The United States & Russia... Siege of Fort Meigs...

Item # 710804

June 01, 1813

THE WAR, New York, June 1, 1813

* President of James Madison
* State of the Union Address
* Siege of Fort Meigs - Ohio
* War of 1812

The entire front page and half of page 2 are taken up with the: "President's Message" which is signed in type: James Madison. In it the President announces the United States' acceptance of an offer by the Emperor Alexander of Russia to mediate a resolution to the conflict with Britain and his hopes that this negotiation will end the war quickly. Madison also summarizes the successes of the new Army and Navy, while requesting a tax increase from Congress to finance the conflict.
Other articles within: "The North-Western Army" which is a fine letter on the siege of Fort Meigs, signed in type: Wm. Henry Harrison. Also: "General Orders which takes over one-third of a page & is signed: John O'Fallon; "Interesting Particulars" "Surrender of Mobile" "From Canada" "Com. Decatur's Squadron" "Impressed American" and more.
Four pages, 9 by 11 1/4 inches, very nice condition.

background: This June 1, 1813, issue of The War serves as a high-stakes snapshot of a young nation navigating a "second revolution" while teetering on the edge of financial and military exhaustion. The front-page inclusion of James Madison’s address is particularly telling; his pursuit of Russian mediation reveals a strategic pivot toward diplomacy even as he paradoxically asks Congress for the tax hikes necessary to sustain the fight. The presence of William Henry Harrison’s account of the Siege of Fort Meigs offers a gritty, firsthand look at the brutal frontier warfare that would eventually propel him to the presidency, while reports on Commodore Decatur and the surrender of Mobile illustrate the war’s massive geographic scale—stretching from the high seas to the humid Gulf Coast. For a document over two centuries old, its "very nice" condition and its focus on the "Impressed American" issue—the very casus belli of the conflict—make it an extraordinary primary record of the American identity being forged through fire and fiscal struggle.

This is a fascinating, short-lived newspaper, having begun in 1812 with the exclusive purpose of reporting on the War of 1812 (hence the title). When the war ended, so did this newspaper.