Anniversary: War of 1812, Part 'More' of... we're almost done

The War of 1812: A Canadian’s Perspective

Two hundred years ago the United States and Great Britan, two countries that are now staunch friends and allies, went to war...and the British colony of Canada was caught in the middle of the conflict. Today, the War of 1812 is a minor footnote to history for most Americans, coming as it did between the epic conflicts that were the War of Independence and the American Civil War. The British also attach little importance the War of 1812, preferring, I think, to forget the reaffirmation of independence by their former colonies. In sharp contrast, the War of 1812 holds an important place in Canadian history. The war has been the subject of numerous Canadian books and films, and is marked by national historic sites and museum displays. It is often said that the Canadian national identity was born in 1917 on the bloody slopes of Vimy Ridge but, in fact, the seeds of Canadian nationalism were planted over a century earlier during the War of 1812 when an outnumbered force composed of Canadian militiamen and First Nations warriors leavened with a smattering of British redcoats turned back several invasion attempts by much larger forces of American troops.

A number of larger than life Canadian heroes emerged from the conflict. Major-General Isaac Brock defeated an American army at the Battle of Queenston Heights, but at the cost of his own life. The great Shawnee chief Tecumsah united the First Nations tribes in a mighty confederacy that was later shattered by his death at the Battle of the Thames. The homesteader Laura Secord walked 20 miles over rough terrain to warn the British of an impending American attack, which allowed a small force of British regulars and Mohawk warriors to defeat an American force at the Battle of Beaver Dams. Reminders of Canada’s role in the War of 1812 abound today. Brock’s blood-stained tunic is proudly on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa; Parks Canada maintains key historic sites from the War of 1812, including Fort George National Historic Site, the Battle of Chateauguay National Historic Site, and Crysler’s Farm Battlefield, that attract large numbers of Canadians and foreign tourists; and Laura Secord has been immortalized in song and by the signature chocolates produced by the Canadian candy and ice cream manufacturer that was named in her honour.

It matters little to us that British troops burned the White House but were later defeated by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. Ask any Canadian who won the War of 1812 and the answer almost certainly will be “We did!” Former US President Thomas Jefferson without doubt missed the mark when he famously asserted that annexing Canada would be “a mere matter of marching”. Even though the eventual peace treaty between the United States and Great Britain maintained the status quo, the arguably mythic Canadian belief that our outnumbered citizen soldiers triumphed over a foreign invader is an important part of our national identity.


By: Shelldrake

Anniversary: War of 1812, Part 'Brit' of... uh, let's just say we ran out of Canadians

While the war war darn important for Canada, it wasn't much of a blip on the British radar.

The War of 1812 has been referred to as a victorious “Second War for Independence,” and used to define Canadian identity, but the British only remember 1812 as the year Napoleon marched to Moscow. This is not surprising. In British eyes, the conflict with America was an annoying sideshow. The Americans had stabbed them in the back while they, the British, were busy fighting a total war against the French Empire, directed by their most inveterate enemy. For a nation fighting Napoleon Bonaparte, James Madison was an annoying irrelevance. Consequently the American war would be fought with whatever money, manpower and naval force that could be spared, no more than seven percent of the total British military effort.

By: Brant

Anniversary: War of 1812, Part 'Next' of... we lost count

(another guest column from Internationally Acclaimed Game Maestro™ Brian Train. Also cross-posted over at grogheads.com)

THE WAR OF 1812 AS GAME
In time for the bicentennial of the invasion of Canada that began the War of 1812, here is a brief summary of board wargames dealing with the conflict

1812: The Invasion of Canada
Academy Games 1812
Here’s an interesting one that is getting a lot of attention this year: a cooperative area-control game! Up to three British players (British Regulars, Canadian Militia and Native Americans) and two American players (Regular Army and Militia). Players must cooperate with each other in order to plan and conduct their campaigns to capture Objective Areas on the map. When a truce is called, the side that controls the most enemy Objective Areas wins.

Amateurs to Arms!
Clash of Arms Games 2012
Card-driven game on the entire war. Several months per turn, cards are played for the event described on the card, or for the card’s Operations Points, which allows player activities such as moving
forces, building ships and fortifications, or raising troops. Card and game events conspire markers on the Peace Track to move the end of the game up inexorably as the governments of both countries try to end the affair without shame.

A Mere Matter of Marching
Microgame Design Group 2002
DTP game on the three summer campaigns on the Niagara Peninsula, 1812-14. Point to point movement system, company troop scale. Units move on a strategic map until they make contact, then action is resolved on a battle board.

Chippawa: Birth of the United States Army
Markham Designs 2000
DTP wargame of Chippawa at battalion level.

Fury on Champlain
3W 1994
Land and naval warfare in the Lake Champlain area during September 1814. Said to have many rules problems.

For Honour and Glory
Worthington Games 2005
Many land and sea scenarios for the War, using the Clash for a Continent system. Features map boards, terrain tiles and hardwood counters to build up scenarios. Scenarios placed in Canada include Queenston Heights, The Thames, Chrysler's Farm, Chippawa, and Lundy's Lane.

La Bataille de York 1813
Minden Games 2002
In Panzerschreck magazine #9. Solitaire tactical mini-game in which the player (as British) tries to turn back the American invasion near York (afterwards, Toronto). Tiny map, fewer than 20 counters!

