Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- MAP 1 The American Eastern Seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
- MAP 2 Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River
- Abbreviations
- Note on US Dollar/Pound Sterling Conversion Rates
- Foreword
- Preface
- INTRODUCTION
- 1 CONVOYS AND BLOCKADES: The Evolution of Maritime Economic Warfare
- 2 WAR AT A DISTANCE: Constraints and Solutions
- 3 FROM BUSINESS PARTNERS TO ENEMIES: Britain and the United States before 1812
- 4 THE UNITED STATES BLOCKADED: Admiral Warren's ‘United Command’, August 1812–April 1814
- 5 BLOCKADES AND BLUNDERS: Vice-Admiral Cochrane's Command, April 1814–February 1815
- 6 TRADE AND WAR: The Effects of Warren's Blockades, August 1812–April 1814
- 7 CAPITAL AND CREDIT: The Impact of the Final Phase
- 8 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix A: Maritime Tables
- Appendix B: Economic History Tables
- Notes to the Chapters
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - WAR AT A DISTANCE: Constraints and Solutions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- MAP 1 The American Eastern Seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
- MAP 2 Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River
- Abbreviations
- Note on US Dollar/Pound Sterling Conversion Rates
- Foreword
- Preface
- INTRODUCTION
- 1 CONVOYS AND BLOCKADES: The Evolution of Maritime Economic Warfare
- 2 WAR AT A DISTANCE: Constraints and Solutions
- 3 FROM BUSINESS PARTNERS TO ENEMIES: Britain and the United States before 1812
- 4 THE UNITED STATES BLOCKADED: Admiral Warren's ‘United Command’, August 1812–April 1814
- 5 BLOCKADES AND BLUNDERS: Vice-Admiral Cochrane's Command, April 1814–February 1815
- 6 TRADE AND WAR: The Effects of Warren's Blockades, August 1812–April 1814
- 7 CAPITAL AND CREDIT: The Impact of the Final Phase
- 8 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix A: Maritime Tables
- Appendix B: Economic History Tables
- Notes to the Chapters
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
I think the fact is that the Admiralty have merely humbugged Sir J … They have equally tricked him in withdrawing reinforcements and most shamefully neglected the squadron in the West Indies, and on this Coast. What the devil they intend is hard to divine, bur certain it is to say that our navy will be disgraced and our trade ultimately ruined unless very speedy addition is made to every division in these seas.
(George Hulbert, Flag Secretary and Prize Agent to Admiral Sir John Warren, to his brother John Hulbert, 2 January 1813)IF THE ROYAL NAVY WAS TO IMPOSE the hardships of economic warfare on the enemy, its new war would generally have to be fought across the Atlantic. There, its main North America base at Halifax, Nova Scotia, was almost 2,500 miles from London or Liverpool and over 600 miles from New York, the United States' major port and commercial centre. As shown by Map 1, it would need bases at St John's, Newfoundland, and St John, New Brunswick, to contribute to the defence of Canada. It would also have to use its base in Bermuda, itself 650 miles from the nearest American mainland at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This, however, was 700 miles from New York and 1,000 from Savannah, Georgia. Prevailing winds, currents and trade routes all meant that vessels from Europe would frequently approach North America from the Caribbean, and the West Indies would therefore be involved in Britain's war with the United States.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- How Britain Won the War of 1812The Royal Navy's Blockades of the United States, 1812-1815, pp. 27 - 45Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011