Hello and welcome to our podcast I'm Andrew Raykhinshteyn here with Luciana
Speck and Deven Mahanti. Hi. Hello. Today we will be discussing the American invasion
of Canada during the War of 1812. In June of 1812, the United States declared war
on Great Britain. The English were creating Native American unrest, their
Navy was taking American merchant ships then forcing them to serve Britain, and
they set up blockades to stop America from trading with France.
Once the War of 1812 began, war hawks in Congress pushed for an invasion of
Canada. There were even a few congressmen who wanted part or all of Canada to be
annexed, even though it was a British colony. In 1812, President James Madison
approved a three-pronged attack against Canada. Many Americans believed the
invasion would be simple, because Britain was distracted by the Napoleonic Wars in
Europe. Furthermore, the British controlled the Great Lakes which made it
easier for them to move troops and supplies putting American troops at
an even greater disadvantage. I think the British control of the Lakes played a
crucial role in the operations both sides engaged in. The lack of an American
Navy in these waters meant that they had to move all supplies by land which was
much more hazardous than maritime transport. I believe this factor played a
decisive role in the British victories during the early stages of the War. Your
thoughts, Miss Speck? I agree; however'; I believe much of the Americans failure
lies not in the maritime strength differences between the two nations, but
the famous American ignorance. Not only were the Americans at a disadvantage
because of the British as superior military strength, but they also put
themselves in a tough position by under estimating their opponents; especially
considering their attack strategies placed which them on Canadian territory that
was a relatively unfamiliar terrain for the undertrained men that made up the
vast majority of the American troops. U.S. General William Hull assembled a force
of around 2,000 men and led them to Detroit the point for an intended
assault on nearby Fort Malden in Upper Canada. The British ended up finding out
about his plans, and about 200 Ohio militiamen refused to go beyond American
territory anyway. On July 12, 1812, he took his men into Canada. Hull quickly laid
siege to Fort Malden , but soon withdrew after Native Americans
intercepted his supply train. British commander Isaac Brock,
then chased the Americans back across the river
and open cannon fire at Fort Detroit from the Canadian side. Hull ended up
surrendering the entire army and the city that August after a cannon ball
smashed into his officers' mess, killing four. At the same time in the East, U.S.
General Steven Van Rensselaer prepared an assault on Queenston Heights. During
the invasion Americans briefly took the high ground by marching up an unguarded
fisherman's path, but 950 US troops were driven down from the heights by the
Canadian Forces and captured after a group of New York militiamen refused to
leave American territory and come to their aid. An interesting facet of both
of these battles is the refusal of American troops to cross the border into
Canada. this highlights the decentralized structure existing in the American Army
at the time. Stemming from their experience under British rule, where a
professional army existed, the American government favored a small army of
trained soldiers which would be supplemented in wartime by citizens who
would form militias. These militias would serve locally to fend off invaders, on
the borders, and invade enemy territory on the frontiers. While it sounded well
in theory, many militiamen were not under the command of the Army and thus were
not obligated to follow orders by generals. Militias which didn't want to
leave their local area; therefore, were entirely within the rights to remain
where they were. Militiamen not helping the troops and failure of the American troops
when outnumbering Canadian and British forces was a reoccurring theme
throughout the War. This especially was true with General Hall and his troops.
While invading, Hall took the Fort even with the British knowing his plans, but
militiamen failed to help them keep control. Then Hall retreated back to Fort
Detroit with most of his troops and failed to set up a viable defense in his own
Fort. He ended up surrendering a major Fort and all of his troops just because a
cannon fired in and killed four officers. He was truly scared of the opposition and as
in as a General in War that isn't a part of the winning solution. Now in the third
prong of the attack, US General Henry Dearborn marched his 6,000 troops from
Albany to Plattsburgh, New York. Their part in the plan was to capture Montreal,
but once again state militiamen refused to leave the United States.
Unfortunately, Americans accidentally fired on each other in the dark, which in
turn caused the force to retreat without ever even entering Canada.
The United States pulled its act together in 1813 with the help of an
improved Navy, a larger army, new military commanders such as future President
William Henry Harrison, and more experienced troops. Over the span of just
a few months, American troops destroyed the British fleet on Lake Erie, took over
the strategically important Fort George near the mouth of the Niagara River, and
reclaimed Detroit on their way toward winning the Battle of the Thames. The
Americans also captured York the city currently known as Toronto. A failed
campaign against Montreal turned the tide back to the British with the
Americans being pushed back across the Niagara River. More fighting took place
along this river in 1814, but by that time the Napoleonic Wars were ending in
Europe and Britain was now was able to send thousands of experienced troops to
the American front. This put America more on the defensive making Canada virtually
impossible to obtain. The last of its troops left Canada in 1814 after
evacuating and blowing up Fort Erie. The defeats at the end of the War were very
important as they ended American dreams of annexing Canada. Prior to this, many
thought the U.S. would encompass the entirety of British North America.
Failing in their second attempt to invade Canada forced American attention
West instead of North. America didn't gain anything physical from this
invasion, but it did help them in a few ways. This really told the rest of the world
they are a country and they are separate from Britain and won't ever go back. America
also gained respect from many European countries for defending themselves
against Great Britain virtually without help. This was the beginning of a truly
independent America being on the national scene. With better trained
Generals and recruits America showed it's possible that they could could have
succeeded, and we could be living in a radically different world than we currently
do. That's all the time we have for you today
I'm Andrew Raykhinshteyn with Deven Mahanti and Luciana Speck thank you for
listening.
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