In 1812 French forces in Spain were severely overstretched, as Napoleon withdrew the best troops for his invasion of Russia. Wellington saw an opportunity to strike. First he secured the strategic ...

In 1812, with Napoleon focused on Russia, his hold over Spain began to slip. Wellington saw his chance. After capturing the key fortress cities of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, he marched on Salamanca.

For all its sobering lessons, the War of 1812 also offers cause for celebration apart from “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Americans, having fought a mighty foe to a draw—and even bested the fearsome ...

“The war was so ill conceived and ineptly run that the government wanted to forget the whole embarrassment almost from the moment it ended,” says Gordon Wood, a leading historian of the early United ...