Staff Reports
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
THE WAR OF 1812
Key dates
1812
• JUNE 18: President Madison declares war.
• OCT. 11: American troops under Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer invade Canada and attack Queenston Heights.
• OCT. 13: British Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock killed as he leads his forces up the steep hill at Queenston. American losses: 90 killed; 100 wounded. British: 14 killed; 84 wounded, 15 missing.
1813
JUNE 23: Laura Secord, a Queenston housewife, hikes some 20 miles from her home to alert British troops that American invading forces would attack an outpost at Beaver’s Dam (near St. Catharines).
• SEPT. 10: The Battle of Lake Erie. Commandant Oliver Perry hailed a hero for directing the American forces to victory over the British.
• DEC. 10: Brig. Gen. George McClure and his troops burn Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and retreat to Fort Niagara.
• DEC. 19: British troops capture Fort Niagara and then burn Lewiston, Black Rock and Buffalo during a 10-day rampage.
1814
• JULY 5: Battle of Chippawa. British losses: 148 killed; 321 wounded. American: 60 killed; 235 wounded.
• JULY 25: Battle of Lundy’s Lane. American losses, 171 killed; 572 wounded. British: 84 killed; 559 wounded.
• SEPT. 6-11: Battle of Plattsburgh (Lake Champlain)
1815
• JAN. 8: Battle of New Orleans, 15 days after a peace treaty agreement was reached.
Sources: “1812: The War That Forged a Nation,” by Walter R. Borneman; “The War of 1812, A Forgotten Conflict,” by Donald R. Hickey; and “The Invasion of Canada, 1812-1813,” by Pierre Berton.
