July 20 Eight men convicted of treason in a special assize at Ancaster were hanged at Burlington.
July 25 British and American troops fought to a standstill at Lundy’s Lane, thus killing US plans to advance on the Niagara Peninsula and conquer it.
Aug. 3 A large military and naval force led from Halifax by Sir John Sherbrooke captured the fort at Castine and took control of eastern Maine from the Penobscot River to the New Brunswick border.
Aug. 14 Schooner Nancy is scuttled at Wasaga to avoid capture by American ships in pursuit. A model of it made in 1935-36 and incorporating some oak from its hull is now on display at Fort York.
Aug. 24 British forces capture Washington DC and set fire to many public buildings including the White House and Capitol.
Aug. 29 Published as a broadside in Saint John, NB, A New Song on Peace and Conquered Bonaparte by “a Loyal British Hero” reported on the war:
I hope this is a warning for the Yankee race. Those are Yankee in Canada will ever obey his face. For Canadians will fight, they are paid by the King, And so are the Indians to make the woods ring.
Sept. 6 George-Étienne Cartier, a father of Confederation (cf. Macdonald-Cartier Freeway), was born at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Lower Canada.
Sept. 11 Archibald Thomson submitted an estimate of £13,076/6 for carpentry work on the new Commandant’s House at Fort York. He settled in York in 1797 and was Roy Thomson’s great-great grandfather.
Sept. 20 Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, published the “Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore by the British. His words were set to an old British drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” It was not adopted formally as the American national anthem until 1931.
Original printed pages
