President[ James Madison
Date[ December 7, 1813
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
In meeting you at the present interesting conjuncture it would have been
highly satisfactory if I could have communicated a favorable result to the
mission charged with negotiations for restoring peace. It was a just
expectation, from the respect due to the distinguished Sovereign who had
invited them by his offer of mediation, from the readiness with which the
invitation was accepted on the part of the United States, and from the
pledge to be found in an act of their Legislature for the liberality which
their plenipotentiaries would carry into the negotiations, that no time
would be lost by the British Government in embracing the experiment for
hastening a stop to the effusion of blood. A prompt and cordial acceptance
of the mediation on that side was the less to be doubted, as it was of a
nature not to submit rights or pretensions on either side to the decision
of an umpire, but to afford merely an opportunity, honorable and desirable
to both, for discussing and, if possible, adjusting them for the interest
of both.
The British cabinet, either mistaking our desire of peace for a dread of
British power or misled by other fallacious calculations, has disappointed
this reasonable anticipation. No communications from our envoys having
reached us, no information on the subject has been received from that
source; but it is known that the mediation was declined in the first
instance, and there is no evidence, notwithstanding the lapse of time, that
a change of disposition in the British councils has taken place or is to be
expected.
Under such circumstances a nation proud of its rights and conscious of its
strength has no choice but an exertion of the one in support of the other.
To this determination the best encouragement is derived from the success
with which it has pleased the Almighty to bless our arms both on the land
and on the water.
Whilst proofs have been continued of the enterprise and skill of our
cruisers, public and private, on the ocean, and a trophy gained in the
capture of a British by an American vessel of war, after an action giving
celebrity to the name of the victorious commander, the great inland waters
on which the enemy were also to be encountered have presented achievements
of our naval arms as brilliant in their character as they have been
important in their consequences.
On Lake Erie, the squadron under command of Captain Perry having met the
British squadron of superior force, a sanguinary conflict ended in the
capture of the whole. The conduct of that officer, adroit as it was daring,
and which was so well seconded by his comrades, justly entitles them to the
admiration and gratitude of their country, and will fill an early page in
its naval annals with a victory never surpassed in luster, however much it
may have been in magnitude.
On Lake Ontario the caution of the British commander, favored by
contingencies, frustrated the efforts of the American commander to bring on
a decisive action. Captain Chauncey was able, however, to establish an
ascendancy on that important theater, and to prove by the manner in which
he effected everything possible that opportunities only were wanted for a
more shining display of his own talents and the gallantry of those under
his command.
The success on Lake Erie having opened a passage to the territory of the
enemy, the officer commanding the Northwestern army transferred the war
thither, and rapidly pursuing the hostile troops, fleeing with their savage
associates, forced a general action, which quickly terminated in the
capture of the British and dispersion of the savage force.
This result is signally honorable to Major-General Harrison, by whose
military talents it was prepared; to Colonel Johnson and his mounted
volunteers, whose impetuous onset gave a decisive blow to the ranks of the
enemy, and to the spirit of the volunteer militia, equally brave and
patriotic, who bore an interesting part in the scene; more especially to
the chief magistrate of Kentucky, at the head of them, whose heroism
signalized in the war which established the independence of his country,
sought at an advanced age a share in hardships and battles for maintaining
its rights and its safely.
The effect of these successes has been to rescue the inhabitants of
Michigan from their oppressions, aggravated by gross infractions of
the capitulation which subjected them to a foreign power; to alienate
the savages of numerous tribes from the enemy, by whom they were
disappointed and abandoned, and to relieve an extensive region of country
from a merciless warfare which desolated its frontiers and imposed on its
citizens the most harassing services.
In consequences of our naval superiority on Lake Ontario and the
opportunity afforded by it for concentrating our forces by water,
operations which had been provisionally planned were set on foot against
the possessions of the enemy on the St. Lawrence. Such, however, was the
delay produced in the first instance by adverse weather of unusual violence
and continuance and such the circumstances attending the final movements of
the army, that the prospect, at one time so favorable, was not realized.
The cruelty of the enemy in enlisting the savages into a war with a nation
desirous of mutual emulation in mitigating its calamities has not been
confined to any one quarter. Wherever they could be turned against us no
exertions to effect it have been spared. On our southwestern border the
Creek tribes, who, yielding to our persevering endeavors, were gradually
acquiring more civilized habits, became the unfortunate victims of
seduction. A war in that quarter has been the consequence, infuriated by a
bloody fanaticism recently propagated among them. It was necessary to crush
such a war before it could spread among the contiguous tribes and before it
could favor enterprises of the enemy into that vicinity. With this view a
force was called into the service of the United States from the States of
Georgia and Tennessee, which, with the nearest regular troops and other
corps from the Massachussets Territory, might not only chastise the savages
into present peace but make a lasting impression on their fears.
