ALTHOUGH THE WAR OF 1812 marked a pivotal moment in U.S. history, many people consider it only a historical footnote. The war gave America its national anthem and saw the burning of Washington, D.C., and the American invasion of Canada. But for sailors past and present, the war will be remembered as the conflict in which the U.S. Navy came into its own.


The origins of the war were manifold and included the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy, President Thomas Jefferson’s embargo on British ships entering U.S. harbors, and Britain’s enlistment of American Indians as enemy combatants against the U.S. On June 18, 1812, President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, and what became known as the Second War for Independence began.


 


 
Facts From 1813
U.S. president: James Madison was president of the U.S. during the War of 1812.


U.S. statehood: By 1813, there were 18 states — Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.


U.S. nickname: The phrase “Uncle Sam” first was used in the War of 1812, when servicemembers referred to food from meat packer Samuel Wilson as Uncle Sam’s grub.


 


 


A hero rises
Although the U.S. Navy was still in its infancy, the fledgling service was fortunate to have several seasoned commanders among its ranks. One of the most accomplished was New Jersey native James Lawrence, whose naval career began when he was just 16, as a midshipman on USS Ganges and USS Adams during the Quasi-War with France, sparked by the French seizure of American vessels during its war with England. Lawrence was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1802 and assigned to USS Enterprise, just in time for the First Barbary War. The following year, a band of Tripolitans captured USS Philadelphia after it ran aground near Tripoli Harbor. Navy Capt. Stephen Decatur Jr. was assigned to destroy the ship so the enemy couldn’t use it, and Lawrence served as his second in command.

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