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00:00It's July 1st, Canada Day in Ottawa.
00:27On Parliament Hill, a sea of red and white signals partying, picnicking, plenty of drinking
00:34and a chance to celebrate the birth of the nation.
00:37On this day in 1867, the British colonies of North America came together under the Constitution Act
00:44to form the Federation of Canada.
00:51Today there are ten provinces and three territories stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
00:56from the Arctic to the U.S. border, forming the second largest country in the world.
01:00It's a good day to reflect on what it means to be Canadian.
01:04It means to celebrate landscape and space and beautiful scenery, but it also means to celebrate this beautiful country.
01:10Something that is sort of key to all Canadians is having respect for the citizens of the world and different cultures.
01:19To be accepting of others and welcoming to all people and to be fair and righteousness and just.
01:25The freedom of being able to do what you want, when you want, without having to suffer from anything.
01:31Self-love and loving everybody, being really polite and just having fun.
01:36Having fun!
01:37To really enjoy the outdoors.
01:39We love our beer.
01:40Being Canadian is just awesome.
01:43Locals refer to this day as Canada's birthday and it certainly commemorates the creation of a new nation.
01:49But the origins of Canada's sense of self go back much further.
01:54Many would argue they originated with the War of 1812.
01:58The War of what, I hear you say?
02:02Mention 1812 and most people will come up with an overture.
02:05It's no accident that it's known as the Forgotten War.
02:09Americans don't remember it.
02:11The British don't even know it happened.
02:13But the War of 1812 was the last time Britain and America went to war against one another.
02:19Two and a half years of bitter conflict determined the future of the North American continent.
02:25The one place the War of 1812 is remembered is here in Canada.
02:31Back then the Canadian provinces were very much British colonies.
02:35The nearest the Americans could get to attacking the enemy by land.
02:39And the battles that were fought here gave birth to the country's first heroes and a series of iconic images.
02:48There's the British general who brought an American army to its knees and fell fighting in the front line.
02:55An Ontario housewife who wandered through the night to save her fellow countrymen.
03:01The Indian chief who united his people and became a byword for chivalry and honour.
03:08And the burning of a capital and ravaging of the land.
03:12In the War of 1812 Canadians faced the first great challenge to their existence as a separate people.
03:21And it's fitting we commemorate it on its bicentenary.
03:24I think it's important we remember the War of 1812 because it's still very relevant to what's going on today.
03:31Even if you look at the relationship between Canada and the United States and certainly Canada and Great Britain.
03:36The origins come from this time period.
03:39Many ways it was the birth of Canada.
03:41Up until that point of time Canada was a series of colonies.
03:45The unity that was established then.
03:47The vision that was had then plays a major impact today for First Nations people.
03:54If it had gone differently there'd be no Canada.
03:57The country would not exist as we know it today.
04:00And it also made us understand that having survived eight American attacks that we were not Americans.
04:08That there was a difference between us and them.
04:12For Canadians the War of 1812 was a defining moment in the development of our identity as a distinct North American nation.
04:19Nevertheless those were bloody and sad days.
04:23In this programme I'm on the trail of the War of 1812 in the province of Ontario where most of the key battles took place.
04:32I'm visiting the sites, the battlegrounds, the homes of those who fought and suffered.
04:36And along the way I'm not only going to be digging up the past but also finding out what today's Ontario has to offer the visitor.
04:44And looking at the setting I think we're going to have a lot of fun.
04:48I suppose the first question must be what was the War of 1812 all about?
05:1130 years after it had gained independence why did the young United States go to war against the greatest military power of the age?
05:21By 1812 Britain had been fighting France for almost 20 years.
05:26These were the Napoleonic Wars and whilst Napoleon held Europe Britain held the seas.
05:31But she behaved in a high handed manner when it came to American shipping.
05:35The Royal Navy impounded American ships to stop them trading with the French.
05:40British captains boarded American vessels and stole their sailors.
05:44And on land Americans blamed renewed fighting with the Indians along the Canadian border on British intrigue and guns.
05:55Well it all came to a head in June of 1812 when an angry US Congress dominated by war hawks declared war on Great Britain.
06:03And they immediately set their sights on Canada.
06:07The Americans thought conquering Canada would be a doddle.
06:11Ex-President Thomas Jefferson famously said it would be a mere matter of marching.
06:16Congressman John Randolph described it as a holiday campaign.
06:21It all sounds frighteningly familiar doesn't it?
