So this thread is resurrected and filled with more Canadian pseudo-nationalistic myths. Damn but so many people need history lessons...
Sorry guys to break it you but it was British regulars that staged the raid on Washington and Ft McHenry (and yes it was meant to be a raid not a serious attempt to capture and hold the American capital). It was also British regulars under General Sir Isaac Brock and aboriginal forces under Tecumseh that did the vast majority of the fighting to stop the invasion of what would become Canada. The largest role any colonial militias played was that of the Kentucky volunteers who changed their minds and refused to leave American soil and support their invading forces at places like Queenston Heights.
Anyone thumping their chest over this stupid excuse of a war (on either side of the border) needs to seriously reevaluate their criteria for success when you look at the results...
- British interference with American shipping, and the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy (one of the chief American complaints and reasons cited for the American aggression) stopped well before Madison declared war and invaded
- the most competant British general, Sir Isaac Brock, who with his native ally Tecumseh, stopped the invasion, died at Queenston Heights. All of his successes with Tecumseh (such as capturing most of what is now Michigan) were nullified by the treaty of Ghent which had most of the borders revert to their pre-war positions
- the American aspiration of taking the remaining British colonies in North America was dashed
- the natives hope for stopping American expansion inland to their tribal lands was not achieved
- the British act of firing Washington was largely regarded in Europe as an act of barbarity
- the American Navy emerged as a force to be reckoned with, even at sometimes when out-numbered/out-gunned, something the British had not had to deal with in centuries
- the greatest victory the American army was able to deliver was at New Orleans, which ocurred after the Treaty of Ghent was signed
Really the whole thing was a waste of time, resources and lives. Nothing was really achieved by anyone. The American navy's emergence was one of the extremely few positives for either side.
