1812: A Guide to the War and its Legacy

by Terry Copp, Matt Symes, Caitlin McWilliams, Nick Lachance, Geoff Keelan

Overview

For Canadians, the War of 1812 has held various meanings at different times. In the immediate aftermath, alongside the “Loyalist” narrative of fleeing from the defeat of the British at the hands of American rebels, the war was regarded as redemptive for those still loyal to British North America. From the American perspective, it is merely one in a host of small-scale wars in North America, and the events of 1812–1815 are mostly forgotten in the collective memory of the United States.

The authors of 1812: A Guide to the War and Its Legacy believe that the War of 1812 was an important event in North American history with lasting consequences for Canadians, Americans, and First Nations. This guidebook, published by the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, uses modern satellite images, archival records, paintings, and contemporary photographs to help readers understand what happened during the war and why it happened that way.

The book includes a historical section that seeks to place events in their strategic, operational, and human context. A tour section is designed to introduce and guide readers to key locations of war and memory and offer an explanation of the fluid memory that has evolved over the last two hundred years. The War of 1812 has been forgotten, reimagined, and invented anew many times, and the itineraries of the guide illustrate that ever-changing process of commemoration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781926804132
Publisher:	Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Terry Copp is the director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and a professor emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is the author or co-author of fourteen books and many articles on the Canadian role in the Second World War, including travel guides to the Canadian battlefields. Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy won the 2004 Distinguished Book Award for non-US history from the American Society for Military History.

Matt Symes has worked and taught extensively on the history of war and memory and is co-author of five battlefield guidebooks, including Canadian Battlefields 1915–1918: A Visitor’s Guide. Symes was co-editor (with Geoffrey Hayes and Mike Bechthold) of Canada and the Second World War: Essays in Honour of Terry Copp.

Caitlin McWilliams is an MA (History) graduate from Wilfrid Laurier Universityand a Research Associate at LCMSDS. Drawing on her educational and battlefield touring experience as well as her photography talent, McWilliams scouted, wrote, edited and/or added photographs to parts of every tour section in the guide.

Nick Lachance is a student at Wilfrid Laurier Universityand a Research Assistant at LCMSDS. Many of his photos appear in this guide. Lachance’s primary responsibility was to use modern satellite images from Google Earth and rework them into the 59 historical and tour maps inside the guide.

Geoff Keelan is a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) at the University of Waterloo and a Research Associate at LCMSDS. As a veteran of many European battlefield tours, he and Nick Lachance travelled to many of the locations in the tour section. He used that experience to write several of the tour sections.

Jeffrey W. Mott is an MA (History) graduate from the University of New Brunswick. He has worked extensively on the War of 1812 for the Gregg Centre at UNB and for the St. John River Society. Mott was responsible for adding the historical context of the war in what is now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in addition to writing the touring sections for the two provinces.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

History 9

1812

Anglo - American Conflict 11

First Nations Strategy 15

Mr. Madison's War 19

Madison's War 21

British Strategy 25

Operations in the Northwest 33

Queenston Heights 39

The Lake Champlain Frontier 49

1813

Strategic Conflict 51

Operations 53

The Niagara Frontier 59

Operations in the Northwest 67

The Creek Wars 75

Montréal 77

1814

The Rival Strategies 83

American Operations 85

The War in the West 93

The British Offensive 99

New Orleans 109

The Treaty of Ghent 111

Peace 113

Tour 117

The Legacy of 1812 119

Touring Southwestern Ontario & the Northern United States 125

Longwoods & Chatham-Kent 127

Amherstburg & Fort Maiden 133

River Canard, Old Sandwich Town & Windsor 139

Crossing the Border: Michigan & Ohio 147

Touring the Upper St. Lawrence 155

Morrisburg, Prescott & Brockville 157

Kingston 163

Crossing the Border: Sackets Harbor 167

Touring the Upper Great Lakes 173

St. Joseph Island & Mackinac 175

Touring Toronto, Hamilton & the Niagara Region 183

Toronto 185

Hamilton 191

Niagara-on-the-Lake 199

Queenston Heights 203

Niagara 209

Crossing the Border: Youngstown, NY & Erie, PA 213

Touring Québec 217

Châteauguay, Lacolle 8c l'lle-aux-Noix 219

Crossing the Border: New York & Vermont 231

Plattsburgh 233

Vergennes 237

Touring the Maritimes 239

New Brunswick 241

Nova Scotia 249

Additional Information 253

Further Reading 253

Websites to Consult 256

Index 257

Editorial Reviews

‘‘The Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies has essentially produced a single-source staff ride book for much of the War of 1812. Anyone interested in visiting the sites of conflict within a day's drive of the Canadian-U.S. border should begin planning their trip with this book at hand. The first half of the book is an overview of the war.... It is straightforward and succinct, making it accessible to lay readers. While professional historians are unlikely to find many surprises in the prose, every page is beautifully complemented by full-colour illustrations, enhancing the experience for the general public. The photos are well-chosen, and the descriptions of the events are well written.... The second half of the book is essentially a tour guide to the remaining war sites and commemmorations along the border area.... This work is a valuable addition to the shelf of anyone interested not just in the War of 1812, but also in the ways it is commemmorated and remembered on both sides of the border.''

H-War, July 2014 - Paul Springer

‘‘An interesting book dealing with a seldom remembered chapter of the history of Canada and the USA.... A worthy addition to libraries in the area along the Canadian-US border from the Maritimes to Michigan and Ohio.''

Douglas K. Lehman

‘‘The Copp/Mott history is as succinct a piece on the War of 1812–1814 as anyone could want—not a ‘Cole's notes’ version, but a detailed and observant telling of the highs and lows of the military and political manoeuvres.... The tour portion of the book comes with Google maps of the present-day locations and road directions, plus such helpful information as the beer selection offered at a potential lunch-stop in Sandwich, Ont. (30 types) and the tip that one can blissfully ignore the ‘No trespassing’ signs at Boblo Island on the Detroit River.... 1812: A Guide to the War and its Legacy is worthy of a place in any Canadian's bookcase, and likely somewhere handy in the car as well.''

The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo), May 18, 2013 - Bill Bean