06:26But for once the Americans overconfidence was justified because after all what was Canada?
06:32And who were the Canadians?
06:34In 1812 Canada didn't exist.
06:38There were two British colonies Upper and Lower Canada.
06:42In Lower Canada, what we call Quebec, the population was French.
06:46And in Upper Canada, what's now Ontario, there was a mishmash of exiles from the American War of Independence,
06:53Indians, British and more recent American settlers who'd been attracted by cheap land.
06:59In fact, the Americans thought the Canadians would welcome them with open arms.
07:05Here on the Niagara River, part of the border with the United States,
07:09most of the people on this side were related to people on that side.
07:13And let's look at the numbers.
07:14Canada had a population of half a million.
07:17The US had seven and a half million inhabitants.
07:21But the Americans were in for a surprise.
07:26From the outset, the Yanks were overconfident.
07:29While the Canadians learnt about the outbreak of war by fast courier,
07:33incredibly, the US government informed its troops on the border by post.
07:38The result was the Canadians learnt about the war a whole week before their rivals.
07:43Now the war was up and running.
07:47All Canada needed was a charismatic leader, and she found one.
07:54No, not this guy.
07:56This is the Lieutenant Governor Sir George Prevost,
07:59a cautious, careful kind of soul who was more than happy to sit tight
08:03and wait for the Americans to attack.
08:07This is the man who emerged as Canada's first great hero.
08:11He was a soldier from Guernsey.
08:13General Isaac Brock was everything a military superstar should be.
08:17Dashing, ambitious and inspiring.
08:21Brock was in charge of Upper Canada and ignoring Prevost's orders,
08:25he took the attack to the Americans.
08:30The American plan was to invade Canada on three fronts.
08:33Across the Detroit River into Western Upper Canada,
08:37across the Niagara River,
08:39and up through New York against Montreal.
08:42In August, Brock struck first in the West,
08:45and at Detroit he scored an amazing victory
08:47when he forced American General William Hull
08:49to surrender 2,500 men without even a fight.
08:53The clincher was Brock's secret weapon, Indians.
08:56Nothing terrified the Americans like Indians.
09:02With their battle cries, bravery and reputation for blood-thirstiness,
09:07American volunteers, in fear of losing their scouts,
09:10lost their bottle when it came to fighting the local tribes.
09:17Here on Victoria Island in Ottawa,
09:19there's a chance to learn more about the history
09:21and culture of the Aboriginal peoples,
09:23Canada's First Nations.
09:36How accurate is the First Nations' reputation
09:39for blood-thirsty warfare?
09:42First Nations people have had to continuously fight
09:46for their traditional territories,
09:49have had to fight to protect their families
09:53and protect their homelands.
09:56And it is a form of terrorism,
10:00and I think today the term that is used
10:04for that type of situation is called homeland security.
10:09Why did they ally themselves with the British?
10:12Because it was lesser of two evils.
10:15The British and the Americans had formed many treaties
10:22with the First Nations people,
10:24and there was mistrust on both sides.
10:28But at that point, the Americans had started a movement
10:32where they were moving into each of the First Nations territories
10:36and they were pushing the people out.
10:38Rhonda, do you think Canada would exist
10:41without the support of the First Nations
10:44during the War of 1812?
10:46I think Canada would exist today.
10:49But I think the face of Canada would be very, very different.
10:52The border would be completely changed.
10:55So, had it not been for First Nations people,
10:58Canada would not be what it is today.
11:00Brock joined forces with one of the most extraordinary Indian leaders
11:07in North American history.
11:09He was a Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh,
11:12a man who recognised that if his people were to stand any chance
11:16against the waves of American settlers,
11:18they would have to unite with one another and with the British.
11:22There's a restaurant here on Victoria Island
11:25where you can sample typical native Canadian foods,
11:30like steamed salmon in maple syrup and wild rice salad.
11:34Brock and Tecumseh were kindred spirits.
11:37They were both eager to take the fight to the enemy.
11:39Brock even described his ally as the Wellington of the Indians,
11:42and having crushed the US invasion in the West,
11:46they turned their attention to Niagara.
11:51In the pre-dawn gloom on October 13th, 1812,
11:55the Americans launched the second of their invasions of Canada
11:58across the Niagara River at Queenston Heights.
12:01600 troops crowded into 13 boats.
12:07The British battery on the heights blazes down on them,
12:10but the troops under Winfield Scott capture it.
