Throughout the history of the United States, the United Kingdom is the only country to have ever burned the White House or Washington, D.C., and this was the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a foreign power captured and occupied the United States capital. In the final summer of the War of 1812, the British presence in … Continue reading
V is for Voltigeurs
The Canadian Voltigeurs were a light infantry unit, raised in Lower Canada (the present-day Province of Quebec), that fought in the War of 1812. Most colonial forces raised to fight the Americans were English, Irish and Scottish in origin. But French Canada also served, and distinctly. On 15 April 1812 Sir George Prevost, the Governor General of Canada, authorised the enlistment of a Provincial … Continue reading
U is for United States Navy
The United States Navy saw substantial action in the War of 1812, where it was victorious in eleven single-ship duels with the Royal Navy. The navy drove all significant British forces off Lake Erie and Lake Champlain and prevented them from becoming British controlled zones of conflict. The result was a major defeat for the British invasion of … Continue reading
T is for Tecumseh
Tecumseh (/tɛˈkʌmsə/ te-kum-sə) (March 1768 – October 5, 1813) was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy (known as Tecumseh’s Confederacy) which opposed the United States during Tecumseh’s War and became an ally of Britain in the War of 1812. Tecumseh grew up in Ohio during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, where he was constantly exposed to … Continue reading
S is for Secord
Laura Secord (née Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. Born in Massachusetts and the daughter of a Revolutionary War patriot, Laura Secord might be an unlikely Canadian icon. But on the evening of June 21, 1813, the 37-year-old wife of a Canadian Loyalist soldier and mother of five … Continue reading
R is for Rottenburg
Baron Francis de Rottenburg (1757–1832) was a Swiss-born officer and colonial administrator who served in the French army 1782-1791, and then joined the British army in 1795. He was promoted to Major General and assumed command of the Montreal district when the War of 1812 broke out. This was an important post because of its location on the St … Continue reading
Writing Wings 