While today the small town of Port Dover is better known for it’s Friday the Thirteenth Motorcycle event than the small role it played during the Anglo-American War of 1812, the small port played a small but important role in the early parts of the conflict and suffered a pair of disastrous raids by the Americans before the war ended. Lake traffic remains a key feature of Port Dover today. Nikon FM2 – AI-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 – Kodak Tmax 100 @ ASA-100 – Rodinal 1+50 12:00 @ 20C Like many early communities of Upper Canada Port Dover was first settled by United Empire LoyalistsRead More →

The Thames Valley Raids, which ended with the instead grandly named Battle of Malcolom’s Mills, were some of the final actions of the Anglo-American War of 1812 in Upper Canada. After the capture of Amherstburg and the American victory at the Battle of Moravintown (Battle of the Thames), the Americans had done little to extend their control beyond the tiny sliver of territory along the Detroit River. Content with maintaining a garrison at Fort Malden and Fort Amherstburg, both sides had settled to a series of raids often conducted by militia or irregular forces. By the summer of 1814, Brigadier-General Duncan McArthur had been itchingRead More →