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Trying to recover from defeat in 1812, Napoleon had enormous obstacles to overcome. But these were NOT obvious at the time, surprisingly to us, most of the great and the good expected Napoleon to win in 1813.

Tsar Alexander had some very unusual motivations for a major head of state in the Europe of the time. These motivations, including the mysticisms of the day, are still fascinating. Swedenborg, Lavater, and Saint Martin all get a look.

And then there was a man of almost equal priggishness, Kaerl Heinrich Vom Stein, whose remarkable career and how he ties together Napoleon, Alexander and Frederick William and the new nationalism and new artistic and intellectual movements beginning to arise is worth a deep dive.

Stein urged the King of Prussia “Make use of the authority granted you by God to break the chains of your people. May its blood no longer be spent on behalf of the enemy of humanity!” But the king was more interested in getting a Bonapart bride for the Crown Prince.

The crusade against Napoleon, developed int a crusade for Legitimacy, against Usurpation, but even this early, the Allies could not help using the language of the Revolution and the tools of Napoleon.

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We examine the question: "Who won the bloody war anyway?"

The Canadians won, the Native Americans lost, the British won, the Americans lost and most of all, far more importantly, the Americans won the war overwhelmingly. The apparent contradiction here is resolved.

The great clashed happen in the land war. The elite British line infantry met newly, well-trained American regulars, and... the British were not better. Straight up equal battles on flat terrain are sometimes won by Americans, sometimes the British.

The key to the land war is still naval control of the lakes and there bewilderingly, the Americans continue to win overwhelming vicotries over the British.

And, of course, the Battle of New Orleans happens, news of which arrives shortly before news of the peace, leading to a notion that the battle led to the peace.

We examine the context of the Peace of Ghent within the structure of the Congress of Vienna. The effect of the Peace on the Congress of Vienna was more important to the British than the details of the peace, so the Americans did not have to give up anything to get peace.

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The war starts with America terribly unprepared. British efforts to make peace suffer from a lack of focus; Casltereagh is just not applying much brainpower and effort to the American sitution.

Almost no navy. A tiny regular army like 11,000 men, terribly officered. No real tax funding for the government to speak of. Deliberately, they have avoided preparing for war, preferring to pay off the national debt, and are almost entirely unprepared. And nevertheless totally confident that they can sleepwalk to victory in Canada.

1812 turns out to defy all expectations, but 1813 sees a turnaround with more American success on land and less at sea.