(MUSIC) RALPH NAVEAUX: THE WAR OF 1812 WAS REALLY IMPORTANT IN HELPING AFFIRM OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY.

HAL YOUMANS: WE WERE A SMALL NATION, A SMALL ARMY, AND WE WERE FACING A VERY POWERFUL NATION.

THEY BURNED THE WHITE HOUSE, THEY BURNED THE CAPITOL BUILDING.

THEY BURNED THE PATENT OFFICE, THEY BURNED THE POST OFFICE.

MOST OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED.

JAMES A MCCONNELL: THE WAR BEGAN IN MICHIGAN.

AND REALLY, UNTIL 1814, ALMOST ALL THE MAJOR CONFLICTS WERE EITHER IN THE MICHIGAN REGION OR IN THE NIAGARA REGION.

RALPH NAVEAUX: WE STOOD UP TO THE GREATEST POWER IN THE WORLD.

(MUSIC) (MUSIC, GUNFIRE, SHOUTS) (MUSIC) NARRATOR: BEYOND THE 20 SQUARE MILES OF CLEARED FARMLAND THAT SURROUNDED THE SETTLEMENT AND FORT OF DETROIT, LAY A VAST WILDERNESS THAT RAN HUNDREDS OF MILES NORTH.

IT FORMED THE WESTERN END OF THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

BRIAN LEIGH DUNNIGAN: THE POPULATION WAS PROBABLY IN THE DISTRICT OF DETROIT WAS ABOUT 2200 PEOPLE AND THAT INCLUDES FARMS OUTSIDE OF THE ACTUAL TOWN.

MOST OF THESE PEOPLE WERE FRENCH SPEAKING DESCENDANTS OF THE FRENCH SETTLERS WHO HAD COME IN THE 18TH CENTURY.

NARRATOR: ALONG RIVERS AND STREAMS, TRADING POSTS AND TRIBAL VILLAGES OF THE POTTAWATOMIE, WYANDOTTE, OTTAWA AND OJIBWE DOTTED THE NATIVE AMERICAN HOMELAND THAT WOULD ONE DAY BECOME THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.

FOOTPATHS CONNECTED SOME AREAS, BUT THERE WERE NO ROADS OR LANES WIDE ENOUGH TO MOVE CARGO AND WAGONS OVER LAND.

THE LAKES AND RIVERS WERE THE COMMERCIAL HIGHWAYS ON WHICH EVERYTHING MOVED BY SHIP, BOAT OR CANOE.

JAMES E SPURR: SHIPS ON THE OTHER HAND, COULD SAIL MUCH FASTER AND TRANSPORT MORE GOODS.

SO IF YOU HAD ACCESS TO A WATERWAY, SUCH AS YOU DO IN THE OLD NORTHWEST THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES, YOU WOULD COMMAND ALL OF THE ADJACENT LANDS NARRATOR: IN DETROIT, THE GROWING HUB OF COMMERCE IN THE REGION, MERCHANT OLIVER WILLIAMS UNDERSTOOD THIS CLEARLY.

IN 1810, HE COMMISSIONED THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SQUARE TOPSAIL SLOOP AT A PRIVATE YARD AT THE MOUTH OF THE ROUGE RIVER.

WILLIAMS NAMED IT THE FRIENDS GOOD WILL.

THE SHIP WAS LAUNCHED IN 1811, AND BEGAN SERVICE MOVING GOODS BETWEEN DETROIT AND BUFFALO.

THE FOLLOWING YEAR, IT BEGAN SHUTTLING BETWEEN FORT DEARBORN, NOW CHICAGO AND MACKINAC ISLAND AND ITS BRITISH BUILT FORT.

THE ISLANDS VILLAGE WAS A TRANSIT HUB FOR THE FUR TRADE.

ARTHUR M WOODFORD: THE BRITISH WANTED TO CONTINUE THE CONTROL, FOR ECONOMIC REASONS OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES, THE CONTROL OF FUR TRADE AND PROTECTION OF BRITISH CANADA.

RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER FROM FORT DETROIT.

HAL YOUMANS: THE FUR TRADE WAS IMPORTANT.

IT WAS IMPORTANT TO THE BRITISH, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO THE AMERICANS, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO THE INDIANS.

NARRATOR: THE AMERICAN ECONOMY ALSO DEPENDED ON SHIPS TO MOVE FURS AND OTHER GOODS TO EUROPE, WHERE SINCE 1793, THE BRITISH HAD BEEN FIGHTING A LONG WAR WITH FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

THE WARS HAD TAKEN THEIR TOLL ON THE BRITISH: THOUSANDS OF SEAMEN HAD BEEN KILLED, WOUNDED OR DESERTED, AND REPLACEMENTS WERE SCARCE.

IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, THE BRITISH ROYAL NAVY, THEN THE MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD, WAS INTERCEPTING AND SEIZING ANY SHIPS HEADED TO OR FROM FRENCH DOMINATED EUROPE.

BUT THEY WERE SEIZING MORE THAN CARGO.

IN THE YEARS LEADING UP TO THE WAR, 10,000 AMERICAN SAILORS HAD BEEN TAKEN PRISONER AND USED AS REPLACEMENT SAILORS.

THIS PRACTICE WAS CALLED "IMPRESSMENT."

IN JUNE OF 1812, PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON OUTLINED A CASE FOR WAR TO CONGRESS.

SOMETHING NEEDED TO BE DONE, HE ARGUED.

CONGRESS AGREED.

HAL YOUMANS: THESE DELEGATIONS AND CONGRESS VOTED FOR THE WAR, BECAUSE THEY SAW ECONOMIC ISSUES AS PREDOMINANT.

NARRATOR: AN INVASION OF CANADA WOULD BE ONE WAY TO PUT AN END TO THIS BRITISH BEHAVIOR.

(MUSIC) NARRATOR: IN THE LATE SPRING OF 1812, BRITISH TROOPS OF THE 41ST REGIMENT OF FOOT UNDER THE COMMAND OF COLONEL HENRY PROCTOR, CAMPED IN UPPER CANADA, NOT KNOWING THAT THEIR ROLE AS SOVEREIGN POLICEMEN WOULD SOON END AND THAT THEY WOULD BE AT WAR.

THE BRITISH NUMBERED 6000 REGULARS, ABOUT 2400 OF THEM BASED AT FORTS IN WHAT IS NOW ONTARIO AND SUPPORTED BY LOCAL MILITIAS.

BUT THE BRITISH CONSIDERED THE MILITIAS UNRELIABLE FOR COMBAT.

IN JUNE, PROCTOR RECEIVED ORDERS TO MOVE HIS REGIMENT WEST TO FORT MALDEN AT AMHERSTBURG, WHICH GUARDED THE MOUTH OF THE DETROIT RIVER.

PROCTOR'S REGIMENT WOULD LATER BE JOINED BY GENERAL ISAAC BROCK, THE OVERALL BRITISH COMMANDER.

THE NARROW WATERWAY, THE BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, WAS VITAL TO SHIPPING AND THE BRITISH WERE DETERMINED TO KEEP CONTROL OF THIS KEY PASSAGE BETWEEN LAKE HURON AND LAKE ERIE.

ON THE DETROIT SIDE OF THE RIVER, THE UNITED STATES WAS ALSO PREPARING FOR WAR.

WILLIAM HULL HAD DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN SEVERAL REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLES.

HULL HAD BEEN APPOINTED THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE MICHIGAN TERRITORY FROM MASSACHUSETTS IN 1805.

ARRIVING SHORTLY AFTER A FIRE HAD DESTROYED THE SETTLEMENT, HULL, AND JUDGE AUGUSTUS WOODWARD WOULD PLAY CRITICAL ROLES IN THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF DETROIT AND IN FORMING THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.

AS HE PREPARED FOR WAR, PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON CAST ABOUT FOR AN EXPERIENCED COMMANDER TO FORM AN ARMY THAT WOULD INVADE UPPER CANADA FROM THE WEST.

HE PICKED HULL, BUT HULL, WHO WAS ALMOST 60 YEARS OLD, TURNED MADISON DOWN TWICE.

