Lessons from the War of 1812 relevant to Iraq

[BOSSHOG]

I'm reading a nice little book about the War of 1812, "Patriotic Fire" By Winston Groom (he also wrote Forrest Gump.) One passage peaked my interest about warfare:

As it was with the rest of the British apologists then present, that the Americans did not play by European rules of warfare. Perhaps the British should have thought about that before they came to invade somebody else's country, and adjusted their lofty military customs accordingly.

The British Army, at the time thought to be the greatest fighting force on the planet got their asses kicked by a bunch of ragtag Americans and Lafitte's pirates a couple miles from Bourbon Street. Is it dejavu all over again in another time and another place?

[wuushew]

1. One minor correction

Perhaps the British Americans should have thought about that before they came to invade somebody else's country, Canada and adjusted their lofty military customs accordingly.

[Jacobin]

2. Good book. I read that a couple of months back

They almost told Jean Lafitte to get lost when he offered to help. If they had, we'd be having high tea here about now, instead of a beer.

Also I had forgotten that the british burned the White House and Maine had surrendered, and most of the citizens in the northeast were prepared to surrender because they thought the cause was lost.

Jean Lafitte and Stonewall Jackson and the Louisiana swamps defeated and demoralized the Brits at New Orleans and they gave up.

And yes, it reminded me of Iraq, page after page after page.

[BOSSHOG]

3. I do love me a good read about Andy Jackson and Jean Paul

And to think the Brits could have come from the North. That would have been a whole nother story. Instead they decided to camp out "in" Bayou Bienvineu. Brilliant!!

[NoPasaran]

4. Ahem

That was "Old Hickory", Andrew Jackson, at New Orleans.

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was the Confederate general.

[BOSSHOG]

8. Thats very Jermaine to the subject

Old Hickory and Stonewall were two very different Jacksons.

[Alexander]

5. Sorry, the US drew or lost 1812. We didn't win that one.

-The only time Washington DC was invaded.

-The only time the White House was burned to the ground.

-The only time the US President and First Lady had to flee their residence.

In addition, we got kicked out of Canada and certainly never invaded England.

The Battle of New Orleans was fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war. The Americans won the battle, heard news that the war was over, and thought "Hooray! We won!".

The myth has persisted to this day that we somehow won.

At best, 1812 was a draw for us.

[BOSSHOG]

7. Right you are

But we did win the Battle of New Orleans. That is not a myth. And with that one big victory we are not, as a previous poster stated, sipping tea this afternoon. The Battle at Chalmette Battlefield was an incredibly bad defeat for the british.

[Posteritatis]

9. I think the only people who won the War of 1812 were historians (nt)

[PurityOfEssence]

6. We've now had more combat fatalities in Iraq than we did in that war

It was a mess. Perhaps it shouldn't have even been fought. (Many of the New Englanders thought so.)

We almost got our asses kicked, and if the British hadn't been consumed with the titanic struggle against Napoleon, we would have been.

The heroes of that war are long forgotten. Sure, Oliver Hazard Perry was important and he's still remembered, but who remembers Thomas McDonough, the most important hero of that war?

Our capital was sacked, and if it hadn't been for the individual ship-on-ship engagements, there would have been little to crow about.

That sounds like an interesting book; I'll have to read it.

(edited for grammar.)