Overland Trek to Kingston John Le Couteur, British Officer

Overland Trek to Kingston Having failed in their first invasion of Lower Canada, the Americans began building up strength at Sacket’s Harbour, New York. The objective was the British garrison across Lake Ontario at Kingston. Due to the shortage of British and Canadian regular troops in the area, the only soldiers available to defend Kingston were are seven hundred miles away, in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The outcome of the battles of the War of 1812 often depended on how single battalions and individual officers responded to a crisis. In the winter of 1813, the soldiers facing the challenge are from the New Brunswick regiment, almost all of whom are Canadians. Leading them is the young officer John Le Couteur. From an old military family, Le Couteur is a fresh graduate of England's new military academy. He is fluent in French and English, and ideally suited for service in Canada. On February 5, Le Couteur records in his journal that it is clear and cold: thirteen degrees below zero in Fredericton. News has arrived that the New Brunswick regiment has been ordered to march overland to Upper Canada. This will mean crossing hundreds of miles of bush in the dead of winter; there are no roads, no trails, and no shelters. A trip like this has never been attempted before. The New Brunswickers will make the trek in an astonishing fifty-two days without losing a single one of the five hundred and fifty men. The triumphant arrival of the reinforcements in Kingston ends the immediate threat of an American attack.