He United States invaded Canada in the summer of 1812, the war that resulted was a strange business. Referred to by one Canadian historian as “the incredible war,” the War of 1812 is the story of a tiny group of colonies caught between two empires, successfully resisting an enemy more than ten times their size, defying all the odds. Incredible also because, of the many wars that Canada has been involved in, it is perhaps this war that has the most significance for Canada as a nation.
Fought mostly on Canadian soil, but also on battlefields across North America, on the Great Lakes and the high seas, the War of 1812 set in motion events that would change the way our two countries saw themselves and each other. Having passed the bicentennial anniversary of the war, in 2012, it seems like a good time to take a serious look at this clash of empires, to better understand what happened in that time, and how its outcome still affects Canada today.
In 1812, while Napoleon was marching across Europe, and European armies were busy fighting a long, bloody war of their own, Canada was just a far frontier of Great Britain’s empire. With a small population of roughly 500,000 people, scattered across a vast territory, it seemed an unlikely place for a war to break out. However, the United States was a much larger nation which had trade relations with countries around the world. These trade relations frequently lead to disagreements with Great Britain, especially concerning Napoleon Bonaparte, with whom Britain had been fighting a brutal, and expensive, war for more than a decade.
In retaliation against the United States for trading with their enemy, the British adopted a policy to stop American ships on the high seas for searches and to seize sailors, claiming they were British deserters. The British also wanted to force American ships to report to British ports to monitor and control American trade with Europe; trade which would profit their enemy Napoleon and lengthen the war with Britain. The Americans were also angry that the First Nations were blocking Americans from going west and accused the British of encouraging these First Nations to attack American settlers. Understandably, these measures infuriated the Americans, and angry exchanges between Britain and the United States had proven useless in solving these problems.
For this reason, on July 24, 1812, American President Madison and the US congress declared war against the British Empire and made immediate plans to invade Canada. They were so confident that a country as mighty as the United States, with more than ten times the population of British North America, would easily overwhelm the paltry British defenses, that former American president Thomas Jefferson declared conquering Canada would be simply a “mere matter of marching.” Fortunately for Canada, it didn’t turn out that way.
Sir George Prevost, the British governor of Canada at the time, had wanted to fight a defensive war, in order not to provoke the more powerful Americans into action. However, the commander of the forces in Upper Canada, and a brilliant strategist, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, saw opportunities for several quick victories and decided to strike first. His swift seizure of Fort Michilimackinac, near Sault Ste. Marie, so impressed the First Nations and their leaders that they decided to commit themselves thereafter solidly with the British. Afterwards, with help from these First Nations under the equally brilliant and invaluable leadership of the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, Brock next moved against Fort Detroit. Through clever intimidation, he forced its commander, General William Hull, to surrender his larger and better armed force to Brock’s numerically inferior coalition of British regulars, Canadian militia and First Nation warriors without firing a shot. Brock then returned to the Niagara Peninsula to strengthen that region’s shaky defences.
After these humiliating setbacks, it did not take long for the Americans to become more serious, and they soon started their own attacks. The first American invasion occurred at Queenston Heights in the Niagara Peninsula in October, 1812. Despite the boldness of the plan, it was still another defeat at the hands of General Brock. However, although the battle of Queenston Heights was a great British victory, it cost Canada dearly: Sir Isaac Brock was killed in the battle. Shot from his horse during an infantry charge, Brock entered history as one of Canada’s first national heroes. Other British generals carried on the fight, against great odds, but none had the military skills or the audacity of Sir Isaac Brock.
