Fort Erie reenactment, 2016.
US infantry Shako, 1812.
Major Thomas Biddle, 1818, Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully (1783-1872) was one of the greatest painters in American art. Major Thomas Biddle distinguished himself as an artilleryman during the war of 1812. This portrait was commissioned from Sully by Biddle’s father, when the twenty-eight-year-old was commander of Fort Mifflin. All of Sully’s bravura handling is on view, from the dramatic sky to the glistening epaulets to Biddle’s assured expression – which may owe something to artistic licence, as the sitter was notably nearsighted. Biddle later explored the West and became an Army paymaster and banker in Saint Louis, where he was killed in a duel in 1831 arising from a political dispute.
Soldier of the 1st West India Regiment 1814-1815. This regiment (along with the 5th) participated in the disastrous New Orleans Campaign. The British raised a number of these regiments recruited from locals for service in the Caribbean areas. They were the first predominantly black regiments in the British Army.
TODAY IN HISTORY
12 September 1814
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TODAY IN HISTORY
12 September 1814
Pop!
Impressment, or “press gang” as it was more commonly known, was recruitment by force. It was a practice that directly affected the U.S. and was even one of the causes of the War of 1812. The British navy consistently suffered manpower shortages due to the low pay and a lack of qualified seamen.
On this day in 1814 the British Army torched Washington DC, including the White House. The operation was a classic example of the British use of combined arms, masterminded by the Royal Navy’s Admiral Cochran and the Army’s General Ross.
The British Empire is why we can’t have nice things.
The death of General Ross.
On this day in 1814 the British Army torched Washington DC, including the White House. The operation was a classic example of the British use of combined arms, masterminded by the Royal Navy’s Admiral Cochran and the Army’s General Ross.
The British Empire is why we can’t have nice things.
The death of General Ross.