And All Their Glory Past: Fort Erie, Plattsburgh and the Final Battles in the North, 1814
Donald E. Graves
And All Their Glory Past is the story of the last major battles of the War of 1812 in the northern theatre, which were fought in the summer and autumn of 1814 and had a decisive effect on how the war ended.
The first of these actions is the 53-day siege of Fort Erie, which incurred more casualties than the better known battle of New Orleans in some of the most vicious fighting of the war. The Americans besieged in the fort on the Canadian side of the Niagara River succeeded in driving off the British attacks but decided to withdraw across the border before the onset of winter, thus marking the end of hostilities on Canadian soil.
The second major action is the naval and land battle of Plattsburgh, New York. An outgunned American naval squadron on Lake Champlain succeeded through outstanding seamanship in defeating their Royal Navy opponents, causing the British commander in chief, General Sir George Prevost, to withdraw, a reverse he was unable to live down and an American victory that had a direct bearing on the final outcome of the war.
Written by Donald E. Graves, known as the “master of the battlefield narrative” and acknowledged internationally as an authority on the War of 1812, And All Their Glory Past is a fascinating blend of scholarly research, engaging narrative and insight into the minds of men under the stress of combat. It complements two previous books by Donald E. Graves, Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm, 1813 and Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1814, widely read classics that have remained in print for more than a decade due to popular demand.
400 pages • 6 x 9 inches • illustrations and maps • notes, bibliography, index •
978-1-896941-71-4 • October 2013 • paperback
Forgotten Soldiers: The War of 1812 in the North
The long-awaited And All Their Glory Past completes Donald E. Graves’s trilogy on the War of 1812 in the northern theatre. The previous volumes are Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm, 1813, and Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1814.
And All Their Glory Past is the story of the last major battles of the War of 1812 in the northern theatre, which were fought in the summer and autumn of 1814 and had a decisive effect on how the war ended.
The first of these actions is the 53-day siege of Fort Erie, which incurred more casualties than the better known battle of New Orleans in some of the most vicious fighting of the war. The Americans besieged in the fort on the Canadian side of the Niagara River succeeded in driving off the British attacks but decided to withdraw across the border before the onset of winter, thus marking the end of hostilities on Canadian soil.
The second major action is the naval and land battle of Plattsburgh, New York. An outgunned American naval squadron on Lake Champlain succeeded through outstanding seamanship in defeating their Royal Navy opponents, causing the British commander in chief, General Sir George Prevost, to withdraw, a reverse he was unable to live down and an American victory that had a direct bearing on the final outcome of the war.
Written by Donald E. Graves, known as the “master of the battlefield narrative” and acknowledged internationally as an authority on the War of 1812, And All Their Glory Past is a fascinating blend of scholarly research, engaging narrative and insight into the minds of men under the stress of combat. It complements two previous books by Donald E. Graves, Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm, 1813 and Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1814, widely read classics that have remained in print for more than a decade due to popular demand.
400 pages • 6 x 9 inches • illustrations and maps • notes, bibliography, index •
978-1-896941-71-4 • October 2013 • paperback
Forgotten Soldiers: The War of 1812 in the North
The long-awaited And All Their Glory Past completes Donald E. Graves’s trilogy on the War of 1812 in the northern theatre. The previous volumes are Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm, 1813, and Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1814.
Reader Reviews
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"Graves excels in using apt quotations from original sources. He has made extensive use of American, British, and Canadian public archives and historical society libraries in his search for documents. For example, in reconstructing events of the 1813-1814 campaigns, he relies on the letters, journals and autobiographies of not only the leading personalities, but also of the mid-level officers and ordinary foot soldiers.
