From The Archives -- Remembering Our Most Forgettable War
Because today is Memorial Day, I decided to take the day off.
It has now been fourteen months to the day since one of the worst days Baltimore has ever had, and while progress has been made on rebuilding the Key Bridge, the reopening isn't scheduled for another three years.
So I decided once again to hearken back to a much better day for Baltimore -- a day filled with violence, but one in which America scored a decisive military victory that was a pivotal moment in ending a war. It's a war few people remember today, but the victory is still celebrated before virtually every sporting event that takes place in this country, even if the circumstances have largely been forgotten. So once again, this Memorial Day, let's all take a moment to give the Battle of Fort McHenry its due.
[I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday today, and new columns will resume tomorrow.]
Originally published June 28, 2018
Since today is Memorial Day, I'd like to begin with a remembrance of our most forgettable war, the War of 1812. How forgettable was this war? Well, its bicentennial passed by a few years ago, but the country as a whole took little notice. That's pretty forgettable, as these things are measured. In fact, only one event during this war has become what one might call (if one were in the mood for a pun) a "Key" moment, but more on that in due course.
The War of 1812 was mostly pointless and mostly indecisive. When the war ended, neither side had really won or lost, and no great concessions were made. The American attempts to conquer Canada were mostly a tragic farce, but the British suffered some ignoble defeats as well (including several memorable naval losses). Americans themselves were fiercely divided over the war, and the separation between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists almost ripped the country apart. New England Federalists, in fact, openly considered secession, and if they had made their minds up a bit faster, the War of 1812 might have sparked off a civil war between north and south. Or New England might have joined up with Old England, or become a part of Canada. As it was, it led to the immediate death of the Federalist Party, leading to the only real period of single-party rule in American history (which continued until Andrew Jackson shook things up, which gave rise to the Whigs).
Looking back, it's not that hard to understand why we collectively decided to mostly just sweep the War of 1812 under the rug of history. It was a messy time, and there was no overall clear and moral victory to celebrate. There were, however, individual victories, which were politicized quite successfully in later years.
Due to the slow nature of communications at the time, the final battle of the war happened weeks after the peace treaty was signed. The Treaty of Ghent was signed and on a ship heading to America when the Battle of New Orleans was fought. The hero of this battle was Andrew Jackson, a fact he capitalized upon in his later political life. Another hero of the war came up with a political slogan so catchy every schoolchild still recognizes it, although few adults would be able to put a president's name with the slogan. "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" is pretty tongue-trippingly memorable, but William Henry Harrison just wasn't (other than having the shortest presidential term, dying 30 days after being sworn in). Tippecanoe was a battle in the War of 1812, meaning two military heroes from the war went on to win the presidency by touting their military prowess to the voters.
Most of that (other than that catchy political slogan) is forgotten today, though. In fact, a single battle is all Americans celebrate from the war, which is somewhat odd because many of the people celebrating it wouldn't be able to name which battle it actually was (or locate it on a map, for that matter). Schoolchildren who grew up in Maryland are really the only ones who probably remember the basics years later, since Fort McHenry is located in Baltimore.
This, obviously, was that "Key" moment -- when Francis Scott Key jotted down a poem after witnessing the British attempt to take the fort, and the city. Key was on a British ship (he was being respectfully detained until after the battle, so he couldn't give away secret military plans, but he was an American who had been sent to parley with the British -- which is why he saw the battle from a British ship). This poem was quickly put to a tune stolen from a British drinking song, and eventually became our national anthem. I suppose we're all lucky we don't sing our national anthem to the tune of "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall," or perhaps "It's Late And I Want To Go Home," when you think about it.
Nowhere in the first verse of the song (all that anyone sings, these days) does Key identify the fort under attack or the city it is defending, which is why few people standing at a football game could probably name both. They'd be doing well to remember all the lyrics in the proper order, in fact. The lyrics are so flowery and poetic that it really is tough to remember which couplet comes next. How often do you use "gleaming" or "ramparts" in daily conversation, after all, to say nothing of "o'er" or "spangled"?
