We won the War though the Brits did considerable damage, short of the Battle of New Orleans.
Correct?
Boo
Most Americans probably feel they won the war. To them is was kind of a second war of independence. To the British (those who know about it) it was a sideshow to the Napoleonic war. To the rest of the world (those who know about it) it was a draw, bordering on defeat for the United States.
On one hand the U.S. had declared war on the most powerful nation on Earth and survived; no small feat. On the other hand the U.S. had declared war on another nation, and invaded it (Lower and Upper Canada) only to be repulsed, had its capitol sacked, and ended the war without achieving any strategic goals.
From the British point of view they had suffered shipping losses to piracy by U.S. ships (or privateers supported by the U.S.), been declared war on and invaded (Canada). The British repulsed the U.S. attempt to annex Canada and through a number of local actions, including the sacking of Washington DC, put the U.S. in its place.
In modern historical examination of the war of 1812 the British really hold the higher moral ground, and achieved their war goals. The perhaps most striking moral act of the war was the British offer of freedom to American slaves. Several thousand slaves escaped to the British and were resettled elsewhere in the British Empire, some in Canada. The U.S. protested Britain's refusal to return the slaves, which violated the Treaty of Ghent. After Russian arbitration instead of returning the slaves the British paid the U.S. government, which reimbursed the slave owners.