As celebrations unfold over the next two years, this gallery will grow with additional content from historic sites, museums, and anniversary events throughout the country.
Be sure to come back from time to time, and also check out our War of 1812 documentary at walrustv.ca.
The Treasures of Fort York
Photography by Bryan Dickie
Close-up of a reproduction drummer’s coat for the 8th (King’s) Regiment of Foot, two companies of which fought at the Battle of York, on April 27, 1813. The regiment used royal blue as the complementary colour on cuffs, collars, and shoulder straps. Drummers’ uniforms were often more elaborate than regular soldiers’ uniforms, but, unlike with other line regiments, drummers in royal regiments did not wear reversed colours to make them stand out. The braided lace on this uniform, with its double-thick weave and repeating fleur-de-lys motif, adds further distinction.
Reproduction of an active service uniform of a private in the 8th (King’s) Regiment, Grenadier Company. In the age of black powder, when dense smoke from smoothbore muskets often obscured battlefields, brightly coloured uniforms were the norm for most Western armies. British line regiments adopted different combinations of decorative lace patterns, facing colours, and button designs, so their uniforms would be visible amid the haze.
This original uniform tunic and epaulette is a rare survivor from the War of 1812. It once belonged to Lieutenant Levi Soper of the rifle company, 2nd Regiment of Leeds Militia, Upper Canada, which we know because he wrote his name, rank, and unit in the armpit. The styling and cloth suggest it is likely of American origin, possibly captured from a New York–area militia unit during the war and tailored for its new owner across the border.
The recreated Officers’ Mess Dining Room. British officers of the garrison used the Officers’ Brick Barracks and Mess Establishment from 1815 until 1870. Today the Mess Room has been restored to its 1834–37 appearance, when the 15th Regiment of Foot garrisoned the fort. The table is set for a multi-course meal for officers and local guests. On most days, officers dined simply, with more opulent meals reserved for special occasions, such as monarchs’ birthdays or victory celebrations.
The oldest surviving kitchen in Toronto, the cellar kitchen below Fort York’s 1815 Officers’ Brick Barracks, was excavated and studied between 1987 and 1990. Archaeologists discovered more than 12,000 artifacts and unearthed the rudimentary but effective drainage system.
An officer’s apartment converted to a sitting room. By the 1830s, fewer officers resided within the walls of Fort York, and some of the bedrooms were adapted as sitting rooms and offices. Furnishings for officers in the period remained elegantly simple and portable, for when they were eventually transferred to another post.
Original medical chest from the 1820s–30s. Each battalion typically had two medical practitioners attached to it, the surgeon and his mate, who examined recruits for fitness, cared for the sick and wounded, monitored the after-effects of punishments, inspected barracks, and performed autopsies. Surgeons’ chests such as this one were common in the early nineteenth century. Because they accompanied the doctors on campaign, they were compact and organized to carry an assortment of remedies, among them laxatives, diuretics, and emetics.
Reproduction of the mess hall uniform, consisting of a jacket and a peaked pillbox cap, worn by an officer of the Royal Engineers from the 1860s. The Royal Engineers bolstered Fort York’s defences when the Fenian Raids increased the likelihood of renewed conflict with the US. Nineteenth-century officers typically had more than one style of uniform, used for different purposes. Unlike enlisted soldiers, officers had to purchase all of their uniforms. They wore this short jacket for special meals and events in the officers’ mess, as an “undress” uniform or with other accoutrements.
Close-up of service ammunition for the Snider-Enfield, a breech-loading rifle (original and reproduction). By the late 1860s, infantry long arms began to evolve from muzzleloaders to breech-loaders, and ammunition changed with them. Soldiers adopted complete cartridges containing powder, a conical bullet, and a percussion cap igniter. The result was a substantial increase in the infantry’s rate of fire from that of the 1812 period.
Scale model of the schooner HMS Nancy, built by Toronto marine historian and journalist C. H. J. Snider. He constructed it using remnant timbers from the original vessel, which were discovered in 1911 at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River on Georgian Bay, near Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Built in 1789 as a fur trade schooner, the Nancy served during the War of 1812 as a Provincial Marine and Royal Navy supply vessel to posts on the Upper Great Lakes. In 1814, the ship’s crew set it ablaze, to prevent it from falling into American hands.