12:13Brock gallops in from nearby Fort George
12:16and, without waiting for sufficient reinforcements,
12:19leads his men in a charge to retake the battery.
12:22He's fatally shot in the chest.
12:26More British forces arrive on the scene,
12:28this time accompanied by Indians,
12:30and after savage fighting, the British recapture the battery.
12:33Now, by this time, there are 1,200 Americans
12:36on this side of the river,
12:37but hearing the Indian war cries,
12:401,800 of their fellow Americans on the other side refused to cross.
12:47The remaining Americans are trapped.
12:49They jump from the cliff to be dashed on the rocks,
12:52or hang from the trees where they're picked off by Indians.
12:55The remainder, 1,000 in total, surrender.
12:59The invasion had been foiled, but Isaac Brock was dead.
13:14Today, there's a park at Queenston Heights,
13:17part of the Niagara Parks Heritage Trail,
13:19and you can do a self-guided walking tour of the battlefield.
13:24Dominating the landscape is a monument to Isaac Brock,
13:27Canada's first great hero,
13:29gazing across the river at the United States.
13:32Ironically, you have to look hard for any evidence of the key role
13:43played by Canada's First Nations.
13:46Their contribution is commemorated on this small plaque,
13:50the Low Brock's Grand Monument.
13:53During the War of 1812, the Niagara Peninsula was the one place
14:07where the two hostile armies were within sight and sound of one another.
14:12And unlike everywhere else along the 1,000-mile US-Canadian border,
14:17the most prosperous farms and communities were on the Canadian side.
14:22One US officer said of the settlements on the American side,
14:27this is a very poor country, miserable roads,
14:30nothing to be had for love or money.
14:32The land opposite is very inviting.
14:34It looks well, and I understand they live very well.
14:38Nothing has changed.
14:39Niagara is the Garden of Canada,
14:41and the best way of appreciating it is from the air.
14:45A helicopter ride over Niagara taking in the stunning falls
14:55is a highlight of a visit here.
15:01You really get a sense of the richness of the land.
15:06Niagara is known as the Fruit Bowl, especially famous for its peaches.
15:11What a beautiful piece of countryside.
15:17A patchwork of orchards, villages and farms.
15:21And in the last 40 years, a new crop has turned the Niagara Peninsula
15:25into a hot destination with tourists interested in more than water.
15:29Stick with us, because it's going to get better.
15:39There's no other helicopter ride in the world
15:42that starts with one of nature's great wonders
15:45pumping over 200,000 cubic feet of water per second,
15:50and ends miraculously with wine.
15:53I've landed in a vignette.
16:01Wine growing in these parts goes back to the early 1800s,
16:04but for years, all that was produced was cheap bulk table wine.
16:08It's only since the 1970s that quality Canadian wine has been produced,
16:13and at the forefront of that revolution was Inniskillen Wines.
16:17This is a real treat for me.
16:21I'm actually going to have lunch amongst the vines, weather permitting.
16:25But before we get on to solids, I'm then going to try the local product.
16:30All that water's given me a thirst.
16:32You may be surprised to learn that there are 79 wine producers in Niagara,
16:40but Inniskillen was the first,
16:42and is still one of the foremost of the modern batch, founded in 1974.
16:49Debbie, what was it you did to put Canadian wines on the map?
16:52Well, Inniskillen had a very simple concept to start with,
16:55and that was producing premium wines from premium grapes
16:58grown right here in the Niagara Peninsula,
17:00using the best quality grapes.
17:02But actually, it was our wonderful ice wine
17:04that was pivotal to the world understanding that Canada could make wine.
17:09And people thought, Canada, extreme cold winters, ice wine, that makes sense.
17:15And it has been recognized around the world.
17:17Explain to us, what exactly is ice wine?
17:20Ice wine is a wine made from grapes frozen naturally on the vine.
17:25So we pick them in the middle of winter
17:27when the temperatures are at least minus 10 degrees Celsius.
17:31But the point being is you want all of the water inside of the grape to freeze.
17:36And when we press out that remaining juice, we get a very concentrated juice.
17:42And you can see by the color here that this is the concentration.
17:46So there's no natural water left in this wine now.
17:50So this is the ice wine. Tell me a little bit about it.
17:55Well, this is our Vidal ice wine.
17:57So if you give it a little swirl and a smell, you get very, very concentrated fruit flavors.
18:05Mango, lychee, very exotic actually.
18:08And then when you taste it, you have a mouth full of layers of flavors.
18:12So cheers.
18:13Cheers.
18:14Gosh, the flavor is very intense.
18:19Yes, it is.
18:20But do you see how the natural sweetness is actually balanced out by the acidity?
18:27And that's what's key about Canadian ice wine.
18:30Now, I know that the first attempts of wine production were made during the early 1800s.
18:35So I'm wondering, during the War of 1812, as the muskets were shooting off and the cannons were roaring, were people tippling?
18:44Do we know if they were drinking wine?
18:46Well, I'm sure they were.
18:48I feel the spirit right here.
18:50And we can hear those muskets are going.
18:52So I'm sure it gave them a little extra bravery during the fighting of the war as well.
18:56And oddly enough, our name in a skill and dates back to the wars in 1800s.
19:01And a gentleman fought here in the wars.
19:03He was a member of an Irish regiment known as the Inneskilling Fusiliers.
19:07And so this colonel was granted crown land and named his farm after the regiment.
19:12So we have roots going back to the war as well.
19:21The sun isn't shining and it's raining, but this is still my idea of heaven.
19:26Oh, by the way, if you wondered what happened to America's third invasion force in 1812.
19:32Well, in November it set out for Montreal.
19:35But a skirmish at night turned into farce when the troops started shooting at one another in the dark.
19:41And the general decided to withdraw.
19:44The conquest of Canada, which the US had thought would be so easy, had turned into a disaster.
19:50Coming up in part two, I peer over the edge into the past.
19:57Bloody boys versus 40 thieves.
20:00Gang warfare in Niagara.
20:02And a Canadian housewife becomes a national heroine.
20:06The War of 1812.
20:19The Forgotten War.
20:21What one historian has described as the strangest war in American history.
20:25Very few people have heard of it, but it created some of the most iconic figures and moments in Canadian history.
20:32Isaac Brock, saviour of Canada.
20:35Laura Secord, housewife and heroine.
20:38The burning of Toronto.
20:40The War of 1812 was the last time Britain and America went to war against one another.
20:46And Canada was at the heart of a conflict that determined the destiny of a continent.
20:53In this programme, I'm on the trail of the War of 1812 in the province of Ontario,
20:58where most of the key battles took place.
21:00I'm visiting the sites, the battlegrounds, the homes of those who fought and suffered.
21:05And along the way, I'm not only going to be digging up the past,
21:08but also finding out what today's Ontario has to offer the visitor.
21:12And looking at the setting, I think we're going to have a lot of fun.
21:36Welcome to York, capital of Upper Canada.
21:39It's April 1813 and the Americans are coming.
21:44Today, we know it as Toronto, Canada's largest city.
21:48But back in the early 19th century, this was York, capital of the province of Upper Canada
21:54and home of the Canadian Parliament.
21:58By spring 1813, the US government is desperate for a victory in Canada.
22:03Their three-pronged invasion the year before had ended in disaster.
22:07This time, the plan is to attack Kingston, the main naval base on Lake Ontario.
22:12But at the last minute, it's decided to attack less well-defended York instead.
22:19To understand the lie of the land, a great new attraction has opened,
22:23which is definitely one for those with a head for heights.
22:26The CN Tower is the city's most famous landmark.
22:30And for 34 years, it was the tallest freestanding structure in the world.
22:35Its 360 restaurant is a great place to eat, taking in an amazing panorama of the city.
22:42And now, you can get even closer to the fantastic view.
22:54Guys, we're going to be walking on this walkway, which is 1.5 metres wide, or about 5 feet wide.
22:59Is that right here?
23:00Wow, here I am, around 1,200 feet in the air, hovering over Toronto.
23:15You could ask for a better day.
23:17The sky is so clear, I can see quite across Lake Ontario to the Niagara Peninsula.
23:24This is just crazy, thinking that my backside is hanging over the city.
23:32This is the highest, hippest, craziest way of seeing Toronto.
23:36I'm doing the edge walk.
23:41OMG!
23:42It is so windy!
23:45And it's freezing!
23:55The shoreline of Lake Ontario has changed massively in the last 200 years.
24:00All of what we're looking at here is landfill, done in the 19th century to accommodate the railways.
24:07But what really interests me is what's over there.
24:11You see that green patch over by the highway?
24:14That is Fort York, part of the original settlement of Toronto.
