Horsman presents the British as more apathetic to a war with America, both because they were too involved with France and they didn’t see the United States as a serious threat. The United States was very much in a state of political chaos as the Federalists and Republicans battled for control of Legislature, and as the New England States fervently opposed the war, while the Southern states were very much in favor. There was not much of a standing military at the time of the declaration of war because many saw it as a “threat to individual liberties.” This meant that the army would have to be pulled from the state militias and would require the cooperation of all the states to maintain troop numbers. The New England states refused to cooperate …show more content…
William Hull, governor of Michigan Territory, was appointed brigadier-general, but lacked any confidence in his ability to lead. He marched his troops toward Detroit, capturing Sandwich, but did not advance further than that, wanting to wait for his heavy cannon to be mounted on wheels before advancing on Fort Malden. Horsman argues that had Hull marched on the fort immediately, he could have had a shot at taking it, as the Canadians were demoralized. However, because he chose to wait, the troops in Fort Malden became more and more confident as time passed, due to the fact that they had captured some of Hull’s personal papers, which told of his fear of limited and questionable supply lines. By the time Hull’s guns were mounted, his fears had grown and he decided to retreat across the Detroit River. Mahon comments that he wanted to retreat farther, but one of his officers informed him “bluntly that this would produce mutiny among the Ohio troops.” The same officer, Lewis Cass, even circulated a letter proposing to mutiny, but the man he wanted to replace Hull decline, weakening the motion, but not ending it. While Hull encamped his troops in Detroit, the British General Isaac Brock advanced his troops toward Hull’s forces. After setting up some cannons on a hill opposite the river from Detroit, Brock sent a request to Hull to surrender or he would be forced to take the city by force and …show more content…
However, most of Britain’s fleet was occupied with the war with France, and as Britain did not see the United States as a credible threat, they only set a portion of their fleet. The British Navy was the most powerful in the world at that time and, as Horsman notes, “expected to overcome any slight deficiency in force and win single ship engagements.” The reality was that American ships were better manned, better armed, and better built, than their British counterparts. In single ship engagements, American ships were routinely sinking or capturing British ships. The naval victories were some of the only good news the American public received. When reports of General Hull’s defeat in Detroit reached the east coast, news of Naval victory by Hull’s nephew was also being spread. Captain Isaac Hull commanded the frigate Constitution, which had just soundly defeated the British Guerrière after her captain, James Dacres, had issued a general challenge to engage any ship in single combat. “Within thirty minutes Guerrière was totally dismasted, and her gunports were rolling under water” When the British realized they had underestimated the Americans they sent secret orders, so as to not alarm the public, to never engage an American ship in single