THE PRESIDENT ASKED AGAIN.

ANTHONY YANIK: AND HULL RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTED A THIRD TIME, THIRD TRY.

AND I SAY RELUCTANTLY, BECAUSE HE HAD ALREADY BEEN WARNING THE WAR DEPARTMENT THAT THE BRITISH HAD COMPLETE CONTROL OF LAKE ERIE, THE DETROIT RIVER WITH THEIR SHIPS, THEIR WARSHIPS.

WE HAD NOTHING, WE HAD NO WARSHIPS AT ALL, IN EITHER WATER AREA.

AND THIS WOULD MAKE IT VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO SUPPLY DETROIT.

NARRATOR: HULL TRAVELED TO DAYTON, OHIO TO TAKE CHARGE OF HIS NEWLY ASSEMBLED ARMY OF 1600 AND BEGAN MARCHING IT NORTH.

HULL WAS TO INVADE CANADA FROM THE WEST, WHILE OTHER AMERICAN ARMIES WOULD ADVANCE FROM THE EAST ON NEW YORK AT NIAGARA AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

WITH NO NAVY ON THE GREAT LAKES TO HELP MOVE HIS MEN AND GOODS EFFICIENTLY AROUND THE REGION AND NO LAND ROUTES WIDE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE HIS ARMY AND EQUIPMENT, HULL SET ABOUT HIS FIRST TASK, CREATING A 200 MILE ROAD THAT HEADED NORTH AND INLAND FROM THE LAKEFRONT TO DETROIT.

ANTHONY YANIK: THEY HAD TO CARVE A ROAD THROUGH THE BLACK SWAMP, WHICH WAS 50 MILES DEEP, 30 MILES WIDE, NOTHING BUT ROTTEN TREES, FOLIAGE, UNDERWATER.

NO DRAINAGE FOR THE SWAMP.

AND IT TOOK THEM 30 DAYS TO DO IT.

IT WAS A HORRENDOUS TREK.

THE WHOLE CAMPAIGN REVOLVES AROUND SUPPLIES, SUPPLYING DETROIT.

NOW THERE ARE 800 PEOPLE IN DETROIT AT THE TIME OF THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, AND YOU BRING 1200, NOT ONLY 1200, REALLY 1600 SOLDIERS.

NARRATOR: 200 YEARS LATER, A SECTION OF THAT ROAD STILL EXISTS NEAR LAKE ERIE, JUST YARDS FROM WHERE TRUCKS NOW RUMBLE BY ON JEFFERSON AVENUE.

(MUSIC) NARRATOR: WHEN HULL REACHED THE RAPIDS ON THE MAUMEE RIVER, WHICH LEADS TO THE OPEN WATERS OF LAKE ERIE, HE MADE A FATEFUL DECISION.

UNAWARE THAT CONGRESS HAD DECLARED WAR ON THE BRITISH ON JUNE 18, HULL LOADED THE SCHOONER CUYAHOGA WITH HIS SICK AND INJURED SOLDIERS, HIS SUPPLIES, AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS AND SENT THEM TO HIS BASE AT FORT DETROIT, AHEAD OF HIS SLOWER MAIN FORCE.

BUT THE BRITISH AT FORT MALDEN IN AMHERSTBURG, CANADA, HAD HEARD THE NEWS AND INTERCEPTED AND SEIZED THE CUYAHOGA.

IN HULL'S OFFICIAL PAPERS, THEY FOUND PLANS TO ATTACK THEIR BASE AT FORD MALDEN.

UNDETERRED, HULL AND HIS ARMY PRESSED ON HEADING TOWARD DETROIT.

LYDIA BACON, WHOSE HUSBAND JOSIAH WAS AN OFFICER IN HULL'S ARMY, WROTE IN HER DIARY: KATY BERG (AS LYDIA BACON): THE 12TH OF JULY, GENERAL H CROSSED TO SANDWICH OPPOSITE DETROIT WITH HIS TROOPS AND TOOK POSSESSION, THE INHABITANTS EITHER QUITTING THE PLACE OR STOPPING UNDER AMERICAN JURISDICTION.