24:19And it was there in April 1813 that the Americans launched an attack during the War of 1812.
24:30Fort York is a little slice of Toronto's past that's managed to survive the huge changes that have taken place over the last 200 years.
24:38It still looks as if the nearby highway is trying to get its hands on it.
24:43The fort represents Canada's largest collection of War of 1812 buildings.
24:49The Americans landed around 1,700 troops under the command of General Zebulon Pike.
24:54He advanced towards the fort under the protective cover of cannon fire from American ships on the lake.
25:01A small defensive Canadian force of 700 was pushed back and decided to abandon the fort and retreat with a bang.
25:10The retreating Canadians decided to blow up the gunpowder magazine.
25:14They got more than they bargained for.
25:15Absolutely.
25:17The magazine was located behind that tree dug into the shore of Lake Ontario.
25:23And it contained about 30,000 pounds of black powder. Highly explosive.
25:29So when it blew, it had a devastating impact on the American forces.
25:34Give us an idea of the size of it.
25:36The gunpowder magazine contained, oh, about 30,000 pounds of black powder.
25:43Very, very explosive.
25:45And so when it went off, it had an explosive force of about 20 tons of TNT.
25:50And compare that to the Oklahoma City bombing of a few years ago, that was about two and a half tons of TNT.
25:56So this was a massive, massive, unprecedented bang.
26:00The bodies and limbs of soldiers were hurled over the fort.
26:08General Pike was killed.
26:10One surgeon worked 48 hours non-stop on what he described as his fellow creatures mashed and mangled in every part.
26:23Almost 200 men died, and most are probably buried here in Victoria Square.
26:28Established in 1763, this was York's first cemetery serving the civilian and military population.
26:37It's now a park, and the centerpiece is a memorial erected in 1902 to the defenders of Canada back in 1812.
26:45The Americans picked themselves up and pushed onto York, but as the negotiations for surrender got underway, they apparently made a discovery that pushed them over the edge.
27:01The story goes that some soldiers discovered a scalp hanging near the speaker's chair in the parliament building. Talk about a red rag to a bull!
27:12The American troops went on the rampage.
27:15The Anglican church and local library were ransacked. The town's fire engine and printing press destroyed.
27:31And the parliament buildings went up in smoke. Even the mace was stolen. This is it.
27:36It wasn't returned to Canada until 1934.
27:40It's highly unlikely there was any scalp involved. It's even been suggested that what was discovered was the speaker's wig.
27:56But something terrible happened here in York that changed the tone of the war in Canada.
28:00The Americans crossed the line when they burned the town's public buildings. Things were going to get an awful lot nastier.
28:11Ironically, the place the Americans originally intended to attack remained unscathed.
28:17Kingston, Canada's main naval base on Lake Ontario, was sufficiently protected by Forts Henry and Frederick to keep the American Navy at bay for the duration of the war.
28:27The main reason why the Americans didn't attack Kingston was they talked themselves out of attacking it.
28:35The intelligence reports that they received, which they never bothered to analyze, indicated to them that the garrison here was far larger than it actually was.
28:45So based on the force they had available to attack this place, about 1700 men, they decided to attack another outpost, the provincial capital to the west.
28:52And repeatedly through the war they misjudged the strength at Kingston and basically decided not to attack it.
29:00Was this an important place?
29:02This was a very important outpost. It was a naval base. The Royal Navy had its principal base at Kingston beginning in the spring of 1813.
29:09A commodore was assigned to command on the lakes. He brought an initial contingent of about 400 sailors.
29:15By the end of the war there's over 2,000 Royal Naval personnel serving at Kingston alone.
29:21John, what do you think would have happened if the Americans had taken Kingston?
29:26Well imagine this whole region, the St. Lawrence River and the lakes, the Great Lakes being like a tree laying on its side.
29:34Kingston is at the trunk, the other lakes are the branches. You cut the branches, the tree could survive.
29:38You cut the trunk, the whole thing will wilt away and die.
29:42So had the Americans made a concerted effort to take Kingston and this had been lost to the British for an extended period,
29:48they may have been forced to give up all the territory to the west of here.
29:52Thank you. Thank you.
29:53The full brunt of the American attack in 1813 was felt on the Niagara Peninsula and here the new found disregard for public and private property would have devastating results.
30:08Having sacked York in late May, US forces crossed the Niagara and attacked this place.
30:14Today is the achingly pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Back then it was called Newark.
