One corpus, many ways in
The same event records power this chronology and the interactive map. No parallel list is maintained by hand.
Showing 58 of 58 events
off Norfolk, Virginia · Atlantic
HMS Leopard fires on USS Chesapeake after a refused search, intensifying the dispute over impressment and sovereignty.
Participants: USS Chesapeake · HMS Leopard · American and British sailors
Prophetstown, Indiana Territory · Old Northwest
Harrison's force fights Tenskwatawa's followers; Americans increasingly connect Indigenous resistance to British power.
Participants: Tenskwatawa's followers · William Henry Harrison's force · Miami and Potawatomi homelands
Washington, D.C. · Politics
Madison signs the declaration after divided votes in the House and Senate.
Participants: James Madison · United States Congress · Federalist and Republican constituencies
Baltimore, Maryland · Chesapeake
A pro-war crowd destroys the office and press of an antiwar newspaper.
Participants: Federal Republican printers · pro-war Baltimore crowd · municipal authorities
Baltimore, Maryland · Chesapeake
A mob breaks into the jail, murders James M. Lingan, and brutally attacks Hanson, Lee, and other Federalists.
Participants: Federalist defenders · Baltimore mob · James M. Lingan · Alexander Contee Hanson
Detroit, Michigan Territory · Great Lakes
Hull surrenders to Brock's smaller British, Canadian, and Indigenous force without an assault.
Participants: William Hull's army · Isaac Brock's force · Tecumseh's coalition · Detroit civilians
North Atlantic · Atlantic
The first spectacular American frigate victory creates the legend of “Old Ironsides.”
Participants: USS Constitution · HMS Guerriere · Isaac Hull · James Dacres
Niagara River, Upper Canada · Great Lakes
British, Canadian, and Indigenous forces defeat an American crossing; Isaac Brock is killed.
Participants: American regulars and militia · British regulars and Canadian militia · Haudenosaunee warriors
mid-Atlantic · Atlantic
Stephen Decatur's frigate captures a valuable British warship and brings the prize into port.
Participants: USS United States · HMS Macedonian · Stephen Decatur · John Carden
Pacific Ocean · Pacific
David Porter attacks British whaling and assembles prizes into an improvised squadron.
Participants: USS Essex crew · British whalers · captured prize crews
Chesapeake Bay · Chesapeake
British squadrons restrict commerce, gather intelligence, and strike vulnerable shoreline communities.
Participants: Royal Navy squadrons · Chesapeake merchants · coastal communities · American privateers
Frenchtown, Michigan Territory · Old Northwest
British regulars and Indigenous allies defeat an American force; the killing and capture of wounded prisoners drives retaliation rhetoric.
Participants: American regulars and militia · British regulars and Canadian militia · Wyandot, Potawatomi, and other Indigenous allies
York, Upper Canada · Great Lakes
American forces capture the colonial capital; looting and burning feed a later retaliation narrative.
Participants: American landing force · British regulars · Upper Canadian militia · York residents
Maumee River, Ohio · Old Northwest
British and Indigenous forces besiege Harrison's base but withdraw after a failed effort to destroy the American position.
Participants: William Henry Harrison's garrison · British regulars and Canadian militia · Indigenous forces led by Tecumseh · Kentucky reinforcements
Havre de Grace, Maryland · Chesapeake
British forces burn and plunder much of the town during the widening Chesapeake campaign.
Participants: British raiding force · Havre de Grace residents · local militia
Niagara River, Upper Canada · Niagara
An American amphibious assault takes Fort George and forces British and allied defenders to retreat toward Burlington Heights.
Participants: American army and navy · British regulars · Upper Canadian militia · Grand River Haudenosaunee warriors
Sackets Harbor, New York · Great Lakes
A British attack fails to destroy the principal American Lake Ontario naval base.
Participants: American defenders and shipyard workers · British landing force · naval personnel
off Boston, Massachusetts · Atlantic
A British frigate wins a close action; James Lawrence's last command becomes an American motto.
Participants: USS Chesapeake · HMS Shannon · James Lawrence · Philip Broke
Stoney Creek, Upper Canada · Niagara
A British night attack disrupts the American advance from Fort George and helps force it back toward the Niagara River.
