Surprisingly, the first major victory went to the British. This strategy was based on the belief that the British forces were too weak to withstand a direct assault. Instead, the Americans launched a two-pronged offensive: one from Detroit into the southwest of Upper Canada, and the other in the Niagara Peninsula. The American military was still in the early phases of its mobilization and did not have control of Lakes Ontario and Erie. While this was the ideal strategy, the American commanders did not adopt it in 1812. By capturing Montreal or Kingston, the Americans could disrupt Upper Canada’s supply lines and pressure the British army to surrender as they ran out of food and ammunition. The most promising strategy for the Americans to conquer Upper Canada was to circumvent it entirely. The sections below explore the key battles in Upper Canada and the surrounding Great Lakes. Their victories proved to the Americans that if they wanted to conquer Upper Canada, it would require a long and bitter struggle. Initially, Hull’s optimism seemed well founded, but the British regulars, Canadian militia and Indigenous warriors won several battles in the summer of 1812. William Hull, the American general leading the first invasion into Upper Canada, was so confident in victory that he expected little opposition. When the United States declared war on the United Kingdom, Upper Canada was ill-equipped to fight a large-scale war.
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