1814 and 1815 United States House of Representatives elections and the Burning of Washington by the British in 1814 were embarrassing setbacks, but the war was viewed by many as reasonably successful. National morale was high because the small American military overall had been able to fight British forces to a draw in coastal and frontier conflict. The election of 1814 was the last in which the declining Federalist Party was able to secure more than a third of the seats in the House of Representatives - and it was only barely able to do so. There were special elections in 1814 and 1815 to the 13th United States
USS Torch (1814) USS Torch (1814) USS "Torch" was a schooner—heavily armed with guns and carronades—in the United States Navy during the early years of the republic. She was built for service in the War of 1812, but did not see service until the Barbary Wars when she was sent with the American fleet to the Mediterranean to force an end to piracy of American ships. "Torch"—a privateer schooner purchased at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1814 and initially commanded by Lt. Wolcott Chauncey—formed part of the "flying squadron" slated to cruise the West Indies to wage war on British commerce towards the end of