And All Their Glory Past

Ask anybody what they know about the War of 1812 and you're likely to get as many confused faces as you are diverse answers. It really depends on who you ask.

For example, Canadians (especially in the Niagara region) have the best passive knowledge, because of how close the war hit to home; however, even that number is staggeringly low. We might think of Laura Secord and her "300-kilometer journey barefoot, dodging American patrols and leading her trusty cow to warn the British." (Actually, her contribution to the war has been grossly over-exaggerated, but more on her later). Perhaps they'd think of Brock's Monument up at Queenston Heights, or "wasn't there some kind of fight near Lundy's Lane?" (Yup, the bloodiest battle of the war.) Canadians also tend to believe the British won the war, as we're an independent country and not the 51st state today.

Americans, on the other hand, tend to take a slightly different view. Those that know of the war, felt it didn't have any significance, which is their way of narrowly admitting defeat. While the Revolutionary and Civil wars get chapter upon chapter in American history textbook, 1812 is lucky to receive more than a paragraph. If it does, it mentions one of three events: the American victory on Lake Erie, the Siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore (which gave them their national anthem), or the Battle of New Orleans, tragically remembered best in Johnny Horton's wildly exaggerated song. Oh and many of them think they won (when logic and explanation of historical fact fail to persuade an American visitor to the fort about this, I flash this beauty: "Why hasn't Hollywood made a movie about it?").

Ask the British about the War of 1812 and the most common response you'll get: "The war of what?" Dealing with Napoleon at the time, what happened in the Canadian colonies was merely an unnecessary pain the the backside that Britain could ill-afford to commit resources to.

As I've mentioned previously, when I started at Fort George I knew almost nothing about this conflict. I'm grateful that ignorance is gone.

Quiz time! What do you know about the War of 1812? Let me know in the comments.

Next week: How this whole conflict started, including why Thomas Jefferson thought the acquisition of Canada would be "a mere matter of marching."

-J-