On June 18, 1812, President James Madison signed into law "An Act Declaring War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Dependencies Thereof and the United States of America and Their Territories", the United States' first formal declaration of war. The war continued until the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent on February 16, 1815. The U.S. and the U.K. have not gone to war against each other since then.

My ancestor, Elijah McClenahan, was commissioned major of the 2nd battalion in John C. Scott’s 1st Kentucky Volunteer Regiment, and was one of a handful of American soldiers who escaped death and capture at the Battle of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin.