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The term battle is a bit misleading. The Battle of Fort Dearborn is one of the many skirmishes that took place in the old Northwest during the course of the Anglo-American War of 1812. The Indigenous peoples who decided to take advantage of the conflict further east began a campaign against American settlers and expansion by laying siege to the series of Forts established to aid in the colonisation of the American territories established after the Northwest Indian Wars of the previous century. Some of these sieges met with success, but after the defeat of the Americans at Mackinac Island, General William Hull began toRead More →

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This year marked the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek during the War of 1812, although I have previously written about this particular battle, this year I again traded in my musket for my camera to capture this event from the sidelines (Although I was offered marching spots with the 10th RVB and 49th and I may just take them up on the offer next year). Most of the photos here are of the reenactors, the men and women who volunteer to do this for the public’s enjoyment. Probably one of the highlights was the performance put on by an actual British ArmyRead More →

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Fort Stephenson was a sleepy supply depot fort built under the orders of General William Henry Harrison after he gained command of the Army of the Northwest in 1813. Fort Stephenson’s task was to guard the Sandusky River. The fort consisted of a palisade wall with three blockhouses. By the summer of 1813 was under the command of the young Major George Croghan, and a garrison of 160 regulars from the 17th and 24th US Infantry, along with the local militia. After the failure of the second British assault in early July of 1813 against Harrison’s largest supply forts, Fort Meigs Harrison knew that theRead More →

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After the fall of Detroit to General Brock in the summer of 1812 the British moved quickly to establish a beachhead in the northwest to ensure the security of Upper Canada, and to hold the territory to fulfill a promise to their native allies that it would become their own country at the end of the war (should the British win). The capture of Detroit also put a halt to the planned invasion of Upper Canada from the west. President Madison replaced General Hull as the commander of the Army of the Northwest for the near bloodless capture of Detroit. He first put General WinchesterRead More →

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One of the more interesting urban legends and mysteries of the Anglo-American War of 1812 is Bakus Mills. Unlike similar mills across the western part of Upper Canada, Bakus survived. While many other mills at Port Dover, Port Reyes, and Malcolm’s Mills saw destruction in the last part of the war at the hands of American raiders. These mills despite the threat of raids continued to provide much-needed food supplies to the British front line in the Niagara Region. The Backhouse Homestead, Prospect Hill, while not the original home of the family this was built later in the 19th-Century. Anniversary Speed Graphic – Kodak EktarRead More →

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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 →

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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 →

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When it rains, the last place you’ll want to be is Fort Meigs, trust me on this one. The fort isn’t the nicest fort that got involved in the war, there is not a long drawn out or particularly memorable history about the depot fortification. It really is more of an afterthought, a post designed to be a stopping point for troops and supplies, and while it saw only two sieges over the course of the war it did stand out in one way. It was the largest wooden palisade wall fort in all of North America, at least when it was first built. UnlikeRead More →

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The Siege of Fort Meigs was a mess, a minor action at a depot fort that did little but injury the personal morale of a British officer and drive a wedge in the strained alliance between Tecumseh and the British. It was the opening move in the long game of William Henry Harrison and his designs for the invasion of Upper Canada. A muddy mess that did little to further the British plans but was exactly what Harrison had hoped in the end. A small, tactical victory. The first year of the war had not gone well for the Americans. With the entire plan forRead More →

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If you’ve never heard of Fort Amherstburg or even Fort Malden, I’ll forgive you. Being from the Greater Toronto/Hamilton region of Ontario, much of Western Ontario is a bit of a mystery. It also doesn’t help that today Fort Malden doesn’t look too much like a fort when you compare it to places like Fort York, Fort Erie, and Fort Wellington. Located in the small town of Amherstburg, the fort’s garrison saw some of the heaviest and earliest fightings during the Anglo-American War of 1812 and had a long history beyond that of a military post. They were initially constructed as Fort Amherstburg following theRead More →