War of 1812- Inquiry

BY: Yash Gajaria

How and why were the following battles important in the War of 1812?

•Battle of Thames•Battle of Crysler's Farm•Battle of Chateauguay•Battle of New Orleans

Battle of ThamesBackground info about the Battle of Thames• Took place on October 5th 1813

• Location: Near current Chatham-Kent Ontario = Upper Canada

Alliance: Great Britain United States

Lead by • Henry Procter• Tecumseh

• William Henry Harrison

Strength 1300 • 800 regulars• 500 Natives

3760• 2380 militia• 1000 volunteered

troops• 120 regulars• 260 Natives

Also Known as: Battle of Moravian

Why was the Battle of Thames important in the War of 1812?

Shawnee Leader, Tecumseh was

Killed

Tecumseh was a great communicator between the Native and British, without him, there would be less communication

between the British and Native

USA victory meant

Gain control of Detroit, and in the late 1812

and early 1813 United States would battle hard for land in this

area

How, when and why was Tecumseh killed?

1.Harrison (American leader) gave command to make a frontal attack on the British

2.British regulars tried using the British cannons, but the cannon couldn’t fire

3.Americans got through the exhausted British and the British gave one last shot but failed

4.Tecumseh and his followers still fought back hard5.Americans and co leader, Johnson charged into the

Native people to attract attention, and distract all the British troops still fighting

6. Tecumseh and his crew kept firing musket shots form the back, which resulted in 15 Americans being killed and the main part of the Americans got caught in the swamp and mud

7. Americans still attacked and Tecumseh was killed, the news spread to everyone very fast

AMERICANS

NATIVE BRITISHSWAMP

Americans gained control of British

ground during the Battle

Tecumseh and some of his men fought hard to gain

back this land- Tecumseh was

killed in the process

Results of Tecumseh being killed• Start to become difficult for the Native to

communicate with the British• Native didn’t have someone to represent them

selves in Paris when the Treaty of Ghent was signed

Battle of ChateauguayBackground info about the Battle of

Chateauguay• Battle took place on the 26th of October 1813• Location: Allan’s Corner- current Ormstown,

Quebec

Alliance: Great Britain United States

Lead by: Charles de Salaberry

Wade Hampton

Strength:

136050 fencibles400 volunteers900 militia180 Mohawks

40002600 regulars1400 militia

Why and how was this battle important in the British’s victory in the War of 1812?

Americans WANTED to invade lower Canada, and their goal was to ultimately get Quebec and Montreal, the heart of French culture in British

North America.

AMERICAN’S PLAN

• Late 1813 the Americans’ plan was to capture Montreal and then get control of all of Upper Canada

• Had 2 divisions1. St. Lawrence River from Sacketts Harbour

Lake Ontario 2. Plattsburgh North from Lake Champlain

THE BATTLE1. American commander sent 1000 of his men

under command of Colonel Robert Purdy to go and cross the southern bank of Chateauguay

2. Canadiens had to call up several militia units for defence

3. American general ordered that 10 000 quarters were build on the St. Lawrence for his men during the brutal winter.

4. Hampton (leader of division 2) would have easily retreated immediately, but couldn’t ditch Purdy

Purdy and 10 000 of his men spent the night of

October 25th 1813 walking through a swamp in the

rain.

The morning of October 26th 1813 had the

Americans at the river opposite to de Salaberry’s

forward defence

In the afternoon, Captain Daly- leader of 3rd

select Embodies militia ordered to attack Americans

immediately. Canadiens got

severely wounded, but

Americans went back.

Co-leader of the second division of Americans, George Izard and his 1000

men marched the ravines facing de Salaberry’s defence and got into line.

Legend says when an American went and asked for surrender when the flag of truce (used to

stop fighting) was up, he was shot by Salaberry himself

Americans lined up and fired volleys, but it was no good, the Canadiens were

VERY accurate and almost every shot was at the heads/chests’ of the

Americans

Americans went back

4.8 km

Purdy went back, thinking Izard would still be in action, BUT he wasn’t so Purdy was

forced to retreat

Hampton gave orders to retreat, and this led to the Battle at Chrysler's Farm

Battle of Crysler’s FarmBackground info about the Battle of Crysler’s

Farm• Battle took place on November 11th 1813 • Location: Near Cornwall, Ontario

Alliance Great Britain Americans

Leader • William Mulcaster• Joseph Wanton

Morrison

• James Wilkinson• John Parker

Boyd

Strength 900Militia + Regulars

8000 regulars 2500-4000 engaged in the battle

Killed 31 102

Americans were sticking to their plan, the same plan from the Battle of

Chateauguay

The Americans wanted to attack Lower Canada, and ultimately get to Montreal/

Quebec

What happened in the Battle of Crysler’s Farm?

1. Late November 10th 1813 Wilkinson was in Cooks Town where he set up his head quarters

2. British sent men in and around Kingston and the 1000 islands

3. Early November 11th it was very cold and raining4. Fire began in two places

1. On the River where Mulcaster’s gunboats were shooting American boats

2. A Mohawk fired at the American party which was near the encampment

Americans got wounded and ill, and eventually ran out of ammunition. This forced them to

continue back and retreat

After the Americans’ two losses in trying to attack Lower Canada, the

Americans ditched this strategy and had to retreat back to the United

States.

Battle of New Orleans

Battle took place on January 8th 1815Location of the battle was 8 km south of New Orleans at Chalmette

Alliance Great Britain

Americans

Leaders/ Commanders

• Edward Pakenham •  Alexander

Cochrane• John Keane •  John Lambert•  William Thornton•  Thomas Mullins

•  Andrew Jackson•  William Carroll•  John Coffee•  Jean Lafitte• Walter H. Overton•  Daniel Patterson

Strength 1100 4732

Killed 55 380

Why was this battle an “odd” battle in the War of 1812?

• The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24th 1814, the Battle of New Orleans took place after the Treaty was signed.

• It was almost late February when people in Louisiana found out about the treaty being signed

• Even though the Treaty was signed in December, this battle still took place in January 1815, with a American victory- which was pointless.

What led to the Battle

• In the Battle of Lake Borgne on December 12th 1814, the British attacked near the Lake and the fought back and forward near Lake Borgne

• Night attack on December 23rd and on the morning of December 24th 1800 British soldiers were on the east bank of the Mississippi river.

Battle of New Orleans

Battle of Chateauguay

Battle of Thames

Memorial for the Battle of Crysler’s Farm

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crysler's_Farmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chateauguayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Thameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleanshttps://www.google.ca/maps/@43.5773265,-79.4943477,11zhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_New_Orleans._January_1815._Copy_of_engraving_by_H._B._Hall_after_W._Momberger.,_ca._1900_-_1982_-_NARA_-_531091.tifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial,_Battle_of_Crysler%27s_Farm.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_the_Thames.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Chateauguay.jpg

Thanks for Watching