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Pros And Cons Of Losing The American

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In the autumn of 1813, American General Wade Hampton prepared to invade Lower Canada with the help of Colonel Robert Purdy and General George Izard. Originally, Hampton had been at Lake Champlain, and headed towards the St.Lawrence River, in conjunction with the Saint Lawrence campaign. However, when the American General was notified that the borders of Lower Canada were insufficiently defended, he turned his troops around and headed towards the Chateâuguay River. The Americans infiltrated the marshy shores of Chateâuguay as a group of more than 4000 men and some native guides. Although they outnumbered the British/Canadian soldiers nearly four to one, many of their soldiers were poorly trained and unorganized. However, the British/Canadian …show more content…

In order to accomplish this, Hampton planned to surround the British/Canadians soldiers, with the help of Purdy and Izard. As they were fighting on foreign land, the Americans were at a great disadvantage and needed to rely on native guides to find their way around the forests of Canada. Even so, the guides proved to be unreliable and resulted in Purdy and his 1000 plus men lost, wandering around in the forests. Ultimately, they collided with the enemy warriors and were presumably chased off. In addition to that, the American weapons were remarkably inaccurate and most of their ammunition ended in trees. This was a result of the battle method that the natives employed, they would hide and shoot in the shadows of trees, misleading the Americans, and confusing them as to their definite location. Furthermore, Salaberry also encouraged hoots, hollers, bugles and more during the battle, to create an illusion of a larger military force, making the Americans think that they were outnumbered. Eventually, the Americans retreated, panicked and fearful, and Montreal was safe. Although this battle is notably less violent and briefer, it known as one of the most important battles throughout the War of 1812. Since this war was won by a force of all-Canadians, a sense of pride and unity was shared amoungst the colonists, as they were able defeat a force that was at least 4 times larger, without support from Britain. Not to mention that the Americans were no longer a threat to Montréal, and the Saint Lawrence campaign had been

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