American, Canadians and British all have an opinion on who won the war of 1812, and I suppose it is mainly based on where you come from that mainly forms your opinion. As a Canadian with a GGGrandfather in the war, I believe Canada ( Britain) won. Canada's boundaries were intact, and that is an important point since the forces in Canada were small compared to the size of the American forces. I say this respectfully but what did the American forces win. Canada(Britain) held it's own and gained respect on the battle field. The forces demonstrated that they could go to the Capital. and of course burned the Whitehouse. A mutual respect was learned by all sides, but at the end of the day Canada remained under British control and all forces returned to their own country with lessons learned. Britain strengthened it's military in Canada, and plans were made to fortify against future attacks. A couple of examples are the Rideau Canal and Old Fort Henry. My family is here in Canada because of the 1812 war, after the war ended in 1814, my GGGrandfather was granted land. Respectfully, Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: <REPAGE@aol.com> To: <WARof1812-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 5:20 PM Subject: Re: [WARof1812] re: Extension of Rev. War? > In a message dated 12/14/2004 4:01:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, > runrue@zoominternet.net writes: > > >> I suppose I'll have to "weigh in" here. I don't want to make anyone upset >> with me. I am an American and I do know the facts as well. >> I imagine that in England, Canada and the U.S., there are those people >> who >> love history and learn it and there are those people who do not. All of >> us >> know really intellegent people who know nothing about a subject, be it >> geography, math, photography, history or whatever. >> I know there are MANY Americans who know very little about the War of >> 1812. >> But, does that naturally follow that most everyone in England or Canada >> DOES?? I don't think so. I recognize that there are many different >> perspectives in any situation, and certainly, war would have more than >> most. >> I learned in history that what gave the "War Hawks" in Congress the power >> to >> push us into war was the impressment of American sailors into the British >> navy. While there were those persons who wanted war with Great Britain >> because they wanted to take Canada, it would not have moved forward >> without >> the impressment. It is true that all bids for Canada were lost. It is >> true >> that the battle of New Orleans was fought in January of 1815, and the >> peace >> had been signed weeks before that. It is also true that when war was >> declared, the Orders in Council in Parliment had already been repealed. >> Both matters of slow communication. It is true that Great Britain had >> not >> been sending their top of the line soldiers. It is true that the >> soldiers >> who fought at the battle of New Orleans were top of the line, but tired >> because of the fighting in Europe. Which is why they lost, maybe, to >> Andrew >> Jackson. But.... >> Whichever way you slice, Great Britain said UNCLE. We all know that if >> you >> forfeit, for whatever reason, you lose. Impressment stopped. Free trade >> began again. >> This is the way I see it. Just another perspective. >> >> Rose Jobe Unrue >> > > > Let me add that I don't know if the British units involved in the battle > for > Washington were "mostly Canadian" or not, but I do know that the American > forces they faced in their push across the Anacostia River to take > Washington were > preteen cadets from the local military academy and some sailors who were > across the road at the Anacostia Harbormaster's house. The building that > housed > those young lads is now my local branch of the county library system. The > spring > where the British forces set up their triage and camped before moving back > to > Lower Marlboro to reboard their ships is about 4 blocks from my house. Two > of > my sons spent the summer of 1986 making the site of the spring head into a > mini-park. > > Bob > Robert Evans Page > "... comes from a long line of dead men." > Lawrence Block > > > ==== WARof1812 Mailing List ==== > WAR of 1812 LIST ADMINISTRATOR > <<<commander@sunlitsurf.com>>> > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx > >

I'm finding this debate around the War of 1812 fascinating. I'm a bit loathe to plug my own site, but since it's not there to make money, if you're interested in reading about the War of 1812 from a Canadian perspective and, in particular, the exploits of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, check out http://www.generalbrock.com. Thanks, - Todd Webmaster General Brock.com

It's nice to see so many people getting involved in this discussion. It shows us all that no matter how much education and learning we have we all need to learn more. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana Sadly considering that in the past 2,000 years. there has been only about 10 years of worldwide peace we need to learn a whole lot more. We haven't done too well up to now. Lists like this help us all to understand more about each other. Or at least it shows us how easy it is to take sides :-))) As I said I am Canadian. . . (and a bit of; English, Welsh, Scottish, American, French, German etc. and I married a gal who is part Iroquois) I'm also a opinionated -conservative -middle aged -self employed -straight -white -Anglo -Saxon -protestant - non smoker/ non drinking/non drug/non- steroid user & 100% plastic surgery free male who is still married to his first wife. . So I guess I'm a minority too. :-)) Nelson.