Canada in the War of 1812

How to Find your War of 1812 Soldier

 * Guide to searching for your War of 1812 Soldier

Service Records

 * 1757-1836 Canada Navy Ship Muster Roll at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1795-1850 Canada Muster Rolls at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1812 War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, RG 9 1B7, digitized images.

Pension Records

 * 1713-1882 UK, Royal Hospital, Chelsea: Regimental Registers of Pensioners, 1713-1882 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
 * 1776-1881 UK, Pension Applications For Widows and Family of Military Officers, 1776-1881 at Ancestry - index and images ($)

Misc. Records

 * 1803-1815 Canada Prisoners of War at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1812-1813 The building of Perry's fleet on Lake Erie, 1812-1813 ($)
 * 1812-1815 War of 1812 at Library and Archives of Canada - index
 * 1812-1963 Military Medals, Honour and Awards, 1812-1969 at Library and Archives of Canada - index
 * British military and naval records (RG 8, C series) - Introduction and index at Library and Archives of Canada - alpha index and images
 * War of 1812 Casualty Database, Canadian and British Regiments, is searchable by name, rank, regiment, company officer, county, previous occupation, manner of death, place of event. Regiments are still being added.

History
The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States confirmed the separate existence of the United States and the future Canada. It formally began on June 18, 1812. To end the war, the treaty of Ghent was signed 24 December 1814.
 * Canada and the War of 1812, by Tony Brown on The Royal Philatelatelic Society of Canada (RPSC) Web site.
 * The War of 1812 Website has brief histories of the war, the battles, forts, historic sites, various regiments, and much more.
 * Causes and events of the War of 1812: a Timeline - includes political events, military events, and military events in Europe.
 * The War of 1812 Website has a great deal of information about many aspects of the war, including short histories of the military units, events, clothing, battles, etc.
 * War of 1812 Wikipedia article
 * War of 1812, The Canadian Encyclopedia
 * Lucas, C.P.: The Canadian War of 1812 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, c1988), 8 leaves. Digital Library;
 * The War of 1812, Archives of Ontario, has brief histories of battlegrounds, a chronology of the war, brief biographies of important figures, etc.

Canada Military Units
The military units that fought for Canada included many men enrolled in local militia units. British regular Army regiments with men from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland also fought.


 * Canadian Units of the War of 1812, Wikipedia; lists the types of Canadian units as well as many specific regiments or other units.
 * Livingston, Edwin A: 2nd Regiment of Leeds Militia, 1814 (Prescott, Ontario: Edwin A Livingston)  pages 8 ;

Provinces
The provinces that furnished men for the military were Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Quebec), Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick.

First Nations
The First Nations were instrumental in many important Canadian victories including Michilimackinac, Detroit, Queenston Heights, Beaver Dams, Chateauguay and Crysler’s Farm.
 * Ely Parker's List of Oneida Indian Volunteers, War of 1812
 * Indigenous contributions to the War of 1812 - history by the Canadian Government website
 * First Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812 - Canadian Encyclopedia
 * Inventing a Foundation Myth: Upper Canada in the War of 1812 by Jeffrey Wasson, Clark University, PDF, page 51.

African Canadians
Many African Canadians volunteers fought in defense of Canada. They worried that the Americans would return them to slavery. The “Coloured Corps” fought at Queenston Heights and was partially made up of persons who had escaped slavery in the United States.
 * Coloured Corps: African Canadians in the War of 1812

French Canadians

 * French Canadians and the Beginning of the War of 1812: Revisiting the Lachine Riot in Histoire sociale/Social History by Sean Mills

Battles
Individual Battles
 * List of War of 1812 Battles on Wikipedia
 * Campaigns of the War of 1812-1815, against Great Britain, sketched and criticised; with brief biographies of the American engineers, George W. Cullum.
 * Battle of Queenston Heights, Queenston, Ontario (British victory) - 13 October 1812
 * The Canadian Encyclopedia
 * Wikipedia
 * American Battlefield Trust


 * Battle of Frenchtown(British victory) - 22 January 1813 at what is now Monroe, Michigan on the Raisin River
 * Battle of Lake Erie (Wikipedia) [[Image:Battle Lake Errie 1813.jpg|right|200px|Battle Lake Errie 1813.jpg]](United States naval victory) - 10 September 1813
 * Battle of the Thames (Wikipedia) (Both sides claimed victory) - 5 October 1813 at Moraviantown, on Thames River, Kent County, Ontario
 * Battle of Lundy's Lane (Both sides claimed victory) - 25 July 1814 about one mile from Niagara Falls
 * Battle of New Orleans (United States victory) (after peace treaty was signed) 8 January 1815

Societies

 * The Loyal and Patriotic Society raised and distributed money for militiamen and their families who faced hardship arising from the war. The amount of money given was based on the level of hardship.

Books
Digital Books
 * Documents Relating to the Invasion of Canada and the Surrender of Detroit, 1812. c1912. by E.A. Cruikshank. Ottawa, Ontario: Government Printing Bureau. Online at
 * General Brock by Lady Edgar. Toronto, Ontario: Morang and Co. Online at
 * The Canadian War of 1812 1988. by C.P. Lucas. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah). Online at:

Print Only Books
 * The Invasion of Canada. c1980. Pierre Berton. Boston, Massachusetts : Little, Brown and Co. ;
 * Record of the services of Canadian regiments in the War of 1812: the militia of the Eastern District; the counties of Glengarry, Stormont and Dundas. 1915. by E. A. Cruikshank. At:
 * Ancaster and the effects of the War of 1812. c2005. by Paul Grimwood. Hamilton, Ontario: Ontario Genealogical Society. Hamilton Branch. At:
 * An index of Essex and Kent militia records, 1812-1815. 1995. by Wilfred R. Lauber. Chatham [Ontario}: Ontario Genealogical Society. Kent Branch. At:   
 * An index of land claim certificates of Upper Canada militiamen who served in the War of 1812. c1995. by Wilfred R. Lauber. Toronto, Ontario: Ontario Genealogical Society. At:
 * Index of the civilian loss claims for the Western District from the War of 1812-14. c1997. by Wilfred R. Lauber. Chatham, [Ontario]; Ontario Genealogical Society, Kent Branch. At:
 * Les officiers de milice du Bas-Canada, 1812-1815 = Lower Canada's militia officers, 1812-1815. c1996. by Luc Lepine, Luc. Montreal [Quebec]: Societe genealogique canadiene-francaise. At:
 * Death at Snake Hill: secrets from a War of 1812 cemetery. c1993. by Paul Litt.Toronoto, Ontario: Dundurn Press. At:
 * Quelques officiers de 1812. c1967. by Jean-Jacques Lefebvre. Ottawa [Ontario] Societe royale du Canada. At:
 * Deadman's: Melville Island &amp; its burial ground. by Iris Shea. At: FamilySearch