The 1812 Heritage
Produced by Heritage Mississauga,
The 1812 Heritage Gazette,
commemorates and shares the
historic connections between
Mississauga and the War of 1812.
American Propaganda: "A boxing
match, or another bloody nose for John
Bull." 1813. Library of Congress
American Cartoon Prints.
The Coming of War
“We can take the Canadas
without soldiers. We have only
to send officers into the
provinces, and the people will
rally round our standard. It is
absurd to suppose that we will
not succeed. We have the
Canadas as much under our
command as Great Britain has
the ocean, and the way to
conquer her on the ocean is to
drive her from the land. I am
not for stopping at Quebec or
anywhere else; but I would
take the whole continent from
her and ask her no favours.”
-Henry
Clay,
American
Senator and war hawk, whose
expectations were echoed by
many American politicians that
the war would be easily won.
The First Wave
The declaration of war
was broadly advertised and
most people living in the
Canadas would have known,
by the end of June of 1812 that
war was coming. Most would
also have known that the focus
of the American war effort
would be the invasion of
Canada and that the border
would be contested. As such,
those living along the border,
particularly along the Niagara
frontier, would likely bear the
brunt of the approaching
hostilities.
On June 29th, 1812,
two American schooners, the
Sophia and the Island Packet,
were captured and burned in
the St. Lawrence River, in
what was one of the first
armed engagements of the war.
On July 12th, 1812, the
American
Army,
under
General William Hull, invaded
Canada, crossing the Detroit
River at Sandwich (Windsor).
It was an abortive attempt at
invasion in part because of
poor communication, lack of
preparedness, and limited
supplies within the American
army. Upon learning of the
British capture of Fort
Michlimackinac on July 17th,
1812, General Hull withdrew
his forces to Detroit.
Upon General Hull’s
invasion of Canada, he issued
a
proclamation
to
the
inhabitants of Upper Canada.
Gazette
Remembering Historic Mississauga and the War of 1812
General Hull, like many of his
compatriots in the United
States, viewed the inhabitants
of Upper Canada was being
sympathetic to the American
cause. Indeed many citizens of
Upper Canada were recent
immigrants from the United
States, and many had family
and business ties on both sides
of the border. General Hull
fully expected that the
proclamation
would
be
welcomed.
General William Hull’s
Proclamation,
published July 12, 1812
Hull’s Proclamation
Inhabitants
of
Canada! After thirty years of
Peace and prosperity, the
United States have been driven
to Arms. The injuries and
aggressions, the insults and
indignities of Great Britain
have once more left them no
alternative
but
manly
resistance or unconditional
submission. The army under
my Command has invaded
your Country and the standard
of the United States waves on
the territory of Canada. To the
peaceful,
unoffending
inhabitant, it brings neither
danger nor difficulty. I come to
find enemies not to make them,
I come to protect you not to
injure you.
Separated
by
an
immense ocean and an
extensive Wilderness from
Great Britain you have no
participation in her counsels
no interest in her conduct. You
have felt her Tyranny, you
have seen her injustice, but I
do not ask you to avenge the
one or redress the other. The
United States are sufficiently
powerful to afford you every
security consistent with their
rights and your expectations. I
tender you the invaluable
blessings of Civil, Political,
and Religious Liberty, and
their
necessary
result,
individual
and
general,
prosperity: That liberty which
gave decision to our counsels
and energy to our conduct in
our struggle for independence
and which conducted us safely
and triumphantly thro’ the
stormy
period
of
the
Revolution …
In the name of my
Country and by the authority
of my Government I promise
protection to your persons,
property and rights Remain at
your homes, Pursue your
peaceful
and
customary
avocations. Raise not your
hands against your brethren,
many of your fathers fought for
the freedom and Independence
we now enjoy Being children
therefore of the same family
with us, and heirs to the same
Heritage, the arrival of an
army of Friends must be hailed
by you with a cordial welcome,
You will be emancipated from
Tyranny and oppression and
restored to the dignified status
of freemen ... If contrary to
your own interest and the just
expectation of my country, you
should take part in the
approaching contest, you will
be considered and treated as
enemies and the horrors, and
calamities of War will stalk
before you …
… The first stroke with
the Tomahawk the first attempt
with the Scalping Knife will be
the
signal
for
one
indiscriminate
scene
of
desolation, No white man
found fighting by the Side of an
Indian will be taken prisoner
Instant destruction will be his
lot …
I doubt not your
courage and firmness; I will
not doubt your attachment to
Liberty. If you tender your
services voluntarily they will
be accepted readily.
The United States
offers you Peace, Liberty and
Security your choice lies
between these and War,
Slavery,
and
destruction,
Choose then, but choose
wisely; and may he who knows
the justice of our cause, and
who holds in his hand the fate
of Nations, guide you to a
result the most compatible,
with your rights and interests,
your peace and prosperity.
