River Canard, Ontario River Canard, Ontario River Canard is a hamlet of roughly 500 people in the northern part of Amherstburg, Ontario and the southern part of Lasalle, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Canard River and is approximately 12 miles south of Windsor, Ontario. It is home to St. Joseph's Church, an attractive French-Canadian church similar to St. Joachim Church in Lakeshore (now closed), and Ste. Anne's Church in Tecumseh. The town has a bowstring arch bridge that carries Essex County Road 8 over the Canard River, a tributary of the Detroit River. Originally named Rivière-aux-Canards ("Duck River") after the river,
Battle of River Canard Battle of River Canard Battle of River Canard (French "Bataille de Rivière aux Canards") was the site of an engagement between British and American forces on July 16, 1812, during the War of 1812. An American force of 280 men under Colonels Cass and Miller skirmished with a British force under Lieutenant-Colonel T.B. St. George, consisting of the British 41st Regiment, Indians and Canadian militia, near the bridge. Two British soldiers, James Hancock and John Dean were captured. Hancock would die of his wounds later in the day, becoming the first British casualty of the war. Dean was taken prisoner