So a mostly-nameless battle where a mostly-nameless fort successfully defended a mostly-nameless city in a very forgettable war has become the most memorable battle in American history, in at least one respect (count the number of times the song is sung versus the number of times other U.S. battles get referenced by the citizenry, for instance). This battle was politicized from the very beginning. Americans desperately needed a victory to celebrate, especially considering that three weeks earlier, the same British forces had burnt Washington to the ground (after the worst military rout in American history, the Battle of Bladensburg, which also took place in Maryland). So it wasn't just Francis Scott Key who was relieved he could see the flag in the dawn's early light. Together with the victory in New Orleans, both military triumphs allowed Americans to feel a little better about what was, in essence, a largely pointless war that was fought to a draw.
Schoolchildren spend little time studying the War of 1812 (compared, say, to how the Revolution is studied), and most American adults would be hard-pressed to name even a single salient point about the war today. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be remembered -- failures and all. Our navy gained worldwide respect as a result of the war, although Canada still celebrates how inept our land forces were in their attempt to free all of North America from British rule. We got two presidents out of the war, and we saw the end of the first two-party system in American politics (the end of the second one would coincide with the Civil War, as the Republican Party was born).
But the most memorable thing we got out of the war was a national song. It's notoriously hard to sing (that high note at the end), and it's maddeningly hard to remember the words (which is why they appear on the big screen at sports events). But perhaps this is fitting, since the song itself celebrates a victory that most have largely forgotten from a war that was even more forgettable. So this Memorial Day I'm going to make a special effort to remember the soldiers and sailors who died in the War of 1812. It's harder than bringing to mind the glorious Revolution or the total victory of World War II, but the men who served deserve equal respect in our collective memory.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Maybe it's because I like history but I have to respectfully disagree that no one knows anything about the background to 'The Star Spangled Banner' and the war that it is set in.
Like every schoolchild I knew, we were taught that the flag flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor, and that Key's poem, later song, celebrated America's fabled ability to come back from seeming early defeats in wars and end up triumphant. We learned that the British had burned Washington city, in revenge for the Americans' torching of York, a Canadian provincial capital. Dolley Madison famously saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington from the White House before the British arrived.
Now, I'm older and maybe today's citizens don't get this stuff in middle school like I did. But even younger people like history - some of them - and I don't thing we ought to be so absolute in declaiming America's historical ignorance, especially in respect to Memorial Day, a day of remembrance.
Are you sure - are you sure? - that your 1812-ignorant Americans really remember the details of the Revolutionary War or the Second World War? Because I know a lot of people who couldn't tell you very much about either war, any more than they could identify Fort McHenry from the National Anthem.
@JMCt,
there are a lot of Netflix documentaries and drama series, so probably more folks are in the know than one might think.
JL
Always love the history lessons that CW brings to Weigantia.. :D
Thank you, CW... :D
Interesting factoid from the 2024 Election...
Almost 30 per cent of black males voted for PRESIDENT Trump.
Almost 46 per cent of ALL Latinos voted for PRESIDENT Trump..
An AMAZING *65 per cent* of Native Americans cast ballots for PRESIDENT Donald Trump.
Do ya'all see why getting out of the political Black Forest is going to be so hard for woke progressive Democrats??
America has gone totally balls out for PRESIDENT Trump...
The ONLY way Democrats can compete against that is a completely honest assessment of how bad Democrats scroo'ed up and a totally sincere apology to the American people..
THAT will be the start of the Democrat Party's return to the good graces of the American voter...
Silence Gives Assent
A really awesome article on why it's VITAL that the American people learn who was actually running the country while Basement Biden was drooling all over himself in the corner...
Confused, Starving Reporters Now Desperate for Food After Killing American Journalism
https://johnkassnews.com/confused-starving-reporters-desperate-for-food-after-killing-and-devouring-journalism/
I won't quote any of it or summarize any of it. It needs to be read in it's entirety..
It should be read by someone who is free of PTDS and Trump/America hate, but THAT is too big of an ask, I am readily aware...
The treat to our democracy IS all too real...
But it comes from the people who propped up and abused a senile old man in their quest for power..
THOSE people are the REAL threat to our democracy..
And if we are to vanquish that threat, those people must be dragged out into the light and punished...
