The Battle of York was a War of 1812 battle fought in York, Upper Canada on April 27, 1813. An American force, supported by a naval flotilla, landed on the western lakeshore and captured the provincial capital after defeating an outnumbered force of regulars, militia and Ojibwe natives under the command of Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.
Battle of York by Owen Staples, 1914. The American fleet before the capture of York.
Sir Issac Brock being built in York. Both sides engaged in building freshwater fleets in an effort to gain naval supremacy on Lake Ontario.
United States Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. originally planned for an attack on Kingston, but later acquiesced to changes that made York the attack's target.
Designs of the blockhouses that were built to defend York, c. 1799
York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of Upper Canada, while he made plans to build a capital near today's London, Ontario. Simcoe renamed the location York after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, George III's second son. Simcoe gave up his plan to build a capital at London, and York became the permanent capital of Upper Canada on February 1, 1796. That year Simcoe returned to Britain and was temporarily replaced by Peter Russell.
View of York from the harbour looking north, in 1803
Depiction of the Queen's Rangers of York cutting trees down during the construction of Yonge Street, 1795.
A depiction of the Battle of York in April 1813. The battle saw an American force supported by a naval flotilla land on the lake shore to the west, and advanced against York.
View of King Street, c. 1829. The settlement's courthouse, jail, and St. James Anglican Church are visible to the left of King Street.
