In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect.
U.S. President Bill Clinton 

Travel through the eras of  history and the development of the various nations that make up Canada today.

First Blow | Detroit | Queenston Heights | Stoney Creek | Maps

A matter of great importance to the salvation of Canada was the attitude of the Indians on both sides of the border, particularly in the west.  In view of the great disparity between the white populations of Canada and of the United States, and the thinness of the western Population on both sides, the behaviour of the Indian tribes was likely to be decisive. If they were friendly to the Americans, or even neutral, Upper Canada would be much more difficult to defend. If their active aid could be enlisted for the British cause, the province's chances would be very much better.

All this was very clear to General Brock, and as early as December 1811 he emphasized it in a letter to Sir George Prevost, the Governor General and Commander of the Forces, remarking, "before we can expect an active co-operation on the part of the Indians, the reduction of Detroit and Michilimackinac, must convince that People ... that we are earnestly engaged in the War".  He had thus formed, well in advance of the outbreak of war, the elements of a plan.  Upper Canada was to be defended by a series of offensive strokes with limited objectives, which would have the special advantage of influencing the Indians to take the British side.  On learning that the United States had declared war, Brock sent instructions to Capt' Charles Roberts, commanding the small British post at distant St. Joseph Island, near Sault Ste. Marie, giving him discretion as to whether to stand on the defensive or to attack the American garrison at Michilimackinac.  Roberts decided to attack, and on 16 July, the day after he received these orders, he embarked his few regulars and a body of Canadian fur-traders and Indians (a little over 500 men in all) and led them against Mackinac.  The British seized the heights commanding the fort and dragged up a gun; and the American commander, who had had no information of his country's declaration of war, had no choice but surrender.  This early and bloodless success brought the neighbouring tribes flocking to the British standard, and it had a great influence, accordingly, on the subsequent events on the Detroit frontier. 

On this frontier the Americans attempted their first offensive.  Brigadier, General William Hull, an old and inefficient officer, had advanced from the interior of Ohio before the declaration of war, with some 2500 men; and on 11 July he crossed the Detroit River and invaded Canada.  The small British force on that frontier did not resist his crossing-which considerably displeased Brock; but Hull took no active steps to dislodge it, and it continued to hold the fort at Amherstburg and the territory around it, a constant threat on the American's flank.

The British naval superiority now made itself felt.  The last 60 miles of Hull's line of communications running back to Ohio lay along the shores of Lake Erie and the Detroit River, and was always exposed to interruption by an enemy having control of the water.  Hull twice sent detachments back to "open the communication"; both were cut up, by British Indians under Tecumseh and troops from Amherstburg, in engagements on 5 and 9 August.  The Provincial Marine had previously captured a schooner carrying Hull's official correspondence.  More mail was captured in the fight on the 5th.  The American general was easily discouraged.  He began to withdraw from Canada to Detroit on 7 August, and completed the withdrawal on the 11th.