Exhibit commemorates Battle of York.
The Death of Captain McNeale at the Battle of York, 27 April 1813, by BTA Griffiths (Welsh, active early 20th Century) Gouache and watercolour on artist's board. 68 x 100.4 cm, circa 1930.
Courtesy/CITY OF TORONTO MUSEUM
Nearly 200 years after the Battle of York, in which invading American forces destroyed much of what eventually became known as Toronto, those who lost their lives in the battle are being commemorated.
An upcoming exhibit at the Market Gallery will identify 181 Canadian, First Nations, American and British soldiers who died in the Battle of York and will include artifacts from the battle itself, first-person accounts and maps.
The exhibit, dubbed Finding the Fallen: The Battle of York Remembered, was put together in collaboration with historians and genealogists from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
"They tried to ferret out not just the names (of the fallen) but the stories behind the names," said Wayne Reeves, chief curator for the City of Toronto's Museum Services and co-curator of the exhibit.
The battle itself saw the Americans take over and burn down much of the Town of York less than 40 years after declaring independence from England. Given the population in the United States, the Americans believed taking Canada would be relatively easy.
"Thomas Jefferson said it would be a mere matter of marching," Reeves said. "America was a young republic at the time and they wanted to teach the British a lesson."
After suffering decisive losses throughout the War of 1812, the U.S. was looking for a quick and decisive victory. Rather than attacking more heavily-fortified battlements in Kingston and Quebec, they targeted the more lightly-defended Town of York, the capital of what was then known as Upper Canada and an important naval base.
Finding the Fallen lists 181 of the 183 men who lost their lives in the battle, including two free black men who served in the Coloured Corps and famed American explorer and brigadier general Zebulon Pike.
"There's a copy of his last letter written to his wife the night before the battle (included in the exhibit) that shows the uncertainty at the time," Reeves said. "Things were so uncertain and you can see that in the first-person accounts."
Other artifacts include parts of a First Nations musket, decorations worn by soldiers, musket balls and more.
While the Town of York was devastated in the battle, Reeves said it served to helped forge the Canadian identity. Following the Battle of York, pro-British sentiment and anti-American sentiment both rose.
"It was a pivotal moment in shaping the Canadian identity," he said. "It showed we speak the same language and look the same (as Americans) but there are very clear differences between us."
Following the battle, Canadian and British forces retaliated, storming the U.S. and capturing and burning Washington, D.C. in the Battle of Bladensburg. Records of some of the American soldiers who died in the Battle of York were difficult to track down as many of them are believed to have been destroyed at that time.
Still, a Book of Remembrance lists the names of 181 soldiers who died in the Battle of York, most of whom have been long-forgotten.
"These men never had a ramp ceremony; they were largely buried where they fell," Reeves said. "There have been battlefield graves found over the last 200 years as the (Lake Ontario) shoreline has eroded or bridges or railways have been built. Even today, we suspect there are some remains buried under Fort York and Exhibition Place."
Finding the Fallen will be on display at the Market Gallery in St. Lawrence Market's south market building from Saturday, March 3 through Saturday, Sept. 8, after which it is expected to find a permanent home in Fort York.