About the Volunteers – Canadian U.S. Volunteers

The Canadian Volunteers in 1812

The Impact of the Volunteers on the War of 1812

The most notable impact of Willcocks and the Canadian Volunteers was the press for and burning of Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) on 10 December 1813 to deny the British any ground worth holding. When the Volunteers were done, only three buildings were left standing amidst the ashes. An American witness of the burn campaign noted that Willcocks had led “banditti through the town on that fateful night . . . applying the epithet of Tory to any who disapproved of this flagrant act of barbarity.” The act of psychological terror had the opposite result Willcocks intended on the initially apathetic Canadians. The burning of Newark steeled the Canadians’ resolve and rallied their support for the British war effort, including the reprisal attack on Fort Niagara and the burning campaign waged on American soil between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

Willcocks and others were charged with treason, though he escaped the fate of his eight captured comrades who were executed for their betrayal of Britain in the wake of the Ancaster Bloody Assize trials of 1814. The Canadian Volunteers, whose numbers never exceeded that of a single company, saw combat at Chippawa , and Lundy’s Lane. Willcocks found his own bloody end while leading a skirmish during the Seige of Fort Erie, September 1814. After the Treaty of Ghent, with the war over, the Canadian Volunteers were forced to rebuild their lives in the US, since neither Washington nor London had secured any territorial gains to share with their armed forces. They were given land grants and compensation by their new country, unable to return to their old one under penalty of death.

Joseph Willcocks and the Volunteers

An enemy of Brock, blocking his attempts to prepare for a possible war with the US, was Joseph Willcocks. Born in Ireland, Willcocks was an ambitious and cagey young man interested in making a name for himself in a variety of fields, often with the help of political patrons. A former sheriff and respected publisher, he turned to politics and became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, but earned a bad name for himself as well as a conviction for contempt of the House, which landed him in jail. Still, he managed re-election, but he soon ran afoul of Brock.

Initially, Willcocks served Brock as part of the mission to secure the allegiance of the Six Nations to fight alongside the British. No coward, Willcocks also fought alongside the First Nations during the retaking of Redan Bay. Brock died in 1813 and stricter martial law was applied in the Canada’s. Willcocks rallied against these efforts as anti-democratic, and soon became disillusioned with Britain’s war effort. In July 1813, he committed treason by offering his service to the United States while still a serving member of the governing body of Upper Canada. With the rank of major in the American army, he raised the Canadian Volunteers, comprising mainly recent immigrants from the US

Willcocks lies in an unmarked grave, ignored by the country he fought against and forgotten by the country he fought for.

The Canadian Volunteers Muster Roll in 1813

Willcocks, Joseph	Major	July 10
Totman, Joshua	Adjutant	July 18
Jackson, Sr., Sam	Q. Master	July 18
Dorman, John	Surgeon	July 18
Frisbee, Gideon	Captain	July 18
Huggins, Robert	1st Lieutenant	July 18
Baker, Joseph	2nd Lieutenant	July 18
Jackson, Jr., Sam	Ensign	July 18
Hendershot, Jacob S.	Sergt. Major	August 02
Wickham, Sam Q.	Master Sgt.	July 18
Seely, Sias H.	Sergeant	July 18
Smith, Luther	Sergeant	July 18
Thomas, Seneca	Sergeant	July 18
Jac, Josiah	Sergeant	July 18
Proctor, Oliver	Corporal	July 18
Gee, William M.	Corporal	August 02
Fox, Amaser	Corporal	July 18
Pollock, James	Private	July 18
Gough, John	Private	July 18
Prentice, Gilbert	Private	July 18
Mansfield, Isaac	Private	July 18
Curtice, Grove	Private	July 18
Bennett, John H.	Private	July 18	AWOL
Brown, Matthew	Private	July 18
Farnam, Joseph	Private	July 18
Salrs, Mordic	Private	July 18
Howell, Phineas	Private	July 18	AWOL
Haskins, Olisha	Private	July 18
Wilder, Michael	Private	July 18
Smith, William	Private	July 18
Smith, Timothy	Private	July 18
McGarvin, James	Private	July 18	AWOL
Averil l, David	Private	July 18
Instine, Dsaniel	Private	July 18
Jackson, William D.	Private	July 18
Lovett, Joseph	Private	July 18
Bennett, John	Private	July 18
Follett, Henry	Private	July 18
Mead, Chauncey	Private	July 18
Kelley, George	Private	July 18
Oustuhoudt, Lucas	Private	July 18
Piersons, David	Private	July 18	Wounded
Olmsted, Job	Private	July 18
Cafs, David	Private	July 18
Johnston, John S.	Private	July 18
Dill, Johah	Private	July 18	Died Aug. 16
Ingraim, William	Private	July 18	Wounded
Beemer, Henry	Private	July 18	AWOL
Fow, John	Private	July 18	AWOL
Felly, Ambrose	Private	July 18
Lockwood, John	Private	July 18
Vanderburg, Jacob G.	Private	July 18
McGee, James	Private	August 02
McCraney, Thomas	Private	August 10
Robinson, William	Private	August 10
Reynolds, William	Private	August 10
Philips, Daniel	Private	August 10
Wilcot, Paul	Private	August 10	Wounded
Conway, Samuel	Private	August 10
Myers, Charles	Private	August 10
Meyers, Joshua	Private	August 10
McLaughlin, Laughlin	Private	August 10
Scott, John	Private	August 10
Gillis, Aias(?)	Private	August 10
Follett, Abel	Private	August 13 or 15?
McCarter, William	Private	August 13 or 15?
Newland, Cornelius	Private	August 22
Bradt, Janius (?)	Private	July 22	AWOL
Olmsted, Enoch	Private	July 22
Lepan, Anthony	Private	July 22
Lane, Peter	Private	July 22
Lane, Jacob	Private	July 22
Gardner, George T.	Private	July 22