Major-General
Isaac Brock’s Response
On July 22nd, 1812,
Major-General Isaac Brock
issued a response to Hull’s
proclamation, in which he
allayed any fears that the
British Crown would abandon
Upper Canada:
The
unprovoked
declaration of War, by the
United States of America,
against the United Kingdom, of
Great Britain and Ireland, and
its dependencies, has been
followed by the actual invasion
of this Province in a remote
Frontier of the Western
District by a detachment of the
Volume Four
September 2012
“The Coming of War”
www.heritagemississauga.com
Armed Force of the United
States.
The
Officer
commanding that detachment
has thought proper to invite his
Majesty’s Subjects not merely
to a quiet and unresisting
submission, but insults them
with a call to seek voluntarily
the
protection
of
his
Government.
Without
condescending to repeat the
illiberal epithets bestowed in
this appeal of the American
Commander to the people of
Upper
Canada
on
the
Administration of his Majesty,
every Inhabitant of the
Province is desired to seek the
confutation of such indecent
slander in the review of his
own particular circumstances:
Where is the Canadian
Subject who can truly affirm to
himself that he has been
injured by the Government in
his person, his liberty, or his
property? Where is to be found
in any part of the world, a
growth so rapid in wealth and
prosperity as this Colony
exhibits, Settled not 30 years
by a band of Veterans exiled
from their former possessions
on account of their loyalty, not
a descendant of these brave
people is to be found, who
under the fostering liberality of
their Sovereign, has not
acquired a property and means
of enjoyment superior to what
were possessed by their
ancestors. This unequalled
prosperity could not have been
attained by the utmost
liberality of the Government or
the persevering industry of the
people, had not the maritime
power of the Mother Country
secured to its Colonists a safe
access to every market where
the produce of their labor was
in demand …
… Are you prepared
Inhabitants of Upper Canada
to become willing Subjects or
rather Slaves, to the Despot
who rules the Nations of
Europe with a rod of Iron? If
not, arise in a Body, exert your
energies, co-operate cordially
with the King’s regular Forces
to repel the invader, and do
not give cause to your children
when groaning under the
oppression of a foreign Master
to reproach you with having
too easily parted with the
richest Inheritance on Earth a participation in the name,
character and freedom of
Britons.
The same spirit of
Justice, which will make every
reasonable allowance for the
unsuccessful efforts of Zeal
and Loyalty, will not fail to
punish the defalcation of
principle: every Canadian
Freeholder is by deliberate
choice, bound by the most
solemn Oaths to defend the
Monarchy as well as his own
property; to shrink from that
engagement is a Treason not to
be forgiven; let no Man
suppose that if in this
unexpected
struggle
his
Majesties Arms should be
compelled to yield to an
overwhelming force, that the
Province will be eventually
abandoned; the endeared
relation of its first settlers, the
intrinsic value of its Commerce
and the pretensions of its
powerful rival to repossess the
Canadas are pledges that no
peace will be established
between the United States and
Great Britain and Ireland, of
which the restoration of these
Provinces does not make the
most prominent condition.
Be not dismayed at the
unjustifiable threat of the
Commander of the Enemies
forces, to refuse quarter if an
Indian appear in the Ranks.
The brave bands of Natives
which inhabit this Colony,
were, like his Majesty's
Subjects, punished for their
zeal and fidelity by the loss of
their possessions in the late
Colonies, and rewarded by his
Majesty with lands of superior
value in this Province: the
Faith
of
the
British
Government has never yet
been violated, they feel that the
soil they inherit is to them and
their posterity protected from
the base Arts so frequently
devised to overreach their
simplicity. By what new
principle are they to be
prevented from defending their
property? If their Warfare
from being different from that
of the white people is more
terrific to the Enemy, let him
retrace his steps - they seek
him not - and cannot expect to
find women and children in an
invading Army; but they are
men, and have equal rights
with all other men to defend
themselves and their property
when invaded …
Isaac Brock. Maj. Gen. and President.
God Save the King.
Head Quarters Fort George
22nd July 1812.
By order of His Honor the President,
J. B. Glegg, Capt. A.D.C.
Setting the Stage
The response of the
British command in the
Canadas
following
the
American declaration of war
clearly indicated their intention
to defend the border, and this
strong showing helped to rally
flagging support within the
citizen militia to the British
Crown.
The British forces
under Brock and the American
Army under Hull would meet
to great consequence on
August 16th, 1812.
