On April 27, 1813 an invading American army captured muddy York (now Toronto) and after promising not to do so, within days, torched most of the town (or so the myth goes). The burning of Upper Canada’s capital during the War of 1812, a war that played a significant role in fostering Canada’s identity, is one in which combatants from both sides are still remembered as part of a legacy of 200 years of peace between Canada and the United States.
The Death of Captain McNeale at the Battle of York, 27 April 1813, by BTA Griffiths (Welsh, active early 20th Century) gouache and watercolour on artist’s board, 68.0 x 100.4 cm, circa 1930.
Under the leadership of Britain’s army and navy, the War of 1812, for the first time, brought together First Nation, French Canadian and English Canadian military formations in a common cause. With major setbacks along the way, they, along with the British, succeeded in fending off American attacks against Canada until the wars’ end on December 23, 1814.
The events of the morning of April 27, 1813 began just east of the Boulevard Club on Lake Shore Boulevard with up to 1,800 American troops rowing ashore from 14 ships of the US Navy’s Lake Ontario squadron. Lacking British naval support, it was here that approximately 100 Chippewa and Mississauga warriors, and a portion of the 300 British Regulars and 300 York Volunteers (Canadian Militia) first fired upon American soldiers, beginning the Battle of York.
To mark that fateful day of April 27 almost two hundred years ago, both the City of Toronto and the Canadian Armed Forces will hold several events in Toronto’s downtown and along the lakefront.
Picture of Fort York during Luminato for Encampment installation
The first event of the day will be a First Nation’s Sunrise Ceremony at Palais Royale on Lake Shore Boulevard. Later that afternoon, it will be followed by a long overdue dedication of a new plaque at Fort York National Historic Site commemorating the vital role that First Nations played during the War of 1812 and in the defence of York.
Victoria Memorial Square and War of 1812 Memorial
The downtown events start in the morning at Ontario’s Legislative Building at Queen’s Park and continue with a military parade along University Avenue to Victoria Memorial Square (where some of the 180 plus soldiers and sailors killed during the Battle of York, are buried) then on to Fort York National Historic Site.
The main events of the day will be the commemorative functions inside the walls of Fort York National Historic Site, which has the largest number of War of 1812 related-buildings within Canada on one site (which were threatened during the 1950s by the construction of the Gardiner Expressway). The City of Toronto will offer a guided walking tour along Lake Shore Boulevard retracing the route of the battle, while themed tours at Fort York National Historic Site will take place throughout the day with family-themed activities and military demonstrations, including the rededication of the plaque to American Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike who died while leading his men to victory.
Fort York Simcoe Day festivities
Flying to Toronto to participate in the event will be H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. However, having been recently hospitalized the 91-year-old Duke of Edinburgh was thought by British media not to be in a position to travel outside of Britain. But ever keen on Canada and his Canadian military affiliations, he will be presenting the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment with their new Regimental Colour (flag) at Queen’s Park. As part of this presentation, Canadian soldiers will rappel, fast rope and parachute from a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter.
Fort York Today
A parade of more than 1,400 sailors and soldiers of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army, including a series of marching bands, ceremonial uniforms and Regimental Colours, will march down University Avenue to Fort York National Historic Site. Many of the sailors and soldiers participating in the parade will be reservists from the Greater Toronto Area, a continuation of over 200 years of military service in the GTA. This will probably represent the largest military parade in Toronto since the end of the Second World War.
I’m looking forward to the day’s events. I first visited Old Fort York, as we then called it, as part of a Grade 7 field trip during the mid-1960s. I fell in love with the fort’s historic buildings, heard the first distinctive double crack of a flintlock musket firing and the thundering roar of 18-pounder cannons.
Seeing my first archaeological survey trench at the old fort I became fascinated by the subject and later pursued university degrees in history at York University and the University of Toronto. But what I cherish the most is the scale model that my now 93-year-old father and I built of Fort York as my project to commemorate Canada’s centennial in 1967. Surviving for decades in the attics of four different homes it has for the most part withstood the years, as have the memories of those who served on that day almost 200 years ago.
The model of Fort York that my father and I made in 1967 to commemorate Canada’s centennial. Looking at the fort model is our cat Winston (named after Churchill).
Additional Information
- A map with points of interest and the route for the military parade in Toronto on April 27, 2013.
- Locations and timings for the day’s six major events
- Fort York National Historic Site
- The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common
- Victoria Memorial Square
- Queen’s Park
- University Avenue
Photo Credits
Battle of York – The Death of Captain McNeale
The Death of Captain McNeale at the Battle of York, 27 April 1813, by BTA Griffiths (Welsh, active early 20th Century)
Gouache and watercolour on artist’s board, 68.0 x 100.4 cm, circa 1930. City of Toronto Museum Services
Picture of Fort York during Luminato – Courtesy of Luminato
Victoria Memorial Square and War of 1812 Memorial – Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives
Fort York Simcoe Day festivities – By Kathy Mills
Fort York Today – City of Toronto
Model of Fort York – By Joseph Frey
Thank you for posting this, for the benefit of readers south of the border who still harbor the illusion that the United States occupied the moral high ground in the War of 1812.