BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
BICENTENNIAL OF THE WAR OF 1812
2012
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, June 18, 2012, marks the two hundredth anniversary of the United States Congress declaration of
war against Great Britain, as a response to British impressments of American sailors and increasing tensions over
western boundaries; and
WHEREAS, the sacrifices of the nation's soldiers and citizens during the War of 1 8 1 2 strengthened the
position of the United States as a burgeoning world power, in addition to establishing the need for a national system
of defense and a professional military; and
WHEREAS, Militia of the State served during the conflict, most notably during the British naval landings at
Portsmouth and Ocracoke; and
WHEREAS, more than one thousand North Carolinians, including Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Forsyth,
fought as regulars of the United States Army at engagements in Canada, such as La Colic’s Mill, Odelltown, and
Chateaugay; and
WHEREAS, several hundred North Carolinians took part in the war at sea, including Johnston Blakeley,
commander of the United States Navy vessel Wasp, and Otway Burns, captain of the privateer vessel Snap Dragon-,
and
WHEREAS, Dolley Payne Madison, a native of Guilford County, and the wife of President James Madison,
heroically saved several national treasures during the burning of Washington, D.C., by the British in 1814, most
notably the much beloved Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington; and
WHEREAS, Cherokee warriors from North Carolina, led by Chief Junaluska, fought as part of General
Andrew Jackson’s army at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Alabama, in March 1814; and
WHEREAS, Andrew Jackson, who had studied law in Salisbury, became a general in the United States Army
and a national hero for his great victory at the Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815; and
WHEREAS, the War of 1 8 1 2 officially ended on February 15. 1815;
NOW. THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby
proclaim June 18, 2012. in recognition of the “BICENTENNIAL OF THE WAR OF 1812” in North Carolina,
and commend its observance to all citizens through participation in commemorative events presented by the North
Carolina Department pf^khural Resources, and other appropriate events.
9.
BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
IN WlTNES5p^TEREOF;^^ve hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North
Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this fourth day of June in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