The 1812 Heritage
The Surrender of Detroit
By John Wycliffe Lowes Forster
Capture of Detroit
The American army
under
Brigadier
General
William Hull was very short of
supplies and lacked artillery
upon their initial invasion into
Canada. After learning of the
fall of Fort Michilimackinac
on August 3rd, Hull decided to
retreat across the Detroit River
on August 11th, 1812, much to
the chagrin of many of Hull’s
officers. Hull never received
the support from the local
population
and
Canadian
militia he had expected. Hull’s
supply lines, which stretched
over 60 miles, were also under
constant threat and had faced
several attacks, including on
August 4th at the Battle of
Brownstown where a Native
war party under Tecumseh
routed
an
American
detachment
and
captured
several of General Hull’s
dispatches. Even earlier, on
July 2nd, the British Provincial
Marine captured an American
schooner named the Cuyahoga
Packet in the Detroit River.
The schooner carried, amongst
other things, General Hull’s
personal papers including
correspondence, plans for the
defence of Detroit, and
illustrated his fear of Native
warriors.
Two days after the
American withdrawal, MajorGeneral Brock arrived at
Amherstburg,
where
he
immediately conferenced with
his officers and with Native
Chiefs, principally Shawnee
leader Tecumseh. Upon his
arrival at Amherstburg, Brock
learned of Hull’s captured
dispatches which described the
low morale of his army and the
fear of Native attack.
Against the advice of
most of his officers, Brock
ordered an immediate advance
on Detroit. Making use of the
captured
intelligence, the
British played on the American
fears of a Native attack by
allowing a letter which
overstated the strength of his
Native allies at Amhertsburg to
fall into American hands.
At Amherstburg, the
two legendary figures of the
War of 1812, met for the first
and only time. Brock was
impressed
by
Tecumseh,
whom he described as “… a
more sagacious and a more
gallant Warrior does not I
believe exist.” Tecumseh was
equally impressed by the
British General, as he is
believed to have said to those
around him: “Here is a man!”
To
deceive
the
American army into believing
there were more British troops
than there actually were, Brock
ordered several bluffs. Brock
gave the un-uniformed militia
cast-off coats from the 41st
Regiment to make them, at a
distance, look like regulars. At
the British encampment, men
were
ordered
to
light
individual camp fires to create
the illusion of a larger army.
They also performed repeated
marching mannouvres within
plain sight of the American
fort to deliberately look like a
larger force.
On
August
15th,
British guns stationed on the
Canadian shore and on two
vessels in the Detroit River
opened up on the American
fort. In the early hours of
August
16th,
Tecumseh’s
warriors crossed the river,
followed by the British force.
Tecumseh’s
followers,
shouting war cries, ran several
times past an opening in the
forest in plain sight. One
description
indicates
that
“Tecumseh extended his men,
and marched them three times
through an opening in the
woods at the rear of the fort in
full view of the garrison,
which induced them to believe
there were at least two or three
thousand Indians.” Brock and
his British force of a small
number of regulars and
disguised militia, advanced
immediately against the rear of
the fort. After a brief
cannonade, Brock demanded
the surrender of the fort and
garrison, bluffing that: “The
force at my disposal authorizes
me to require of you the
immediate surrender of Fort
Detroit. It is far from my
intention to join in a war of
extermination, but you must be
aware, that the numerous body
of Indians who have attached
themselves to my troops, will
be beyond control the moment
the contest commences …”
General
Hull’s
response asked for three days
to agree on terms of surrender,
to which Brock responded that
he would allow three hours.
The missive had the desired
effect, as General Hull
surrendered his entire force,
the fort, the supply convoy,
and another detachment not yet
arrived at the fort.
Several
militia
volunteers
from
Historic
Mississauga were at the
capture of Detroit as part of the
2nd Regiment of York Militia,
including Sergeant Aaron
Silverthorn, Private Amos
Willcox, and Private Robert
Copeland, likely amongst
several others.
Gazette
Volume Four, Page 2
Remembering Historic
Mississauga and the War of 1812
Private in the 3rd Regiment of
the York Militia. It is thought
that it was written shortly after
Flummerfelt participated in the
capture of Detroit. The song
became an unofficial anthem
during the War of 1812 and
was used to increase the
number of Canadian militia
volunteers. Following the war
Flummerfelt
became
a
Methodist
minister,
and
preached the first service at
Britannia (then referred to as
Gardner’s Clearing) in 1821, in
what is now part of
Mississauga.
Their general sent a flag of
truce
For quarter then they call:
“Hold your hand, brave British
boys,
I fear you'll slay us all.”
Come all you brave Canadians
I'd have you lend an ear
Unto a simple ditty
That will your spirits cheer
We guarded them from
Sandwich
Safe down unto Fort George
And them within the town of
York
So safely we did lodge.
Concerning an engagement
We had at Sandwich town –
The courage of those Yankees
So bravely we pulled down.
Their purpose to invade us
Was to kill and to destroy
To distress our wives and
children
And cause us much annoy.
