The War of 1812 Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Americans in the West right at the outset of the war. Throw the Americans off balance rather than wait passively for them to strike first was his advice to Prevost.
    Brock proposed to strengthen British forces at St. Joseph and Amherstburg and be ready to seize Michilimackinac and Detroit as soon as war broke out. He thought that victories early in the war were the only way to win the support of the Indians, and hoped that early defeats might discourage the Americans, who expected an easy victory. A setback might make them less willing to face the continued expense and difficulties of warfare. Moreover, if the British won battles in the West, the Americans would be forced to concentrate their efforts there rather than against the vital St. Lawrence route. The defenders would thus gain time — time to organize and train militia, and time for Britain to send aid across the ocean. It was the Americans who had to hurry before more British troops reached Canada and before the Royal Navy could attack the American coast.

    The Detroit frontier.
    [Reprinted from
The War of 1812: The War for Canada,
by W.B.
Turner (Toronto, Grolier Limited, 1982), p. 26.]
    Compared to battles in Europe, those in North America were short and fought by tiny armies. Yet these first clashes were important because Britain could not quickly reinforce her colonies. Canada’s fate really did hang on the battles of 1812.
    Others, besides British army commanding officers, were anxious to know when war was declared. One group vitally interested in this news was the fur traders of Montreal whose valuable cargoes moved along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence. War would interrupt their trade and the Americans might seize their trade goods and furs. To avoid this danger, the Montreal merchants could use other routes that would be safer, even if longer and more expensive.
    The merchants had business partners in New York City who sent word to Canada as soon as they heard of Madison’s declaration of war. The message reached Montreal on June 24 and was taken the next day to Prevost at Quebec. Brock received the news at York on June 25 and immediately sent messages to the western forts. They reached Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas St. George, the commander at Fort Malden, on June 28 and Captain Charles Roberts at St. Joseph on July 8. These British officers acted on the declaration of war before their American opponents even knew about it.
HULL’S INVASION OF CANADA
    Meanwhile, Brigadier General William Hull was leading a force of over two thousand American regulars and militia towards Detroit. The men struggled through pathless, thick forests in pouring rain. At last, on June 29, they emerged from the dark woods onto the shore of Lake Erie 130 kilometres from Detroit. By this time, many were too sick to continue the march and so Hull hired a ship, the
Cayahoga
, to transport them the rest of the way. He also put his papers containing his instructions and the list of his men on the ship. He did not know that war had been declared and that the British were waiting.
    On July 3, the
General Hunter
captured the
Cayahoga
. Hull’s papers were immediately sent to Brock who thus learned Hull’s orders and the size of his army. The British general skillfully used that knowledge to his advantage.
    Two days after the capture, Hull reached Detroit, which was a village of eight hundred people surrounded by stout wooden wallsfour metres high. Behind it stood a fort with strong walls, cannons, and a garrison of about one hundred. Every day more and more Michigan militiamen arrived. There could be no doubt that Hull’s force and position were much stronger than those of the British who had about three hundred regulars, eight hundred militia from Kent and Essex counties, and perhaps three hundred Indians.
    The war truly began on July 12 when Hull crossed the river and occupied Sandwich, thus launching the first invasion of Canada. The men camped on Colonel Jean