The progress of the expedition, as far as is yet known, corresponds with
the martial zeal with which it was espoused, and the best hopes of a
satisfactory issue are authorized by the complete success with which a
well-planned enterprise was executed against a body of hostile savages by a
detachment of the volunteer militia of Tennessee, under the gallant
command of General Coffee, and by a still more important victory over a
larger body of them, gained under the immediate command of Major-General
Jackson, an officer equally distinguished for his patriotism and his
military talents.
The systematic perseverance of the enemy in courting the aid of the savages
in all quarters had the natural effect of kindling their ordinary
propensity to war into a passion, which, even among those best disposed
toward the United States, was ready, if not employed on our side, to be
turned against us. A departure from our protracted forbearance to accept
the services tendered by them has thus been forced upon us. But in yielding
to it the retaliation has been mitigated as much as possible, both in its
extent and in its character, stopping far short of the example of the
enemy, who owe the advantages they have occasionally gained in battle
chiefly to the number of their savage associates, and who have not
controlled them either from their usual practice of indiscriminate
massacre on defenseless inhabitants or from scenes of carnage without a
parallel on prisoners to the British arms, guarded by all the laws of
humanity and of honorable war. For these enormities the enemy are equally
responsible, whether with the power to prevent them they want the will or
with the knowledge of a want of power they still avail themselves of such
instruments.
In other respects the enemy are pursuing a course which threatens
consequences most afflicting to humanity.
A standing law of Great Britain naturalizes, as is well known, all aliens
complying with conditions limited to a shorter period than those required
by the United States, and naturalized subjects are in war employed by her
Government in common with native subjects. In a contiguous British Province
regulations promulgated since the commencement of the war compel citizens
of the United States being there under certain circumstances to bear arms,
whilst of the native emigrants from the United States, who compose much of
the population of the Province, a number have actually borne arms against
the United States within their limits, some of whom, after having done so,
have become prisoners of war, and are now in our possession. The British
commander in that Province, nevertheless, with the sanction, as appears, of
his Government, thought proper to select from American prisoners of war and
send to Great Britain for trial as criminals a number of individuals who
had emigrated from the British dominions long prior to the state of war
between the two nations, who had incorporated themselves into our
political society in the modes recognized by the law and the practice of
Great Britain, and who were made prisoners of war under the banners of
their adopted country, fighting for its rights and its safety.
The protection due to these citizens requiring an effectual interposition
in their behalf, a like number of British prisoners of war were put into
confinement, with a notification that they would experience whatever
violence might be committed on the American prisoners of war sent to Great
Britain.
It was hoped that this necessary consequence of the step unadvisedly taken
on the part of Great Britain would have led her Government to reflect on
the inconsistencies of its conduct, and that a sympathy with the British,
if not with the American, sufferers would have arrested the cruel career
opened by its example.
This was unhappily not the case. In violation both of consistency and of
humanity, American officers and non-commissioned officers in double the
number of the British soldiers confined here were ordered into close
confinement, with formal notice that in the event of a retaliation for the
death which might be inflicted on the prisoners of war sent to Great
Britain for trial the officers so confined would be put to death also. It
was notified at the same time that the commanders of the British fleets and
armies on our coasts are instructed in the same event to proceed with a
destructive severity against our towns and their inhabitants.
That no doubt might be left with the enemy of our adherence to the
retaliatory resort imposed on us, a correspondent number of British
officers, prisoners of war in our hands, were immediately put into close
confinement to abide the fate of those confined by the enemy, and the
British Government was apprised of the determination of this Government to
retaliate any other proceedings against us contrary to the legitimate modes
of warfare.
It is fortunate for the United States that they have it in their power to
meet the enemy in this deplorable contest as it is honorable to them that
they do not join in it but under the most imperious obligations, and with
the humane purpose of effectuating a return to the established usages of
war.
The views of the French Government on the subjects which have been so long
committed to negotiation have received no elucidation since the close of
your late session. The minister plenipotentiary of the United States at
Paris had not been enabled by proper opportunities to press the objects of
his mission as prescribed by his instructions.
The militia being always to be regarded as the great bulwark of defense and
security for free states, and the Constitution having wisely committed to
the national authority a use of that force as the best provision against an
unsafe military establishment, as well as a resource peculiarly adapted to
a country having the extent and the exposure of the United States, I
recommend to Congress a revision of the militia laws for the purpose of
securing more effectually the services of all detachments called into the
employment and placed under the Government of the United States.
It will deserve the consideration of Congress also whether among other
improvements in the militia laws justice does not require a regulation,
under due precautions, for defraying the expense incident to the first
assembling as well as the subsequent movements of detachments called into
the national service.
To give to our vessels of war, public and private, the requisite advantage
in their cruises, it is of much importance that they should have, both for
themselves and their prizes, the use of the ports and markets of friendly
powers. With this view, I recommend to Congress the expediency of such
legal provisions as may supply the defects or remove the doubts of the
Executive authority, to allow to the cruisers of other powers at war with
enemies of the United States such use of the American ports as may
correspond with the privileges allowed by such powers to American
cruisers.
