While Congress was debating the alternatives of peace or war, the British Government took a step which under modern conditions would have averted hostilities. Taking advantage of a decree of Napoleon dating from 1810, which declared his edicts revoked so far as American vessels were concerned, the Ministry announced on June 23 that the British orders would be withdrawn. But just five days earlier, President Madison had proclaimed a state of war between the United States and Great Britain. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE A brief account of the events which formed the prelude to the War of 1812 may be found in K. C. Babcock, _The Rise of American Nationality_ (in _The American Nation_, vol. 13, 1906). The diplomatic and military antecedents of the war are set forth at greater length in A. T. Mahan, _Sea Power in its Relation to the War of 1812_ (2 vols., 1905). Biographies contribute much that is of interest. Carl Schurz, _Henry Clay_ (2 vols., 1887), is one of the best. J. T. Morse, _John Quincy Adams_ (1882), and Edmund Quincy, _Life of Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts_ (1867), also contain interesting information. M. P. Follett, _The Speaker of the House of Representatives_ (1896); Edward Stanwood, _History of the Presidency_ (1898); and M. L. Hinsdale, _History of the President's Cabinet_ (1911), touch upon important aspects of politics. The volume entitled _Memoirs and Letters of Dolly Madison_ (1886) gives many charming glimpses of social life at the capital. The discomforts and hazards of travel in the West are described with great vivacity by Margaret Van Horn, _A Journey to Ohio in 1810_ (1912). CHAPTER XII THE WAR OF 1812 When hostilities began in North America, the war establishment of the United States stood officially at 36,700 men. Actually the army consisted of ten regiments with ranks half filled, scattered in garrisons from Mackinac to Lake Champlain,--a force of less than 10,000 men, of whom 4000 were raw recruits. The staff was made up of old and incompetent officers; and from a military point of view the new appointments left much to be desired. The navy which was to contest the supremacy of the seas with the victor at Trafalgar consisted of twelve sea-going vessels and some two hundred gunboats, which were useless except for coast defense. There was bitter truth in the manifesto issued by the Federalist members of Congress when it said: "Our enemy is the greatest maritime power that has ever been on earth, and to her we offer the most tempting prizes. Our merchantmen are on every sea. Our rich cities lie along the Atlantic seaboard close to the water's edge. And to defend these from the cruisers of Great Britain we are to have an army of raw recruits yet to be raised and a navy of gunboats now stranded on the beaches and frigates that have long been rotting in the slime of the Potomac."