William Drummond and the Battle of Fort Erie

Authors

Donald E. Graves, Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence

Abstract

The officers and men of the British army that defended Canada from American invasion during the War of 1812 knew they were “forgotten soldiers.” Fighting in a distant and secondary theatre, far from the gaze of a government and public pre-occupied with events on the continent, especially in Spain, they took a somewhat perverse pride in their status as outcasts. As one quipped about the Duke of Wellington—“thank God he managed to do without us” at Waterloo. But they also took a particular pride in their own local heroes including such men as Gordon of the 1st Regiment of Foot, Robinson of the 8th Foot, Glew of the 41st, Fitzgibbon of the 49th, Morrison of the 89th, Dawson and Tweeddale of the 100th, Scott of the 103rd and—perhaps most renowned of all—Lieutenant Colonel William Drummond of the 104th Foot.

Recommended Citation

Graves, Donald E. "William Drummond and the Battle of Fort Erie." Canadian Military History 1, 1 (1992)