30:23Protecting Newark is Fort George, at that time garrisoned by 1,100 British regulars.
30:29But 4,500 Americans come surging across the river.
30:33Outgunned and outnumbered, the British flee west, abandoning all their positions along the Niagara.
30:40So the Americans looked as if they had the place sewn up.
30:44But crucially they failed to dislodge the British to the west and bit by bit the Brits crept back, regaining the positions they'd lost.
30:51So that within a month, the shoe was on the other foot.
30:55And it was the Americans trapped inside this fort.
31:00The Fort George visitors see today mainly dates to the 1930s.
31:05The armoury survives from the War of 1812.
31:08And you can also see the original site of Isaac Brock's grave.
31:12The body was subsequently moved to the base of his memorial at Queenstown.
31:16Conditions inside here were pretty terrible for the Yanks. Malaria and dysentery were raging.
31:24And what about on the outside? Not much better, I'm afraid.
31:27By the summer of 1813, the Niagara Front had disintegrated into gang warfare.
31:31On the one side, an American outfit called the Forty Thieves foraged out of this fort, pillaging and looting the locals.
31:40On the British side, the so-called Bloody Boys harassed them.
31:44And it was this situation which led to the emergence of Canada's most unlikely heroine.
31:49Her name was Laura Secord, a 37-year-old housewife from Queenstown.
31:58She overheard an American plan to wipe out the British Bloody Boys.
32:02This is her house.
32:06Melissa, so Laura overheard the Americans planning. Tell us what happened.
32:11The Americans were billeting off of Laura and her family that night. They came for dinner.
32:16They started discussing a plan that they had to attack the British.
32:19So Laura, hearing this, decided that she would have to go and mourn them.
32:22She left the next day, very early in the morning.
32:2432 kilometers she walked through swamps. This area had rattlesnakes, bobcats, cougars, bears, you name it.
32:30She got there just after dark. She was able to warn the British that the Americans were coming.
32:34And that resulted in a battle known as the Battle of Beaver Dams.
32:37And the British were able to capture the Americans, about 542 men.
32:41It's quite incredible that the British believed a woman.
32:45It's absolutely incredible that they would trust a woman.
32:47Back then there's not many women that would go out and basically tattle on people.
32:52Laura was born American too, so it was big for her to go sort of against her countrymen and tell the British.
32:58Laura Secord is a massive Canadian heroine.
33:00There's a chocolate company named after her.
33:03In 1992 her face appeared on a postage stamp.
33:07Do you think her reputation is deserved?
33:09I definitely think her reputation is deserved.
33:11It's a huge role to play for any woman, even now.
33:15But back then it was really against gender roles.
33:18So for her to step out alone and to help people that she really didn't need to.
33:23To leave her family to sort of fend for themselves.
33:25She was a mother of five at the time. It was big.
33:29You're very welcome.
33:31The Secord homestead was reconstructed in 1971 and is open to the public.
33:37Laura lived here until 1835, but the furnishings on display aren't hers, though they do give a genuine taste of what a Niagara home of the period would look like.
33:46When autumn came in 1813, the action on the Canadian front shifted west and east.
33:57The British lost control of Lake Erie when a young 27-year-old American naval officer called Oliver Perry destroyed the British fleet.
34:05This opened up the west to the invading Americans and resulted in the death of the Indian leader Tecumseh.
34:14His like would never be seen again.
34:15In the east, the US attempted another invasion of the St. Lawrence, which again ended in disaster with the Americans driven back.
34:26And by December, they were ready to abandon Fort George and withdraw to their side of the Niagara.
34:34December 1813 was to be a bleak, bloody Christmas here in Newark.
34:39Little would be heard of peace on earth or goodwill to men.
34:42On the 10th, the Americans finally abandoned the fort, but they didn't leave quietly.
34:48They burned it to the ground and then they turned their attention to Newark.
34:55Ninety-eight houses, two churches, the jail, courthouse and library are all put to the torch.
35:03In one case, a sick woman is carried in her bed out into the snow while troops set her house on fire.
35:08It's not only the devastation we need to bear in mind, it's the sickness and starvation that followed.
35:18December in Canada and temperatures are well below freezing.
35:23It's difficult to imagine this pretty little place destroyed.
35:28It was quickly rebuilt and renamed Niagara-on-the-Lake.
35:31It's one of Ontario's most attractive towns, known for the Shaw Theatre Festival
35:35and an ambience that draws hordes of day-trippers throughout the summer.
