The Second War with England, Vol. 2 of 2

In Short

The second volume of Joel Tyler Headley’s 1853 historical work chronicles the turbulent conclusion of the War of 1812. Covering the years 1813 through 1815, the narrative moves from Andrew Jackson’s bloody Creek Campaign and naval actions in the Pacific and Atlantic to the northern border battles, the burning of Washington, and the final clash at New Orleans. It has endured as a classic example of mid-nineteenth-century American historiography, blending tactical military reporting with vivid narrative flair, patriotic conviction, and an unsparing look at internal political mutiny.

The Story

Volume two opens in the Southern wilderness, where Andrew Jackson assumes command of the Tennessee forces to crush the Creek Indian uprising. Jackson struggles not only against a fierce enemy, but against severe starvation and constant mutinies among his own volunteers, who demand to return home when their enlistments expire. Through sheer force of will, Jackson suppresses rebellion in his ranks, secures reinforcements, and wins decisive victories at Emuckfaw and the Horseshoe Bend, effectively ending the Creek War.

On the high seas, Captain David Porter takes the frigate Essex around Cape Horn into the Pacific, capturing numerous British whalers and taking possession of Madison Island in the Marquesas. Porter’s bold commerce-raiding ends dramatically at Valparaiso, where two British warships blockade and eventually overpower his vessel in a desperate, bloody engagement. Meanwhile, along the northern frontier, the campaign of 1814 unfolds with brutal clashes at Chippewa and Niagara, where American forces under Jacob Brown and Winfield Scott engage in nightmarish hand-to-hand combat at Lundy’s Lane, followed by the successful defense of Fort Erie.

The narrative shifts to the humiliating British advance on Washington, D.C. General Ross drives back the militia, forcing President James Madison and his wife into chaotic flight before burning the Capitol and public buildings. A sudden hurricane and the specter of American counterattacks speed the British retreat. Northern morale is soon revived on Lake Champlain, where young Commodore Thomas Macdonough secures a brilliant naval victory at Plattsburg, neutralizing the British invasion force from Canada.

Amid these military fluctuations, the United States faces severe domestic crisis. The national treasury runs dry, banks suspend specie payments, and New England Federalists assemble at the Hartford Convention to voice bitter opposition to the war, bringing the nation to the brink of internal rupture. Peace negotiations advance at Ghent, yet the conflict culminates at New Orleans. Andrew Jackson constructs formidable earthworks, rallies a diverse defensive force, and repulses a frontal assault by veteran British troops on New Year’s Day and January 8, 1815, delivering a crushing defeat to the invaders. The volume concludes by detailing the exploits of American privateers, the tragic mistreatment of prisoners at England’s Dartmoor Prison, and official statistical records of internal war taxes.

How It Unfolds

Jackson subdues the Creek nation Operating in the Southern frontier, Andrew Jackson battles severe supply shortages and repeated troop mutinies. He uses personal force, once aiming a musket at his own men, to hold his army together long enough to defeat the Creeks at the Battle of the Horseshoe Bend.

The Essex raids the Pacific Captain David Porter sails the Essex into the Pacific, disrupting British whaling and establishing a base in the Marquesas. His cruise ends in a fierce battle against two British warships off the coast of Valparaiso, forcing his surrender.

Blood on the Canadian border American armies under General Brown cross the Niagara River, leading to vicious, close-quarters engagements at Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane. The troops endure heavy casualties while repulsing British counterattacks in the dark, culminating in the defense of Fort Erie.

The capital burns as panic spreads British forces march on Washington, scattering local defenders and putting public buildings to the torch. President Madison and his wife flee into the countryside during a violent storm while British troops retreat under cover of night past unburied dead.

Victory on Lake Champlain Commodore Macdonough anchors his small fleet in Plattsburg Bay to meet an advancing British squadron. Beginning the action with a solemn prayer on deck, his crews outmaneuver and defeat the enemy vessels, forcing the British land army to retreat to Canada.

