200th. Anniversary of the War Of 1812

The Prime Minister hob nobbing with re-enactors in Niagara Falls.

2012 is not here yet; but the old clichés are. The two hundred anniversary of the War of 1812 is getting off with a literary, and political battle. Christopher Moore has some interesting views on this topic. I wonder how much relevant research will be done ?


The Federal Government has pigeon holed somewhere between 10 and 13 million dollars which will be spent on various activities celebrating the war. James Munroe, the federal heritage minister has been quoted as saying that he expects:

“ all Canadians to understand the war’s importance. Canadian identity was largely shaped by the War of 1812,” says Moore. “It was a fight for Canada and the beginning of our independence.”
“This war leads directly to Confederation in 1867,” Moore explains, ascribing the most basic characteristics of Canada—a constitutional monarchy, the preservation of a French-speaking Quebec, an accommodating native policy and our healthy economic and political relationship with the Americans—to the successful defence of Canada’s borders. “We were invaded and we repulsed that invasion. Because of the War of 1812 we grew up to be uniquely Canadian.”

Well that is stretching it a bit in my estimation. There needs to be a lot of convincing before I accept the notion that the War of 1812 had anything to do with the development of Canada. The exception in my mind was that the end of the war saw everything - with the exception of the Indian lands- remaining as it was before the war.

I expect that we will be seeing a lot of military re-enactors marching around in red coats carrying reproduction Brown Bess’s.

Snake Hill Cemetery

Last night I enjoyed an hour long chat with my Pro Gen study group. The focus of the discussion was on educational opportunities available for genealogists.That led to a discussion of professional opportunities. As a historian I suggested that there was a role for genealogists to work with historians, archaeologists, etc. I thought that the archeological dig at Snake Hill near Ft. Erie, Ontario, in the 1990’s was a good illustration of the possibilities. One of the chatters had not heard of this dig and I promised to look into it and post .

There is an excellent book written by three of the principal organizers of the dig, “Death at Snake Hill: Secrets from a War of 1812 Cemetery,  Dundarn Press Ltd., 1993”. I also found an article from the New York Times about the dig and its aftermath.

Old Fort Erie is situated on the Niagara river a thrown baseball distance from Lake Erie. In 1814 it became a battleground where hundreds of men died. Today it has become a tourist destination, and old Ft. Erie is often visited by school groups (such as my own grade eight class- date unknown on purpose). It is also an area of rapid urban development . In 1987 a residential development project unearthed bones. It took an anonymous tip to a local newspaper to start things moving. The old development vs. heritage battle that still has not been resolved in Ontario. It took the interest of the U.S. Army to shame provincial and federal authorities into acting. An article by the Hamilton Spectator outlines some of the problems.

In total 28 skeletons were found. The work of identifying the skeletons makes for  fascinating reading. In the end it was found that they represented both militia and army units, and probably were those of men from Upper New York State and Vermont.

It would be interesting to find out what would have been found out with the advances in archeology since the 1990’s.


Photo: reparation of War of 1812 veterans to the United States.

War of 1812 Website

There is a new website dedicated to the War  of 1812. 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The U.S. views the war as a victory for themselves, especially after the battle of New Orleans. Canadians look at surviving the war as a victory in itself. We can all celebrate 200 years of a peaceful border.

http://www.1812history.com/