Our countrymen were filled
With sorrow, grief and woe
To think that they would fall
By an unnatural foe.
At length our bold commander
Sir Isaac Brock by name
Took shipping at Niagara
And unto York he came.
“Our town is at your command
Our garrison likewise.”
They brought their arms and
grounded them
Right down before our eyes.
And they were all made
prisoners
On board of ship they went
And from the town of Sandwich
To Quebec they were sent.
And we're arrived at home
Each man without a wound
And the fame of this great
conquest
Will through the province sound.
Success unto the volunteers
Who thus their rights maintain
Lifewise their bold commander
Sir Isaac Brock by name.
And being all united
This is the song we'll sing
Success unto Great Britain
And may God Save the King.
He said: “My valiant heroes,
Will you go along with me
To fight those Yankee boys
In the west of Canady.”
“O yes,” we all replied,
“We'll go along with you
Our knapsacks on our back
And make no more ado.”
Our fire-locks then we
shouldered
And straight we marched away
With firm determination
To shew them British play.
Yes our fire-locks we shouldered
Forward our course to steer
To meet and fight the invader
With neither dread nor fear.
At Sandwich we arrived
Each man with his supply
With bold determination
To conquer or to die.
Our general sent a flag
And thus to them did say:
“Surrender now your garrison
Or I'll fire on you this day.”
Our troops then marched over
Our artillery we did land
And marched straight upon their
town
Like an undaunted band.
The Bold Canadian
They refused to surrender
They chose to stand their ground
We opened then our guns
And gave them fire all around.
The Bold Canadian
was a patriotic song that is
believed to have been written
by Cornelius Flummerfelt, a
The Yankee boys began to fear
And their blood to run cold
To see us marching forward
So courageous and bold.
through the war unscathed. He
received a General Service
Medal for his participation at
the capture of Detroit.
In 1813 Aaron married
Mary Custead (1793-1858),
and the couple settled on Lot 6,
Concession 1, South of Dundas
Street in Toronto Township
(historic Mississauga), which
had been previously acquired
by Aaron’s father. Aaron
purchased this lot in 1817.
Aaron and Mary had five
children: Francis (1815-1894),
Charlotte (1819-1833), Gordon
(1822-1895), Susannah (18261839) and Newman (18291918).
After the war Aaron
remained active in the militia,
and in 1822 became a
Lieutenant in the Cavalry
Troop of the 1st Regiment of
the West York Militia. He later
became a Captain in the 3rd
Regiment. Aaron served for 10
years as a guard for the
Governor Generals office,
between 1828 and 1838. He
also served as a magistrate for
the Home District in 1846 and
a Justice of the Peace in 1850.
For his service in the
militia during the War of 1812,
Aaron received 200 acres in
Caledon Township and 100
acres in Trafalgar Township.
Aaron
was
an
“independent, discerning man
who believed in working hard
and taking care of one’s
family. He was solid and had
good judgment … a shrewd
business man, erudite, with a
good head for figures.”
Aaron died in 1872
and is buried at Dixie Union
Cemetery alongside his wife.
Gravestone of Aaron Silverthorn
Dixie Union Cemetery
A Veteran of 1812: Aaron
Silverthorn (1790-1872)
Aaron Silvethorn was
born on November 21st, 1790
in Stamford County, Niagara.
He was the third son of John
and Esther Silverthorn. Aaron
moved to Etobicoke with his
family in 1810, settling along
the Etobicoke Creek near
Dundas Street. Together with
his father, Aaron operated a
mill and farm (dubbed the
“Mill Farm”) along the creek.
When war broke out in 1812,
Aaron volunteered to join the
2nd Regiment of the York
Militia, along with his older
brothers Joseph (1785-1879)
and Thomas (1788-1834).
On June 4th of 1812
Aaron
and
Thomas
volunteered to serve in the 1st
Flank Company of the 2nd
York under Captain Chisholm.
Aaron served as a Sergeant,
and was present at the capture
of Detroit and the battles of
Queenston
Heights
and
Lundy’s Lane, and came
Aaron Silverthorn (1790-1872)
Sergeant, 1st Flank Company,
nd
2 Regiment of the York Militia
Remembering Our
1812 Heroes
In partnership with the
Bread & Honey Festival, the
City of Mississauga and
Canadian Heritage, Heritage
Mississauga will be producing
interpretive panels to be
installed in six historic
cemeteries honouring the War
of 1812 militia volunteers who
are buried in these cemeteries.
The cemeteries are Streetsville
Memorial
Cemetery,
St.
Peter’s Anglican Cemetery,
Dixie
Union
Cemetery,
Springcreek Cemetery, Trinity
Anglican
Cemetery
in
Streetsville,
and
Erindale
Cosmopolitan Cemetery.