The War of 1812, in fact, was a complete failure from every angle. Our troops were defeated. General Winfield Scott declared that the army officers were "generally sunk in either sloth, ignorance, or habits of intemperate drinking," "swaggerers, dependents, decayed gentlemen utterly unfit for any military purpose whatever." Muzzey in "The United States of America through the Civil War," Vol. I, page 253, says: "The War of 1812 was a blunder. It was unnecessary, impolitic, untimely, and rash." It was primarily the work of Henry Clay. If the United States had been in any condition to fight, we should have been of great aid to Napoleon who at that time was being defeated by Great Britain. In the peace treaty of 1814, which brought the war to a close, the causes of the war were not mentioned. The War of 1812 was a war of paradoxes. It was waged ostensibly in defense of maritime commercial interests, but the merchant states themselves threatened to secede so as to stop it. The English Orders in Council, the alleged cause of the war, were repealed five days after war was declared and before news of its declaration reached England. The most important battle of the war, the Battle of New Orleans, was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed. The United States did not get any of the desired territory; was defeated in nearly every campaign; and the capitol was burned by the English. The land was not gained and the rights on the sea were not granted. England never yielded the right of impressment, which remained a diplomatic controversy as late as 1842. In order to save its reputation, the Administration published an "Exposition of the Causes and Character of the War," prepared by A. J. Dallas, in which it was denied that the administration had ever tried to acquire Canada. Madison was a great scholar but not a strong executive, and it was the war hawks led by Clay who forced the war upon him and the nation. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Henry--_John Randolph_. Hocker, L. M.--"Western Land Hunger and the War of 1812; A Conjecture". _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, Vol. X, pages 363-395. Johnson, Allen--_Union and Democracy_. Chapter 11. Lewis, H. J.--"A Re-analysis of the Causes of the War of 1812." _American Historical Magazine_. Vol. VI, pages 306-316, 577-584. Muzzey, D. S.--_The United States of America Through the Civil War_. Vol. I, chapter 5. Pratt, J. W.--_The Expansionists of 1812_. Simons, A. M.--_Social Forces in American History_. Chapter 13. CHAPTER IV THE WAR WITH MEXICO