FUN WITH MAPS ISSUE 2026-103: A Rewind Special  

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (June 18, 2026) – This Rewind special edition takes us back to the start of that historic War of 182. (Originally published on Loveland Beacon 6/18/2021) 

One More War

Declaration of War of 1812 occurred on this day.  This war was largely about economic and trade disputes between the US, Britain, and France.

The British waged war together with certain Indian allies against the US.  They focused on blockading US ports, boarding US merchant vessels on the high seas, conducting coastal raids as well as preventing US expansion to the west and holding firm to British America, or Canada.

The Royal Navy landed at Washington and burned the White House and Capitol in 1814.  However, in the same year the British were handed a decisive defeat by the US forces under the command of a future president at the Battle of New Orleans.  Here is a portion of Johnny Horton’s lyrics about that event:

“In 1814 we took a little trip

Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’

We took a little bacon and we took a little beans

And we caught the bloody British in a town in New Orleans…”

The war ended with the ratification of a peace treaty in early 1815.

This pictorial map of New Orleans’s French Quarter is by Myra Barnes from 1942.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.