War on the Lakes

The late 18th and early 19th century was an era of conflict. The war between Great Britain and France raged between 1793 and 1815 with few interruptions. As a part of the British Empire, Upper Canada was unable to escape this broader conflict and when, on June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Britain, Canada was brought to the front line of what had become a world war. Just like armed conflict in any part of the world, the War of 1812 had a significant effect on the local population.

To Great Britain the War of I8I2 was simply a burdensome adjunct of its greater struggle against Napoleonic France. To the Canadians it was clearly a case of naked American aggression. But to the Americans it was neither simple nor clear. The United States entered the war with confused objectives and divided loyalties and made peace without settling any of the issues that had induced the nation to go to war.

The immediate origins of the war were seizure of American ships, insults and injuries to American seamen by the British Navy, and rapid expansion of the American frontier. The British outrages at sea took two distinct forms. One was the seizure and forced sale of merchant ships and their cargoes for allegedly violating the British blockade of Europe. Britain and France attempted to interfere with the trade of neutrals, including the United States, that was deemed to benefit the enemy. However, England was the chief offender because its Navy had greater command of the seas. The second, more insulting, type of outrage was the capture of men from American vessels for forced service in the Royal Navy. The pretext for impressment was the search for deserters, who, the British claimed, had taken employment on American vessels.

But there were also factors closer to home that contributed to the outbreak of hostilities:

* The expansion of American settlement in the "Old North-west" (today's Ohio, Michigan, Illinois), frequently in violation of treaties with the First Nations, led to ongoing conflict.
* The United States claimed that the Indian Agents at the British posts in the upper lakes were encouraging the resistance and supplying the means to carry it out.
* Many American politicians saw war with Great Britain as an opportunity to expand northward through the conquest of Upper Canada.

Major areas of conflict:

Detroit Frontier

* Detroit Frontier, 1812: Victory
o Brock and Tecumseh
o Fort Detroit
o Terms of Capitulation of Fort Detroit

* Detroit Frontier, 1813: Defeat
o The Battle of Lake Erie, or Put-in Bay
o The Confederacy of First Nations

Niagara Frontier and York

* 1812
o Queenston Heights

* 1813
o The Raid on York
o Laura Secord
o Small Actions Around Fort George
o Fort George and Fort Niagara

* 1814
o Battle of Chippewa
o Battle of Lundy's Lane
o Siege of Fort Erie

Kingston and the St. Lawrence

* Battles, Raids and Skirmishes
o Ogdensburg and Gananoque
o Battle of Chrysler's Farm

* Protecting the Supply Line
o Provisioning the Upper Province
o Smuggling
o Ship Building Race

The War Beyond Upper Canada

* Lower Canada
* 1814: The Shift in Power
* The Attack on Plattsburg
* The Blockade and Raids on the America Atlantic Coast
* The Attack on New Orleans