The War of 1812 in a Nutshell
Canada and the War of 1812
• The War of 1812 was basically Canada’s
War of Independence
• For the Americans it was a war of
conquest
• For Canadians it was a war of survival
• Between 1812 and 1814, Canada won the
right to not be American
The Lead-up to War
• Louis XVI helped the Americans with their
American Revolution was now in the
middle of a revolution of his own.
• During the French Revolution Louis and
his wife Marie Antoinette had their heads
chopped off by a guillotine
• A ruthless little general named Napoleon
seized power and launched France on a
European war of conquest.
The War of 1812
• What is important to realize, from a
Canadian perspective, is this:
– The French Revolution led to the Napoleonic
Wars of 1793-1815
– The War of 1812 was the North American
phase of this conflict
• With Britain bogged down in Europe
fighting Napoleon, the Americans saw
their chance at capturing Canada – and
they took it.
“Free trade and sailors’ rights”
• The Americans also had some genuine
grievances against the British
– The British were preventing France from
trading with the United States
– The British Navy had also asserted its right to
board foreign ships and press any British
citizens they found into military service.
• In 1807, they fired upon a U.S. vessel, the
Chesapeake, killing several men, before boarding
the ship and arresting four so-called deserters –
two of whom were American citizens. Britain later
apologized, and released the Americans but the
damage had been done
A Mere Matter of Marching
• American history books usually portray the
United States as the underdog in 1812. Why?
Because they were up against the British Empire
• This isn’t entirely accurate. Great Britain was
tied up in Europe, and Canada lay poorly
defended and exposed.
• Consider the real odds:
• Population of the United States: 7.5 million
• Population of Upper Canada: less than 80,000
• The entire population of the British North American colonies
combined was less than 1 million
• How could the Americans possibly lose?
War!
• On June 18, 1812 the United States of
America declared war on Great Britain –
and made immediate plans for the
Conquest of Canada
• Remember Canada didn’t exist as a
separate country at this point
The War in Upper Canada
(Ontario)
• The original Loyalist population of Upper
Canada had been swamped by an influx of
American settlers whose true loyalty remained in
doubt
• Fortunately (for Canada) the U.S. forces were
very poorly organized and launched scattered
attacks rather than focusing their approach
• Most of the battles took place along the boarder
between the United States and the British North
American Colonies (Canada)
General Isaac Brock
• Brock was the man in
charge of defending the
colony from the
American invaders
• He was a brilliant
strategist and an
inspiring leader
• Isaac Brock was long
remembered as the
fallen hero and saviour of
Upper Canada
Tecumseh
• Tecumseh was a Shawnee
chief that was allied with the
British
• His main goals were to
– Stop American expansion into
Native territory
– To secure a sovereign First
Nations Confederacy in the
interior.
• He brought together dozens of
different Nations and fought
along side the British for
tactical reasons, not loyalty.
Bluffing their way to victory
• The Americans were confident that the Canadians would
flock over to the American side of the fight – but they
didn’t!
• Brock had an idea – there weren’t very many British
regular soldiers so he dressed Canadian militia in the red
coats of the regular army to make them seem like they
were professional soldiers
• He also knew that the Americans were terrified of the
Natives and Brock and Tecumseh used this to their
advantage
– Tecumseh paraded his men in front of the American Garrison
then led them through the woods to join the end of the line again.
Then they marched past again. Tecumseh marched the same
men by three times and the Americans never caught on
– Their estimates of Tecumseh’s forces ranged as high as 3000
warriors. In fact, Tecumseh had fewer than 600 men on hand.
The Capture of Detroit
• No attack was needed.
• General Hull was so scared of an Indian
Massacre that he caved almost
immediately
• All it took were a few cannon shots and a
threatening ultimatum from Brock.
Battles
• August 18, 1812 - Brock and Tecumseh capture Detroit
• October 13, 1812 - Battle of Queenston Heights – Americans
ultimately pushed back, but Brock dies
• April 27, 1813 – General Dearborn captures York (Toronto)
• June 6, 1813 – Battle of Stoney Creek – American advance stopped
cold
• June 24, 1813 – Battle of Beaver Dams – Americans turned back
• July 31, 1813 – Americans re-capture York (Toronto)
• October 5, 1813 – Battle of Moraviantown – Tecumseh dies
• October 25, 1813 – Battle of Chateauguay – American invasion
force defeated by French and English Canadians
• November 11, 1813 – Battle of Crysler’s Farm – Americans
defeated
• July 25, 1814 – Battle of Lundy’s Lane – a confusing and bloody
conflict that ends in a stalemate (though both sides claim they won)
• August 1814 – British capture and burn Washington
Burn, Washington! Burn!
• Why is the White House white? Because we burned it,
that’s why! Or at least, the British did. In August 1814,
and in direct retaliation for what the Americans had done
in York, the British captured and burned Washington
D.C. The attack came as a complete surprise, and
President Madison and most of his defending army ran
away so fast the battle became known, sarcastically, as
“a race”. The British spent the next two days ransacking
the U.S. capital and torching the public buildings. When
the President’s own residence was badly damaged and
the walls scorched, the building was hastily rebuilt and
the exterior painted over with whitewash. It became
known as “the white house”
So Who Won?
• Do you want to know the
strange thing about the War of
1812? The Americans think
they won it. Really.
• Do you want to know what’s
even stranger? They’re right.
Not in a military sense of
course.
• On the battlefield, the
Americans lost. They didn’t
even come close to their goal –
the conquest of Canada
• But war is after all a political
tool, and what counts in the
end are the long term results,
not individual heroics
• The United States lost a war
and won a conference.
• Britain’s First Nation allies
were completely shut out of the
negotiations
• So were the Canadians
• The Americans had refused to
allow either at the bargaining
table.
• The United States came away
with their soverignty reaffirmed
The Final Score
• Who won? Who lost? The final score
stands like this:
• The Americans won
• The Canadians broke even
• The First Nations lost