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Originally Posted by whocarz
Then you have the War of 1812, which was basically the British coming back saying "Ok, that thing with the French has died down thanks to their own revolution, we want our colony back." That didn't turn out too good for the Brits.
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The French Revolution itself was long before the War of 1812 (though it did lead to many of the wars of that period).
Actually, when the French Revolution was in flight, radical groups did invade other nations under the banner of the Revolution. It was so radical at the time that the monarchies of other nations in Europe were threatened (after all, the French had just beheaded their own King).
Add in Napoleon, and we have the Napoleonic Era which, essentially from the French Revolution (say, 1796) to 1815, was non-stop war in Europe.
The War of 1812 itself could be considered a part of the sideshow of Europe at the time when Napoleon nearly conquered all of Europe. Yep, he had France, Spain, Italy, allies in Austria, had the German states, Poland, and was in Russia before his famous defeat at the hands of good old General Winter.
The War of 1812 itself wasn't the British coming back and saying "lets take you on" - there were other things that happened that caused a stir and aggression which lead to war (of which, the U.S. can be blamed for some as well as the Brits).
The U.S. actually FAILED miserably throughout the entire war - it failed to take Canada, its own capital was sacked and burned.
Of course, things go to show, you can lose many battles, but still win the war.
And FWIW, many of Britains best troops were in Europe fighting the man known as Napoleon. When Napoleon was first exiled, that freed many troops to go to America. Of course, by then, a treaty was already being negotiated - and of course, Napoleon comes back, rounds up an army, then is defeated at Waterloo (1815).
The War of 1812 to Europeans is a sideshow to the first true total war.