Prison Ship Records from the War of 1812
While doing my research, I found Prison Ship Records for Soldiers during the War of 1812. Inside them, I found that the majority of the people who were taken from America were between the ages of 21 and 26. I think this makes the most sense, because you will pout your most young and spry soldiers out on the water. Also, I saw that they were mostly from the east coast. This makes sense that most of the soldiers are from the East Coast, because the majority of the population was located out on the East Coast.1
When it came time for war, the US didn't have very many available ships ready for battle while on the other hand, Britain had five hundred ships in service. America then decided to go North to invade Canada which they had a huge population advantage on so they planned on taking it over to get more resources for the war, but it did not go as planned.
In the USS Constitution museum, it says that the US attacked from three different angles into Canada and each angle, they all either surrendered or withdrew from the fight. Meanwhile, the British started to invade into the US. It also says they made their way to the East coast and burned down many different buildings and attacked certain cities. Surprisingly, for the US, they did well out on sea against the British. They won many one vs one boat battles that led to success on the sea for the Americans. The British then used their Royal Navy to ship troops out to Canada to keep them at a high number of soldiers and to prevent the US from coming into Canada.2
The battle at sea impacted the outcome of this war. According to the National Museum of the US Navy, the Americans won twelve ship-to-ship battles at sea throughout the war. In this museum, they have many different ships that played an important role in the battles. The boat, "Constitution", this warship was quickly a favorite of the crew workers as some said that the ship would bounce cannonballs off the side of the boat. During the run of the ship, "Constitution" was able to hold 30, 24-pound cannons. 3
1. “Prison Ship Records from the War of 1812 - Volumes.” British Online Archives, britishonlinearchives.com/collections/58/prison-ship-records-from-the-war-of-1812/volumes. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
2.“War of 1812 Overview.” USS Constitution Museum, 19 Mar. 2019, ussconstitutionmuseum.org/major-events/war-of-1812-overview/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2024
3. War of 1812: The Water War. (n.d.). https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/prior-exhibits/2012/war-1812-water-war.html