Several appealing characteristics of Graves’s style are his mordant sense of humor, his appreciation of soldiers’ anecdotes, and the inclusion of one or two stanzas of soldiers’ songs, ‘the poetry of the lower ranks,’ that introduce most chapters. Each book contains valuable appendices, clear maps, good illustrations, and explanatory citations which enhance the text. Taken together, these volumes make an essential and important contribution to the history of the war, written by a master of the genre. This trilogy is highly recommended reading for U.S. students and scholars who have not taken the time or made the effort to comprehend the War of 1812 in the Canada-U.S. borderlands." William S. Dudley, Journal of Military History, April 2014
"Graves’s work is notable for the breadth and depth of his research, a wide-ranging perspective that includes all combatants, an intrinsic fairness in evaluating the participants and the problems they encountered, an ability to balance strategic concerns with tactical imperatives, a commitment to the soldier’s view whether private or general, and an appreciation for ground, logistics, administration, weather, communication, politics, and the weapons and technology of warfare. This accomplishment is no mean feat……
Graves has produced yet another fine study of 1812. This war and those who fought in it were once almost forgotten. That observation is no longer true and much of the credit goes to Donald Graves." Robert Fraser, Fife and Drum
"It’s sometimes easy to forget that the War of 1812 was still being hotly contested in 1814 and that the war’s bicentennial is continuing throughout this year. Fortunately, Canada’s leading War of 1812 historian, Donald E. Graves, has published a new volume exploring the pivotal campaigns that preceded the end of the war.
In And All Their Glory Past, Graves explores the Siege of Fort Erie, the failed British attack at Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, and several smaller but important events like the raids on what is now southwestern Ontario by American General Duncan McArthur. In this book, explains Graves, he examines “two major military [and naval] operations separated by hundreds of miles and fought by five different land formations and four different naval squadrons.” And All Their Glory Past is a must for anyone interested in Canadian military history and a fitting final work in Graves’ trilogy exploring the War of 1812." Joel Ralph, Canada’s History Magazine
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"Not unexpectedly there are numerous accounts by both senior and junior British officers, but what makes And All Their Glory Past unique is how [Graves] weaves into the narrative the voices of those who rarely are heard in most histories. These include from the Canadian side aborigine leaders and women. Nor are the Americans overlooked. There are many quotes not only from diaries and letters of American officers, but of enlisted soldiers, militia, and even of a drummer boy!
Rather than bogging down the narrative with a lot of technical data, the author provides seven appendices that contains nice to have information, but not necessary to understand the story. These include data on the various weapons used by both sides, orders-of-battle, daily weather reports for the siege of Fort Erie, and the strength, composition, and desertion rate in the British Army. Appendix C, is particularly fascinating. It explores two myths that have sprung up about the siege of Fort Erie. The first is whether the commander of the British assault gave orders to give “No Quarter” (i.e. to take no prisoners), while the second examines the cause of the explosion in the Northeast Bastion, which broke the back of the British assault. …… And All Their Glory Past has all the hallmarks of the author’s earlier books. It is meticulously researched, very readable, and highly entertaining. Don Graves is one of the few historians who actually use humor in his writing. All of his previous books are interspersed with dry wit and he is the master of one liners. This book is no exception. A few examples . . . he wrote that after 1816, Lieutenant Colonel George Hay, the Marquis of Tweeddale, “had seven sons and six daughters and was apparently too busy siring children to have much time for his military career, “ while Surgeon William Dunlop, of the 89th Foot, “never lost his sense of humor – possibly because he was wise enough to remain single.” He describes the modern reconstruction of Fort Erie: "A splendid new interpretation centre has recently been opened at Fort Erie complete with a display that interprets the siege (and is surprisingly accurate, which is not always the case with historic site interpretation.) An outside annex features partially rebuilt battery positions complete with artillery pieces and Congreve rockets, as well as a representative of the type of primitive huts the besiegers lived in for almost two months. The only thing missing is the nearly constant downpour of rain, but perhaps in future a sprinkler system could be installed to enhance the visitor’s experience.” Once again Don Graves has written a superb book on the War of 1812. His engaging writing style will hold the interest of the casual reader, while the wealth of detail will satisfy the serious scholar. And All Their Glory Past is not just for those interested in the War of 1812; I highly recommend it for anyone interested in American and Canadian military history or the Napoleonic Wars." Robert Burnham, The War of 1812 Magazine
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