First Invasion: The War of 1812

[Yellowhammer]

Re: First Invasion: The War of 1812

Guys,

When you judge something like this, you have to keep the audience in mind. If the goal of this documentary was to give the average American an overview of the War of 1812, they clearly met that goal.

Personally, I think the story of the creation of the Star-Spangled Banner (both the song/poem and the actual flag) is incredibly important. Far too few Americans understand the context of the song many of them had just stood for at the games of the NFL opening weekend. Further, the importance of the effect of that battle on the American psyche cannot be overstated.

Regarding PC, has anyone seen the PBS documentary on the Mexican War? That is PC run amok!

[Canton Zouave]

Re: First Invasion: The War of 1812

I will agree with the fact that the series dealt with the war on the "MACRO" level. Only through more in-depth study will many be able to understand the advanced studies of the war.

Between Ohio History in Grade School, and the two semester of Military History and Science in College, I was exposed to more areas of the War of 1812 than what was presented in the show. This doesnt mean that the show was a failure. The series has actually made me think about how much I would like to look into this subject even more. In that area I think the show was a success.

The Fort featured in the series was Fort Meigs, located here in Ohio. For some of us in Northeastern Ohio who have been exposed to Neil Zurkers "One Tank Trips" on TV, it has given me some ideas on various Rev War & War of 1812 Sites in Ohio that I would like to go see and take the family.

All in all...it is a beginning, you have to do the rest if you truly want to learn about the war.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: First Invasion: The War of 1812

The show certainly did a miserable job at giving any kind of overview of the War of 1812. To support what Paul Calloway mentioned, to watch this thing one would think that the whole war was the burning of Washington DC, Fort McHenry, and New Orleans. The vast, vast majority of action and US policy decision-making were on or focused on the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, and the show had one or two teeny mentions of "the fighting along the Canadian border" and that was it. Pivotal engagements like Queenston Heights, Chrysler's Farm, Sackett's Harbor, Chippawa, Lundy's Lane, Fort Erie, Fort George, Fort Niagara, and many others weren't even mentioned. I found it inconceivable that they'd utterly omit mentioning the summer 1814 Niagara campaign, especially considering that Chippawa (south of Niagara Falls) is called, "the birthplace of the professional U.S. Army" and Lundy's Lane--just a half-mile from Horseshoe Falls (Canadian side of Niagara Falls)--which was the second-bloodiest battle of the war (only New Orleans surpassed it); there was about 5,000 engaged and just short of 2,000 casualties.

I found it interesting that they filmed the documentary largely at Fort Miegs, Ohio, and then said nothing at all about the battle there.

Some modern-day images of the real battlefields would have been nice. As Jeff Henion mentioned in his posts here, Lundy's Lane battlefield is lost to very-urban development in Niagara Falls, Ontario; other than a cemetery, it's utterly gone. Chippawa is nicely preserved by Parks Canada. Queenston Heights is preserved but is a modern park, albeit with a 180-foot tall statue of the British general who was killed there.

I could go on, but you get the idea. This show was good only in its "special effects" (fairly good CGI for a documentary) and in covering only what its title implied, "First Invasion of America". Most of the other fighting in the war was beyond the U.S.'s borders, either in Canada or on the frontier.

Once again, a chance to give a good overview of a "forgotten" conflict pissed down the tubes.

[Milliron]

Re: First Invasion: The War of 1812

Guys,

When you judge something like this, you have to keep the audience in mind. If the goal of this documentary was to give the average American an overview of the War of 1812, they clearly met that goal.

I have to disagree. I guess the problem I have with the way the show was presented (I actually liked its format and CG graphics) was that all they did was parrot the high school history book outline of the war (not that the public even remembers THAT much). How could you leave out the Battle of Lake Erie? How many people know that British troops invaded Ohio? How many know that we invaded Ontario, and burned the capital? It's a sore spot with me because I volunteered at Fort Meigs for years and it was always underfunded until very recently (it actually just went through a huge makeover and is very much worth seeing). I grew up in northwest Ohio and few people there had any idea what even happened there.

This show struck me as a good chance to tell people some things they didn't know about the war, but it really didn't. Still, some information is better than none, I guess.

[BobSullivanPress]

Re: First Invasion: The War of 1812

Having been involved in War of 1812 reproductions (gear, not paper) I was interested in seeing this as well. It does seem that they followed Walter Lord's old book called The Dawn's Early Light, which was about Ft. McHenry than anything else. To those of you who watched the show, see if the following synopsis from Lord's book sounds familiar:

After a broad introduction to the war, the book zeros in on the campaign of August-September 1814, detailing Bladensburg, the burning of Washington, and the victory of the Americans at Baltimore. After their defeat at Baltimore, the British regroup, get a new commander, and try to take New Orleans with disasterous results.

Gee, does that sound like the show last night too? I thouht so.

Anyway, I liked it. I agree with other posters in that I'd have liked to see more about Scott's actions around Niagara Falls and the gray coats, from which the West Point uniforms have evolved. But, you can't tell everything in two hours. I will say this: I was pleased in how the material they chose to cover was presented, something I can't always say about History Channel productions.

Cordially,

Bob Sullivan
who has made several 1808 cartridge boxes, 1814 shakos, and a Lherbette knapsack in his previous non-paper life.