This image is the cover for the book Kentucky and the War of 1812, Military

Kentucky and the War of 1812, Military

How the Bluegrass State Helped Win a War

While not a single battle of the War of 1812 was fought on Kentucky soil, Kentuckians were involved to the very end. Henry Clay and his War Hawks convinced Congress and President Madison to declare war, and helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended it. After two massacres of Kentucky militia on the Northwestern front, Governor Isaac Shelby, still the only sitting governor to lead troops into battle, more than 4,000 locals and a pig marched to Canada to defeat the British and kill Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames. Author Doris Dearen Settles explains how Kentuckians won the war of 1812 and why it is far more significant than textbooks record.

Doris D. Settles

Doris Settles is a freelance writer and former University of Kentucky professor and journalist for the Kentucky Standard newspaper. Her work has been published in Bluegrass , Kentucky Monthly , Kentucky Living , the Courier-Journal , the Lexington Herald-Ledger and other local and national publications. Doris holds a bachelor's degree in English/journalism and has a master's degree in instructional systems design.

History Press