NARRATOR: BUT LATE IN JULY, HULL RECEIVED UNSETTLING NEWS THAT CAUSED HIM TO STOP HIS ADVANCE AND TURN BACK.

THE BRITISH HAD CAPTURED FORT MACKINAC, 300 MILES NORTH IN LAKE HURON, A KEY LINK IN THE GREAT LAKES FUR TRADE.

THE VILLAGE BELOW THE FORT SWELLED TO 2000 RESIDENTS IN SUMMER MONTHS.

BRIAN LEIGH DUNNIGAN: SO IT WAS JUST PLACED EXACTLY RIGHT.

AS FAR AS A MILITARY POST, IT WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ISOLATED MILITARY POSTS IN THE US SYSTEM AND THE US ARMY.

300 OR SO MILES FROM DETROIT, THE ONLY PLACE WHERE IT COULD REALLY GET ANY HELP IN CASE OF A PROBLEM.

NARRATOR: ON THE MORNING OF JULY 17 1812, A FORCE OF 600 BRITISH FROM FORT ST. JOSEPH IN CANADA, TOGETHER WITH A LARGE CONTINGENT OF INDIAN NATION ALLIES APPROACHED MACKINAC ISLAND.

BRIAN LEIGH DUNNIGAN: THEY MARCHED IN THE DARK AND THE RISING DAWN UP A ROAD THAT LED RIGHT THROUGH THE CENTER OF MACKINAC ISLAND, TO A POINT PROBABLY ABOUT 400 YARDS FROM THE FORT ON SOME HIGHER GROUND, AND THERE THEY PLACED A CANNON.

THE INDIANS WERE DISTRIBUTED IN THE WOODS, THE BRITISH REGULARS, ALL 45 OF THEM, WERE DRAWN UP IN ORDER, AND THE BRITISH COMMANDER CAPTAIN CHARLES ROBERTS CALLED ON HANKS TO SURRENDER HIS GARRISON OR HE WOULD BEGIN BOMBARDING IT WITH HIS SIX POUNDER FROM HIS ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION.

NARRATOR: THE AMERICAN GARRISON OF 60 MEN WAS BADLY OUTNUMBERED.

THE FORT'S COMMANDER LIEUTENANT PORTER HANKS SURRENDERED.

PHIL PORTER: I THINK THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF HAVING A MILITARY PRESENCE THERE ALONG WITH THE FUR TRADE PRESENCE WAS A.)

TO PROTECT THE FUR TRADE, TO PROTECT THE COUNTRY'S INTERESTS IN THE FUR TRADE BECAUSE IT WAS AN EXTREMELY LUCRATIVE INDUSTRY.

THE SECOND PURPOSE WAS TO HAVE A MILITARY PRESENCE THERE THAT COULD REPRESENT THE GOVERNMENT IN ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING ALLIANCES WITH THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES.

NARRATOR: SOON AFTER THE BRITISH TOOK FORT MACKINAC, THE UNSUSPECTING OLIVER WILLIAMS AND HIS SHIP THE FRIENDS GOOD WILL, LOADED WITH FURS FROM FORT DEARBORN, HEADED TO THE ISLAND.

JAMES A MCCONNELL: SO WILLIAMS BRINGS HIS SLOOP THE FRIENDS GOOD WELL INTO THE DOCK THERE, AND HE'S GREETED BY A BUNCH OF BRITISH SOLDIERS.

THE SHIP IS TAKEN PRISONER, HE IS TAKEN PRISONER.

IT BECOMES A BRITISH SHIP.

IT'S RENAMED THE LITTLE BELT, AND IT JOINS THE BRITISH NAVY ON THE GREAT LAKES.

NARRATOR: WITH THE FALL OF FORT MACKINAC, HULL NOW FEARED THAT THE BRITISH SUCCESS WOULD OPEN UP WHAT HE CALLED THE NORTHERN HIVE OF INDIANS, AND AN ALLIANCE THAT WOULD BE A SERIOUS THREAT TO HIS OWN ARMY.

NATIVE NATIONS, LONG FED UP WITH AMERICAN EXPANSIONISM, WERE PLAYING AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE WAR.

