The kangaroo court martial of General William Hull

On Jan. 3, 1814, in Albany, N.Y., a court martial was commenced to address charges of cowardice, neglect of duty, and unofficer-like conduct against Gen. William Hull. On March 25 of that year, Hull became the only general in American history sentenced to death. His ambitious prosecutor was an up and coming New York politician and former acolyte of Aaron Burr, Martin Van Buren. The trial was a political hoax, and President James Madison, who had ordered the court martial, rescinded his order and then reinstated it, saw fit to commute Hull’s sentence and gave him a dishonorable discharge instead.

But for its none-too-imaginative name, few persons would know about when the War of 1812 took place, and even fewer know what it was about. The war was a big win for the United States, but the history books tend to characterize it as a tie. The ultimate losers turned out to be the Native American tribes who sided with the British, who promptly sold the tribes out. We got a national anthem out of it. And most importantly, Andrew Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans gave teeth to the naked legal title that came with the Louisiana Purchase.

The two hundredth anniversary of the war went unnoticed a few years back, except for a few of commemorative stamps.

The War of 1812 was, in fact, more polarizing than Vietnam. States like Connecticut and Massachusetts refused to send any troops, and the New Hampshire legislature denounced it by formal resolution. Massachusetts Gov. Caleb Strong proclaimed a public day of fasting in opposition. When the U.S. Senate voted on Madison’s war resolution, every Federalist voted no. When Secretary of War James Monroe called for nationwide conscription, Congress balked. New England banks held half of the nation’s hard currency. They refused to lend any money to the federal government to support the effort.

Like most wars, the War of 1812 was a fight for real estate. Though Madison’s war message scored the British policy of shanghaiing American sailors to serve on British ships, the real goal was to take control of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes and stanch British support for Native American tribes opposing white settlement. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 had shut the door on settlement west of the Appalachians, but the American Revolution put an end to that, and the rush was on.

In 1790, there were 3.9 million people in the United States — and 99 percent of them lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. By 1830, 4.5 million lived west of the mountains. The people on the coast still made their living primarily trading with the English and saw no use for the war. Tennessee on the other hand produced so many volunteers to fight it has been called the Volunteer State ever since.

The “War Hawks” who were supported by the Democratic Republicans won out and approached the conflict with naïve cockiness. Jefferson himself proclaimed victory to be “a mere matter of marching.” This hubris produced unexpected defeats, and Washington D.C. was burned to the ground. As military historian William Elting puts it “Military competence … was a consideration outside the routine deliberations of Madison’s cabinet.” One of the most embarrassing defeats came early, when General Hull was forced to surrender Detroit without firing a shot because of the incompetence of others.

Hull, a Revolutionary War hero who hadn’t seen action in 25 years, was made a brigadier general two months before war was declared, and ordered to prepare an invasion of Canada. He assembled a force of 800 regulars and 1,200 Ohio militiamen, and dispatched a schooner, the Cayauga, to Detroit loaded with uniforms, supplies and war plans, so his army could use it as a staging base and attack Ontario quickly.

For some idiotic reason, the War Department advised Hull the war was on by regular mail, while the British sent word by courier. The Brits secured the help of Indian mercenaries and captured the Cayauga. When the British attacked Mackinac Island, they met no resistance because the locals didn’t know there was a war going on. Gen. Henry Dearborn, who was supposed to march west on Ontario from Buffalo, negotiated a cease fire instead, leaving Hull out to dry. The British laid siege to Hull’s army at Detroit and let it be known that they couldn’t vouch for the civility of their Indian allies. In other words, surrender or be scalped.

Hull surrendered without a fight, and when the British paroled him he requested an inquest to clear his name. Instead, politicians with egg on their face insisted on a court martial. Jefferson declared that Hull should either be hanged or shot. To make matters worse, the presiding officer of the court was none other than Henry Dearborn, which is like having Pontius Pilate pass judgment on Simon of Cyrene.

Hull was provided with advisory counsel, but had to go it alone in court. Exculpatory evidence was in British hands and they were in no mood to provide it. Documents Hull knew were extant were denied to him, or declared missing. Junior officers who testified against him were rewarded with promotions, including young Lewis Cass, who would be the Democratic nominee for president in 1848. (Ironically, he lost because Van Buren ran as a third-party candidate.) As Hull put it, “My expedition was more prolific of promotion than any other unsuccessful military enterprise I have ever heard of.”

The British got tired of the war because Napoleon was causing them too many headaches elsewhere. A treaty was signed that provided for free navigation on the Great Lakes and reset the status quo ante as to everything else. The Native Americans, who’d been promised a band of land that would serve as a sort of demilitarized zone, got nothing from the British, but the lasting enmity of most Americans, including Andy Jackson.

The final engagement of the war was at New Orleans before either side got word the Treaty of Ghent had been signed. Gen. Jackson, with the help of pirates, mercenaries, free blacks and Indians, kicked ass, killing or wounding 2,100 British troops in less than 25 minutes. The country felt good about itself, and Hull’s alleged sins were forgotten, but never officially forgiven. Martin Van Buren never expressed a word of regret.