Silence Gives Assent
nypoet22
2
I know, right!? Netflix has more documentaries on World War II in one place than you could ever imagine as well as films based on history. Some of the black and white footage of that era has been colorized, and it's fascinating to watch. Color film was in existence at that time but much more expensive and therefore rare, but the only "spin" on history when you're watching the actual footage is the propaganda and spew out of the mouths of the speakers themselves.
I thought about making a list of the documentaries "not to be missed," but there's far too many... so anything by Ken Burns. How's that for a list?
There's also a Netflix film called Operation Mincemeat that's based on a ruse successfully implemented by the Brits during WWII that's based on a memo written by Ian Fleming for his boss (yes, that Ian Fleming) which obviously is far more involved than I'm going to divulge here, but I would definitely recommend that movie, which somehow (in ways I cannot fathom) they have turned those historical facts into a Broadway musical. Go figure.
The woke progressive Democrat Party is fracturing over the “abundance agenda,” a policy push to streamline zoning, permitting, and bureaucracy to boost housing and infrastructure.
Supporters, including moderates like Pete Buttigieg and Josh Shapiro, see it as a path to prosperity and a rebuttal to PRESIDENT Trump’s chaos, addressing voter frustration with stagnant governance.
Critics, like David Sirota and the Roosevelt Institute, blast it as a corporate ploy to undermine progressive activism, accusing it of sidelining environmental and community voices.
This Democrat Party “civil war” exposes a deeper rift: progressives cling to Nader-style litigation and activist groups, prioritizing local control, while abundance advocates, backed by the Niskanen Center, demand deregulation to unlock progress.
Basement Biden’s failures...
...$42 billion for rural broadband but yielded ZERO connections
...only 58 EV chargers built—fuel this fight
.... proving government inefficiency. Democrats’ hypocrisy in ignoring these flops, while shielding Biden’s decline, mirrors their refusal to confront corporate influence, like Headboard Harris' weak 2024 campaign that dodged naming corporate villains.
Progressives’ obsession with “equity” over results alienates voters, who see through the Democrat Party's feckless and virtue-signaling posturing.
The abundance agenda offers moderates a positive identity, free from progressive dogma, but risks alienating the Left’s base.
As PRESIDENT Trump dismantles state capacity, woke progressive Democrats must choose. Cling to outdated legalism or embrace a bold, results-driven vision.
"You must choose. But choose wisely. For while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you.""
-Knight, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
Failure to resolve this rift will push the woke progressive Democrat Party deeper and deeper into their political exile in the political Black Forest, Further handing PRESIDENT Trump’s “I alone can fix it” narrative another win to add to the many that PRESIDENT Trump has wracked up...
SILENCE GIVES ASSENT
CITES:
The Atlantic, MAY 2025
The Nation, MAY 2025
Defenders DOT Org, APR 2025
Liberal Patriot, MAY 2025
Yahoo, MAY 2025
The American Prospect, APR 2025
C-SPAN, MAY 2025
POLITICO, MAY 2025
Abundancey DOT Com, MAY 2025
Liberal Currents, MAY 2025
@kick[6],
i loved operation mincemeat!
(yes, that Ian Fleming)
seriously! it is just wild, that such a plan actually worked, for a guy who came up with so many fictional plots to have one that was 100% real. as to the Broadway musical, i guess they can make a musical of absolutely anything.
JL
i guess they can make a musical of absolutely anything.
Except Star Trek,,
SUBSPACE RHAPSODY was **ABYSMAL** and totally destroyed Star Trek canon...
Having said that, I am sure ya'all LOVED it...
But then, ya'all think that PRESIDENT Trump is Professor John Gill, so....
That explains THAT.... :D
nypoet22
8
as to the Broadway musical, i guess they can make a musical of absolutely anything.
Sure... why not!? Pick a title at random, and write the play. *thinking* Hamilton. ;) Seriously, though. This is a political blog... so...
Title: POTUS
Subtitle: Piece Of Totally Useless Shit
I will give you one guess who it's about. :)
Kick-
My mother worked for A&E network when they first started. Everyone there used to refer to it as The Arts and War network with the running joke that if it wasn't for Hitler the network wouldn't have existed. I think WWII has provided filler for networks and now streaming services for a long time...
