Fighting on the battlefield during the War of 1812 was brutally violent and consisted of the armies, easily identified by the red uniforms worn by the British and blue uniforms worn by the Americans, lining up and firing on each other with musketry and cannons.
Warfare in the three years of hostilities was fought in the field and on water but, unlike modern warfare, it was over quickly, often within a few hours. Some historians have described the war as the last in which there was an air of chivalry. Certainly, it was the last major conflict where fighting was almost entirely confined to an area away from the civilian population. Although parts of York (Toronto) were destroyed by an American raiding party, this was nothing compared to warfare after this date as witnessed by the devastation during the American Civil War, in which entire cities were burnt to the ground.
At the conclusion of the war, the number of casualties was not large compared to later wars. The U.S. suffered 2,260 combat deaths, the British lost 1,600 and approximately 1,000 Canadian soldiers and militia died, along with an unknown number of First Nations warriors. The numbers are misleading, as more men died in the weeks and months following combat from wounds and disease than during battle due to the level of medicine at the beginning of the 19th century.
One such victim was George King of East Flamborough Township. The King family, like the Chisholms, were Loyalists from service under the British flag, moving north from Morris County, New Jersey at the end of the American Revolutionary War. They settled in Niagara and then became neighbours of the Chisholm family in East Flamborough during the last years of the 18th century.
George King, eldest son of Charles King, grew up with the three sons of George Chisholm Sr. and in 1808 married Barbara Chisholm, their youngest sister. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 2nd York Regiment, First Flank Company on May 9, 1811. He served at Detroit and Queenston Heights, but unlike many in the Flank Company of the York Regiment, he did not return to his home when hostilities ceased during the late fall of 1812. While stationed on the Niagara frontier, doing duty with members of the 2nd York, near Fort Erie, he became ill, possibly from a wound suffered at Queenston, and he died in December.
Lieutenant King’s name was entered on the list of casualties, so his wife was eligible to receive the pension paid by the government. Barbara King was left with two very young sons; both boys became wards of their uncle, William Chisholm, after their mother died in 1823.
Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.
This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 6 September 2012.
