The Battle of York, 200 years ago, shaped Toronto and Canada: Editorial

It’s hard to imagine today but the place we call Toronto was once brutally invaded by a foreign power, looted and its public buildings burned. That was the penalty for defeat in the Battle of York, 200 years ago next Saturday. But destruction didn’t end there. A thirst for revenge ultimately resulted in the burning of the White House in Washington.

It’s entirely fitting to mark this anniversary with pomp and ceremony on Saturday, including one of the largest military parades ever organized in Toronto. Almost 200 British, Canadian and Indian defenders shed blood in this battle, and their sacrifice deserves to be remembered.

No date in the city’s history is richer with drama and consequence than April 27, 1813. Late on the previous day an American fleet of 14 warships had arrived from Sackets Harbor, New York, carrying an invading army of up to 1,800 men. The defenders of Toronto, then called York, had less than half that number.

Enemy troops began rowing ashore in the early morning, landing just west of where the Canadian National Exhibition stands now. They were met by a small force of Indian warriors, which they pushed aside. Then British regular troops attacked, desperately trying to stem the invading tide. At one point they resorted to a bayonet charge, but to no avail.

In a controversial decision the British commander, Major Gen. Roger Hale Sheaffe, concluded that resistance was hopeless. He withdrew his regulars and had them retreat to Kingston. A wooden bridge over the Don River was set ablaze in their wake and the militia and residents of York were left to their fate.

Finally, with Fort York on the verge of capture an order was given to detonate its huge supply of gunpowder. The resulting blast was heard on the other side of Lake Ontario. Stones, timber and other debris were flung almost half a kilometre with devastating effect.

About 40 Americans were killed, including the commander of the landing force, Brigadier Gen. Zebulon Pike, a famous explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. And more than 200 invaders were wounded. (Here’s proof that anyone who thinks Canadian history is boring simply doesn’t know the topic.)

York was captured despite these losses and beginning the next day the town was plundered. Homes were looted and buildings housing the Legislative Assembly, at Front and Parliament Sts., were burned before the Americans sailed away on May 8.

Outrage over that wanton destruction inspired British forces to invade and despoil Washington a year later, including setting fire to the White House. And it had another, more important effect. Anger over the fate of York and the heartless burning of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) in December of that year galvanized Canadian resistance in the War of 1812.

Some southern Ontario settlers, especially those with roots in the United States, had been inclined to welcome American troops. Not after York and Newark. “Any idea that the Americans were liberators was long gone,” writes , his compelling book on the war.James Laxer in Tecumseh & Brock, his compelling book on the war. “Upper Canadians were becoming a people in their own right.”

That’s why April 27, 1813, is well worth remembering and commemorating. Events this day didn’t just touch Toronto, they helped give shape to Canada, too.