Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) War of 1812, armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. It followed a period of great stress between the two nations as a result of the treatment of neutral countries by bo...

(Encyclopedia) Algerine War ălˈjərēnˌ [key], early 19th-century conflict between Algiers and the United States. The Tripolitan War (1801–5) had brought a temporary halt to the pirate activities of the Barbary...

(Encyclopedia) Black Hawk War, conflict between the Sac and Fox and the United States in 1832. After the War of 1812, whites settling the Illinois country exerted pressure on the Native Americans. A treaty of 1804, ...

(Encyclopedia) Rodgers, John, 1812–82, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md.; son of John Rodgers. He became (1828) a midshipman and saw varied service. He conducted (1852–56) exploring expeditions in the ...

(Encyclopedia) Tripolitan War trĭpŏlˈĭtən [key], 1800–1815, conflict between the United States and the Barbary States. Piracy had become a normal source of income in the N African Barbary States long before t...

(Encyclopedia) Peninsular War, 1808–14, fought by France against Great Britain, Portugal, Spanish regulars, and Spanish guerrillas in the Iberian Peninsula. The Peninsular War immeasurably raised Britain's mi...

(Encyclopedia) prisoner of war, in international law, person captured by a belligerent while fighting in the military. International law includes rules on the treatment of prisoners of war but extends protection onl...

(Encyclopedia) war, laws of, in international law, rules and principles regulating an armed conflict between nations. These laws are designed to minimize the destruction of life and property, to proscribe cruel trea...

(Encyclopedia) Secession, War of: see Civil War. ...

(Encyclopedia) Thames, battle of the, engagement fought on the Thames River near Chatham, Ont. (Oct. 5, 1813), in the War of 1812. Gen. William H. Harrison led an American force of about 3,000 against a British army...