HISTORY

Spring Campaign Season

Spring was a good offensive season for the US Army during the War of 1812 . . . although not for the reasons you might think.

Weather was poor, with large amount of rain turning the roads into nightmares of mud. Yet despite this deficit, spring had several advantages:

• Most militia units had gone home for spring planting. Most commanders insisted they leave their ammunition behind. This meant that units often only now had sufficient supplies for offensive operations.
• Contractors continued to ship food supplies as if the militia units were still in camp, meaning that troops now had adequate levels of food. (Several commanders begged Washington to be allowed to release militia units during the winter months when supplied ran low.)
• Commanders were now left with regular units, which tended to perform much better . . . especially for offensive operations in Canada.