35:42The burning of Newark outraged the British and they immediately took their revenge.
35:46That December, the towns of Lewiston, Blackrock and Buffalo on the American shore
35:51were turned into smoking ruins. Their inhabitants left freezing or dead.
35:56The War of 1812 had taken a very dark turn, leaving the Niagara region a wasteland.
36:01After the break, we see nature at its most breathtaking, America's first professional soldiers,
36:09and the bloodiest battle of the war.
36:10The War of 1812. The Forgotten War. The last time Britain and America went to war against one another.
36:28It's in its third year, and Canada, Britain's North American provinces, continues to be in the firing line.
36:36The winter of 1813 has left communities on both sides of the border at the Niagara River devastated.
36:42It all seems a very long time ago. When we think of Niagara, we think of visitors searching out one of the world's great natural wonders, Niagara Falls.
36:52You hear the rush of water long before you see the falls themselves.
37:09It's an eye-popping sight, not so much for height, but for width and the sheer ferocity of the water.
37:15There are two main falls, the American falls on the US side, and the more impressive, Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian.
37:26The falls have been here since the end of the last ice age, but even more surprising is just how long tourists have been coming here.
37:32This place has been attracting visitors since the 1850s.
37:41There are umpteen ways of experiencing the falls. Helicopter, cable car, there are even caves burrowed into the cliffs behind.
37:49But the most traditional and still the most old-fashioned fun is to be had on a trip on board the Maid of the Mist.
37:57Niagara's favourite boat ride actually started life with a shorter storm ferry, but the building of the suspension grid was paid to that.
38:17In 1854, a new boat was launched aimed specifically at tourists, and the whole aim of the exercise is to get wet.
38:27Ah!
38:28Eeeeh!
38:29Eeeeh!
38:30Eeeeh!
38:31Stillquele
38:51Eeeeh!
38:51Eeeeh!
38:52Eeeeh!
38:53Eeeeh!
38:54Eeeeh!
38:55Eeeeh!
38:56Eeeeh!
38:57I would describe that as the world's most forceful power shower.
39:02And how did I enjoy it?
39:04I'm a bath man.
39:09By early 1814, a little revolution in thinking had taken place on the other side of the river.
39:14A new generation of U.S. officers were determined to match the Brits on the battlefield,
39:20and they spent their winter drilling and training their men.
39:23The new American commander, Jacob Brown, looked at the falls, and he thought to himself,
39:31I can fancy nothing to equal it, but the noble contest of gallant men on the field of battle,
39:37struggling for their nation's glory and their own.
39:42The American offensive began in early July, when they took Fort Erie at the southernmost point of the Niagara River.
39:48By the 5th, they'd advanced here to Chippewa, where the British got the shock of their lives.
39:562,000 British, Canadians and Indians are on this side of the creek as 1,500 Americans advance towards them.
40:04The British hold steady, but still the Americans advance into the gunfire.
40:09At this point, the British commander notices the strict formation of the American troops,
40:16their steady line in the face of withering fire, all evidence of professional training,
40:21and he exclaims, they're regulars by God!
40:23And to his amazement, it's the Americans who hold firm,
40:27and the British line that breaks and abandons the field.
40:30The Americans have transformed themselves from frightened volunteers into professional troops,
40:42and for the first time, they beat the Brits at their own game.
40:48The Americans continue north down the Niagara,
40:51and on the 25th, an accidental meeting at Lundy's Lane leads to the bloodiest battle of the war.
40:57Around 7.15pm, an American force of 1,200 stumbles across a British force of almost 3,000,
41:06and without waiting for backup, they attack.
41:11The Americans are being decimated, but at 9pm, reinforcements arrive.
41:17It's now dark, and in the smoke and confusion, both sides are suffering.
41:21Comrades are firing on one another.
41:23The Americans capture the British cannon.
41:28Three times, the Brits try to retake it.
41:31Even Napoleonic veterans fighting in the British ranks are shocked by the level of carnage.
41:39But at midnight, the Brits give up, and the Americans are so exhausted, they withdraw.
41:45Ironically, hideously, it's a draw.
41:51The casualty figures for the War of 1812 are pretty minimal in the great scheme of things,
41:57but Lundy's Lane sees the greatest loss of any battle.
42:00Over 800 dead, missing or wounded on both sides.
42:05Both Chippewa and Lundy's Lane are well worth visiting.