Line of Fire
BSO Games 2000
Two-game DTP package by Richard Berg: Maipo, a battle in 1818 in Chile and Lundy’s Lane, the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812.

Mr. Madison’s War
GMT 2012?
Another card-driven game on the War, players have a choice between playing the event on a card for its points or using it to perform actions on the game board and score automatic points for the playing of a card as an historical event. Map covers the northern theatre at four months per turn, with a unit scale of regiments, battalions, and individual ships. This game made its P500 cut in late 2011, but no release date has been announced.

Obstinate Beyond Description
The Perfect Captain 2005
Free print and play area movement game on operations in the Niagara Peninsula. Two days per turn; “detachment” (100-200 men) troop scale.

Rocket’s Red Glare
Simulations Canada 1981, Omega Games 20??
First game to cover the entire war. Designer Stephen Newberg (a Canadian) said of this, “This game is one of my favourites of my own design. The complexity is only moderate, but the game manages to include both a strategic game covering the U.S. from New England to Louisiana, and a breakdown operational game dealing in detail with the critical Great Lakes region confrontation zone. We have land and sea combat systems, and their integration. And it actually produces good history in a tense game.” Omega Games has been promising a reprint of this Real Soon Now for six years.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming
Decision Games 1997
In Strategy & Tactics #184: three small games on the battles of Bladensburg, North Point and New Orleans.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming II
Decision Games 2004
In Strategy & Tactics #225: sequel to the first volume, with revised rules; three small games on the battles of Chippewa, The Thames and Lundy’s Lane.

War of 1812
Columbia Games 1973
Focuses on the campaigns for the Great Lakes only. Block game, introductory level rules complexity but tremendous number of decisions and lack of information make for a tense and quite balanced game.

War of 1812
Decision Games 2001
Strategy & Tactics #201
Joe Miranda design covering the entire war. Seasonal turns, regimental troop scale, point-to-point movement system that appears similar to that used in A House Divided.

Additionally, there are many naval wargames that feature individual actions from the naval part of the war.

By: Brian Train

Anniversary: War of 1812, Part 2 of... more than 2

Today's wry note is from Internationally Acclaimed Game Maestro™ Brian Train

The Canadian government announced in late 2011 that it would be spending $28 million over the next four years to commemorate the War. There will be funding for re-enactments of battles (e.g. Fort George and Queenston Heights) and significant events (e.g. the burial of Sir Isaac Brock, the journey of Laura Secord, the occupation and burning of Newark), as well as commemorative events, restorations or improvements to 40 historical sites in the Niagara Peninsula, an educational campaign and of course, websites (e.g. www.eighteentwelve.ca).

The irony of spending this amount of money on bicentennial celebrations of the start of the War (normally, don’t we commemorate the ends of wars?) has not gone unnoticed, when recent “austerity” budgets by the current neoconservative government have cut funding for the national library and archives, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Statistics Canada, research councils that fund historical inquiry, Parks Canada, and the development of Canadian Studies programs in countries outside Canada.

October 2012 will be declared a national month of commemoration for the war, capped somewhat later by the unveiling of a permanent monument to the War in a prominent position before the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. No word yet on whether the monument will be in the form of a triumphal arch, but the choice of site is curious – Ottawa did not exist in 1812 and is itself actually a byproduct of the War. It was originally called Bytown, named for Colonel John By, who in 1826 began construction of the Rideau Canal as a secure route between Montreal and Kingston on Lake Ontario, so bypassing the stretch of the St. Lawrence River that borders New York.

- Brian Train, 11 June 2012

By: Brant

Anniversary: War of 1812, Part 1 of, well, a bunch!

As a part of the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812, we've press-ganged some excellent writers into contributing a few thoughts for us on the war. Stay tuned for more this week.

First up, Jim Werbaneth, a wargamer and historian who teaches military history at the university level, and runs the Line of Departure wargaming magazine (that's been around a lot longer than Carl Prine's Line of Departure blog)...

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UNLOCKED POTENTIAL: THE LEGACY OF THE WAR OF 1812 TO THE UNITED STATES


The War of 1812 involved three countries: Great Britain, Canada and the United States. For Britain, the conflict was little more than a sideshow from the great struggle against Napoleon. Until his first abdication from the throne, the British exercised economy of force, adopting a largely defensive strategy with minimal force, especially land forces. Additionally, Britain did not press territorial demands, and under the premiership of Lord Liverpool, concluded peace on what was basically the prewar status quo. If anything, Britain conceded more than the Americans, as it abandoned the Indians of the upper Midwest whom it traditionally supported.

For Canada, the War of 1812 was far more important. With divided loyalties at the start among its Anglophone population, Canadians were forced to decide whether they owed allegiance to the Crown, or had vestigial loyalty to the United States from which many originated. In the crucible of war, Canada started down a path of nationhood that would culminate in a specific national identity, both North American and royalist.

For the United States, the legacy is confusing and, at times, overstated. The War of 1812 was never the “Second War of Independence” as which it is sometimes portrayed, and the American experiment was never truly endangered. Then when the war was over, the United States and Britain rekindled commercial and political ties, while the Americans lost a major Indian impediment to western expansion.

more after the jump!