War of 1812

Three months on

Walking with Joseph in Europe

7 Sept.  Napoleon defeats Kutuzov at Borodino
9-18 Sept. Wellington's siege of Burgos fails.
14 Sept.  Napoleon arrives at Moscow

Walking with Andrew in Upper and Lower Canada

3-8 Sept. Native Americans attack several settlements/forts in US territories
8 Sept. Truce arranged between Prevost and Dearborn officially ends
16 Sept. Lt. James FitzGibbon prevents an ambush, east of Prescott, of a number of Batteaux
   carrying British soldiers' families by an American raiding party from Ogdensburg, NY.

Lt. FitzGibbon played a very important role in defending Upper Canada. He came to UC with Brock's Regiment and was active up to the 1837 Rebellion. It was he who Laura Secord told about an American attack at Beaver Dams. Refer to 'A Veteran of 1812' for an account of his life in Canada,
written by his granddaughter. A  copy is in our branch library

War of 1812

Two months on

Walking with Joseph  - in Europe

11 Aug 1812  Napoleon and the Grand Army leave Vitebsk where it has been since 29 July 1812
12 Aug 1812  Wellington enters Madrid
17 Aug 1812  Napoleon involved in Battle of Smolensk, Russia
25 Aug 1812  Grand Army leaves Smolensk going east towards Moscow

Walking with Andrew  - in Upper and Lower Canada

I recently accessed the Pay and Muster lists for the 100th Regiment, 25 Sept - 24 Dec 1812 at the Goulbourn Museum. The regiment is still headquartered at Chambly, LC. This list identified soldiers, some of whom drowned, died and deserted etc. [The paymaster would need to know this about each soldier] The list contains 557 privates.

14 Aug 1812  Brock and Tecumseh meet at Fort Amherstburg
15 Aug 1812  Unpleasant actions at Fort Dearborn [Chicago]
16 Aug 1812 Brock crosses over to Detroit and after a short engagement General Hall surrenders Fort Detroit [ One of the soldiers killed in this engagement was Lt. Porter Hanks,who a short time ago, surrendered Fort Mackinac to the British.

8 Aug 1812  Prevost - Dearborn agreed to an Armistice which would end on 4 Sept 1812. They had learned that the Orders-in Council which restricted ocean shipping had been repealed by a new British Government

A point of interest. Three of the principles about whom I am writting were all born in the same year.
1769 -Napoleon; Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellseley and Major General Sir Isaac Brock.

Walking Around Canada

Continuing from my previous 'walking' post I finally reached Inuvik, NWT  on 2 Jan 2012.
Overnite Expresss to Flat Creek at bottom of Demster Highway
To Dawson City, 40 K's. Very cold as arrived 18 Feb 2012. [Pedometer slow] Total Dist. 10,495K's
29 Feb 2012. 8th Anniv. of Walking around Canada
Arrive Alaska Border on 'Top of the World Hwy' 3 Apr. 107K's
Arrive Tetlin Jct, 7 May 2012, 108K's
Arrive Beaver Creek, YK, 31 May 2012, 80K's [Pedometer appears to have warmed up, actually a new one]
Arrived Destruction Bay, 31 July 2012, 203K's.  Total dist to date 10,993K's

Now heading to Haines Jct, 107K's where we spent a night on our 'actual' trip. Then on to Whitehorse

War of 1812

2 Aug 2012
A mid month catch up.

Since the capture of Ft. Mackinac
19 July 1812
Provincial Marine attacked Sackets Harbour but were driven off
22 July 1812
On the European front the battle of Salamanca occured in Spain

Update on the Regiments etc in Upper Canada [Regt's usually rotated every 2 years]
Royal Regiment of Artillery 375 Officers and men
Royal Artillery Drivers 31 Men
Royal Engineers 3 men
10th Royal Veterans Batt'n
8th Reg't of Ft  1st Batt'n
49th; 100th; 103rd; 104th Reg'ts of Ft.   41st was in Lower Canada
Royal Newfoundland Reg't
Canadian Fencibles   
Glengarry Light Infantry
Canadian Voltigeurs

