From 1812 to 1815, the United States fought Great Britain, its colonists in Canada and its Native American allies. New York State was at the center of the struggle, with both land and sea borders with Canada and seacoast on the Atlantic Ocean. The bicentennial begins in 2012 and will include events in and around the state.

June 18, 1812 – Congress declares war on Great Britain.

July 19, 1812 – USS Oneida drives off several British vessels attempting to attack Sackets Harbort, NY.

September 21, 1812 – American troops cross St. Lawrence River and burn the Gananoque military depot.

October 18, 1812 – Maj. Gen. Stephen van Rensselaer fords the Niagara River near Lewiston, NY, with nearly 1,300 troops. An attempt to take the Canadian town of Queenston fails. 300 Americans are killed and 1,000 taken captive.

February 7, 1813 – New York militia capture Brockville, Canada.

February 22, 1813 – British raid and burn Ogdensburg, New York.

April 27, 1813 – Americans sack York, now Toronto.

May 27, 1813 – Americans capture Fort George in Canada.

May 29, 1813 – British attack Sackets Harbor Naval Base and are driven off.

August 7-10, 1813 – naval battle at the mouth of the Niagara River. British capture two U.S. ships.

September 11, 1813 – inconclusive naval battle off the mouth of the Genesee River

September 28, 1813 – naval battle in York Bay. Storm forces the two sides apart.

November 1813 – British bombard U.S. positions near French Creek, Clayton, NY. U.S. Army artillery forces one British vessel to scuttle.

November 11, 1813 – British troops pursue Americans south from Sackets Harbor and are met in battle at Crysler’s Field. Americans lose 120 men and are forced to abandon hopes of attacking Montreal.

December 19, 1813 – British capture Fort Niagara and raid the eastern shore of the Niagara River.

December 30, 1813 – British cross the Niagara. American forces fail to halt them in a battle near Black Rock. British burn Buffalo and Black Rock.

May 5, 1814 – British attack Fort Oswego. They take the fort and the town and then sail back to Canada.

July 1814 – American troops cross the Niagara again. They recapture Fort Erie. In a battle with British regulars at Chippewa Creek, the American force their retreat.

July 24, 1814 – the invading Americans meet British and Canadian forces at Lundy’s Lane. One of the largest battles of the war, both sides claimed victory. The cost was steep, some 1,600 casualties on both sides, and the Americans retreated to Fort Erie.

September 6-11, 1814 – British troops advance to the village of Plattsburgh, N.Y. The two sides fought a naval battle on Lake Champlain which the British lost. The British troops retired to Canada without further combat.

February 18, 1815 – President James Madison signs the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war of 1812.

May 23-30, 2012 – Fleet Week in New York City will include bicentennial events for the War of 1812

September 12-17 – Buffalo, New York to celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812

On the morning of September 12, 1814, a British force of 9,000 men landed at North Point, Maryland, with the intention of marching inland and capturing Baltimore. Brig. Gen. John Stricker, commander of the 3d Brigade of the Maryland militia, was ordered to delay the British advance so that the defensive entrenchments around the city could be completed. The 5th Regiment was assigned the task of holding the American right flank. Despite two hours of artillery and rocket fire, the 5th Maryland stood their ground. After inflicting some 300 casualties, the 5th was ordered to fall back to a new position in front of the Baltimore trenches. The British army, exhausted by the fighting and surprised by the stubborn defense of the Maryland militia, withdrew, while the British navy failed to silence the guns of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. Thwarted on land and sea the British force sailed away

On land and at sea, the United States and Great Britain struggled for three years in a war that many historians see as the final chapter of the American Revolution. From 1812 to 1815, the U.S. Navy was on the front lines worldwide as it fought the Royal Navy. At home, Canada and the U.S. were both battlegrounds as capitals burned and the tides of war flowed back and forth. The War of 1812 settled the issue, once and for all, of America’s relationship with Great Britain and established the new nation as quite thoroughly independent.

The approaching bicentennial of the War of 1812 is being commemorated by the United States and Canada in a series of events to be held all along the East Coast, through the Great Lakes and down in New Orleans. The U.S. Navy sees these events as a way to highlight the events of the time and to also feature the modern Navy with its current missions and capabilities.

