The Mentor: The War of 1812

Our defeat of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War was conclusive; though "we" in that case included France, without whose aid the patriots must have been defeated. It is not so easy to discover a fund of military glory in the War of 1812. That was a great war year. Within a few days of the declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain, Napoleon's Grand Army of over 400,000 men crossed the Niemen into Russia. Six months later 4,000 of that host recrossed, pursued by the Russians; and probably not more than 100,000 of the whole number ever saw their homes again. In 1813, while the Americans were fighting on the ocean and on Lake Erie, Napoleon was driven out of Germany.