Page 4
Portland Observer
Thursday. May 20. 1976
A bicentennial look at Blacks in the war of 1812
by Mark Hyman
When writing about Black partici
pation in the War o f 1812. or any other
large scale conflict, the presentation has
to be considerably narrow, selecting
considered in the War o f 1812. Blacks
played a determining role in the two
major engagements which decided, once
and for all. America's position with
Great Britain Those engagements were
the sea battle of Lake Erie and the battle
of New Orleans.
The United States, a short thirty years
from the end of the Revolution, was
definitely unprepared for war. Most of
and honorable tie to the interest o f the
country who extends to them the equal
rights and privileges of whites."
Why would Blacks fight the British
again, a second time in thirty-one years?
To help America? Why should they
fight to help the United States maintain
her freedom? Why should they fight for
a nation which approved o f systematic
slavery o f Black people?
Jackson was eloquent and persuasive.
He spoke of equality, o f freedom for all
Blacks were involved in one of the
major causes o f the resulting declaration
of war against England for the second
time in thirty-one years. In June o f
1807, the British man-of-war Leonard
attacked the U.S. Navy's Chesapeake
outside Norfolk harbor Three .Ameri
cans were killed and eighteen wounded.
British officers boarded the Chesapeake
men
deserters from the Royal navy. Three of
them were Black— Daniel Martin,
William Ware and John Strachan. This
had been a common practice o f the
English, claiming that excellent Black
sailors had served England and deserted
deadly,
promise o f freedom for Black brothers
and sisters enslaved in the Delta and the
Bayous, in Georgia, the Carolinas and
Virginia. For the equal money paid
white soldiers. For a chance to taste the
exhilarating edge o f batti* again. These
were the answers.
THE BATTLE OF
LAKE ERIE
area. This, o f course, included valuable
and strategic New Orleans. Jackson
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
objected
when Commodore Isaac
Chauncy sent Black seamen to the
former for the upcoming, crucial battle
wrote to Louisiana Governor Clai
bourne requesting emergency military
assistance. He specifically requested the
of Lake Erie in 1913. Chauncy’s reply to
Perry was firm and polite:
two well-trained battalions o f free Black
troops. Although Jackson, at one
point, declared New Orleans under
“ I have yet to learn that the color o f a
man's skin and the cut and trimmings o f
his coat can affect a man’s qualifi
martial law— because he feared the anti-
American sentiment of the large Creole
cations and usefulness. I have fifty
Blacks on board my ship and many of
them are my best men. And these men I
population— he said to Claibourne:
"They must either be for us or against
us. Distrust them and you make them
your enemies Place your confidence in
them and you engage them by every dear
!
GOOD FOOD
changing
Why had they listened when General
Jackson sought them out and invited
them to fight for America? Simple. The
made regional commander of the G ulf
W aitress Back
and
cotton would become the
dehumanizing, merciless king?
proved himself by defeating the Creek
Indians in Spanish East Florida, was
Favorite
growing
the advent o f the cotton gin, when
Canada and the northwest United
States, this move would finalize
England's conquest.
General Andrew Jackson, after much
debate in Washington, and after he had
N ew
M a n a g e m e n t”
a
these Black soldiers to know that slavery
in America would soon get worse with
American intelligence had reported
that the British planned to attack New
Orleans and gain access to the strategic
Mississippi River, thereby sealing the
fate of the United States. With victory in
"Kitchen U nder
in
America. Then, too, Louisiana was now
American— not French, not Spanish-
—but American. Again, the willingness
to die for America prevailed. How were
alleged
fflfD’S PLACE
Washington. It announced that no
Black or mulatto would he accepted as a
recruit in (he United States Army.
sition to Blacks fighting in America's
wars. The skills, the daring and the
dedication o f Black fighters were known
by all, yet white Americans still had
At no time did he challenge the system
reservations about arming them In
1814, thousands of Americans were still
of slavery or the inequality of Black
servicemen and citizens.
