I recently read a book on the War of 1812 called "Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron". Pretty interesting. The US Navy acquitted itself very well against the Royal Navy even though for most of the war they were badly outnumbered; for most of the war after the first few engagements, Royal Navy ships were prohibited from engaging in one-on-one engagements as they came out on the short end. As far as the land campaign the US blundered our way to victory by exhausting the British in the North with a few victories at the end. The significance of New Orleans was that the British were angling for lines of control to be based upon who controlled what at the completion of hostilities. With Andrew Jackson holding onto New Orleans that cemented our hold up on the Mississippi River all the way up to Canada.
Another interesting book is "To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World". In both of these books they mentioned privateers and how nations, including the US, used them to supplement their navies and cause havoc with the opposing nations. It should also be noted that through the 19th century it was pretty common for captains and crews to get a share of the prize money and that many captain's and crews were motivated by money. As far as true pirates go it seems to me that Kidd and Blackbeard as well were victims of being inconvenient. When Blackbeard was killed he was on his way to retire based upon an offer from Governor Spotswood of Virginia when he was double crossed. Same goes for Kidd who was surprised to be labeled a pirate and turned himself in to defend his name. History is not always so cut and dried.
Another interesting book is "To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World". In both of these books they mentioned privateers and how nations, including the US, used them to supplement their navies and cause havoc with the opposing nations. It should also be noted that through the 19th century it was pretty common for captains and crews to get a share of the prize money and that many captain's and crews were motivated by money. As far as true pirates go it seems to me that Kidd and Blackbeard as well were victims of being inconvenient. When Blackbeard was killed he was on his way to retire based upon an offer from Governor Spotswood of Virginia when he was double crossed. Same goes for Kidd who was surprised to be labeled a pirate and turned himself in to defend his name. History is not always so cut and dried.
