CHAPTER XVIII
THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
Early overtures towards peace by the United States 409
Castlereagh refuses to entertain the project of abandoning impressment 410
Russia, in 1812, suggests negotiations for peace under mediation of the Czar 411
United States accepts, but Great Britain refuses 412
Great Britain, through the Czar, offers a direct negotiation, 1813 412
The United States accepts, and names five commissioners 413
The original instructions to the American Commission, 1813 413
Reduced, 1814, through pressure of the war 414
Confident attitude of Great Britain at the opening of the negotiations 415
Hostile spirit in Great Britain towards the United States 415
The instructions to the British Commission 416
The demand on behalf of the Indians 417
Faulty presentation of it by the British Commission 418
British claim concerning the Great Lakes and boundaries 419
Discussion of these propositions 419
Reasons for British advocacy of the Indians 421
Final reduction of British demand for the Indians and acceptance by American Commission 423
Concern of British ministry for the opinion of Europe 424
News received of the capture of Washington 424
Sanguine anticipations based upon reports from Cochrane and Ross 424
The British Government suggests the _uti possidetis_ as the basis of agreement 425
The American Commission refuse, and offer instead the _status ante bellum_ 426
News arrives of the British defeat on Lake Champlain 426
The political instructions to the commanders of the New Orleans expedition, to be communicated for the satisfaction of the continental powers 427
Urgency of the European situation 428
Dangerous internal state of France 428
Consequent wish of the British ministry to withdraw Wellington from Paris 429
He is pressed to accept the American command 429
Wellington thus brought into the discussion of terms 430
He pronounces against the basis of _uti possidetis_ 431
The British ministry accept his judgment 431
The _status ante bellum_ accepted by Great Britain 431
Subsequent rapid conclusion of agreement 432
Terms of the Treaty 432
Signed by the commissioners, December 24, 1814 434
Despatched to America by a British ship of war 435
Ratified by the United States, February 17, 1815 435
Gallatin's opinion of the effect of the war upon the people of the United States 436
INDEX 439
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME TWO.
THE CHASE OF THE _Constitution_ _Frontispiece_ From the painting by S. Salisbury Tuckerman.
THE QUARTERDECK OF THE _Java_ BEFORE THE SURRENDER Page 6 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
THE NEW CARRYING TRADE Page 18 From a drawing by Stanley M. Arthurs.
THE RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM SACKETT'S HARBOR Page 44 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
THE FLEETS OF CHAUNCEY AND YEO MANOEUVRING ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN Page 52 From a drawing by Carlton T. Chapman.
CAPTAIN ISAAC CHAUNCEY Page 60 From the engraving by D. Edwin, after the painting by J. Woods.
CAPTAIN SIR JAMES LUCAS YEO Page 60 From the engraving by H.R. Cook, after the painting by A. Buck.
CAPTAIN OLIVER HAZARD PERRY Page 66 From the painting by Gilbert Stuart, in the possession of O.H. Perry, Esq.
PERRY RECEIVING THE SURRENDER OF THE BRITISH AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE Page 94 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
CAPTAIN PHILIP BOWES VERE BROKE Page 134 From the mezzotint by Charles Turner, after the painting by Samuel Lane, in the possession of Lady Saumarez.
THE CAPTURE OF THE _Chesapeake_ BY THE _Shannon_--THE STRUGGLE ON THE QUARTERDECK Page 138 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE Page 140 From the painting by Gilbert Stuart, in the possession of the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N.J.
THE BURNING OF A PRIVATEER PRIZE Page 222 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
CAPTAIN DAVID PORTER Page 244 From the painting by Charles Wilson Peale, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia.
CAPTAIN THOMAS MACDONOUGH Page 360 From the painting by Gilbert Stuart, in the Century Club, New York, by permission of the owner, Rodney Macdonough, Esq.
THE BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN Page 380 From a drawing by Henry Reuterdahl.
MAPS AND BATTLE PLANS.
VOLUME TWO.
Plan of Engagement between _Constitution_ and _Java_ Page 4
Plan of Engagement between _Hornet_ and _Peacock_ Page 8
Map of Niagara Peninsula Page 38
Surroundings of Sackett's Harbor Page 43
Plan of Chauncey's Engagement, August 10, 1813 Page 58
Plan of Erie Harbor, 1814 Page 72
Diagram of the Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813 Page 82
Chauncey and Yeo, September 28, 1813 Page 108
_Chesapeake_ and _Shannon_ Page 136
Outline Map of Chesapeake Bay and Rivers Page 156
_Enterprise_ and _Boxer_ Page 188
_Argus_ and _Pelican_ Page 218
_Montague_, _Pelham_, and _Globe_ Page 228
_Chasseur_ and _St. Lawrence_ Page 238
_Wasp_ and _Reindeer_ Page 254
Sketch of the March of the British Army, under General Ross, from the 19th to the 29th August, 1814 Page 344
Tracing from pencil sketch of Battle of Lake Champlain made by Commodore Macdonough Page 368
Battle of Lake Champlain Page 377
The Landing of the British Army, its Encampments and Fortifications on the Mississippi; Works they erected on their Retreat; with the Encampments and Fortifications of the American Army Page 392
Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812
THE WAR (_Continued_)
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