Description
Book SynopsisThis book describes historical events in Virginia during the War of 1812, looking specifically at how Virginia’s militia was organized, supplied, and financed by the Commonwealth. It discusses the militia’s unpreparedness in training, its lack of adequate ordnance, and how the state financed the war.
Trade ReviewButler should be complimented for having written what is undoubtedly the most extensive account of Virginia's role in the War of 1812. Those interested in the history of the Old Dominion or in this conflict in general will find something of value here. * Journal of Southern History *
With the bicentennial of the War of 1812 upon us, it is fitting and timely that Stuart Butler has written the most complete history of Virginia during that war. His writing style is clear and easy to read. He not only covers the complexity of the war in Virginia, but he also sets the war in context to the region and the nation. In addition to the battles, skirmishes and raids expected in a book on this subject, Butler takes the reader further into the politics of the war, and the difficulty of adequately supplying the militia and funding it. His experience as a former employee of the National Archives and Records Administration results in a work that is well researched, citied and indexed. Butler has achieved for Virginia what every state with War of 1812 history should strive for. Any scholar of American history will want this book in their library; every library in Virginia should have a copy on its shelves and every citizen of Virginia should read it. -- Ralph E. Eshelman, senior author of
The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Guide to the Historic Sites in Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia (Johns Hopkins Press, 2010).
The War of 1812 was important in Virginia, not only at Fort McHenry, in Washington, D.C., or at New Orleans. Stuart Butler’s important study is the first book-length account of the war in Virginia and on Virginians and the war. Because the national army was so small and ill-prepared, national defense fell onto the shoulders of the state governments. State governors and militiamen carried much of the burden, with serious consequences for the state budget and the people of Virginia. Some became heroes, some died on battlefields, and some like their ancestors fled to the nation’s enemies in hopes of gaining freedom that their own native state denied them. An important addition to the bookshelf of Virginia history. -- Brent Tarter, Library of Virginia
Table of ContentsPreface List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Prologue to War 2. Wrongs so Daring in Character 3. The Year of the Five Governors 4. May God Desert Those Who Now Desert Their Country 5. Thirty Years of Neglect 6. The Militia the Great Bulwark of Our Liberty 7. Virginians Debate the War 8. We Shall Be Victorious Because We Are Right 9. A Brigade of Hearty Athletic Men and Fine Soldiers 10. We Find This Place in a Most Defenceless Situation 11. British Strategy and the Defense of Norfolk 12. Legislative Initiatives 13. To the Mercy of Any Invader 14. The Result Has Been Most Glorious to Our Arms 15. They Acquitted Themselves as Becomes Virginians 16. Richmond Threatened 17. We have a Savage Enemy at our Threshold 18. There is reason to believe that he will be reinforced 19. Taxes and Embargoes 20. The Internal Foe 21. Our Weakness is Alarming 22. Determined to Ruin the Northern Neck 23. The Donation of Alexandria and the Battle of the White House 24. To Repel and Chastise the Invaders 25. Richmond in Peril 26. Those Gallant Virginians 27. The Last Months of the War 28. Its Conditions are Honorable to our Country 29. To the Tented Field 30. Epilogue Appendix One Appendix Two Bibliography Index
