War of 1812 Celebrations

Hello,

Last week I mentioned that our Island was celebrating the War of 1812 with some festivities at our fort.  Our fort was involved in the first military manoeuvre of the war - the capture of Fort Michilimanckinac.  Some voyageurs paddled all the way from General Brock's headquarters to let our fort know that the United States had declared war on Britain, and due to the voyageurs speedy paddling the British knew America had declared war before the American troops did.  The few British soldiers stationed at the fort, accompanied by First Nations warriors, Metis, and Coureur de Bois formed a surprise attack on Fort Michilimanckinac and captured it without a single shot being fired.  As a result, when the American troops got to our fort, they found it unmanned, since we were at theirs, and they burned it down.  There really isn't much left of the real fort now, but they've done a good job of rebuilding what they could and preserving what was left.  It's a fun place to visit if you ever get the chance.   If you are interested you can read more about our Fort here and here, or about the War of 1812 here.

The Voyageurs paddling by our house on their way to the fort.  

Soldiers standing for inspection.

The  US Brig 'Niagara.'

Firing their cannons at the fort.

The Sloop the 'Welcome.'

The two ships as they may have appeared during the war.  

The fort put on a great reenactment and it was a very fun and interesting day.  I think my favourite part was seeing the ships.  I have long been enchanted by pirate ships, ships of the fleet, merchant ships, etc. so they were particularly interesting to me.  There also was presentations, tours, demonstrations (the one about how a dual worked was quite fun!), and performances.  All in all, I think everyone did a great job and I was glad to be able to see it!

Have a great day,
xoxo