General Jackson became the seventh
President of the United States in 1836.
battle «4 Naw (Means
navy. They captured Washington and
seriously attacked Baltimore.
four
on land and and sea for America. With
reminiscent irony in 1820, six years after
New Orleans, a general order came from
3933 N.E. Union
2 8 2 -3 6 8 0
William Hull surrendered Detroit in
1812. Meanwhile, the British ravaged
the Atlantic coast with their superior
irons
mances al Bunker H ill, Trenton, Sara
Your Community
Insurance Man
contain the British, had beta « dLmai
failure. A most damaging tactical and
morale blow came when General
in
toga. Rhode Island and Valley Forge.
Hut the Blacks had excelled in battle
Joe Joseph
the generals were old veterans from the
Revolution; the newer officers were
poorly trained with no experience. The
majority o f state militiamen were undis
ciplined and badly prepared Both the
American army and navy were pitifully
small and poorly equipped. The Cana
dian campaign, America's attempt to
placed
alive who remembered the Black perfor
bay.
It was done. America was free of
English threats and entanglements
forever. And Black men had died so this
could be The Emancipation Procla
mation was still seventy yean away.
And despite the heroism at Lake Erie
and New Orleans, there was still oppo
carefully those incidents in which Blacks
were specifically involved. However,
there are two major factors to be
and
guns, they retreated to their ships in the
am sending to you....have been to sea
from two to seventeen years. I presume
you will find them as useful as any men
aboard your vessel.”
Chauncy was right. Not only did
Perry learn, but his praises were lofty
and gratifying. Perry’s victory on Lake
Erie was the turning point in the war in
Perry had to be converted from his
negative ideas about Black servicemen.
Finally, the stage was set for battle.
On September
10.
1813, the British
squadron under Captain Robert Barclay
approached the American anchorage
about noon. Directing his forces from
his flag sh ip !awrence, Perry went out to
meet it and met heavy fire before he
could order his supporting vessels to
close in. After receiving damaging blasts
from the British, the Lawrence was put
out o f action. Perry transferred to the
Niagara where he continued to com
mand. After heated exchange of cannon
fire, the Niagara broke through the
British line. The remainder of the
American vessels moved in, firing as
they went, scoring one damaging hit
after another.
The British flotilla under Captain
Robert Barclay consisted o f two ships,
two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.
When the smoke had cleared, the British
counted forty-one killed and ninety-one
wounded. The Americans lost twenty-
seven
and
ninety-three
wounded.
However, some figures do not agree on
the losses. Whether or not the eighty-
three Black men who refused to leave
the Lawrence were a 11 killed has not
been supported. Commodore Perry
finally said of his Black seamen, “ They
seem absolutely insensible to danger.”
THE BATTLE OF
NEW ORLEANS
Andrew Jackson was a realist and a
hardbitten soldier who sought help
where he could get it. He was a South
erner, but he defied Southerners when
he invited the two Black regiments from
New Orleans to help at Mobile Bay. It
was Jacksorfs personal dynamism which
made the President and the Federal
Government lift the ban on his military
leadership in the upcoming battle of
New Orleans Jackson raised such a
formidable military force of his own,
President Madison relented. Another
serious matter to change the President's
mind was the Jackson victory over the
Creek Indians who had allied with the
British in November of 1813 at Talla
dega and Tallasahatchee
the northwest. It blocked all chances of
a future invasion by the British from
Canada. It set the stage for the recapture
of Detroit.
In no state in the Union were Blacks
allowed to join the militia. But in New
Orleans, two battle-ready free Black
At the outbreak of the war, however,
America had no ships at all at Lake Erie.
With a crash landing shipbuilding
trained by the Spanish long before tjie
United States bought the Louisiana
program at Sackets Harbor on Lake
Ontario and at Black Rock on Lake
Erie, the United States had a fighting
fleet in short order. There had been built
two brigs, six schooners and a sloop. All
ready for action.
