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 Viper (1814) USS Viper (1814) USS "Viper" was a heavily armed row galley commissioned by the United States Navy for service in the War of 1812. She was successful in her operations against the British on Lake Champlain, and was retired after the war. The second ship to be so named by the Navy, "Viper" was one of six large row galleys hastily built and commissioned in the mid-1814 at Vergennes, Vermont, for use by Commodore Thomas Macdonough against the British on Lake Champlain. Under the command of Lieutenant Francis Mitchell, "Viper" participated in the capture of the British squadron, under Commodore