On June 1, 1812, President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress, recounting American grievances against Great Britain, though not specifically calling for a declaration of war. After Madison’s speech, the House of Representatives quickly voted (79 to 49) to declare war, and the Senate by 19 to 13. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812 when Madison signed the measure into law. This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation, and the Congressional vote would prove to be the closest vote to declare war in American history. None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as “Mr. Madison’s War.”
The declaration of war was passed by the smallest margin recorded on a war vote in the United States Congress. On May 11, Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot and killed by an assassin, resulting in a change of the British government, putting Lord Liverpool in power. Liverpool wanted a more practical relationship with the United States. He issued a repeal of the Orders in Council, but the U.S. was unaware of this, as it took three weeks for the news to cross the Atlantic.
1812 – 1814
Virginia
- Muster Roll Of Lieutenant Arthur Smith’s Company, Fifty-ninth Regiment of Virginia Militia
- Princess Anne, Norfolk, Nansemond and Elizabeth City County
- Burials of Virginia Veterans
- Virginia Pension Roll of 1835
- Information on War of 1812 Veterans Buried in Virginia
- Burials War on 1812 Veterans in Virginia
- Elizabeth City County
- Greensville County
- Militia Officers 1782-1815
- Nansemond County
- Princess Anne County
- Tazewell County
- Pensions
- Ashe County
- Campbell County
- Charlotte County
- Chesterfield County
- Dinwiddie County
- Ruffin, John, Widows Pension, wife Ann
- Halifax County
- Farmer, Archer Pension and Bounty Land
- Henry County
- King William County
- Lawrence County
- Lunenburg County
- Nansemond County
- Norfolk County
- Hitchings, William Widows Pension, wife Caroline
- Patrick County
- Prince Edward County
- Rockbridge County
- Dowdy, William B.
- McClain, Thomas
- Plott, Abraham, Widows Pension, wife Mary
- Smyth County
- Daily, James Widows Pension, wife Elizabeth
- Tazewell County
- Bounty Lands
- Albemarle County
- Chesterfield County
- Perdue, Shadrack, Widows Bounty Land, wife Polly
- Isle of Wright County
- Butler, Holland H. Widows Bounty Land, wife Elizabeth
- Butler, Holland H.
- Nansemond County
- Rockbridge County
- Forehand, John
- Plott, Abraham, Widows Bounty Land, wife Mary
- Tazewell County
- Service Record
- Albemarle County
Virginia Subscription Military Databases
- The General Society of the War of 1812, 1976 Bicentennial Supplement to the 1972 Register Robert Glenn Thurtle Editor – Free Index
- The Roster of the General Society of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 Papers, 1789-1815
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
- War of 1812 Service Records
- War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815
- War of 1812: Miscellaneous Canadian Records
- Register of the General Society of the War of 1812