5 Aug 1812
Skirmish at Brownstown
8 Aug 1812
Brock embarks from Port Dover for relief of Amherstburg
12 Aug 1812
Wellington enters Madrid [ Vuelta d'Espana ends here 8 Sept 2012 after a 3 week tour of northern Spain, which starts 18 Aug 2012]








8

War of 1812

One month on

17 July 1812
To-day is the bi-centennial of the British capture of Fort Mackinac. Captain Charles Roberts [he was advised that the war had been declared on 8th of July] the 10th Royal Veterans Battalion sailed from Ft St Joseph, overnight on the Caledonia, and Lt Porter Hanks [when he was confronted by the British said 'What war??'] had no option but to surrender. The British occupied the Fort until the end of the war.
Burton has a very good account of the event in his book, 'The Invasion of Canada 1812-1812' pages 13-15.

At the start of the war Upper Canada was garrisoned by British 41st Reg and 10th Royal Veterans Batt'n as well as about 100 Royal Artillerymen. Also alternating between Upper and Lower Canada were the 49th and 100th Regiments. As the war progressed other Reg'ts would be added and it will be noted when this happens.

19 July 1812
Provincial Marine attacks Sackets Harbour,1st time. It was a short but unequal engagement and the British sailed away. [Every major war vessel that sailed the lake was built here] The Royal George was involved and we will hear from her again later

War of 1812

18 June 2012

And now it begins and will continue to 24 Dec. 1814 and beyond

President Madison issued a proclimation declaring war on Great Britain

I recently visited the new Exibition at the War Museum entitled 'The Four Wars of 1812'
I intend to use this format in future posts;
1. Canada. Walking with Andrew [Spearman a member of 100th Regiment]
2. Europe. Walking with Joseph [Stanzel a member of Napoleon's Army]
3. Bytown. Walking 200 years ago in present day City of Ottawa
4. Ottawa. Walking 100 years ago to the present.
Not all posts will contain info on all of the above, starting with this post, and continuing on an irregular basis

Walking with Joseph
On 24 June 1812 Napoleon with his army of 500K+ soldiers crossed the Niemen River into Russia on his way to Moscow

Walking with Andrew
 He is no doubt preparing for war. His exact location at this time is not known but is probably somewhere along the Canadian/American border.

Bytown
There was no involvement locally in the War of 1812 but settlers were moving into the area, Honeywell in 1810/11 and Billings in 1812/13

Ottawa
2012 is the 100th anniv of the opening of th Chateau Laurier and the Railway Station across the street. For War of 1812 activites in the area, mainly along the St Lawrence River, check out website
 www.celebrate1812.ca

Walking with Andrew

1 Month to go

Everyone knew that the war was imminent. Andrew may be at one of a number of places even at Fort St. Joseph up near present day Soo Ste. Marie. We will hear more abour Andrew later. As I look back on events of 200 yrs ago, relative to to-day, it is hard to imagine how long it took to do anything. About two months to sail across the ocean from England. Imagine transporting equipment, food personnel etc from Montreal to the Niagara area. What about sending messages around. There must have been soldiers/militia detailed to do this. Brock sent a letter to an acquaintance re obtaining assistance from the Natives in the comming war and it took 5 months to get a reply.

Ships were involved in the war also. In fact one of the main reasons that started the war was impressment of sailors from American Ships by the British. There were many battles between ships during the war, not only on the great lakes but also on the high seas.The Royal Navy catagorized their ships into three types and six'rates'. A ship-of-the-line had two or more covered gun decks. A frigate had only one covered gun decks. The third type comprised all other ships
The first rate carried 100 guns or more. The second rate, 90-100 guns. third rate, 60-90 guns and so on. The ships on the great lakes had to be built on that lake [ no Welland Canal]and were of the smaller type and rating