The Fight for a Free Sea

American sailors' rights and disputes over shipping provide the starting point for Ralph Delahaye Paine's account of the War of 1812. The opening links these maritime grievances to frontier tensions and demands for an advance into Canada. Paine examines a country poorly prepared for conflict, using observations by Winfield Scott and George Washington to discuss officers, militia forces and the need for military discipline.

The contents extend from campaigns around Lake Erie and Lake Champlain to encounters between heavily armed frigates. In the naval passages, the Constitution's repeated gunnery practice helps explain its effectiveness against opposing ships. Quotations from English newspapers show how American successes unsettled confidence in naval supremacy. Readers interested in early American military history can explore the relationship between training, public opinion and national independence through a chronicle whose patriotic outlook is evident from its opening pages.