth to the Thirty-First of December, Nineteen Hundred Seventeen. Chicago: Caxton Club, 1917.

  Includes 235 autograph letters, portraits, books, pamphlets, magazine excerpts, chapters of books. Limited annotation.

16. Neeser, Robert Wilden. Statistical and Chronological History of the United States Navy, 1775–1907. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1909.

  Volume 1 is a massive bibliography of manuscripts, official publications, and unofficial publications. Volume 2 consists of tables of chronology, naval engagements, capture of merchantmen, a record of each vessel, and privateers, with keys to the bibliography. Limited to 1775–1907 imprint dates. Utility is enhanced by indexes.

17. Severance, Frank H. “Collections of Historical Material Relating to the War of 1812.” Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records 10 (1913): 43–56.

  Primarily a bibliographic essay, touching briefly on related matters such as repositories and lists of authors. Includes history, literature, politics, pamphlets, poetry.

18. Smith, Myron J. The American Navy, 1789–1860: A Bibliography. American Naval Bibliography Series 2. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1974.

  The appropriate entries for the War of 1812 are in the general 1789–1815 section. The index provides all the necessary references to these entries. Comments are limited to explaining insufficient titles.

19. Staton, Frances M., and Tremaine, Marie, eds. A Bibliography of Canadiana: Being Items in the Public Library of Toronto, Canada, Relating to the Early History and Development of Canada. Introduction by George H. Locke. Toronto: Public Library, 1934.

  A selection of items from the reference collection of the library, principally written contemporaneously with the events with which they are concerned, and so arranged in the volume. Items related to the War of 1812 are interlarded with others with the same imprint dates. Complete citations including the library’s notations. “Early history” is defined herein as preconfederation (1867).

20. Thibault, Claude. Bibliographia Canadiana. Don Mills, Ontario: Longman Canada, 1973.

  Detailed bibliography of printed Canadian history in a chronological and topical arrangement. Some three hundred items are listed under the topic of the War of 1812, with books and articles mentioned separately. Citations only.

21. White, Arthur S. A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army. London: London Stamp Exchange, 1988.

  A detailed guide to regimental histories of the British Army organized by regiment, corps, auxiliary forces and miscellaneous units.

CHAPTER 2

General Histories

22. Adams, Henry. History of the United States during the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison. Facsimile reprint ed., 9 vols. New York: Antiquarian Press, 1962.

Concerned mostly with political, diplomatic, and military events. Despite occasional errors, known prejudices, and the subsequent availability of considerable Canadian and British materials, the Adams account remains one of the best ones of the War of 1812. See especially volumes 3–9. This has also been abridged with an introduction by George Dangerfield and Otey M. Scruggs into two volumes retaining the original title (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963). It has also been excerpted, mostly concerning military affairs, and edited by H. A. De Weerd as The War of 1812 (Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1944).

23. Adams, Israel. A Narrative of the Life, Travels, and Adventures of Capt. Israel Adams: Who Lived at Liverpool, Onondaga Co., N.Y., the Man Who, during the Last War, Surprised the British Boats Lying in the Bay of Quoentia; Who Took by Stratagem the Brig Toronto, and Took Her to Sacketts Harbor; and for Whom the British Offered a Reward of £100. Utica, N.Y.: D. Bennett, 1848.

Pamphlet. An autobiographical account. Adams had experience at sea, on rivers, and on Lake Ontario previous to the War of 1812. He was involved in various activities during the war.

24. Adams, John Quincy. “Correspondence of John Quincy Adams, 1811–1814.” Edited by Charles Francis Adams. Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, n.s., 23 (April 1913): 110–69.

Personal letters written by and to Adams while he was envoy to Russia. Somewhat circumspect because the correspondents were well aware their letters were subject to scrutiny by sundry officials while in transit.

25. Adams, John Quincy. [“Letters of John Quincy Adams.”] Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 30 (December 1895): 374–92.

A view of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 from a St. Petersburg, Russia, perspective (1810–1814). Written as personal letters to his brother while serving as envoy to Russia.

26. Allaben, Frank. “Divine Purpose in the War of 1812.” Journal of American History [National Historical Society] 8 (January–March 1914): 99–102.

The war taught England that the United States was free, secured the Old Northwest to the Americans, preserved the country from disintegration, and vindicated the right of international peace.

27. Allen, Robert S. His Majesty’s Indian Allies: British Indian Policy in the Defence of Canada, 1774–1815. Toronto: Dundurn, 1992.

A detailed analysis of British native policy in North America and the alliance system formed with many native groups in Canada. The War of 1812 chapter focuses on the challenges in maintaining the alliance during the war and the employment of native warriors in the North West theater of operations.

28. Altsheler, Joseph Alexander. A Herald of the West: An American Story of 1811–1815. New York: D. Appleton, 1898.

Fiction. Kentuckian Philip Ten Broeck is a clerk in the Treasury Department in Washington who witnessed developments and debates about the possibility of war. His adventures begin when he is sent to New York and New England to measure public opinion. His several adventures throughout the war, ending with capture, release, and participation at New Orleans, are complicated by a kinsman who served as a British officer.

29. American Patriotic and Comic Modern Song-Book. Newburyport, Mass.: W. and J. Gilman’s Book-Store and Circulating Library, 1816.

Pamphlet. Lyrics. Deals with War of 1812 themes.

30. The American Weekly Messenger; or, Register of State Papers, History and Politics. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Printed for John Conrad, 1814–1815.

A weekly newspaper, September 25, 1813–September 17, 1814. Weekly summaries of political, military, social, economic, and international developments. Also reprinting of selected official and other documents.

31. [Andrews, Charles.] The Prisoners’ Memoirs, or, Dartmoor Prison; Containing a Complete and Impartial History of the Entire Captivity of the Americans in England, from the Commencement of the Late War between the United States and Great Britain, Until All Prisoners Were Released by the Treaty of Ghent. Also, a Particular Detail of All Occurrences Relative to that Horrid Massacre at Dartmoor, on the Fatal Evening of the 6th of April, 1815. The Whole Carefully Compiled from the Journal of Charles Andrews, a Prisoner in England, from the ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chronology
• Editor’s Note
• Chapter 1 Bibliographies and Encyclopedias
• Chapter 2 General Histories
• Chapter 3 The Coming of the War
• Chapter 4 The Canadian–American Theater, 1812–1813
• Chapter 5 The War in the South
• Chapter 6 The British Offensive, 1814
• Chapter 7 The War at Sea
• Chapter 8 The Domestic Scene
• Chapter 9 The Forces, Uniforms, and Equipment; Doctrine
• Chapter 10 Peace