Joseph Willcocks-- Part 3: His Role In the Sack of Newark

Despite offering assistance and intelligence to the U.S. forces, Willcocks was never really trusted.  His associates, Abraham Markle and Benajah  Mallory vied for control of the Canadian Volunteers.

Probably Joseph Willcocks' greatest contribution to the War of 1812 was pushing for the sack and burning of Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) on December 10, 1813, in which three buildings were left standing.

This so infuriated and  inflamed public opinion on the Canadian side of the river that barely a week later, Canadian and British forces crossed the Niagara River into the United States and took Fort Niagara and then burned pretty much everything from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.

--Brock-Perry