During the year ending on the 30th of September last the receipts into the
Treasury have exceeded $37.5 millions, of which near $24 millions were the
produce of loans. After meeting all demands for the public service there
remained in the Treasury on that day near $7 millions. Under the
authority contained in the act of the 2nd of August last for borrowing
$7.5 millions, that sum has been obtained on terms more favorable to the
United States than those of the preceding loans made during the present
year. Further sums to a considerable amount will be necessary to be
obtained in the same way during the ensuing year, and from the increased
capital of the country, from the fidelity with which the public
engagements have been kept and the public credit maintained, it may be
expected on good grounds that the necessary pecuniary supplies will
not be wanting.
The expenses of the current year, from the multiplied operations falling
within it, have necessarily been extensive; but on a just estimate of the
campaign in which the mass of them has been incurred the cost will not be
found disproportionate to the advantages which have been gained. The
campaign has, indeed, in its latter stages in one quarter been less
favorable than was expected, but in addition to the importance of our naval
success the progress of the campaign has been filled with incidents highly
honorable to the American arms.
The attacks of the enemy on Craney Island, on Fort Meigs, on Sacketts
Harbor, and on Sandusky have been vigorously and successfully repulsed; nor
have they in any case succeeded on either frontier excepting when directed
against the peaceable dwellings of individuals or villages unprepared or
undefended.
On the other hand, the movements of the American Army have been followed by
the reduction of York, and of Forts George, Erie, and Malden; by the
recovery of Detroit and the extinction of the Indian war in the West, and
by the occupancy or command of a large portion of Upper Canada. Battles
have also been fought on the borders of the St. Lawrence, which, though not
accomplishing their entire objects, reflect honor on the discipline and
prowess of our soldiery, the best auguries of eventual victory. In the same
scale are to be placed the late successes in the South over one of the most
powerful, which had become one of the most hostile also, of the Indian
tribes.
It would be improper to close this communication without expressing a
thankfulness in which all ought to unite for the abundance; for the
preservation of our internal tranquillity, and the stability of our free
institutions, and, above all, for the light of divine truth and the
protection of every man's conscience in the enjoyment of it. And although
among our blessings we can not number an exemption from the evils of war,
yet these will never be regarded as the greatest of evils by the friends of
liberty and of the rights of nations. Our country has before preferred them
to the degraded condition which was the alternative when the sword was
drawn in the cause which gave birth to our national independence, and none
who contemplate the magnitude and feel the value of that glorious event
will shrink from a struggle to maintain the high and happy ground on which
it placed the American people.
With all good citizens the justice and necessity of resisting wrongs and
usurpations no longer to be borne will sufficiently outweigh the privations
and sacrifices inseparable from a state of war. But it is a reflection,
moreover, peculiarly consoling, that, whilst wars are generally aggravated
by their baneful effects on the internal improvements and permanent
prosperity of the nations engaged in them, such is the favored situation of
the United States that the calamities of the contest into which they have
been compelled to enter are mitigated by improvements and advantages of
which the contest itself is the source.
If the war has increased the interruptions of our commerce, it has at the
same time cherished and multiplied our manufactures so as to make us
independent of all other countries for the more essential branches for
which we ought to be dependent on none, and is even rapidly giving them an
extent which will create additional staples in our future intercourse with
foreign markets.
If much treasure has been expended, no inconsiderable portion of it has
been applied to objects durable in their value and necessary to our
permanent safety.
If the war has exposed us to increased spoliations on the ocean and to
predatory incursions on the land, it has developed the national means of
retaliating the former and of providing protection against the latter,
demonstrating to all that every blow aimed at our maritime independence is
an impulse accelerating the growth of our maritime power.
By diffusing through the mass of the nation the elements of military
discipline and instruction; by augmenting and distributing warlike
preparations applicable to future use; by evincing the zeal and valor with
which they will be employed and the cheerfulness with which every necessary
burden will be borne, a greater respect for our rights and a longer
duration of our future peace are promised than could be expected without
these proofs of the national character and resources.
The war has proved moreover that our free Government, like other free
governments, though slow in its early movements, acquires in its progress a
force proportioned to its freedom, and that the union of these States, the
guardian of the freedom and safety of all and of each, is strengthened by
every occasion that puts it to the test.
In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the capacity
and the destiny of the United States to be a great, a flourishing, and a
powerful nation, worthy of the friendship which it is disposed to cultivate
with all others, and authorized by its own example to require from all an
observance of the laws of justice and reciprocity. Beyond these their
claims have never extended, and in contending for these we behold a subject
for our congratulations in the daily testimonies of increasing harmony
throughout the nation, and may humbly repose our trust in the smiles of
Heaven on so righteous a cause.
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