42:13The campaign is commemorated at Chippewa,
42:15and there's a memorial to the regiments and Indians who fought there.
42:20A memorial service to the fallen is held every 5th of July.
42:24The Battle of Lundy's Lane eerily took place on the site of a cemetery,
42:30and there are monuments to the soldiers,
42:32and even a monument to old Laura Secord.
42:39In a replay of 1813, the remainder of 1814 saw the Americans holed up in a fort, Fort Erie,
42:46while the British retained control of the rest of the region.
42:49In 1813 and 1814, why did the Americans fail to make a breakthrough here?
43:05I think a lot of it has to do with leadership on the American side,
43:09in particular in 1813.
43:10You still had a lot of inexperienced commanders,
43:13and they didn't have one big strategic plan.
43:16I mean, they had a plan, but they never really were able to execute it.
43:20On the other side of the border, the Redcoats had experienced commanders
43:24who had a very clear goal, and that was to keep their forces intact and defend.
43:28So there was a bit of an advantage there for the defenders.
43:32The Americans took this fort, but in August 1814,
43:36the British tried to recapture it.
43:39Tell us about that.
43:40In July of 1814, the Americans land here and capture this fort again
43:45and march north from here
43:47and get in two vicious battles with the British and the Canadians and the Indians.
43:51One at a place called Chippewa and the other at Lundy's Lane.
43:54And they win the battles, but they lose an awful lot of men.
43:57So they come back here to Fort Erie.
43:59The British commander in the area is a Canadian-born fellow named Drummond,
44:02and he makes the same mistake at the end of the war
44:05that the Americans make at the beginning of the war.
44:07He underestimates his adversary.
44:08So he sends in a four-pronged attack,
44:11and the Americans are well prepared, and they turn back all the attacks,
44:14except in one corner of the fort where a group of soldiers from New Brunswick
44:18get in over the wall,
44:19but the gunpowder magazine literally blows up under their feet.
44:23So very, very heavy casualties for both sides.
44:25They slug it out here for the better part of two months,
44:28making this the bloodiest battlefield of the war,
44:31and the bloodiest battlefield in Canada,
44:33before finally the Americans decide,
44:35well, we've already captured it a couple of times in the War of 1812.
44:38They blow the roof off, go home,
44:40and a few weeks later the peace treaty's signed.
44:44So in November the Americans pull out,
44:47and that was the end of their attempt to conquer Canada.
44:50And as we heard, they blew up the fort for good measure.
44:54On Christmas Eve 1814 in Belgium,
44:57the representatives of Great Britain and the United States
45:00signed a treaty, and the War of 1812 was over.
45:03What had it achieved?
45:04Well, as far as Britain and America were concerned, very little.
45:08Both agreed to return to their pre-war borders,
45:11and life went back to normal.
45:13The real losers were the Indians,
45:15who'd looked to the British for protection against the Americans.
45:18They were left to dangle.
45:20And what about the Canadians?
45:21For Canada, the War of 1812 is an early beginning of a sense of Canadianism,
45:30that on this continent there is a slightly different form of democracy,
45:35a slightly different belief system,
45:37independent of what the United States had.
45:39And that was the beginning of Canada developing that notion of
45:43from diversity comes unity,
45:45and that's been a great credo, I think, for Canada ever since.
45:48It makes a connection to a country that, after the War of 1812,
45:54is a safe haven for slaves escaping from America,
45:59a safe haven for Native peoples,
46:00and we just developed a different identity.
46:03I think it's our point of origin as Canadians in many respects,
46:06where we start to think of ourselves
46:08as something different than our American cousins
46:10and our British cousins.
46:11And that helped really shape
46:13a very multicultural and diverse Canadian identity.
46:19Today we mark together
46:20the courage of those fallen long ago,
46:23British, American, and Canadian alike.
46:25And we cherish what was born of their sacrifice,
46:28prosperity, partnership, and peace.
46:31This has been a fantastic opportunity
46:33to see what Ontario has to offer,
46:36and I've barely scratched the surface.
46:38I hope we've inspired you to set off
46:39on your own War of 1812 trail
46:42to rediscover some great characters
46:44and fantastic stories
46:45and a forgotten conflict
46:47that deserves to be better remembered.
46:51And to help you do that,
46:52you can literally follow in my footsteps.
46:55Just visit travelchannel.co.uk
46:57slash war of 1812 trail.
46:59We'll see you next time.
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