It was at this point that Commodore
battalions were found. They had been
Territory.
General
Jackson
hastily
summoned these two units through a
letter to Governor Claibourne o f Loui
siana. It is evident that these two batta
lions were the key factors in determining
the victory for America and the loss for
Britain. They were indeed a vital part of
the front line defense.
J w o u a U t e e l e c / i c M g a m e
General Sir Edward Parkenham sailed
from Jamaica on November 26, 1814
with a British force o f 7500 trained and
experienced men. Most o f them were
Penisular War veterans who had seen
action against Napoleon. They landed in
U
a
lip , o ft . . .
ß u t i l l U te b e l l um I ta tM
f a n moua
the Lake Borgne area three weeks later
¿ackson organized his defensive line
along the Rodriquez canal, an aban
doned waterway south of the city of
New Orleans. His right flank was placed
on the Mississippi River so it could not
be turned His left flank was placed on a
cypress swamp for the same reason.
W ith Jackson were a small corps of
regular soldiers, his favorite units from
Tennessee and Kentucky and about 3100
Representative Wally Priestley
Democrat - District 16
W e shall overcom el
Vencerrem os!
K n ^ m X /e i^ ”
Fightin* f<*
* *
Pe° ’>te: A " " *
New Orleans militia, which were most
likely the free Blacks. He also had 2000
untrained, poorly armed
reserve toward the rear.
militia
in
northwest
tradition
Before the engagement, through the
entire month o f December, Blacks along
with whites were busily involved stren
gthening the American defenses They
piled earth a^nd cotton bales along the
canal. They laced logs and packed them
with mud. When General Parkenham
tried to break through on December 28,
the defense was easy for the Americans
because o f the strong fortifications.
Artillery and small arms drove the
British back.
A British naval attack force attempted
to sail up the Mississippi and flank the
American position. They were driven
back. These were feelers, time con
suming tests. However, when all of
General Parkenham's troops arrived,
his confidence led him to make the all
important move
Americans.
on
the entrenched
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On January 8, 1814, Parkenham led
the first wave o f English troops against
the American battleworks His infantry
struck with full force. But the trained
fire o f the American infantry threw
them back. The sure shots of the back-
woods squirrel shooters picked the
British infantrymen o ff individually.
Citizen of the Week
The British troops regrouped. They
charged again. Black men in the breast
works, manning the heavy guns, along
with the whites, threw collective power
against the invaders. The clash did not
rebate immediately. There was a
hanging battle and a lingering struggle
where
bayonet
fighting,
rifle-butt
swinging and short-range rifle and pistol
fire came into play. The American
artillery lobbed cannon balls at waves of
advancing infantry from the British
reserve.
Among the 2000 British dead were
General Parkenham himself and two of
his senior subordinates. Five hundred
were captured. One week later, after
collecting their wounded and salvaging
This la the second of a
m onthly series on Black
contributions to the defense
of our country.
M a n y V arieties
Good Southern
Cooking
DeW ayae Van Sicle is a Senior at Jefferson High School, with a grade
point average of 3.97.
DeWayne is active in school, being the editor of the yearbook a member
° i th* . N, at,<?"*1 H “ no[
»"d • member of the football rally , , , Uad He
played freshman basketball, was an advisor at Outdoor School, works at the
University of Portland during the summer, and has worked for W illamette
Week.
D eW .yn e received the Lloyd Center Optimist Club 1974 1975 Academic
Achievement Award. He won a city wide math test sponsored by the CPA s
and was invited to attend the conference in Portland. He won a four year
w” Adm'n,’ trat,on »fholarship to the University of Portland *
DeWayne is the son of Marlene Whitehead and Dale Van Sickle He h a .
one sister, Sharon, who is . graduate of Jefferson
Weekdays
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Use all you need
Dinner 5 p.m. til 8 p.m
but save all you can . ,
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2511 N.E. Union
The battle of
Labe Erie.
The People at Pacific Power.