Political paralysis and the Hartford Convention Faced with a bankrupt treasury and a paralyzed economy, New England Federalists convene in Hartford to protest the administration's policies. Their mutinous grievances raise the spectre of disunion before news of peace arrives.

Defending New Orleans Jackson fortifies the approaches to New Orleans using cotton bales and earthworks, utilizing heavy artillery to suppress British batteries on New Year's Day. He successfully turns back the massive British assault, securing the war's final major land victory.

The People

• Andrew Jackson: The uncompromising commander of the Southern forces. He wants complete military obedience and the total suppression of enemy resistance; faced with mass desertions, starvation, and tactical ambushes, he responds by threatening his own mutinous men with muskets and relentlessly pursuing the Creek forces until their final defeat.
• Captain David Porter: The audacious commander of the frigate Essex. He seeks to destroy enemy commerce across the Pacific and maintain a self-sufficient naval force; hindered by superior British warships and Chilian hostility, he fights a grueling battle at Valparaiso until forced to strike his colors.
• General Jacob Brown: The aggressive leader of the American army on the Niagara front. He strives to drive British forces from Canada; despite suffering severe wounds and heavy troop losses at Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie, he maintains strategic discipline and forces the enemy to raise the siege.
• Commodore Thomas Macdonough: The deeply religious, composed leader of the Lake Champlain naval squadron. He aims to block the British invasion corridor from Canada; despite facing a superior fleet, he prepares his crew through prayer and masterfully maneuvers his flagship to destroy the opposing squadron.
• President James Madison: The beleaguered Chief Executive of the United States. He seeks to maintain national unity and secure funding for the war effort; stymied by political opposition in New England and a depleted national treasury, he is forced into a humiliating flight when British troops capture and burn the national capital.

In Its Own Voice

"As the mutineers came up and saw that living barrier before them, and in front of it the stern and decided face of their commander, they wheeled about, and retraced their steps."

Jackson’s relentless, unyielding willpower single-handedly stops his starving troops from deserting the campaign trail.

"There were only the fierce tramp and the clash of steel,--the stifled cry and wavering to and fro of men in a death-grapple."

The brutal nature of close-range night combat at Lundy’s Lane leaves no room for heroic romanticism.

"He immediately walked up in front of it, snatched a musket from the hands of a soldier, and resting it across the neck of his horse, swore he would shoot the first man who attempted to move."

Jackson confronts an entire brigade poised to march homeward, freezing them in their tracks by sheer martial force.

What It's Really About

Underneath its detailed accounts of troop movements, naval tactics, and logistical battles, the book is fundamentally an investigation into how a young, politically fractured republic survives existential military crises. It contrasts the extreme physical courage of frontier soldiers and naval officers with the deep ideological and financial fragility of the government they serve. Headley probes the tensions inherent in a democracy at war: how state governments resist federal authority, how volunteer soldiers challenge military discipline, and how partisan politics threaten to dissolve the Union even as foreign troops occupy its capital. The text argues that national survival depends not on seamless administrative planning, but on individual resolve and the sheer stubbornness of commanders on the field.

Why Read It Today

This history appeals to readers who appreciate rigorous, unvarnished military narrative and mid-nineteenth-century prose style. Headley avoids sterile strategic summaries, focusing instead on the sensory details of combat—the smoke-filled decks of frigate duels, the midnight stench of unburied dead at Bladensburg, and the mud of the Southern wilderness. Reading it feels like sitting with a nineteenth-century historian who views national geography and character as deeply intertwined forces.

The work does present distinct historical challenges. The prose reflects the period's unabashedly nationalistic perspective, and its depictions of Native American conflicts carry the typical biases and harsh assumptions of 1850s American historiography. Furthermore, the inclusion of extensive tax tables, official correspondence summaries, and financial breakdowns slows the narrative pace toward the final chapters. Yet, for those seeking a granular look at the War of 1812, Headley offers a vivid portrayal of a nation fighting simultaneously against foreign fleets and its own internal fractures.