Event DetailsLocation:
Fanshawe Pioneer Village 2609 Fanshawe Park Road East London, ON, N5X 4A1 Canada Date: TBD, 2021 Time: Sat 10:00am - 4:30pm Sun 10:00am - 4:30pm |
About Fanshawe 1812
http://fanshawepioneervillage.ca/events/fanshawe-1812-invasion-upper-canada-2
The Village of Fanshawe represents a small farming settlement located near the north shore of Lake Erie somewhere between Port Talbot and Dover.
The date is August 16th, 1814. American ships have been spotted in the area off Port Talbot and on either side of Long Point. Americans have been raiding towns, burning and looting buildings along their way, trying to supply their own needs and deny the British forces of their own. Townspeople are nervous. Last year’s defeat at the Battle of the Thames and the recent losses at Chippawa and Fort Erie, and the burnings of Newark and St. David’s have everyone worried. The Americans wander much of the area unfettered by British forces which have been pulled back to Burlington heights.
The small British force encamped in the area is away on maneuvers. An American sympathizer (village staff or reenactor) hands out leaflets to any interested villager trying to organize support for American occupation. The small school which is in session, is entered by a small force of American Regulars. The schoolmaster is ordered to suspend classes, send the children home. Tempers fly and the Americans shout, get out now, go to your homes, stay there! Late in the afternoon, the village lies quiet under the summer sun. Villagers in the village square see approaching troops. They run screaming, sounding the alarm. Troops enter the village and ransack the weaving shed. At the Miller house the occupants are forced to flee. The women head toward the British camp, the children flee west out of town. The pottery shed is smashed, the Blacksmith shop, the mainstay of business and a lifeline for the community and the British force is set afire. The women not finding the British force have alerted Militia leaders who rally and with the aid of nearby Natives enter to give the Americans a fight. A battle develops, many of the invaders are wounded and pull back. The Americans rally and push off the small force.
Alerted by the fleeing children, the small British force arrives to drive out the raiding party.
The date is August 16th, 1814. American ships have been spotted in the area off Port Talbot and on either side of Long Point. Americans have been raiding towns, burning and looting buildings along their way, trying to supply their own needs and deny the British forces of their own. Townspeople are nervous. Last year’s defeat at the Battle of the Thames and the recent losses at Chippawa and Fort Erie, and the burnings of Newark and St. David’s have everyone worried. The Americans wander much of the area unfettered by British forces which have been pulled back to Burlington heights.
The small British force encamped in the area is away on maneuvers. An American sympathizer (village staff or reenactor) hands out leaflets to any interested villager trying to organize support for American occupation. The small school which is in session, is entered by a small force of American Regulars. The schoolmaster is ordered to suspend classes, send the children home. Tempers fly and the Americans shout, get out now, go to your homes, stay there! Late in the afternoon, the village lies quiet under the summer sun. Villagers in the village square see approaching troops. They run screaming, sounding the alarm. Troops enter the village and ransack the weaving shed. At the Miller house the occupants are forced to flee. The women head toward the British camp, the children flee west out of town. The pottery shed is smashed, the Blacksmith shop, the mainstay of business and a lifeline for the community and the British force is set afire. The women not finding the British force have alerted Militia leaders who rally and with the aid of nearby Natives enter to give the Americans a fight. A battle develops, many of the invaders are wounded and pull back. The Americans rally and push off the small force.
Alerted by the fleeing children, the small British force arrives to drive out the raiding party.
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