Participants: British regulars · American regulars · Niagara residents and suppliers
near Thorold, Upper Canada · Niagara
Kahnawake and Grand River warriors surround and wear down an American column before its surrender to British authority.
Participants: Kahnawake warriors under Dominique Ducharme · Grand River warriors under William Johnson Kerr · Charles Boerstler's American column · James FitzGibbon
St. Michaels, Maryland · Chesapeake
Local defenders resist a British attack on the shipbuilding town during the bay campaign.
Participants: St. Michaels militia · British raiding force · town residents
Mississippi Territory · Gulf
Red Stick warriors overrun Fort Mims; mass death drives American mobilization in the Creek War.
Participants: Red Stick warriors · Fort Mims defenders · Muscogee and mixed-ancestry families
Lake Erie · Great Lakes
Perry's squadron captures its British opponent, forcing the evacuation of Detroit.
Participants: Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron · Robert Barclay's squadron · lake sailors
Marquesas Islands · Pacific
Porter refits, intervenes in local conflicts, and makes an ineffective American territorial claim.
Participants: USS Essex crew · Nuku Hiva communities · David Porter · captured sailors
Upper Canada · Old Northwest
Harrison defeats a retreating British and Indigenous force; Tecumseh is killed and his coalition gravely weakened.
Participants: William Henry Harrison's army · British regulars · Tecumseh's coalition
Lower Canada · St. Lawrence
Charles-Michel de Salaberry's Canadian force blocks Wade Hampton's advance toward Montreal from the south.
Participants: Canadian Voltigeurs under Charles-Michel de Salaberry · Canadian Fencibles · francophone militia · Indigenous warriors under Captain Lamothe · Wade Hampton's American army
near Morrisburg, Upper Canada · St. Lawrence
A smaller British and Canadian force checks James Wilkinson's column as the failed American movement on Montreal unravels.
Participants: British regulars under Joseph Wanton Morrison · Canadian militia · Indigenous allies · James Wilkinson's American army
Newark, Upper Canada · Niagara
Retreating American forces burn the town, leaving civilians exposed and intensifying retaliation.
Participants: Retreating American troops · Newark residents · British and Canadian forces
Chesapeake region · Chesapeake
A strengthened expedition turns recurring raids into coordinated operations against Washington and Baltimore.
Participants: British expeditionary forces · Chesapeake civilians · American militia · freedom seekers
Muscogee homelands · Gulf
Jackson's American, Cherokee, and allied Muscogee force breaks Red Stick resistance.
Participants: Red Stick Muscogees · Andrew Jackson's army · Cherokee and Lower Creek allies
Valparaíso, Chile · Pacific
HMS Phoebe and Cherub defeat Porter's damaged frigate near the neutral port.
Participants: USS Essex · HMS Phoebe · HMS Cherub · David Porter
Bermuda · Chesapeake
Britain formally offers reception, service, or resettlement to people willing to leave the United States.
Participants: Alexander Cochrane · enslaved Chesapeake residents · British forces · American slaveholders
Fontainebleau, France · Europe
The end of the European campaign releases British attention and veteran troops for North America.
Participants: Napoleon · Sixth Coalition · British government and armed forces
Upper Canada · Niagara
Haudenosaunee forces aligned with opposing states fight in the woods before Scott's regulars defeat Riall's force on the plain.
Participants: Winfield Scott's brigade · Phineas Riall's British and Canadian force · Buffalo Creek Seneca warriors · Grand River warriors under John Norton · Peter B. Porter's volunteers
upper Mississippi · Western theater
A British and Indigenous force captures the new American post at Prairie du Chien and preserves the upper Mississippi alliance network.
Participants: British and Canadian personnel under William McKay · Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Dakota, and other Indigenous allies · American Fort Shelby garrison
Upper Canada · Niagara
A close, confused night battle involving regular, militia, and Grand River forces causes severe casualties and no clean strategic result.
Participants: American regulars and volunteers · British regulars · Canadian militia · John Norton and Grand River warriors
Upper Canada · Niagara
American troops hold a bridgehead against British, Canadian, and Grand River forces before evacuating at the end of the campaign.
Participants: American garrison · British regulars and Canadian militia · John Norton and Grand River warriors
Ghent · Diplomacy
American and British delegates revise their positions as military and European news arrives.
