War of 1812 Campaigns The following is a synopsis of the Land Campaigns of the War of 1812 . Canada , 18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815 . This campaign includes all operations in the Canadian - American border region except the battle of Chippewa and Lundy ' s Lane . The invasion and conquest of western Canada was a major objective of the United States in the War of 1812 . Among the significant causes of the war were the continuing clash of British and American interests in the Northwest Territory and the desire of frontier expansionists to seize Canada as a bargaining chip while Great Britain was preoccupied with the Napoleonic Wars . In the first phase of the war along the border in 1812 , the United States suffered a series of reverses . Fort Mackinac fell ( 6 August ) , Fort Dearborn was evacuated ( 15 August ) , and Fort Detroit surrendered without a fight ( 16 August ) . American attempts to invade Canada across the Niagara Peninsula ( October ) and toward Montreal ( November ) failed completely . Brig . Gen . William Henry Harrison ' s move to recapture Detroit was repulsed ( January 1813 ) , but he checked British efforts to penetrate deeper into the region at the west end of Lake Erie , during the summer of 1813 . Meanwhile , in April 1813 , Maj . Gen . Henry Dearborn ' s expedition captured Fort Toronto and partially burned York , capital of Upper Canada . On 27 May , Brig . Gen . Jacob Brown repelled a British assault on Sackett ' s Harbor , New York . An American force led by Col . Winfield Scott seized Fort George and the town of Queenston across the Niagara ( May – June 1813 ) , but the British regained control of this area in December 1813 . A two - pronged American drive on Montreal from Sackett ' s Harbor and Plattsburg , New York in the fall of 1813 ended in a complete fiasco . Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British fleet on Lake Erie ( 10 September 1813 ) , opening the way for Harrison ' s victory at the Thames River ( 5 October ) , which reestablished American control over the Detroit Area . A Campaign Streamer , which was embroidered Canada , 18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815 was awarded for this campaign . Chippewa . An American advance from Plattsburg in March 1814 , led by Maj . Gen . James Wilkinson , was checked just beyond the border , but on 3 July , 500 men under General Brown seized Fort Erie across the Niagara in a coordinated attack with Commodore Isaac Chauncey ' s fleet designed to wrest control of Lake Ontario from the British . In subsequent troop maneuvers in the Niagara region , Brig . Gen . Winfield Scott ' s brigade ( 1 , 300 men ) of Brown ' s command was unexpectedly confronted by a large British force while preparing for an Independence Day parade ( 5 July 1814 ) near the Chippewa River . Scott ' s well - trained troops broke the enemy line with a skillfully executed charge , sending the survivors into a hasty retreat . British losses were 137 killed and 304 wounded ; American , 48 killed and 227 wounded . Lundy ' s Lane . After Chippewa , Brown ' s force advanced to Queenstown , but soon abandoned a proposed attack on Forts George and Niagara when Chauncey ' s fleet failed to cooperate in the operation . Instead , on 24 – 25 July 1814 , Brown moved back to the Chippewa preparatory to a cross - country march along Lundy ' s Lane to the west end of Lake Ontario . Unknown to Brown , the British had concentrated about 2 , 200 troops in the vicinity of Lundy ' s Lane and 1 , 500 more in Forts George and Niagara . On 25 July , Scott ' s brigade , moving again towards Queenstown in an effort to draw off a British detachment threatening Brown ' s line of communications on the American side of the Niagara , ran into the enemy contingents at the junction of Queenstown Road and Lundy ' s Lane . The ensuing battle , which eventually involved all of Brown ' s force ( 2 , 900 men ) and some 3 , 000 British , was fiercely fought and neither side gained a clear cut victory . The Americans retired to the Chippewa unmolested , but the battle terminated Brown ' s invasion of Canada . Casualties were heavy on both sides , the British losing 878 and the Americans 854 in killed and wounded ; both Brown and Scott were wounded as was the British commander Major General Drummond and British Lieutenant General Riall was wounded and captured . British siege of Fort Erie ( 2 August – 21 September 1814 ) failed to drive the Americans from that outpost on Canadian soil , but on 5 November they withdrew voluntarily . Commodore Thomas Macdonough ' s victory over the British fleet on Lake Champlain ( 11 September 1814 ) compelled Sir George Prevost , Governor General of Canada , to call off his attack on Plattsburg with 11 , 000 troops . Bladensburg . After the surrender of Napoleon , the British dispatched Maj . Gen . Robert Ross from France on 27 June 1814 , with 4 , 000 veterans to raid key points on the American coast . Ross landed at the mouth of the Patuxent River in Maryland with Washington as his objective on 19 August and marched as far as Upper Marlboro , Maryland ( 22 August ) without meeting resistance . Meanwhile , Brig . Gen . William Winder , in command of the Potomac District , had assembled a mixed force of about 5 , 000 men near Bladensburg , including militia , regulars , and some 400 sailors from Commodore Joshua Barney ' s gunboat flotilla , which had been destroyed to avoid capture by the British fleet . In spite of a considerable advantage in numbers and position , the Americans were easily routed by Ross ' force . British losses were about 249 killed and wounded ; the Americans lost about 100 killed and wounded , and 100 captured . British detachments entered the city and burned the Capitol and other public buildings ( 24 – 25 August ) in what was later announced as retaliation for the American destruction at York . Fort McHenry . While the British marched on Washington , Baltimore had time to hastily strengthen its defenses . Maj . Gen . Samuel Smith had about 9 , 000 militia , including 1 , 000 in Fort McHenry guarding the harbor . On 12 September 1814 , the British landed at North Point about 14 miles below the city , where their advance was momentarily checked by 3 , 200 Maryland Militiamen . Thirty - nine British ( including General Ross ) were killed and 251 wounded at a cost of 24 Americans killed , 139 wounded , and 50 taken prisoner . After their fleet failed to reduce Fort McHenry by bombardment and boat attack ( night of 13 – 14 September ) , the British decided that a land attack on the rather formidable fortifications defending the city would be too costly and , on 14 October , sailed for Jamaica . Francis Scott Key , after observing the unsuccessful British bombardment of Fort McHenry , was inspired to compose the verses of " The Star Spangled Banner . " New Orleans . On 20 December 1814 , a force of about 10 , 000 British troops , assembled in Jamaica , landed unopposed at the west end of Lake Borgne , some 15 miles from New Orleans , preparatory to an attempt to seize the city and secure control of the lower Mississippi Valley . Advanced elements pushed quickly toward the river , reaching Villere ' s Plantation on the left bank , 10 miles below New Orleans , on 23 December . In a swift counter - action , Maj . Gen . Andrew Jackson , American commander in the South , who had only arrived in the city on 1 December , made a night attack on the British ( 23 – 24 December ) with some 20 , 000 men supported by fire from the gunboat Carolina . The British advance was checked , giving Jackson time to fall back to a dry canal about five miles south of New Orleans , where he built a breastworks about a mile long , with the right flank on the river and the left in a cypress swamp . A composite force of about 3 , 500 militia , regulars , sailors , and others manned the American main line , with another 1 , 000 in reserve . A smaller force — perhaps 1 , 000 militia — under Brig . Gen . David Morgan defended the right bank of the river . Maj . Gen . Sir Edward Pakenham , brother - in - law of the Duke of Wellington , arrived on 25 December to command the British operation . He entrenched his troops and , on 1 January 1815 , fought an artillery duel in which the Americans outgunned the British artillerists . Finally , at dawn on 8 January , Pakenham attempted a frontal assault on Jackson ' s breastworks with 5 , 300 men , simultaneously sending a smaller force across the river to attack Morgan ' s defenses . The massed fires of Jackson ' s troops , protected by earthworks reinforced with cotton bales , wrought havoc among Pakenham ' s regulars as they advanced across the open ground in front of the American lines . In less than a half hour , the attack was repulsed . The British lost 291 killed , including Pakenham , 1 , 262 wounded , and 48 prisoners ; American losses on both sides of the river were only 13 killed , 39 wounded , and 19 prisoners . The surviving British troops withdrew to Lake Borgne and reembarked on 27 January for Mobile , where they defeated a US Garrison at the Second Battle of Fort Bowyer . On 14 February , they learned that the Treaty of Ghent , ending the war , had been signed on 24 December 1814 . References . From United States Army Center of Military History , " " Named Campaigns – War of 1812 " " accessed 22 Apr 2007 .