Little Known Facts The Monument to Brock Further Reading The Battle of Queenston Heights Isaac Brock The Battle of Bladensburg Francis Scott Key (wrote the American National Anthem)

Facts 3: From British Troops to American Beef Numbers: There were more British regular troops in North America when the War of 1812 broke out than there were men in the U.S. Regular army. Foreigners Welcome: By 1812, after nearly two decades of war against France, Britain was desperate for manpower. Since North America was regarded as a secondary theatre, various units of foreign or mercenary troops were sent there. Two such units were De Watteville’s Regiment and DeMeuron’s Regiment, nominally Swiss mercenary units which had formerly been in Dutch service but which were actually composed of every nationality in Europe, including not a few French prisoners of war. One small unit, the Independent Companies of Foreigners, were recruited entirely from French POWs. These two companies were used in a raid on Craney Island, Virginia in the spring of 1813, but after they ran riot and committed numerous acts of rape, theft and arson, were sent back to Halifax. Here too they rioted and burned down part of the town. Canada invaded: It depends on how you count them but, during the war, Lower and Upper Canada were invaded no less than nine times during the war and perhaps ten. All but three of these invasions were directed against Upper Canada. Frigate-by-Numbers: In order to reduce the incredible cost of warship construction in Canada, the Admiralty had a 32-gun frigate, HMS Psyche, built in the United Kingdom and then knocked down and transported piece by piece across the Atlantic where it was reconstructed at Kingston. Proud Memorial: When it was completed in the 1850’s, the Brock Memorial on Queenston Heights was one of the tallest structures in the world. The Battle of the Brass: The battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 was the only battle in American history where the President, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of State were all present. The Americans lost. The Rockets’ Red Glare: Although it gave the United States a national anthem, there is no evidence that any of the notoriously inaccurate Congreve rockets fired at Fort McHenry ever hit the fort. Food Service: The British army in Canada lived largely on American beef smuggled openly across the borders of New York and Vermont.