As a Canadian, I've grown up with at least some of the mythology left over from the War of 1812. "We won the war." That's a general Canadian attitude - correct in the sense, I suppose, that we didn't lose, we (more accurately in most cases the British with the assistance of Canadian militia and the native tribes) fought back the American invasions. "The militia myth" (the belief that the Canadian militia did the bulk of the fighting in Canada) is mentioned in this documentary. I know some of the big names from "our" side - Isaac Brock, Tecumseh and Laura Secord are appropriate to mention, naming, as they do, a British general, a native warrior and a heroic Canadian woman. I know about the American occupation and burning of the then Canadian capital of York (now Toronto) and I knew that in revenge for that act the British occupied and burned Washington. I knew about the mythology of the Battle of New Orleans that ultimately lifted Andrew Jackson to the presidency. I knew that many people consider this to be perhaps the most meaningless war ever fought. But there was still a lot packed into this that I didn't know. It was educational and it was balanced. It looked at all four sides of the war (American, Canadian, British and native) fairly and made good use of primary sources, particularly letters and journals of some of those who participated. And there was a lot I learned that I didn't know before.
A lot was made of the incompetence of the American generals in the early part of the war. Most were old, veterans of the Revolution, called back into service, well past their prime and really with little stomach to fight. Some of the accounts are actually somewhat humorous, to the extent that war stories can be humorous. The vision of general William Hull, paralysed with fear and drinking himself into oblivion before he surrenders Fort Detroit was an example. For all that early incompetence, though, the film makes the point that the War of 1812 was, more than anything else, the catalyst for the development of a professional American Army with generals who, by war's end, were the equal of anyone's. While I knew about the burnings of York and Washington, I hadn't realized that both sides participated in a virtual orgy of burnings, particularly in the Niagara area - even including the American City of Buffalo - and left at least some parts of Niagara as a burned out wasteland. Since I live in Niagara, I'm familiar with the battles in this area, but not with that part of the story. I hadn't heard before of the Battle of Chateauguay, in which largely French Canadian militia beat back an American invasion. I also wasn't familiar with the British accepting large numbers of freed black slaves into their military.
The War of 1812 hasn't really been remembered much by history, and it really wasn't (in the big picture) an especially important war - except in Canada, where it's seen as a sort of coming of age war; almost the moment of birth of a separate Canadian national identity. This documentary is both interesting and educational; a great source of information about this war which has either faded from memory or been turned into stories of mythic proportion. It's very well done. (8/10)
