CPFMfan
I am serious. This is my serious face.
Since: Aug, 2010
I am serious. This is my serious face.
megarockman
Since: Apr, 2010
Removed this:
The Anglo-American War of 1812 lasted a little while after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's defeat, the British sent a proper invasion force fresh from the fighting in Europe to try and put down the United States. Given the American victory in New Orleans, it didn't exactly help.
Also, the British at the time of the war did not "rightly consider [the American war] an irritating sideshow." American commerce raiding was at least equally effective on British shipping as the other way around, and wasn't something that they could just shrug off as harmless. The U.S. Navy's victories over British warships also had a severe psychological impact as well. That's readily apparent if you go looking at British periodicals during the time period.
The Brits had been used to utterly steamrolling every other naval power up until their fight with the Americans. Over several decades of war, the Royal Navy captured several hundred French warships. By contrast, the French only managed to capture roughly a dozen British ships. In one single battle, the British captured nearly the entirety of Denmark's navy, which was berthed in one of the most fortified port cities of the age. For a former colony's paltry collection of frigates and sloops of war to put up as fierce of a resistance as they did was incomprehensible for the British Empire.
Edited by TrevMUN