The War of 1812

Background Information

• The War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to 1814) was a military conflict between the United States and Great Britain.

• As a colony of Great Britain, Canada was swept up in the War of 1812 and was invaded a number of times by the Americans.

• The war was fought in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and in the United States.

Background Information

• For Canada this war brought on a sense of national identity and an idea that civilian soldiers were largely responsible for repelling the American invaders.

• The First Nations were allies of the British and Canadian military. They were fighting to halt American expansion into the west and to create positive relations with the British and Canadians.

• However, many First Nations people were killed in battle, and their contributions were quickly forgotten by both the British and the Canadian people.

Causes of the War

• Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France, was dominating Europe. He easily beat the British and the Austrians.

• His victories in Europe truly did not concern many Americans, except for the fact that America was sympathetic towards the French’s plight.

• It was during the American Revolution that the French helped the Americans defeat the British.

• Not only that, but the French and Americans had similar philosophical views on having a Republic and their constitution.

Causes of the War

• As such, the Americans were sympathetic towards the plight of the French and in return, the Americans attacked (and were attacked) by the British.

• Canada, being a colony of Great Britain, were sucked into the war of 1812.

• President James Madison was intrigued by the analysis of attacking Canada and that Canada would be easy pickings.

Upper Canada Only?

• American leaders planned their invasion of Canada, they quickly and decided thatUpper Canada was the most vulnerable to attack.

• Attacking the Atlantic provinces was a non starter as they were protected by British sea power.

• Lower Canada was protected by its remoteness and by the fortresses' in Quebec.

Brock to the Rescue

• Upper Canada was defended by about 1,600 British regulars, formed mostly from the 41st Regiment of Foot and detachments from other units.

• However, the badly outnumbered British were in fact better prepared than the Americans.

• Much of the preparation was thanks to the foresight of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.

• Brock had a thorough grasp of where the American’s would attack, when they would attack, and how to counter their attack.

• Brock had been preparing for an American invasion. From 1809 – 1813 he reinforced fortification along the St. Lawrence river, training militia units, and most importantly developing alliances with the First Nations.

Brock to the Rescue

• Brock was aggressive an on 17 July he attacked the Americans, his first location were the Michilimackinac Island.

• The force of 46 British soldiers and 400 Aboriginal warriors captured the Fort Michilimackinac quickly and without bloodshed.

Canada Owns USA Territory

• At about the same time, an American force under General William Hull had crossed from Detroit into Canada (at Windsor), forcing Brock to quickly march his men from the town of York to counter the invasion.

• When he arrived at Windsor, Brock found that the American invasion force had already withdrawn to Detroit. They were defeated by the Canadian Military with the help of local First Nations people. The First Nations were led by the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.

• With chief Tecumseh at his side, Brockpursued the American army and defeated them in Detroit.

• On August 16, the hapless general surrendered to Brock and Canada had actually taken land away from the Americans and were in control of Michigan territory and Upper Mississippi.

Fort York

And they keep losing

• Having lost one army at Detroit, the Americans lost another at Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812.

• However, during this battle Brock was killed, which was a major loss to the Canadians and the British forces.

• Trying to retake Detroit, a new American army under William Henry Harrison slowly made it way up from Kentucky.

• On their way up to Detroit, one wing of the Harrison’s army was confronted by the British, Canadian and First Nations forces at Frenchtown (in Michigan)

• Under the guidance of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Procter, the British/Canadian/First Nation army decimated Harrison’s army; any further attempts to take back Detroit was abandoned.

American’s fight back

• On April 27, 1813, an American flotilla of 16 ships landed at York (Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada.

• The American’s, while in York, burned down all the public buildings, stole naval supplies, and was about to seize a ship in the docks at York – if not for a few braveCanadians that burned the ship to the ground.

But Quickly Leave as well

• After sacking York, the American’s left the city in ruins and made their way to Fort George on May 27, 1813.

• Canadian’s and the British, which have now lost their capital in Upper Canada, also lost vital naval supplies and had one of their own ships burned to the ground; the war was looking bleak for Canadians.

• As bleak as it looked for Canada, the USA navy made some crucial mistakes. • 1. British General John Vincent was able to get his navy out of York and

made their way to Burlington Heights (now Burlington) to await reinforcement.

• 2. The American’s once they arrived in Fort George (near Niagara) to get their own increase of supplies from the American side of the border, did not pursue General Vincent and his navy at Burlington until June 2.