Title: POTUS
Subtitle: Piece Of Totally Useless Shit
I will give you one guess who it's about. :)
Basement Biden and Headboard Harris...
:D
It CAN"T be about PRESIDENT Trump..
Because ya'all Democrats LOVED PRESIDENT Trump prior to Jun of 2015... :D
Oh, the so so inconvenient facts.. :D
So, woke progressive Democrats' DEEP STATE was exposed and is being dismantled piece by corrupt peace... So woke progressives hit on the idea of a "shadow government" with POLITICAL (BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) leading the charge.. :D
The woke progressive Democrat Party’s desperate push for a “shadow cabinet,” as floated by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, is a laughable and hilarious attempt to resurrect the exposed and crumbling Deep State as a rebranded “shadow government.”
PRESIDENT Trump has spent years dismantling their corrupt network..... unelected bureaucrats and insiders pulling strings behind closed doors... piece by corrupt piece.
Yet, woke progressive Democrats, STILL reeling from their UBER NUCLEAR SHELLACKING 2024 election humiliation, have come up with the idea of trotting out scandal-plagued figures like Samantha Power, Letitia James under federal investigation for mortgage fraud, and Gisele Fetterman, whose claim to fame is being an ex-ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINAL with a dormant X account, will somehow restore their credibility!!???
Jon Stewart as “Shadow Secretary of Veterans Affairs”!!???
It’s a clown show, not a strategy.
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This Politico-endorsed (POLITICO??? Need we say more??) fiasco proves woke progressive Democrats learned absolutely NOTHING from their Headboard Harris’ “brat” flop, which burned thru **2 BILLION DOLLARS and STILL lost in a SPECTACULAR AND EPIC fashion!!
The woke progressive Democrat Party obsession with identity politics over competence ie praising Gisele’s “cheeky” social media while ignoring her lack of qualifications... shows a political party completely and utterly divorced from the objective reality of the here and now...
Ignorant and NO CREDIBILITY Progressive outlets like Common Dreams admit this “People’s Cabinet” is a response to their complete and utter failure and inability to counter PRESIDENT Trump’s AMERICA FIRST agenda, yet they double down on the exact same far-left hysterical dogma that American voters have rejected time and time and time again...
The Deep State’s exposure isn’t a setback for them; it’s a blueprint to openly defy the American electorate.
Patriotic Americans see through this charade, and woke progressive Democrats’ refusal to adapt ensures their “shadow” scheme will collapse in the light of PRESIDENT Trump’s awesome AMERICA FIRST reforms.
SILENCE GIVES ASSENT
CITES:
POLITICO, MAY 2025
NPR, MAY 2025
BBC, MAY 2025
WASHINGTON POST, MAY 2025
COMMON DREAMS, MAY 2025
BashiBazouk
11
My mother worked for A&E network when they first started. Everyone there used to refer to it as The Arts and War network with the running joke that if it wasn't for Hitler the network wouldn't have existed.
Ah, yes, A&E... one of my absolute favorites along with sister station "The History Channel" which we actually fondly still refer to as "The Hitler Channel," even though I believe they now call it just "History."
I think WWII has provided filler for networks and now streaming services for a long time...
Yes, sir, and it's glorious. :)
Interesting article from NBC NEWs on how Odumbo has killed the Democrat Party..
Odumbo’s grip on the Democrat Party has left it a hollowed-out shell, bleeding relevance since his presidency.
His handpicked operatives... David Plouffe, Jim Messina, Jen O’Malley Dillon... steered Headboard Harris’s 2024 campaign into a $2 billion iceberg, as NBC News reported {CITE: May 2025}.
The “Odumbo coalition” of young and minority voters?
Gone, with 2024 seeing them shift to PRESIDENT Trump.
Odumbo’s choices.... Biden as VP, Clinton as 2016 nominee... set the stage for successive ever-expanding losses, while his neglect of state parties crippled local organizing, per DNC officials.
Odumbo's anti-establishment aura in 2008 is now a distant memory, replaced by a stale elite clinging to power, as David Hogg noted.
