s the capital of Upper Canada, York was a natural objective of the United States during the War for political and military reasons. Some shipbuilding for the Lake Ontario squadron was undertaken at York and it served as a depot for the distribution of supplies to Niagara, Detroit and the western posts on Lake Huron. The defences and garrison, however, were not significant. When the United States raided the town in April of 1813 the small garrison of regulars withdrew after a token resistance and retreated toward Kingston, leaving the local militia to make terms by giving their parole not to serve further in the war.

The bulk of the casualties suffered by the United States, including General Pike in command of the landing force, came with the explosion of the powder magazine at Fort York. The United States army returned again in the summer, but there was little left to destroy.

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Blockhouse and Battery in Old Fort,
Toronto, 1812, [ca. 1921]
C. W. Jefferys
Pen and ink drawing on paper
Government of Ontario Art Collection, 621228

The image to the left is an artist's conception of how the fortifications at York might have looked at the beginning of the War of 1812.

At the time of the American attack in the Spring of 1813, the post was lightly garrisoned and incomplete. The blockhouse was burned during the raid; the lakeside battery was incorporated into the new fort built after the war. It is now separated from the lake by the Gardiner Expressway and nearly two centuries of landfill.

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Map of York, 1869
Benson J. Lossing in
The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812
Illustration
Reference Code: 971 .034 LOS, page 590
Archives of Ontario Library

Thomas Ridout, father of Thomas G. Ridout author of many of the letters in this display, was Surveyor General for Upper Canada and one of the leading residents of York. His efforts to preserve the records relating to the surveys of crown lands from confiscation or destruction as instrumental in ensuring that these records are available to researchers today.

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Lighthouse at Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, [ca. 1908]
Photographer Unknown
Rowley Murphy fonds
Black and white negative
Reference Code: C 59-2-0-13-2
Archives of Ontario, I0002481

The lower portion of the lighthouse was built in 1808, making it one of the handful of structures still in existence in Toronto dating from the War of 1812. As you can see on the map, a blockhouse to defend the entrance to the Harbour was located nearby. At this time, Toronto Island was a peninsula connected to the mainland.

aura Secord is credited with providing the warning to British forces which led to the surrender of 500 Americans troops at Beaver Dams. The story goes that she had overheard a conversation between American troops about the presence of Lieutenant-Colonel C. G. Boerstler’s force in the vicinity.

So, early on the morning of June 23rd, 1813, she left her home and walked cross-country to warn Colonel Fitzgibbon and his company of 49th Foot about the approach of American forces.

It was only on June 24th, 1813 that the exact location of the American troops was discovered by scouts. Firing began around nine o’clock and the Americans surrendered after three hours.

Their capture by this small force of First Nations, British regulars and militia at Beaver Dams influenced the American decision to withdraw into their defences around Fort George.

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Laura Secord on her Journey to
Warn the British, [ca. 1921]
C. W. Jefferys
Pen and ink drawing on paper
Government of Ontario Art Collection, 621223

However, it is Laura Secord that holds a place in the eye of the public, comparable to Tecumseh and Brock.

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Laura Secord's house, Chippawa, 1914
John Boyd
John Boyd fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: C 7-3, 11082
Archives of Ontario, I0003489

he Niagara Peninsula was the scene of many skirmishes during the summer of 1813, as the American forces holding Fort George attempted to push out for supplies and to attack British outposts.

Beaver Dams is the best known of these engagements, but the skirmish described by Thomas G. Ridout was more typical of the indecisive nature of the fighting. The role of the western and Grand River First Nations in the campaign is also well illustrated in this extract.

"Grape shot" was fired from artillery to give the effect of a shotgun blast, with a dozen or more small shot scattered over a wide area to maximize casualties.

he only original structure in Fort George, Niagara (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to survive the War of 1812 is the powder magazine shown to the right. Most of the buildings were destroyed when the fort was captured by the United States in May 1813.

A smaller post built on the site was burned by the Americans when the region was evacuated in December, along with the Village of Niagara. In 1814 a new fort was started on Point Mississauga and Fort George was abandoned. The current reconstruction was built in the 1930s. The photograph seems to indicate that the magazine, long abandoned as a military facility by 1931, was being used as a residence at that time.

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Fort George, [ca. 1931]
Eric Arthur
Eric Arthur fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: C 57-1-2-222
Archives of Ontario, I0002574

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Navy Hall, [ca. 1793]
Elizabeth Simcoe
Simcoe family fonds
Watercolour
Reference Code: F 47-11-1-0-99
Archives of Ontario, I0006951

The watercolour above, dated ca. 1793, shows the American fort [on the right in the picture] essentially as it was in 1812, the primary defence works date from 1720 to 1783. The forts at the mouth of the Niagara River were the scene of several battles during the war. The Americans seized the British post at Fort George, shown on the left, above, in the spring of 1813.

In December the British reoccupied Fort George and captured Fort Niagara. This set the stage for the battles of Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane and Fort Erie in the summer of 1814, the largest and hardest fought battles in Upper Canada.

In addition to the strategic advantages from taking the American post, the British gained much needed equipment, always in short supply due to the long and tenuous communications between Lower Canada and the British Isles.