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Timeline of the War of 1812 is a chronology of the War of 1812, including a list of battles.
Origins
| Year | Day | Theater | Occurrence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1803 | May 18 | prelude | Britain declared war on Napoleonic France | Conflict would grow out to War of the Third Coalition. |
| 1803 | Jul 4 | diplomacy | Louisiana Purchase | Napoleon sold French Louisiana to the U.S. Britain supported deal, hoping to keep U.S. neutral. |
| 1804 | Nov 3 | prelude | Quashquame's treaty with William Henry Harrison | Many Sauk allied with British instead. |
| 1805 | May 22 | prelude | Essex Decision | England's admiralty court decided seizing certain U.S. merchant ships was legal, escalating tensions. |
| 1805 | Oct 21 | prelude | Battle of Trafalgar | Major British victory over France |
| 1806 | Apr 18 | prelude | Non-importation Act | U.S. embargo on importation of certain British goods, in retaliation of the Essex Decision. |
| 1806 | Nov 21 | prelude | Berlin Decree | Napoleon imposed trade blockade of British Isles. |
| 1806 | Dec 31 | prelude | Monroe-Pinkney Treaty signed. | Intended to stop British impressment of U.S. ships, but President Thomas Jefferson rejected it. |
| 1807 | Jun 22 | prelude | Chesapeake–Leopard affair | Military and diplomatic naval incident, nearly triggering war between Britain and the U.S. |
| 1807 | Nov 11 | prelude | Orders in Council | Britain launched economic warfare against France, straining relations with neutral countries. |
| 1807 | Dec 17 | prelude | Milan Decree | Napoleon ordered seizing all ships from neutral countries trading with the British. |
| 1807 | Dec 22 | prelude | Embargo Act | U.S. act in retaliation against British and French seizure and impressment of U.S. merchant ships. |
| 1808 | Apr 17 | prelude | Bayonne decree | France began seizing all U.S. ships in French ports. |
| 1809 | Mar 1 | prelude | Non-Intercourse Act | U.S. act lifting embargoes on all shipping, except those bound for British and French ports. |
| 1809 | Mar 4 | prelude | President James Madison's inauguration. | |
| 1809 | Apr 19 | prelude | Erskine Agreement | |
| 1809 | Sep 30 | prelude | Treaty of Fort Wayne | U.S.–Shawnee tensions lead to Tecumseh's War. |
| 1810 | Mar 23 | prelude | Rambouillet Decree | France orders seizing all U.S. ships in French ports. |
| 1810 | May 1 | prelude | Macon's Bill No. 2 | U.S. act intended to compel Britain and France to stop seizing U.S. ships. |
| 1810 | Aug 5 | prelude | Cadore letter | |
| 1811 | Feb 2 | prelude | Trade with the United Kingdom closed | |
| 1811 | Mar 10 | prelude | Henry letters | Fabricated letters caused diplomatic incident. |
| 1811 | May 16 | prelude | Little Belt affair | Military and diplomatic naval incident, nearly triggering war between Britain and the U.S. |
| 1811 | Nov 4 | prelude | 12th United States Congress convened. | |
| 1811 | Nov 7 | prelude | Battle of Tippecanoe | Tecumseh's confederacy defeated. |
| 1812 | Apr 4 | prelude | American Trade Embargo | |
| 1812 | May 11 | prelude | UK Prime Minister Spencer Perceval assassinated. | Pro-war sentiment in Britain decreased, and efforts were made to reconcile with the U.S. |
| 1812 | Jun 1 | prelude | President James Madison's war message | Madison requested the U.S. Congress to declare war. |
| 1812 | Jun 8 | prelude | Robert Jenkinson became UK Prime Minister | Some measures to avert war were tried, but they were too little, too late. |
| 1812 | Jun 16 | prelude | Castlereagh announced repeal of Orders in Council | News reached U.S. Congress too late to impact U.S. declaration of war on the UK. |
War
Theaters
The War of 1812 was fought in four major theaters:[a]
- the Atlantic Coast (including the Chesapeake campaign);
- the Gulf Coast;
- the Mississippi River; and
- the Canada–US border. Actions along the Canada–US border occurred in three sectors (from west to east):
- the Great Lakes region (the U.S. side of which is also known as the Old Northwest, and the Canadian side as Upper Canada);
- the Niagara Frontier; and
- the St. Lawrence River (the U.S. side of which is known as New England, and the Canadian side as Lower Canada).
There were also numerous naval battles at sea, almost all of them in the Atlantic.
In between, numerous events occurred in the areas of diplomacy, and the home fronts (internal politics) of all parties involved. For the United Kingdom in particular, the dynamics of the French invasion of Russia (June–December 1812) and the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon (March 1813 – May 1814) in Europe significantly impacted the resources they had available for the War of 1812 with the United States, and their willingness to conduct peace negotiations (which would eventually be held in Ghent, August–December 1814, on territory the Sixth Coalition had just occupied from the First French Empire). For the United States, the Creek War was an important side conflict to increase their control in the South at the expense of Native American factions allied with and supplied by the British, while the Hartford Convention of the Federalist Party (December 1814 – January 1815) played a significant role in voicing strong opposition to the U.S. government's war policy.