In 1808, a few years before the war began, the U.S. Army consisted of a handful of regiments. These troops were primarily used to keep the First Nations at bay and were relatively ignorant of European battle tactics. As the threat of war loomed near, the US Army expanded by leaps and bounds. By the time the war began, the Americans had recruited enough men to take on the British. The problem was that the new soldiers were completely inexperienced; some of them barely knew how to hold a gun. The officers were obliged to give their soldiers a basic training before sending them off to battle.

The soldiers soon learned the basic principle of firing their muskets and charging with bayonets, but few of them knew anything about battlefield maneuvers or strategy. Some officers were so concerned about this lack of military knowledge that they established training programs. In the spring of 1814, Brigadier General Winfield Scott opened a military training camp at Buffalo. Scott adopted the French army drill because the US government had not provided him with a textbook for infantry tactics. After three months of intensive training later, the raw troops became expert soldiers and would go on to defeat the British at Chippawa.