THE INDIAN NATIONS HAD FOUGHT A SERIES OF COSTLY WARS AGAINST THE AMERICANS FROM THE 1780S UNTIL 1795 WITH MIXED RESULTS.

AFTER 1800, ONE TRIBAL LEADER, THE SHAWNEE TECUMSEH HAD ALSO DECIDED TO TAKE A STAND.

NO SINGLE TRIBE, HE SAID, HAD A RIGHT TO SELL OR DEED LAND TO THE WHITE SETTLERS UNLESS ALL THE TRIBES IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY AGREE.

RALPH NAVEAUX: THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE SPLIT ON THE ISSUE OF WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE WAR OF 1812.

TECUMSEH, OF COURSE, WAS URGING EVERYONE TO RESIST, TO RESIST THE AMERICAN SETTLERS WHO WERE COMING IN.

AND HE TRIED TO FORM A GREAT CONFEDERATION OF WARRIORS THAT WOULD FIGHT NOT ONLY THE AMERICANS, BUT THEY WOULD HELP THE BRITISH AND THE BRITISH WOULD HELP THEM IN THE COMING WAR.

BRIAN LEIGH DUNNIGAN: AND THE OTHER WAS A GREAT HOPE THAT THE BRITISH AND THE AMERICANS MIGHT NEGOTIATE AN INDIAN BUFFER STATE BETWEEN CANADA AND THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES.

NARRATOR: NOT SURPRISINGLY, TECUMSEH NOW THREW HIS LOT IN WITH BROCK AND THE BRITISH.

MEREDITH HENRY: YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO WEIGH AMERICANS WHO ARE ENCROACHING ON OUR LAND AND TAKING LAND EVERY DAY, OR BRITISH WHO PROMISED US THAT WE'RE GOING TO KEEP THE GREAT LAKES AND THEY WILL MAKE IT ITS OWN TERRITORY OR SOVEREIGN NATION.

NARRATOR: BACK IN DETROIT, HULL RECEIVED FURTHER BAD NEWS: HIS ARMY COULD NOT BE RESUPPLIED FROM OHIO.

BROCK'S BRITISH AND INDIAN FORCES HAD BLOCKADED THE ROAD TO DETROIT.

TWO MAJOR BATTLES AT BROWNSTOWN AND MONGUAGON QUICKLY FOLLOWED, BOTH UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO REOPEN HULL'S SUPPLY LINES.

HULL WAS NOW ISOLATED AND FACING WHAT HE BELIEVED TO BE AN OVERWHELMING FORCE OF BRITISH, CANADIANS AND INDIANS.

SANDY ANTAL: AT DETROIT, THE INDIANS INDIAN PRESENCE WAS MAGNIFIED WHEN TECUMSEH RAN HIS WARRIORS IN AND OUT OF THE BUSH SEVERAL TIMES SO AS TO PRESENT THE ILLUSION OF LARGER NUMBERS.

SO 600 APPEARED MORE LIKE 1800 TO POOR GENERAL HULL.

NARRATOR: BROCK AND TECUMSEH SURROUNDED HULL AND ISSUED AN ULTIMATUM.

LYDIA BACON WROTE IN HER DIARY, KATY BERG (AS LYDIA BACON): A SUMMONS HAS BEEN SENT TODAY FROM GENERAL BROCK, COMMANDER OF THE ENGLISH FORCES IN CANADA TO GENERAL HULL TO SURRENDER DETROIT WITH THE ARMY TO HIM.

THIS THE GENERAL HAS NOT SEEN FIT TO COMPLY.

NARRATOR: ON AUGUST 16, BROCK BEGAN A BOMBARDMENT.

KATY BERG (AS LYDIA BACON): THE CANNON BEGAN TO ROAR APPARENTLY WITH TEN-FOLD FURY.

THE ENEMY'S SHOT BEGAN TO ENTER THE FORT.

A 24-POUND SHOT ENTERED THE NEXT DOOR AND CUT TWO OFFICERS WHO WERE STANDING IN THE ENTRY DIRECTLY IN TWO.

THE SAME BALL PASSED THROUGH THE WALL INTO A ROOM WHERE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WERE AND TOOK THE LEGS OF ONE MAN OFF, AND THE FLESH OF THE THIGH OF ANOTHER.

NARRATOR: BROCK'S RELENTLESS ATTACK AND TECUMSEH'S DECEPTION HAD SUCCEEDED.

HULL SURRENDERED DETROIT.

ANTHONY YANIK: HULL HAS NO OTHER CHOICE, HE FEELS, AT LEAST FOR THE SAFETY OF THE POPULATION OF DETROIT TO SURRENDER.

IF HE DIDN'T HAVE ALL THOSE CITIZENS OF DETROIT IN THE FORT, HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE FOUGHT.

NARRATOR: THE COUNTRY WAS STUNNED BY HULL'S SURRENDER.

HE WAS CHARGED WITH COWARDICE AND DERELICTION OF DUTY, AND COURT MARTIALED AND SENTENCED TO DEATH.

ANTHONY YANIK: AND THIS IS THE ONLY INSTANCE IN THE HISTORY OF THE US ARMY, WHERE ANY COMMANDING OFFICER HAD EVER BEEN SENTENCED TO BE SHOT.

NARRATOR: HULL'S SENTENCE WAS LATER COMMUTED BY PRESIDENT MADISON.

HE RETURNED TO MASSACHUSETTS, WHERE HE LIVED OUT WHAT REMAINED OF HIS OLD AGE.

(MUSIC) NARRATOR: ON A BITTERLY COLD JANUARY DAY, IN 1813, AMERICAN GENERAL JAMES WINCHESTER SENT A DETACHMENT TO PROTECT AMERICAN CITIZENS AT FRENCHTOWN ON THE RIVER RAISIN.

THE LOSS OF DETROIT OPENED THE ENTIRE AMERICAN FRONTIER TO ATTACK.

NEW TROOPS WERE QUICKLY RAISED AND RUSHED TO NORTHERN OHIO.

RALPH NAVEAUX: EVERYONE FELT FAIRLY SECURE BECAUSE THEY HAD DEFEATED THE BRITISH AND THEY DIDN'T THINK THE BRITISH COULD MOUNT ANOTHER COUNTER ATTACK VERY SOON.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR THEM, THE BRITISH WERE COMING BACK.

NARRATOR: A JOINT FORCE OF BRITISH, CANADIAN AND NATIVE AMERICANS ATTACKED FRENCHTOWN.

WINCHESTER'S FORCE WAS SEPARATED AND OVERRUN.

RALPH NAVEAUX: GENERAL WINCHESTER TRIED TO REINFORCE THEM, BUT ALL OF HIS MEN GOT CAUGHT UP IN THIS RETREAT, AND ALL OF THEM WERE EITHER KILLED OR CAPTURED.

ONLY ABOUT 33 GOT AWAY.

NARRATOR: THE DEFEATS, FIRST HULL AT DETROIT, AND NOW WINCHESTER AND THE RIVER RAISIN DEBACLE, LEFT A STRATEGIC VOID IN THE COMMAND OF THE AMERICAN WESTERN CAMPAIGN.

THE MOST SENIOR GENERAL WITH AN ARMY INTACT WAS WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, GOVERNOR OF THE INDIANA TERRITORY.

TWO YEARS EARLIER, HARRISON HAD DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF AT THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE WHEN HE SUCCESSFULLY HELD BACK AND THEN ROUTED TECUMSEH'S TRIBAL ARMY.

RALPH NAVEAUX: ESSENTIALLY, YOU COULD SAY THAT THE RIVER RAISIN WAS THE HIGH TIDE OF BRITISH FORTUNES IN THE WEST.

EMOTIONALLY, A LOT OF MILEAGE WAS GOTTEN OUT OF THE MASSACRES, FIRES, PROPAGANDA, AND PRETTY MUCH THE ENTIRE AMERICAN FRONTIER WITH THEM WAS GALVANIZED TO SEEK REVENGE.

