Historical events and circumstances that affect ordinary people are what interest me most.
Below is an article I've written that should appear in the 1813 issue of historiCITY's War of 1812 series.
An Army marches on its stomach.
Armies consume massive amounts of food, and supplying soldiers with their daily rations often poses problems. This is certainly the case for both the British and the Americans in the War of 1812. Each side seeks solutions to its problems, and their choices have a profound effect upon the
people of Upper Canada.
How much food is being consumed? In 1812 at Fort Amherstberg on the Detroit River Colonel Henry Proctor tells Major-General Isaac Brock that he requires 14 cattle and 7,000 pounds of flour a day to feed his redcoats and Tecumseh's coalition of tribes settled nearby. In Niagara at the height of the war the British soldiers are consuming 149 tons of flour and 960 cattle per month. The allied tribes require 12,000 barrels of flour per month. The oxen and horses that pull the guns and supply waggons consume as well - 168 tons of oats and hay per month. Throughout the Canadas soldiers require food.
The British army, at war with the French for nearly twenty years, has experienced commissary officers who work diligently to get what is needed from nearby farms. Unfortunately, Upper Canada is still very much a pioneer society. People work long and hard just to meet their own needs and have little excess to sell. The army in Upper Canada often pays for its purchases with paper notes promising future payment; these promissory notes will be worthless if the British lose the war, and some farmers are reluctant to accept paper. Fortunately, smuggling from anti-war New England States eases the situation. There are reports that Boston merchants secretly sell 30,000 barrels of flour to Canada in November of 1813. The Madison Administration sees the smuggling of cattle grow to scandalous proportions but is unable to stop this lucrative trade.
Sir George Prevost, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Canadas, reports to London "two-thirds of the army in Canada are at this moment eating beef provided by American contractors." The British army is largely successful in feeding its soldiers and its allies. The same can not be said of the Americans.
The American armies invading Canada are a long way from home. The supply lines are long, and the fledgling army has no experienced commissariat capable of handling this major endeavour. The Madison Administration relies upon private contractors to supply soldiers' rations, often selecting the lowest bids. The inexperienced contractors underestimate the difficulty and expense of transporting food through wilderness to the armies fighting in Canada. It costs seventy-five cents to move a barrel of flour one hundred miles by boat, but if there are no direct river routes, or the British control the waterway, the cost of transportation overland jumps to five dollars for the same task. The expense of feeding draft animals pulling waggons on dirt roads can exceed the value of the provisions they carry. In Spring and Fall rain makes the roads impassable. The availability of food varies with the seasons. Prices fluctuate. Some contractors walk away and default on their commitments. The unscrupulous ones provide rancid beef and rotten flour. The easiest thing to purchase is whiskey; that is plentiful There are accusations of war profiteering. The government's reluctance to raise taxes to pay for the war complicates matters. Malnutrition makes armies vulnerable to sickness. In the eyes of the soldiers, there is only one logical solution to the problem: foraging
American forces take food from local farmers to supplement their diet. Beginning with General Hull's invasion in July of 1812 the inhabitants of Upper Canada see their flour, livestock, fruit, and winter food supplies stolen. They see their wooden fences turned into firewood for cooking. Sometimes out of spite the enemy burns their homes and barns. As the plundering increases so too does the animosity the people of Upper Canada feel for the "liberators" who according to Hull are there to free them from "British tyranny."
Following the capture of Fort George in May of 1813, foraging accelerates on the Niagara Peninsula. The local population is constantly harassed by American soldiers searching for food. After the American defeat at Stoney Creek, Colonel John Harvey selects Lieutenant James FitzGibbon for a special mission. He is to take fifty soldiers from the 49th Regiment, proceed to DeCew House (near modern-day Thorold) and begin a campaign to stop the foraging from American-occupied Fort George. Using guerilla-style tactics FitzGibbon ambushes small, searching parties. He also prevents plundering by civilians taking advantage of the American occupation of the area. The most notorious group is from Buffalo and led by Dr. Cyrenius Chapin;
they are known by locals as "The Forty Thieves". The people recognize FitzGibbon's band as protectors; they refer to them as "the Bloody Boys" because of the damage they are able to inflict on enemy raiding parties. Eventually, an American army leaves Fort George in an attempt to put an end to "the Bloody Boys." They march through a marshy area on the escarpment known as Beaver Dams on their way to DeCew House, FitzGibbon's base camp.
When the War of 1812 begins, approximately 30% of the population of Upper Canda is Loyalist. They remember their expulsion from the United States and the confiscation of their property. They hate the Americans. Another 10% of the population is British although some of the Irish immigrants are not fond of the Crown. The majority of the population, approximately 60%, has come from the United States taking advantage of the free land grants in the 1790's. These rugged pioneers have little contact with government, and initially many are indifferent to who governs them. However, as the war progresses, as American soldiers continue to steal their food, destroy their property and damage their livelihood, as the British army continues to pay for the food it confiscates with promissory notes that will be worthless if the British lose, as it becomes evident that there will be no reparations paid if the Americans win, and as casualties among the neighbours serving in the militia increase, the sentiment in Upper Canada changes. The conflict is no longer the King's war; it is their war as well.
