The War of 1812 Begins

From the June 6, 2012, Toronto Sun "war of 1812 bicentennial events will continue to 2014" by Mitchell Smith.

It was June 1812 and the meal was over cigars and port being smoked and uncorked at the officer's mess in British Fort George in Newark, now Niagara-On-the-Lake, Ontario.  They were entertaining their counterparts, the American officers from Fort Niagara across the Niagara River, about a kilometer away.  This was just one of many reciprocal visits between the two armies.

A messenger entered the room with a dispatch.  The fort's commander read it and announced that the United States and Britain were at war.  "But," he added, let us not allow bad news to ruin a good dinner," and the conversations continued into the wee hours.

That was the cordial start to the War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier.

So It Begins.  --Brock-Perry