(MUSIC) ARTHUR M WOODFORD: WITHOUT CONTROL, NAVAL CONTROL OF THE LAKES, THERE WAS NO POSSIBILITY REALLY, OF THE SHIPMENT OF PEOPLE OR GOODS.

JAMES E SPURR: ARMED VESSELS WERE PRESENT ON THE LAKES WELL BEFORE THE REVOLUTION, AND THEREAFTER, THEY GREW IN BOTH SIZE, COMPLEXITY AND POWER LEADING UP TO AND THROUGH THE WAR OF 1812.

ARTHUR M WOODFORD: THE BRITISH HAD A HALF A DOZEN WARSHIPS.

PRETTY SMALL, YOU MIGHT HAVE 100 MEN ABOARD A VESSEL OR LESS.

NARRATOR: AMONG THEM, THE FRIENDS GOOD WILL CAPTURED AT MACKINAC IN 1812, AND RENAMED LITTLE BELT.

ARTHUR M WOODFORD: THE BRITISH WERE ABLE TO CONTROL THE SUPPLY LINES ON THE WATER AND THEREFORE EASILY SHIP MEN AND SUPPLIES AND SUPPORT FORT MALDEN AND AMHERSTBURG.

NARRATOR: IF THE AMERICANS WERE GOING TO CHALLENGE THIS POWER, THEY TOO WOULD NEED A VIABLE FLEET.

CONGRESS AUTHORIZED CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS AT A PRESQUE ISLE BASE SHIPYARD ON LAKE ERIE IN PENNSYLVANIA, AND AT ANOTHER YARD IN BLACK ROCK NEAR BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

THE BRITISH WATCHED AT A DISTANCE AS THE AMERICAN FLEET TOOK SHAPE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF COMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, WHO AT 27 HAD NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE.

IN LATE AUGUST OF 1813, PERRY'S SQUADRON, NOW ON OPEN WATERS, BEGAN SEARCHING FOR THE BRITISH FLEET.

ON SEPTEMBER 10, PERRY ENGAGED THE BRITISH IN WHAT WOULD BECOME A DECISIVE EVENT OF THE WAR, THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.

THE BATTLE LASTED THREE HOURS, DURING WHICH PERRY MANEUVERED THE BRITISH INTO RANGE OF HIS MORE POWERFUL CANNONS, CRIPPLED THEIR SHIPS AND FORCED THEM TO SURRENDER.

IN ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MESSAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY, PERRY INFORMED HIS SUPERIORS "WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND THEY ARE OURS."

TWO SHIPS, TWO BRIGS, ONE SCHOONER, ONE SLOOP.

THE SLOOP WAS OLIVER WILLIAM'S FRIENDS GOOD WILL.

JAMES A MCCONNELL: SO IT COMES ONCE MORE BACK INTO U.S. CONTROL.

THROUGHOUT THE REST OF 1813, THE US NAVY USES IT RATHER THAN RETURNING IT TO OLIVER WILLIAMS.

IT'S CARRYING SUPPLIES BACK AND FORTH ACROSS LAKE ERIE BETWEEN BUFFALO AND DETROIT.

(MUSIC) NARRATOR: PERRY'S VICTORY, AND THE SURRENDER OF THE BRITISH FLEET, AND HIS COOPERATION WITH GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON TURNED THE TIDE IN THE NORTHWEST.

ARTHUR M WOODFORD: THE BRITISH IMMEDIATELY HAD TO RETREAT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SHIPS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO HOLD OFF PERRY.

AND PERRY THEN HAD CONTROL OF THE WATERWAY FROM BUFFALO ALL THE WAY TO THE MOUTH OF THE DETROIT RIVER.

NARRATOR: WHEN THE BRITISH EVACUATED DETROIT AND AMHERSTBURG, HARRISON AND HIS LARGE AMERICAN FORCE FOLLOWED.

PROCTOR RETREATED INTO UPPER CANADA.

SANDY ANTAL: THE SUPPLY LINE ON LAKE ERIE WAS NEVER TO BE RETURNED.

THE SOLDIERS HAD NOT BEEN PAID FOR UP TO SIX MONTHS, THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE MONEY FOR SOAP.

