Meet Col. Joel Stone, Canada’s newest hero of the War of 1812.
Born in Connecticut in 1749, Stone moved to Upper Canada during the tumult of the American Revolution and settled at Gananoque, in eastern Ontario along
Meet Col. Joel Stone, Canada’s newest hero of the War of 1812.
Born in Connecticut in 1749, Stone moved to Upper Canada during the tumult of the American Revolution and settled at Gananoque, in eastern Ontario along the St. Lawrence River, where he opened a sawmill and got himself appointed to a variety of government posts, including commander of the local militia. But his quiet life as a gentleman settler ended when the United States declared war in June 1812. Suddenly Col. Stone and his small community found themselves in the midst of the fight for Canada.
The St. Lawrence was the British army’s sole supply route to Upper Canada and the Great Lakes. If the American military cut river access, the whole province, from Kingston to what is now Windsor, would inevitably fall to the invaders. If Canada was to exist as an independent country, Col. Stone and the Gananoque militia had to keep their part of this vital supply route open.
A challenge wasn’t long in coming. On Sept. 21, 1812, in one of the first engagements of the war, a raiding party led by Capt. Benjamin Forsyth, and comprising 100 skilled riflemen from North Carolina and Virginia, attacked Gananoque in a night raid. Their aim: create havoc, control the river and starve the British army.
“Colonel Joel Stone, commanding the Gananoque militia, successfully defended Gananoque during the first raid into Canada by American troops from Sackets Harbor during the War of 1812,” reads a recent release from the federal government, recollecting the efforts of Col. Stone and his men that night long ago. To commemorate this important but little-known battle, Ottawa is paying half of the $600,000 cost to build the Joel Stone Heritage Park—a tribute to “the founder of Gananoque and a local hero of the War of 1812.”
With the bicentennial of the war fast approaching, Canadians can expect to hear a lot more about Col. Stone and many other familiar and unfamiliar names from the conflict. It’s often said that Canada suffers from an excess of geography and a deficit of history, and so the anniversary is a rare and welcome opportunity for the entire country to celebrate a time of daunting heroes, dangerous invaders, grave perils and miraculous triumphs. Over the next three years, Ottawa is undertaking a massive campaign to remind everyone of the drama and importance of these 200-year-old stories. Expect plenty of period-dress re-enactments, well-publicized investments in existing historical sites, a new national war memorial at Parliament Hill and plenty of money for smaller local commemorations, like Col. Stone’s park.
The defence of Canada between 1812 and 1814 should be seen as a foundational moment for modern Canada. What was a disparate group of recent immigrants spread across a broad and lonely frontier became, once the war was over, a burgeoning nation with a distinct Canadian identity. The War of 1812 is as significant to the birth of Canada as Confederation. And considerably more action-packed.
Yet if war is the continuance of politics by other means, the War of 1812 may well prove the opposite is true as well. Canada is not the only former combatant gearing up for the bicentennial. Our former adversaries, those rebellious and aggressive Americans, are planning their own commemorations, and with a different take on the war. They think they won.
If Canada intends to claim victory in the War of 1812 we’re going to have to fight for it. All over again.
Often called the “forgotten war” by historians, the War of 1812 has, until now, occupied a rather small corner of the Canadian collective consciousness. Sir Isaac Brock and Laura Secord are well-known names, but largely because they’ve been appropriated for other purposes—a university and candy company. Keen history buffs may recall a few notable addresses, such as Queenston Heights, Crysler’s Farm or Lundy’s Lane, but