Progressives like Jane Kleeb slam the “Odumbo playbook” as outdated, favoring grassroots over D.C. insiders {CITE: NBC News, May 2025}.
Odumbo’s failure to adapt, pushing establishment figures like Headboard Harris, who hid Biden’s decline and alienated American voters who craved and DEMANDED authenticity.
Odumbo's lingering influence, from stadium-filling fundraisers to operative dominance, stifles new blood, ensuring Democrats’ 2024 rout becomes a blueprint for 2028 failure.
All of this comes from Uber Democrat Propaganda Site NBC and MSNBC...
Do ya'all want to know why I *ALWAYS* win the debates against ya'all??
Because I use your OWN sources to point out how wrong ya'all are... :D
That's why ya'all can *NEVER* impeach my sources... :D
And THAT why ya'all always lose... Ya'all lose so much that I compel ya'all not even to fight!!
True SUN TZU at it's finest.
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
-SUN TZU
That's what I have done here in Weigantia...
I have completely and utterly decimated ya'all's will to fight.. :D
Whereas ya'all's ONLY course of action is to avoid the battle...
Ya'all's ONLY possible move is not to engage... :D
Even the head honchos at Disney are acknowledging that PRESIDENT Trump has won and now reigns supreme...
Iger and Karamehmedovic has told the harpies over at THE VIEW to tone down the Trump/America hate and the PTDS rhetoric...
Disney’s top brass, including CEO Bob Iger, have finally told The View’s hosts.... Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and crew... to dial back their relentless Trump-bashing and anti-America rhetoric, as reported by The Daily Beast {CITE: THE DAILY BEAST May 2025}.
Even ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic sees the writing on the wall: President Trump’s 2024 victory proves the public’s fed up with the harpies divisive rants.
The hosts’ pushback, whining that their audience craves political vitriol, exposes their delusion... they are out of touch, clinging to a narrative that American voters completely and unequivocally rejected.
Disney’s nudge to focus on celebrity fluff over politics acknowledges PRESIDENT Trump’s mandate, yet the hosts’ refusal to pivot which shows their complete and utter arrogance.
Their obsession with slamming PRESIDENT Trump, even after he unequivocally kicked Headboard Harris' ass all over the country completely ignores the reality that their show’s ratings thrive despite, not because of, their Trump/American hate-fueled segments.
Iger’s $15 million settlement with Trump over a defamation suit signals even DISNEY knows that resistance is futile...
The View’s tired act... cackling over “puppy killer” jabs while dodging Biden’s decline...mocks the American electorate’s decision.
This isn’t leadership.
It’s a immature tantrum from a fading echo chamber desperate to stay relevant.
Woke progressive Democrats have lost... The harpies on THE VIEW need to acknowledge the objective reality and move on...
SILENCE GIVES ASSENT
@kick/bashi,
prime video has a documentary on the war of 1812. it was made in 2011, presumably as a nod to the bicentennial of the conflict. i don't remember whether or not I've seen it, but i would imagine it's worth a watch. there just isn't a lot of content on the war of 1812 the way there is on world war 2.
JL
[18] nypoet22
Re: 1812: We continued to hold the airports; that's about all you need to know.
MV [19]
Nice one!
MyVoice
19
Re: 1812: We continued to hold the airports; that's about all you need to know.
What!? No love for how we "rammed the ramparts"? ;)
nypoet22
18
prime video has a documentary on the war of 1812.
Thank you!
I'll see your Prime video War of 1812 and give you a War of 1812 streaming on YouTube:
^^^ EDIT ^^^
On second look, appears to be the same documentary!
there just isn't a lot of content on the war of 1812 the way there is on world war 2.
Dang it. :)
Determined to find another documentary on the War of 1812 because I wickedly (yet inadvertently) provided a duplicate, I present:
First Invasion: The War of 1812
The History Channel a.k.a. The Hitler Channel and streaming on YouTube
Pop quiz in the morning. ;)
[21] Kick
What!? No love for how we "rammed the ramparts"? ;)
That's a one and done. They ain't coming back for the Francis Scott Key Bridge, either.
MyVoice
25
Heh. So good to "see" you. :)