Worksheet # 63 Home Questions Puzzle Links Next

THE WAR OF 1812 BEGINS...

And hopes soared high, with passion and vigor,

To show the bratty Brits our mettle and rigor.

Volunteers stepped forward to serve and bear arms

In return for a pension and some acres to farm.

And deep in brave hearts these soldiers would delve

To triumph once more in the War of 1812.

-- But to play the grand march and sound the high notes,

They had first to match guns with warships and boats,

On seas all but owned by the Great British fleet,

Who blockaded our ports and put fire to feet.

Yet both came to this fray with misgivings and doubts

-- As the Brits had to vie with the French all throughout!

While U.S. armies were spare and but poorly equipped

To oppose an empire and not get horse-whipped!

And heavy set-backs soon happ’d on an American raid

When British-owned Canada they tried to invade,

-- Thinking this province a fine prize to take,

And believing her capture: a true piece of cake.

But, alas, the best plans of mice and of men

Were sadly mistaken on a simple question.

As our northernly neighbors proved stubborn not skittish

And --- peculiar as ever --- preferred to stay British!

So they fought to a draw and our soldiers turned back,

-- To learn that their capital was now facing attack!

As smart British forces, who made winning look easy,

Marched a straight line to our Washington, D.C.

Where they torched the White House on an ill-fated day,

-- As Mister James and wife Dolley had to scurry away.

Indeed, what a shock to endure! What humiliation!

To be ousted from home --- and not for vacation.

And the worst was now thought, and could it be true:

That a return to Great Britain was now coming due?