Suggestions for good war movies

[seabolt]

New Orleans is what I was thinking of too. So one battle to the US, one to Canada (Chrysler's Farm), and one to the UK (Queenston's Heights). A draw in my books.

I don't think anyone could seriously refute that perspective. It's just one of those muddled affairs where person A could claim tragic defeat (buh bye, Washington) and person B claim epic victory (ragtag bootstrap nation stands tall as The Empire Strikes Back!). Any and all viewpoints have a basis in fact.

I wonder how the war would have gone if the UK wasn't fighting France at that time? Y'all could be saying cheerio instead!

I wouldn't think so, for two reasons.

First, it was too late by then. Historians criticize the American Revolution, and rightly so, because no other British colony insisted on internecine strife as an exit strategy, and all of them ended up just as free. Sensible or not, that was the bloodyminded American meme. It wouldn't have been worth the cost to the British to take back control.

Second, a subtext beneath both British wars was the whole "cousins" thing. Family members fight (frequently), but they don't take it too far.* Alluding back to my earlier question, a U.S. War of 1812 veteran didn't let that experience poison his outlook when he initiated the first British-U.S. joint combat. A British gunboat got itself shot to hell by Chinese batteries in 1859. The observing U.S. commodore decided neutrality only went so far, and went in to offer a tow. Meanwhile, abaft, some of his crew saw that the British had run out of gunners, jumped the rails, and manned the British weapons. On learning of this, the commodore's punishment consisted of calling his men "rascals." In his report, he explained himself simply with, "Blood is thicker than water."

And that's why 1812 probably will be the last U.S. invasion of Canada ever, and why the British never pushed harder than they did. We're all in this brawl together.** Even when we're fighting, on some level we still acknowledge it.

* That said, the northern and southern U.S. weren't anything like family, given their completely different societies. Which is most of what made the USCW the monstrous affair that it was. Ironically, by then both sides felt more affinity for the British than each other.

** Of course, every family has to have its black sheep, so at this point I suppose I should bring up the Aussies and Kiwis ...

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