The Battle of Lundy's Lane

In the year 1812, The United States declared war against Great Britain and therefore Canada as it was a territory of Britain at the time. The Americans believed Canada was a weak country and would be easy to take over.

In fact it was said that to take over Canada would simply be a matter of marching.

The U.S decided to attack Canada from three points. Detroit, Lake Champlain area and the Niagara Frontier would be the points of which they would supply themselves and engage in a feud against Canada.

Although the war of 1812 had many encounters spread throughout much of Canada and the US, the Niagara region and Niagara Falls itself was the stage for some of the bloodiest and most deadly assaults of the entire war.

The famous Battle at Lundy’s Lane is believed to be the most deadly, bloodiest and brutal conflict of the war, and it happened so near to the end.

This event occurred on the very hot and humid date of July 25th, 1814 and was mostly fought at night.

The Americans with their 5,000 soldiers outnumbered the 2,200 British soldiers, Canadian militia and First Nations warriors.

The beginning of the feud was fought with the British troops holding the high ridge that overlooked Lundy’s Lane. This was a great spot to fight the attacking Americans because the British and Canadian fighters were firing down hill and could easily fight off the attacks. However, with great determination and loss of life, the Americans eventually overcame the constant fire and overtook the British cannons. Once they had the cannons it was easy for the Americans to take control of the combat and therefore the rest of the field.

Not known to easily give up though, the British, Canadian military and First Nations continued to fight throughout the night with continues battles of close range shooting and hand to hand combat.

It was said that because the air was so still that night that the only way anyone could see who they were fighting was with the flashes from the muskets and cannon blasts.

After many failed attempts to recapture the cannons, the British and Canadians who were now exhausted retreated to the woods that were close behind the hill to rest, treat he wounded and regroup for another attempt to recapture the guns.

After seeing the British retreat back, the Americans who where just as exhausted from conflict decided to retreat back to their camp in Chippewa, which was about five kilometres away, to also rest and tend to the wounded.

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