WHEN THEY MARCHED ON THE THAMES CAMPAIGN, MANY OF THEM WERE BAREFOOT ON FROST RIDDEN GROUND.

NARRATOR: ON OCTOBER 5, HARRISON'S ARMY CAUGHT UP WITH PROCTOR AT MORAVIANTOWN ON THE THAMES RIVER, NEAR MODERN DAY CHATHAM, ONTARIO.

A VIGOROUS CHARGE ROUTED THE BRITISH, BUT THEIR NATIVE AMERICAN ALLIES FOUGHT ON.

TECUMSEH WAS KILLED.

THE BATTLE WAS OVER.

WITH HARRISON'S VICTORY ON THE THAMES, THE END OF THE WAR CAME MORE CLEARLY INTO SIGHT FOR THE UNITED STATES.

BUT IT WAS NOT OVER YET.

THE BRITISH STILL HELD MACKINAC.

AN AMERICAN NAVAL AND MILITARY FORCE, DISPATCHED FROM DETROIT IN JULY 1814, FAILED TO RECAPTURE THE FORT.

THE BRITISH WOULD OCCUPY MACKINAC UNTIL JULY 1815.

IN A FOOTNOTE TO THE HISTORY OF THE WAR, THE SAGA OF OLIVER WILLIAMS SHIP, THE FRIENDS GOOD WILL WOULD HAVE ONE LAST TWIST.

JAMES A MCCONNELL: IN DECEMBER, THE SHIP IS RUN AGROUND IN A STORM IN THE NIAGARA RIVER OFF OF BUFFALO.

AND AT THAT POINT, THE BRITISH ATTACK BUFFALO.

THEY SEE THE SMALL SHIP OUT THERE IN THE RIVER, AND THEY BURN IT TO THE GROUND.

AND THEREFORE, OLIVER WILLIAMS NEVER GETS HIS SHIP BACK.

NARRATOR: BY THE TIME THE TREATY OF GHENT WAS SIGNED ON DECEMBER 24 1814, PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE AND AMERICAN CONTROL OF THE GREAT LAKES WAS CLEARLY A DECIDING FACTOR IN A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH BRITAIN.

BRIAN LEIGH DUNNIGAN: FOR THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE AMERICANS AND THEIR CANADIAN NEIGHBORS, IT WAS I THINK, A VERY DEFINING MOMENT AND MOST HISTORIANS I THINK, WOULD GENERALLY AGREE THAT ANY HOPE OF CANADA BECOMING PART OF THE UNITED STATES WAS LARGELY ENDED AT THAT POINT.

AND THE TWO NATIONS WOULD GO OFF ON THEIR ON THEIR SEPARATE PATHS OF DEVELOPMENT AND, AND DEVELOPMENT ACTUALLY ACROSS THE CONTINENT IN BOTH CASES.

NARRATOR: FOR NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY.

MEREDITH HENRY: IN THE 1600S, WHEN FRENCHMEN CAME IN AND DID MAPS, WE WERE ACTUALLY RECOGNIZED NOT BY STATES OR TERRITORIES, WE WERE RECOGNIZED IN MAPS, AS NATIONS, AND THE WAR OF 1812 TOOK THAT AWAY FROM US.

NARRATOR: THE WAR OF 1812 WAS ALSO THE LAST INSTANCE OF AN ARMED RESISTANCE BY NATIVE AMERICAN NATIONS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

IN THE EAST, THE FINAL FUTILE BRITISH ATTACK ENDED IN THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON AND THE EXILE OF THE GOVERNMENT.

A YOUNG POET NAMED FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, WATCHING THE BRITISH BOMBARDMENT OF FORT MCHENRY PENNED THE WORDS THAT WOULD BECOME OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM.

JAMES A MCCONNELL: I THINK THE WAR OF 1812 IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS SENSE OF PRIDE IN THE NATION THAT THAT GREW IN THE UNITED STATES AFTER THE WAR OF 1812.

EVEN IF IT WASN'T REALLY AN AMERICAN VICTORY, MANY PEOPLE PERCEIVED IT AS A VICTORY.

(MUSIC)