The first event on the 1812 calendar is a visit to the last battlefield of the war, New Orleans. From January 6-8, 2012, the National Parks Service will remember the 197th anniversary of the battle immortalized by singer Johnny Horton.

As events are developed, they will appear on the Official War of 1812 Bicentennial website. The Navy has assisted in the development of an online game titled A Sailor’s Life for Me! which allows the player to experience the life and times of a sailor in 1812.

The PBS series, NOVA, broadcast a show on January 5, 2010 about the mysteries around the Japanese submarine attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I was able to participate in an interview with the researchers behind the work discussed on the program. While that show was generally accurate, there were some differences in emphasis and timing that did not agree with those of the original research.

Historians have recognized since 1941 that the Japanese augmented their air attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor with a submarine attack. Some twenty submarines were deployed around the Hawaiian Islands, and five mini submarines were launched in an effort to penetrate the harbor and attack.

The public, fed by movies and a brief history lesson in school, believes that the attack on December 7 was by carrier based aircraft. This interview provides a clearer picture of that day and the actions of the Japanese mini submarines. The faux newspaper clipping above illustrates an alternative view of the days events.

Of the five mini subs that the Japanese launched, one was intercepted and sunk by the destroyer Ward well before the aerial attack began. Her reports were ignored in the early hours of December 7.

Pearl Harbor was protected by torpedo nets, but they had been withdrawn because of expected ship traffic. The nets did not extend to the bottom of the channels, and it would have been possible for the mini subs to sail underneath. If necessary, the subs were equipped with net cutting devices.

At about 8:30 a.m. local time, the USS Monaghan was sortieing in response to orders when it observed a submarine being attacked by two moored Navy ships. Monaghan proceeded at flank speed to where the sub had been seen with the intent to ram the sub. It also launched a depth charge attack. The actions of the Monaghan resulted in the sinking of that Japanese mini sub.

In 2004, a team of analysts including Mr. Peter K. Hsu, Mr. Carroll Lucas, Dr. and CAPT. Andrew Biache, USN(Ret) and CAPT. John Rodgaard, USN, published an article in the USNI Navy History magazine describing their work on a captured Japanese photo from the attack. That photo seems to show a Japanese mini sub broaching the surface, a torpedo wake and an explosion at the side of the battleship West Virginia. It also appears to show a second torpedo track aimed at the USS Oklahoma.

Until this point, there had been little reliable evidence that any Japanese mini sub had penetrated the harbor and been successful in conducting an attack. There are numerous accounts of sightings by survivors of the attack and ships reported contacts and conducting several attacks on presumed subs but concrete proof was limited.

Mr. Hsu discussed the evidence. In his expert opinion, the sub in the photo had been forced to the surface due to the cavitation and various pressure waves being generated by both the torpedo explosion as well as the air attack. Within the relatively shallow harbor, these explosions would bounce off vessels, the shore and the bottom and would be capable of lifting the mini sub to where it would surface.

The mini subs were designed to launch their two torpedoes from periscope depth. The torpedoes would have been set to run at sixteen feet.

The sub did not survive its attack but what happened to it remains a mystery. Its remains lie in a Navy dump, underwater. Photos clearly show that it was cut into pieces and the cables used to lift and tow those pieces remain attached. No record exists, however, of the capture or disposal of that submarine.

Here is some information about one of the subs that did not penetrate the harbor.

Japanese 2-man midget submarine grounded on the coral reef off Bellows Field

The Japanese midget submarine at Bellows Field was salvaged by a Navy crew, 1941.

A Japanese 2-man midget submarine grounded on the coral reef off Bellows Field, was commanded by Ens. Kazuo Sakamaki who swam ashore on December 8, 1941 and was captured.

The Japanese Mini submarine was 80-foot long 6-foot diameter, 46 ton displacement, battery operated with 600 hp motor. Launched from mother sub (I-24) arrived off entrance to Pearl Harbor late evening, December 6, 1941. Was grounded off Bellows Field on December 7, 1941.

