TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

The War Of 1812 Speaks His Language

ADVERTISEMENT

By SUSAN M. GREEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 21, 2008

RIVERVIEW - It was a relatively short and not particularly bloody war, named after the year it started for lack of a better moniker.

Even so, the War of 1812 left legacies that include the national anthem and "Uncle Sam" as a nickname for the federal government.

But those legacies weren't the initial appeal for a young serviceman named Harold Youmans. He might never have studied the War of 1812 if it hadn't carried another important distinction: The principal combatants spoke English.

That's why he picked the War of 1812 for a history report when he was taking college courses as an American soldier stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, in the early 1970s. The course assignment required him to do research in the native language of each of the opposing sides in a war waged by a European country, and he didn't want to learn a foreign tongue. A war between England and the United States was perfect.

That college report launched a 35-year fascination that has led to his amassing one of the largest collections of literature - more than 3,000 items - related to the 21/2-year war in the United States.

His fervor for the 1812 conflict recently led him to volunteer as editor of a little-known scholarly publication, Journal of the War of 1812. He said he sought the assignment, in part, to spur interest in bicentennial celebrations that likely will be staged in 2012.

He uses his library, personal research and contacts with other enthusiasts across the country to verify submitted articles and encourage debate over the lasting effects of America's early attempts to expand its boundaries.

"This was a continental war," Youmans said. "This was not restricted to the East Coast."

People who remember studying the war tend to associate it with the burning of Washington and other battles that occurred mostly in the mid-Atlantic states and what is now Canada.

But Youmans and other 1812 war buffs have tracked the conflict's reach as far as what is now Texas, Oregon, California and Florida.

The spring edition of the war journal features an article about a related struggle in Florida, dubbed the Patriot War. Youmans' archives include a book by Florida author James Cusick titled "The Other War of 1812."

Most of Youmans' collection reposes on five neatly ordered, ceiling-high bookshelves in the study of his Summerfield home. Large file drawers contain notebooks with scattered information by state, and the collection is indexed in an old-fashioned, 36-drawer card catalog rescued from a public library.

The collection exceeds that of the General Society of the War of 1812, with about 2,700 items in its Washington archives, said Youmans, who also has published some of his personal research and served as guest speaker for various groups interested in the war.

A Web site maintained by the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 lists nearly 5,000 items in that organization's Washington archives, but it was unclear how many are directly related to the war. Attempts to reach a representative were unsuccessful.

Military Roots

Youmans enlisted in the Army in 1966 and retired as a colonel in 1994. He was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base the last several years of his career and moved to Summerfield in 1998.

The first 10 years after he retired, he and his wife spent a lot of time touring the United States in a motor home and visiting sites linked to the 1812 conflict - some well-known and others less recognized. A member of the Florida bar, Youmans works part time as a hearing master in Hillsborough and other counties.

When Youmans started investigating the war's history in college, he had to depend on books that relatives bought and mailed to him from the United States.

Later, he haunted antiquarian bookstores to find desired items. Now he surfs the Web.

Youmans' collection includes a November 1814 Congressional Report about the burning of Washington, preceded by the American defeat in the Battle of Bladensburg. Like other yellowed pages from that time period, it is kept carefully in plastic sleeves.

He uses an authentic 1810 military dictionary edited by William Duane to check historians' assertions about battle tactics against the likely maneuvers of the American and British fighting men of the early 1800s.

The journal he edits is published by the War of 1812 Consortium and has a readership of about 600. Youmans said the consortium is discussing with a major university the possibility of making it a color magazine. He hopes to build the subscriber list to 2,500 or 3,000 before the bicentennial.

He also hopes to contribute to research in largely unexplored aspects of the war.

"There's a couple of books that need to be written," Youmans said. "There's no general history of the African-American contribution to the war."

American and West Indian slaves fought on both sides of the war in exchange for freedom, Youmans said. He adds that, although historians have written about the American Indian perspective and role in the war, most accounts focus on the Iroquois, Cherokee and Creek tribes.

"The British brought the Sioux into Wisconsin to defeat the Americans," Youmans said.

Subscriptions to the journal cost $12.50 a year. For information, call (813) 671-8852 or e-mail the1812archive@ gmail.com.
WAR OF 1812 TRIVIA

NATIONAL ANTHEM: In September 1814, Americans successfully defended Fort McHenry in Baltimore against a heavy barrage of artillery from British ships. Francis Scott Key, an American on a rescue mission that kept him on an enemy ship, watched the battle from the water and penned "The Star-Spangled Banner," which later became the national anthem. Source: www.nps.gov

UNCLE SAM: Historians debate the origin of this nickname for the federal government, but its first published use dates to 1813. Some trace the moniker to meat packer and Army supplier Sam Wilson of Troy, N.Y., whose barrels of troop rations were stamped with "U.S." and who was known locally as Uncle Sam. Source: xroads.virginia.edu

BATTLE OF BLADENSBURG: Considered one of the most humiliating episodes in U.S. military history, this battle occurred Aug. 24, 1814, about six miles from Washington and saw thousands of American militiamen scattering in the face of a smaller contingent of British invaders. Some historians attribute the American retreat to British use of newly invented war rockets that were inaccurate but intimidating. The British marched on to capture and burn the nation's capital. Source: www .essortment.com

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT