1 Crucible of Flames Canada’s War of 1812 Year One Contents Introduction 4 by Kenneth Kidd 1 The Fuse Is Lit 6 by Jim Coyle 2 Brock Braces for War 11 by Jim Coyle 3 War Comes to the Great Lakes 14 by Kenneth Kidd 4 The Madness of William Hull 21 by Kenneth Kidd 5 Queenston Heights: Canada on the Brink 31 by Kenneth Kidd Appendix A The War of 1812: A Glossary 42 by Kenneth Kidd Appendix B Little York, on the Eve of War 58 by Kenneth Kidd Appendix C Time Travel: Camping Out With the Militia 62 by Kenneth Kidd Bibliography 69 Introduction It’s become axiomatic among historians that Canadians know they won the War of 1812, Americans somehow think they won, and the Indians — who would continue to cede land to American ex- pansion — definitely know they lost, despite fighting alongside British regulars and Canadian militia. The British, of course, have scant memory of the War of 1812, it being a distant, grubby affair that seemed at the time almost in- significant next to their titanic struggle against Napoleonic France. But the implications on this side of the Atlantic were profound. Roughly 35,000 people would perish through three years of a bit- ter war that pitted brother against brother, cousin versus cousin. The War of 1812 is what ultimately gives both Canada and the United States their sense of identity. Just as there was a part of the planet widely known as “America” and peopled by “Americans” long before the U.S. Declaration of Independence, so, too, had the geography to the north in present-day Quebec and Ontario been called “Canada” and its population dubbed “Canadians” for cen- turies before Confederation in 1867. When former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson famously boasted at the onset of war that “the conquest of Canada” would be “a mere matter of marching,” no one had any doubts about what part of the planet he had in mind. Yet neither Canadians nor Americans then had a fully formed sense of national identity. The United States that emerged from the Revolutionary War was scarcely a cohesive entity. The internecine wounds from the fight to create the union — Loyalist versus Pa- triot — lingered still, and individual states jealously guarded their own turf and autonomy. The War of 1812 eventually helps change that, not least by cre- ating another set of founding mythologies, this time around the 4 War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Much the same occurs north of the border, with patriotic stirrings formed around the likes of Isaac Brock and Laura Secord, and how Da- vid had stood up and vanquished Goliath. Canadian identity was, even then, being defined by what it was not: American, republican and given to rule by disorderly mob. The mindset that leads to Confederation and the “peace, order and good government” of the British North America Act large- ly dates to the War of 1812, and it shows in the kind of wartime ballads that became so popular north of the border, among them “Come All Ye Bold Canadians:” Those Yankees did invade us To kill and to destroy And to distress our country Our peace for to annoy. — May the news of this great conquest Go all the province round. Come all ye bold Canadians, Enlisted in the cause, To defend your country, And to maintain your laws; Being all united, This is the song we’ll sing: Success unto Great Britain, And God Save the King. 5 1 The fuse is lit by Jim Coyle It’s Nov. 7, 1811. In the still-dark forest where almost 1,000 U.S. troops are camped, sentry Stephen Mars hears a rustle in the bushes and fires a rifle shot that shatters the night’s uneasy quiet. Gen. William Henry Harrison, civil and military commander of the Indiana Territories, scrambles from his tent into the cold misty drizzle of a November morning, calling for a horse. The Indian attack, urged on by the Shawnee chief Tenskwatawa chanting war songs from atop a boulder, is already buckling the northwestern flank of American lines. As U.S. soldiers gather their wits and weapons, native warriors storm the tents. Some Ameri- cans are tomahawked and scalped. Other warriors take easy aim at Harrison’s men, silhouetted against flickering campfires. A horse is brought to Harrison, who mounts and rides to the camp’s western flank. There, he finds Capt. Robert Barton’s regi- ment shredded, the rifle corps of Capt. Frederick Guiger “entirely broken” and “a monstrous carnage.” The heaviest enemy fire comes from a stand of trees perhaps 20 paces from the camp’s front lines. The general orders the attackers dislodged. Rifle fire blasts bark from the towering oaks. But Maj. Joseph Daveiss, jumping to Harrison’s command, is shot dead and his party driven back. Amid the infernal din of gunfire, war whoops and the groans of the wounded, the air acrid with gun smoke and the stench of death, Harrison bellows for reinforcements. This time, an infantry company led by Capt. Josiah Snelling routs the natives from their lethal position. Still, Harrison frets. Few of his men have seen action before. His aim is to hold his lines until daylight, then rally a counterat- 6 War of 1812 tack over the unfamiliar terrain. The Battle of Tippecanoe — the showdown Harrison decided on weeks before — is on. The Battle of Tippecanoe (Credit: Universal History Archive/ Getty images) As governor of the Indiana Territories since 1800, Harrison has played one tribe off against another in a series of land-grabbing treaties, putting what once were Indian hunting grounds to the axes and plows of settlers. Most of the Ohio and eastern Indiana territories are now open to settlement. The young republic is 17 states strong. Harrison’s latest ambition is control of the rich farm- land along the Wabash River. But by 1805, the Shawnee chief Te- cumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa are building a confederacy of tribes to halt white encroachment and establish an independent Indian nation. Three years the younger, Tenskwatawa has turned from alcohol abuse to temperance, calls himself The Prophet, claims to speak for the Great Spirit, boasts supernatural powers and urges natives to reject white culture and return to traditional ways. Harrison pub- 7 War of 1812 licly denounces The Prophet as an imposter and “fool who speaks not the words of the Great Spirit, but those of the devil and of the British agents.” Harrison is less sanguine, however, about Tecumseh’s grow- ing confederacy. He warns that “if some decisive measures are not speedily adopted, we shall have a general combination of all tribes against us.” In 1808, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa establish a settlement at the junction of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers — Tippecanoe from the native Keth-tip-pe-can-nunk, a trading post once located there. Prophetstown becomes headquarters of the growing Indian confederacy. As it does, Harrison negotiates another treaty, whee- dling from a number of tribes three million acres straddling the Wabash. There is one tribe Harrison does not invite to the negotia- tions: Tecumseh’s Shawnee. Until mid-August 1810, Harrison does not set eyes on Tecum- seh. From his childhood in the Ohio country, Tecumseh — the name means “shooting star” or “leaping panther” — carries the aura of leadership and greatness. In his early 40s, he looks 10 years younger. He is, says one U.S. army officer, “perhaps the finest-look- ing man I ever saw.” Upon his return to the Wabash from travels building his con- federacy, Tecumseh is outraged at Harrison’s latest land deal. He vows to keep the ceded lands from being surveyed or settled. In August 1810, Tecumseh paddles down the Wabash to the territo- rial capital of Vincennes, arriving at the head of 400 warriors in 80 canoes to demand Harrison repeal the treaty. Tecumseh says his people have “been made miserable by the white people, who are never contented, but always encroaching. We are determined to go no farther.” 8 War of 1812 Harrison is awed by the visitor. He tells the war secretary that “if it were not for the vicinity of the United States, (Tecumseh) would perhaps be the founder of an empire that would rival in glory that of Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him.” So, as the chief heads south to build his confederacy, the gov- ernor decides on a pre-emptive strike. He will destroy Prophet- stown and rid the frontier of the Indian menace. Harrison leaves Vincennes on Sept. 26, 1811, with a force of 1,000 men. En route they build Fort Harrison to establish a presence in the disputed lands. On Nov. 6, cutting through swamp and dense thickets, they approach Prophetstown. A party is dispatched to request a meeting. Both sides are suspi- cious. They agree to a council the next day. Harrison asks where his troops might camp overnight. He is directed to an oak-covered knoll. Pleased with the site, but wary of its vulnerability, Harrison sends his troops to bed fully clothed, with guns loaded and bayo- nets fixed. At Prophetstown, where young warriors of many tribes are as- sembled, bark-sided dwellings overlook the river. A council house and medicine lodge face out onto prairie. Below is a large clearing for cultivation. Canoes are beached by the water. The Prophet is under orders from Tecumseh not to engage the Americans until the Indian confederacy is strong. But the former suspects Harrison is here to attack, not talk peace.