Participants: American commissioners · British commissioners · diplomatic couriers and governments
Mackinac Island, Michigan Territory · Western theater
British regulars, local militia, and Indigenous allies defeat an American attempt to recover the island and its strategic post.
Participants: British regulars under Robert McDouall · local militia · Odawa and other Indigenous allies · American force under George Croghan
Mississippi Territory · Gulf
Jackson imposes a vast Muscogee land cession, including land of U.S. allies.
Participants: Andrew Jackson · Muscogee signatories · United States government · U.S.-allied Native communities
Maryland · Chesapeake
British forces rout a poorly coordinated American defense and open the road to Washington.
Participants: British expeditionary force · American regulars and militia · Joshua Barney's flotilla men
Washington, D.C. · Chesapeake
British troops burn public buildings; Americans destroy the Navy Yard to deny it to the enemy.
Participants: British troops · Washington residents · U.S. officials · enslaved and free Black residents
Washington, D.C. · Chesapeake
Navy Yard personnel destroy ships and stores to deny them to the advancing British.
Participants: Washington Navy Yard personnel · U.S. officials · British forces
Plattsburgh, New York · Lake Champlain
Macdonough defeats the British squadron, making Prévost's invasion unsustainable.
Participants: Thomas Macdonough's squadron · George Downie's squadron · Alexander Macomb's defenders · George Prévost's army
Plattsburgh, New York · Lake Champlain
The British army retreats after the supporting squadron is defeated in Plattsburgh Bay.
Participants: George Prévost's army · Alexander Macomb's defenders · British logistical services
Mobile Point, Mississippi Territory · Gulf
The fort repels a British naval and land attack, delaying operations on the Gulf coast before the New Orleans campaign.
Participants: Fort Bowyer garrison under William Lawrence · British naval and land force · HMS Hermes · Muscogee allies of Britain
Baltimore County, Maryland · Chesapeake
Stricker's militia delays the British advance; Ross is mortally wounded.
Participants: John Stricker's Maryland militia · Robert Ross's British force · Baltimore's defenders
Baltimore, Maryland · Chesapeake
The fort and harbor defenses withstand British bombs, rockets, and a nighttime boat movement.
Participants: Fort McHenry garrison · British bomb vessels and rocket ship · Baltimore harbor defenders · Francis Scott Key
Baltimore, Maryland · Chesapeake
With the harbor closed and the land defenses intact, the expedition returns to its transports.
Participants: British land and naval forces · Baltimore defenders · transport and medical personnel
Spanish West Florida · Gulf
American forces expel a British presence from the Spanish port before moving to defend New Orleans.
Participants: Andrew Jackson's force · Spanish authorities · British personnel · Creek and Black allies
Louisiana · Gulf
British boats defeat an American gunboat flotilla and clear the approach to New Orleans.
Participants: British naval boats · American gunboat flotilla · local pilots and sailors
Louisiana · Gulf
Jackson attacks the British camp, disrupting its advance and buying time for stronger defenses.
Participants: Andrew Jackson's force · British expeditionary army · Louisiana militia and volunteers
Ghent · Diplomacy
British and American commissioners sign a treaty restoring conquered territory but leaving maritime disputes unsettled.
Participants: American peace commissioners · British peace commissioners · their governments
Nova Scotia and Trinidad · Atlantic
Formerly enslaved people who reached British lines begin new lives in several Atlantic colonies.
Participants: Black Refugees · British colonial officials · Nova Scotian communities · Colonial Marines and families
Chalmette, Louisiana · Gulf
A diverse American force defeats the main British assault with devastating losses.
Participants: U.S. regulars and militia · free men of color · Choctaw fighters · Baratarian artillerists · British expeditionary army
Washington, D.C. · Diplomacy
Ratifications are exchanged and the United States proclaims peace.
Participants: United States Senate · James Madison · British diplomatic representatives
Great Lakes · Diplomacy
The United States and Britain limit naval armaments on the Great Lakes.
Participants: Richard Rush · Charles Bagot · United States and British governments
Anglo-American borderlands · Diplomacy
Britain and the United States settle portions of the border and agree to joint occupation in the northwest.
Participants: United States negotiators · British negotiators · borderland communities
