Characters of the War of 1812

by Judi McWilliams

Relationships... (Part One)

History has its own way of being interpreted. There were apparently very few written journals, notes, and letters during the War of 1812. The knowledge that we do have, reminds me of the childhood game we played called “password”. The game starts with someone whispering a word or phrase into the ear of the next person, the word/phrase is then whispered around the table. By the time the word/phrase gets to the final person, it is stated out loud and is usually misinterpreted. Again, the evidence of the experiences of a soldier’s family and relationships, as I understand it, come to us by conclusions of evidence of archaeological specimens, pictures that survived, witness and generations of “gossip”. With the soldiers being in battle and away in encampments, I wondered how and when a relationship would/could develop during the War of 1812. It is said that there is some information that has survived as to the reasons why a soldier married. The information says that women of lower orders of society sometimes proclaimed that the soldiers were the fathers of their child, even though this was often not the case! A soldier was actually put in jail and imprisoned as a means for the parish to garnish the soldiers pay to cover any expenses the parish might incur for taking care of the woman and child. The common word entrapment comes to my mind and actually, as I see it, seems to be the basis of many modern television soap opera shows today. (I wonder if these actions were that of the women or the Parish!) Apparently, a wrongfully accused soldier had three options once accused of “bastardy”. He could go to prison, marry the woman, or the course of desertion. Desertion, during the War of 1812, was with reference to leave without permission without any intention of returning, often leading to extreme penalties being incarceration or even execution! Desertion for American soldiers, I discovered, was just under 13 percent.
(To be continued)