State of Hawaii

1. Saratoga Springs, New York: The battle in which Benedict Arnold saved the United States.
2. Coloma, California: The site of the discovery of gold in California.
3. Titusville, Pennsylvania: Oil, black gold, Texas tea. First commercial oil well.
4. Auburn, Massachusetts: The flight of the first liquid fueled rocket.
5. Ticonderoga, New York: The capture of this fort and the movement of its cannon to Washington’s army provided a vital weapon to a newborn military and forced the British evacuation of Boston.
6. Dayton, Ohio: Where the Wright Brothers did their planning, initial experimentation and development of a flying machine.
7. Alamogordo, New Mexico: Site of the first test of the atom bomb.
8. Albuquerque, New Mexico: First commercially available personal computer, the Altair.
9. Tuskegee, Alabama: Home of the Tuskegee Institute, a black teachers’ college, first headed by Booker T. Washington and where George Washington Carver did his research in agriculture.
10. New York, New York: On September 11, 2001.

This is the first in a series about America. Each post will be a list of ten, people, places, events, and with their effect on America and the world today. Folks my age may know about most of them. I’m not so sure about the youngins.

Today I would like to honor ten Americans who changed world history.

1. Ronald Wilson Reagan
   Somehow we’ve forgotten. Less than 20 years ago, hundreds of millions of people were enslaved by a theology called Communism. One man had a vision, and made that vision a reality. Freedom today means Ronald Reagan. Don’t ask the residents of Hollywood. Ask the people of Bulgaria, Poland, Albania.
   White House
2. J. Edgar Hoover
   Hoover headed the FBI for 48 years. He is responsible for the creation and continuance of one of the most professional federal police forces in the world. On a planet with memories of the Gestapo and the KGB, and the religious police of Saudi Arabia, the FBI still serves as a model for the national police of free nations worldwide.
   FBI
3. Barbara Bush
   Wife of a President in wartime, and mother of another, I would suggest that Barbara Bush has had as much effect on world history as any on this list. Much of that history remains to be written, but this lady’s relationship with each of the two Bush presidents certainly help make them who they are and molded how they acted.
   White House
4. President Theodore Roosevelt
   Teddy gives America and the world a two-fer. The Panama Canal and the idea of preserving unique, unspoiled areas for future generations to enjoy. The Canal linked the world’s two major oceans in a commercially viable way for the first time, enabling trade. Roosevelt’s work on national parks and monuments saved much of the beauty of the wild west for our generation and those who will follow.
   White House
   
5. Andrew Carnegie
   Once the richest man in the world, Carnegie saw wealth as an obligation to give. By his death he had donated $350 million to charity, and built over 2,500 public libraries. Without him, libraries would still be the province of the rich and famous. Being able to read builds wealth, and Carnegie made it possible for millions to read.
   Carnegie Corporation of New York
6. Clarissa Harlowe Barton
   A resident of America’s North Shore, Clara Barton’s work has saved millions of lives. You know, the American Red Cross and all those groups inspired by it.
   American Red Cross
   National Park Service
7. President Thomas Jefferson
   Jefferson is not on this list for his political work. He’s here because he created America, by making the Louisiana Purchase. Taking authority he may not have had, he bought a largely unknown tract of land, doubling the size of the United States. Without this addition, we would have remained just another coastal nation, depending on other nations for resources and with limited room to grow. America exists because Thomas Jefferson bought it.
   National Park Service
   Monticello website
8. George Washington Carver
   Peanuts are ugly. They look like a useless bit of flora. But you and I eat peanuts every day thanks to George Washington Carver. Carver is one of a handful of people that can be legitimately credited with saving billions of people from starvation. His work with peanuts and crop rotation saved the agricultural industry of the cotton South, and much, much more.
   George Washington Carver National Monument
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
9. Clarence Birdseye
   Birdseye perfected freezing food. You may think of it as just TV dinners, but the invention made it possible to store food for long periods of time and have it retain most of the original flavor and texture. Thank Clarence Birdseye the next time you eat a food that could not possibly have been grown locally or at this time of year.
   Birdseye Foods
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
10. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
    I think that it may be argued that much of the history of East Asia in the last sixty years is due to Douglas MacArthur. The Philippines, Japan and free Korea owe their democracy, and their freedom to him. In an era of heroes, he was one of the elite, and the fall from the top is always the longest. His flaws are duly noted and his achievements honored.
    Army bio
    City of Norfolk memorial