• On the evening of June 5, 1813 General Vincent’s men did a surprise attack on the Americans at Stoney Creek (in Hamilton) where they captured two American generals and forced the American’s to retreat back to the USA.

First Nations Defeat Americans

• The Americans suffered another defeat three weeks later at Beaver Dams (Southern Ontario) where 600 American’s were captured by a force of First Nations.

• To make matters worse, the American’s were worn down by sickness, desertion, and the departure of short-term soldiers (AWOL), the American command evacuated Fort George (southern Ontario) on December 10 and stopped invading Canada.

• Sadly, on their way out of Canada, the American’s sacked one last place – Niagara on the Lake. It was a quite town that had not intervened in the war. The American’s burned down buildings – public and private, and stole from public and private buildings as well.

Canada Strikes Back

• Not to fear, Canadians and the British do get their revenge by sacking Washington, DC by burning down their capital building.

The Western Front

• On the western side of Upper Canada, the Americans faired much better.

• They were able to take territory from the Canadians.

• They didn’t lose any major battles.

• But with an unfortified eastern front, they could not pincer the British/Canadian/First Nations forces and as such retreated back into the states in 1813.

Attacking Lower Canada

• America forces also invaded Lower Canada during the war.

• It should have been an easy victory for the Americans, they could have struck a mortal blow against the British and Canadians as they outnumbered the British/Canadian army 10 – 1.

• But the Americans were led by the incredible ineptitude General James Wilkinson and Wade Hampton.

• October 25 – 26 1813, with a few British regulars, some militia, and First Nations people, the Americans were stonewalled at Chateauguay by Liutenant – Colonel Chalres de Salaberry.

• The American army turned back and made their way to Cornwall, Ontario where they were met by Liutenant – Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison. Both of these commanding officers gave the American army fits and forced them out of Lower Canada.

The cat came back… er I mean Americans

• On July 3 1814 the American’s came back and attacked the British and Canadians at Fort Erie.

• The American’s pushed forward and got to Lundy’s Lane (Kingston, Ontario).

• It was here where more American troops came across the St. Lawrence River from the USA to attack Canadian forts in Kingston, Prescott, and Brockville (all cities in Ontario).

• Google Map - https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.344239,-76.4733249,7z

Lundy’s Lane

• Americans got to Lundy’s lane on July 25, 1814.

• Exhausted from the long trek up the St. Lawrence, exhausted from this war that has gone on for two years they gave it one last effort and attacked the Canadians/British/First Nations in pitch dark.

• The problems was the troops were so exhausted, the night was so dark that both sides did not know friend from foe.

• As such, the battle ended in a stalemate.

And back they Go

• The American invasion was now effectively spent, worn out, defeated with little gains to show, as such they withdrew from Lundy’s Lane to Fort Erie.

• At Fort Erie (close to other American Forts) there were three more months of battles.

• They went back and forth with no real movement. Now running out of troops, ammunition running low, and the supply line starting to dry up, the Americans retreated back to the USA.

The British didn’t stop

• Greedy, and with the Napoleonic War coming to an end, the British sent their best troops to Canada and decide to invade the USA.

• From Nova Scotia, the British Army headed south to the state of Maine.

• From there the British/Canadian army invaded New York. But that was too much. The USA was OK with losing the state of Maine, but they did not want to lose the state of New York.

It comes to an End

• On September 1, 1814 the USA was invaded by the British.

• Led by commodore Thomas Macdonough, the Americans fought back the Canadians and forced their surrender.

Treaty of Ghent

• After New York, both sides were done fighting. Britain had just defeated Napoleon, the Canadian military was depleted, the First Nations lost some of their most valuable men, and the Americans were running out of money.

• A truce was called and treaty negotiations were held in the city of Ghent.

• When the treaty was signed on Christmas Eve 1814, all conquests were to be restored and disputes over boundaries were deferred to joint commissions.

Nothing Gained

• Ultimately, all borders, all territory were put back to exactly what they were at the beginning of the war.

• No side gained much of anything, both sides lost many lives and loved ones.

• The Americans were able to show that they had a strong navy, and the Canadians still feared being invaded by the Americans.

• The biggest losers were the First Nations people. Canadians tended to forget that they helped the British side, that they fought for the Canadians and no one noted this in any legal documents. The First Nations were totally ignored, forgotten and never thanked.