Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:
Both I suppose, but they did have a valid complaint about the press ganging of American sailors.
That was pretty much an excuse. The Yanks thought it would be piss-easy to walk in and take over while the Limeys were fighting Boney.
They were wrong.
There were Order's in Council in effect dealing with the press-ganging before the first shots were fired in the Niagara locale. The War Hawks in Congress cared not.
St Isaac of Queenston organised the Canada's into a reasonable defensive stance and the Yanks did a good job of convincing the Colonial types that being British was preferable to being American as they burned farms along the border.
Press on the York Volunteers...