On June 1, 1812, President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress,
recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically
calling for a declaration of war. After Madison's speech, the House of
Representatives quickly voted (79 to 49) to declare war, and the Senate by 19 to
13. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812 when Madison signed the measure
into law. This was the first time that the United States had declared war on
another nation, and the Congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to
declare war in American history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in
favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as "Mr. Madison's
War."
The declaration of war was passed by the smallest margin recorded on a war vote
in the United States Congress. On May 11, Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was
shot and killed by an assassin, resulting in a change of the British government,
putting Lord Liverpool in power. Liverpool wanted a more practical relationship
with the United States. He issued a repeal of the Orders in Council, but the
U.S. was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the
Atlantic.
1812 - 1814
- Pension Applications
- National Archives
- Ancestry.com Databases $
- United States Center of Military History
- War of 1812 in the Western District
- Buried at Dartmoor Prison (hosted at Sons of the Revolution, Illinois)
- Privateersman's Letters Home from Prison (hosted at Bruce Felknor's Home Page)
- Star-Spangled Banner (hosted at Wikipedia)
- War of 1812 Roster of Ohio Soldiers (hosted at Ohio Historical Society)
- Officers of the US Navy and Marine Corps in the War of 1812 (hosted at Naval Historical Center)
- Upper Mississippi Brigade
- War of 1812 and Tecumseh (hosted at Bkejwanong Nation)
- War of 1812 (hosted at Oneida Nation)
- Hosted at The War of 1812
Records By State
- Alabama War of 1812 Military Records
- Alabama War of 1812 Pensions
- Arkansas War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- Cross County
- Arkansas Military Grants, War Of 1812
- Madison County
- Scott County
- Washington County
- Cross County
- Connecticut War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or
USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- Hartford County
- New Haven County (Some 1812 records)
- Connecticut Pensioners, 1835 $
- Delaware War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- District of Columbia War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives
or USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- American soldiers killed or wounded at the Battle of Chippawa, 1814, Niagara, Upper Canada, during the War of 1812
- Florida War of 1812 Military Records
- Georgia War of 1812 Military Records
- Georgia War of 1812 Pension Records
- Illinois War of 1812 Military Records
- Indiana War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- Blackford County
- Ward, Bennett Pension
- Carroll County
- Clay County
- Elizabeth White Pension
- 1883 Military Pensioners (a few men of 1812)
- Hendrick County
- McClain, James Jr. Service Record
- Johnson County
- Blackford County
- Iowa War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb War
1812 Project)
- Dallas County
- Hamilton County
- Jackson County
- Martha widow of George Cameron, War of 1812 Pension
- Mary widow of Daniel Gearhart, War of 1812 Pension
- Kansas War of 1812 Military Records
- Kentucky War of 1812 Military Records
- Louisiana War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or
USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- Index ot Louisiana Soldiers during the War of 1812
- St. Helena War of 1812 Veterans
- The Battle of New Orleans: War of 1812
- Louisiana in the War of 1812
- DeSota Parish Soldiers
- Union Parish, Letters by William Beaird Sr.
- Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812 $
- Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812 - Free Index
- Service Record
- Maine War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives)
- Maryland War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- Pension Records
- Baltimore City
- Abey, Joseph Pension
- Carroll County
- Abbott, John Pension
- Frederick County
- Tobias H. Butler Pension
- Keller, Frederick, widow Anna Maria Pension
- Queen Anne County
- Somerset County
- St. Mary's County
- Washington County
- Statewide Files
- Service Records
- Michigan War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives)
- Wayne County
- Baker, Daniel, Brevet Major January 8, 1799
- Wayne County
- Minnesota War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
-
Mississippi War of 1812 Military Records
(hosted at USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- 1840 Mississippi Pensioners List
- First Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers
- Some Military Land Grants by County
- Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812 - Free Index
- Missouri War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- Soldiers Records War of 1812 (hosted at State of Missouri)
- Foren, William Bounty Land Claim
- Watkins, Philip Pension Application
- Whitson, Sarah, Bounty Land
- 1883 Pensioners Census
- Nebraska War of 1812 Military Records
- New Hampshire War of 1812 Military Records
- New Jersey War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or
USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- Pensions
- Statewide
- Able, John Pension
- Atlantic County
- Adams, Solomon Pension
- Bergen County
- Ackerman, Lawrence Pension
- Middlesex County
- Adair, Robert Pension
- Somerset County
- Adams, Samuel Pension
- Sussex County
- Ackerson, John T. Pension
- Adams, Levi Pension
- Union County
- Able, William Pension
- Bounty Land
- Essex County
- Brewster, William for wife Mary
- Woolever, John, Service Record
- New Jersey Pensioners, 1835 $
- New York War of 1812 Military Records
- North Carolina War of 1812 Military Records
- Ohio War of 1812 Military Records
- Pennsylvania War of 1812 Military Records
- Rhode Island War of 1812 Military Records
- South Carolina War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- Abbeville County
- Anderson County
- Ashley, Thomas, Widows Pension Wife Nancy
- Ashley, Thomas, Bounty Land
- Tennessee War of 1812 Military Records
- Texas War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or
USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- Freestone County
- Bonner, William Bounty Land
- Shelby County
- Barber, George Jr. Pension
- Freestone County
- Vermont War of 1812 Military Records
- Virginia War of 1812 Military Records
- West Virginia War of 1812 Military Records
- Wisconsin War of 1812 Military Records (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb
War 1812 Project)
- 1883 Pensioners or Dependents
Ancestry Subscription Military Databases
- The General Society of the War of 1812, 1976 Bicentennial Supplement to the 1972 Register Robert Glenn Thurtle Editor - Free Index
- The Roster of the General Society of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 Papers, 1789-1815
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
- War of 1812 Service Records
- War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815
- War of 1812: Miscellaneous Canadian Records
- Register of the General Society of the War of 1812