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United States Declares War
On June 18, the United States had officially declared war. On June 1, President Madison was been talking to congress about declaring war. America declared war because Britain refused to stop seizing American ships that traded with France, who was Great Britain’s enemy.Britain finally suspended its orders against neutral trade, after a change in government, but the British acted too late. -
The surrender of Detroit
General William Hull was worried that Fort Detroit would be the next attack, so he demanded the surrender of Fort Detroit, even though the American forces were greatly outnumbered by the british. The Canadian-British-Native American forces refused to surrender. General Hull surrendered Fort Detroit without shots being fired. He became a symbol of American failure in battle and was sentenced to death but was let off by President James Madison. He then died 12 years later. In September 1813, U.S. -
Battle of Fort Harrison
During the night, the men at the fort heard shots in the distance.Not having enough men to investigate, a soldier waited until morning before sending a group to go investigate. On route, they found the bodies of two dead settlers. They buried them, the soldiers returned to the fort. Throughout September 4, preparations were made to repel an assault on the Fort Harrison. -
Battle of Queenston Heights
On the dawn before October 13, 1812, the Americans crossed the Niagara River as the British fired at their boats. Although the British were firing at their boats more than 800 American soldiers arrived on land. The British only had 300 defenders at Queenston Heights. Next came the death of General Isaac Brock who was originally in Fort George, but then rallied troops to come and help to regenerate a British cannon battery that had been overrun by the Americans. He then died leading the charge. -
Battle of Fort George
After the Battle of York in April 1813, U.S. troops moved to Fort Niagara to prepare for the assault of Fort George. The U.S. troops came across the river on May 25, 1813 and began bombarding Fort George. The officially landed on May 27, 1813 from Lake Ontario, rather than the river. After seeing how many American soldiers there were, the British commanding officer realized he would be ordered to retreat his remaining soldiers to Queenston Heights. Now there is a Fort George Historic Site. -
Battle of Beaver Dams
A few weeks later, U.S. soldiers left from from Fort George thinking they were going to capture a place with only a few people at Beaver Dams. Laura Secord, the wife or a local militia sergeant overheard U.S. officers talking about possibly attacking another place. Laura then went to go warn British forces.She walked almost 12 miles (which is equivalent to 19 km) through the woods. -
Battle of the Thames
A U.S. commander, William Henry Harrison wanted to destroy retreating British army and their Native allies. Doing this would insure that the British would not be able to reinforce the British at Niagara, so they could retake Fort George. After one of British Shawnee leader Tecumseh was killed the british informed the U.S. they were quitting the war, although that did not happen. This was an american victory. -
Battle of Lundy’s Lane
On July 5, 1814, an american army advanced to Niagara and met a smaller british force, the americans then went farther south to Niagara Falls. After a very intense battle the British were forced back by the Americans. This was known as the first time the americans had beat the British in what they say to be a roughly equal battle. The British went back to Fort George. -
The Siege of Fort Erie
Jacob Jennings Brown, who was military man for an U.S. militia. He built up his defenses of Fort Erie.. General Drummond tried to reclaim Fort Erie, but did not do so after almost 2 months of fighting. British General then ordered his troops to return to Fort George. Since winter was coming they did not like they would have the supplies to live. Jacob Brown left Fort Erie after burning it down. His troops then went to Sackets Harbor. -
Battle of Fort Bowyer
Since the Battle of New Orlean’s was not successful for the British, they moved on to their next target. Their next target was Mobile, Alabama. One of the first things they wanted to do was the capture of Fort Bowyer (on the Mobile Bay). They had attempted the capture of Fort Bowyer but failed since they came to the front by the gulf of Mexico. This time over 1,000 men went around the back of the fort. They then bombarded the fort for five days. On February 11, 1815, Major Lawrence had surrender
