“York, now Toronto, was invaded by the US twice during the War of 1812. The first time, they stayed for a few days and burned the parliament and raided the library. The second time, a year later, the invading commander returned a bunch of the books, apologized for the soldiers’ theft, and then left after realizing there was no strategic benefit to remaining there.” I find it odd to think of an invading army raiding a library and stealing books, much less to have said army return a year later, with full apology to return said books, as if they were simply “overdue” and not actually stolen. Was the raid because the men needed something to read on the long Winter nights while awaiting the ability to go into battle again. Such long layovers…”wintering” as it were, were not uncommon in wars of that era. The armies had no choice during the wars, but to camp out and in the Winter, that could be brutal, so holing up in some town along the way afforded a chance at much needed warmer accommodations.
By the second year of the War of 1812, battles were raging across the United States and Canada. Washington DC, the young capital city, and the White House had not yet been burned. Believing that striking the British on their own turf could weaken their grip on Canada, American forces launched an attack on April 27, 1813. Seventeen hundred troops, supported by sixteen ships carrying eight hundred sailors and one hundred twelve cannons, assaulted York…modern-day Toronto. Two of the ships served as troop transports, a fact that might lay credence to the idea of the men needing something to read.
York, the capital of Upper Canada, was a major target with Fort York defended by 750 British soldiers and Ojibwe allies. The American forces were under Zebulon Pike, while the British were commanded by Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Sent to Canada at the outbreak of war, Sheaffe earned a barony for his service and had led a successful victory at the Battle of Queenston Heights in October 1812. Pike, known for exploring the American West and Louisiana for Thomas Jefferson, had been promoted to Brigadier General after the Battle of Tippecanoe in Tecumseh’s War of 1811. He was just thirty-four during the Battle of York.
The Americans looked at the rivers and waters of Canada with their potential for trade and transportation as a matter of great importance and had plans to take control of Canada. They had not accomplished that yet, but it was an important goal set by President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr, and General Henry Dearborn. They concentrated their troops and warships at Sackett’s Harbor and desired to capture Kingston, which harbored most of the British naval vessels. After that, they planned to capture York, the capital city. They had placed three thousand troops at Buffalo; three thousand three hundred on the Niagara frontier, and four thousand at Sackett’s Harbor. There was an additional five thousand at Lake Champlain and two thousand south of Detroit. The total amount of British and Canadian forces across the entire area was seven thousand seven hundred. Sheaffe knew of those deficiencies, as well as those at Fort York, and the rear of the town, which was defenseless.
Plans changed when Dearborn learned Kingston was too heavily fortified and its British ships were still trapped in ice. The strategy flipped…Zebulon Pike and Commodore Chauncey would first depart Sackett’s Harbor, New York, to attack the capital, then move on to Kingston. Winter ice on Lake Ontario had delayed their push north, but by April 27th they reached the city, facing enemy fire from Indian allies along the route from the landing site west of town to the fort. Chauncey had been meticulous, however, in positioning his fleet after arriving near Gibraltar Point around 5am. First, he landed troops west of downtown near Grenadier Lake in Humber Bay. Second, he took a position at the foot of Dufferin Street by the British western battery. And finally, third, he blockaded the harbor directly in front of Fort York.
The attack was not really a total secret. The residents spotted the approaching ships. Poet Charles Mair wrote, “What news is this? Everyone’s on the move and heading here. York’s citizens have become warriors. The learned professions take up arms, and gentle hearts beat proudly for Canada. As you pass, you see everywhere…through the open doors and windows of each house…Canadian maids holding their departing lovers close, and loyal matrons bustling around their husbands, fastening their gear or, with tearful eyes, kissing them off to war.” At every position, Chauncey’s ship guns were too powerful to resist, allowing Pike’s men to land with ease. With their superior numbers, they quickly captured the fort, prompting General Sheaffe to order a retreat by early afternoon and leaving the local militia to negotiate the terms of surrender.
Knowing they had little chance of victory, the British retreated as the battle raged on, but not before setting the fort ablaze to keep the Americans from seizing its supplies and gunpowder. The resulting explosion of the powder magazine wounded 222 American soldiers and killed 38, including General Pike, as they were rounding up prisoners. Up to 40 British and allied soldiers were also killed. The capture came at a steep cost, and after the blast, the British and their allies endured a grueling march to Kingston. In retaliation, the remaining American forces turned on the city of York, burning public buildings, the Palace of Government, the Courthouse, and several businesses and homes. Still, they only occupied the city from April 27 to May 1, finding no strategic reason to stay. The spoils from the town and fort included two ships intended to aid in an attack on Fort Ontario that summer, though one was destroyed by the British before departure. At the time, the capital was home to just a thousand residents, most living along the River Don. Many believe that the British burned Washington DC, including the White House, in 1814 as payback for the American attack on York.
The surrender of the fort tarnished British Brigadier General Sheaffe’s reputation for yielding it so quickly, leading to his recall to England. The old Fort of New York, now known as Fort York National Historic Site, was rebuilt after the attack and served military purposes until it was transformed into a historic site between 1923 and 1934. The city of York officially became the incorporated city of Toronto on March 6, 1834.
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