WAR OF 1812 BICENTENNIAL EXHIBIT

This was a “wow” of an exhibit. 

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is a striking sculpted structure in and of itself.  It is made of poured reinforced concrete with the pattern of the boards used for the forms clearly in evidence on the interior walls.  It has a grand entry space and multiple fine exhibits depicting the military history of Canada from the Plains of Abraham in Quebec to the remote mountains of Afghanistan.

But we came to see a special exhibit on the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812, coming to an end in these first few days of 2013. 

The 1812 exhibit gained much from its layout/design.  Off a central chamber are short halls to four separate rooms each depicting the role and impact of the war on its major participants:  the Americans, the Canadians, the British and the Native Tribes.  Although the War of 1812 is thought of primarily as America’s second war of independence, it was much more than that.  It helped forge a nation in Canada, it established true independence of the Americans from the British, it began an era of free trade (or freer trade) in which England, Canada, and America thrived together, and it lay the groundwork for the American westward expansion over the Appalachians as the Indian tribes, having lost support of the English, could not longer resist American westward expansion.

The exhibit displayed original military uniforms under vacuum in glass showcases. Very moving was the jacket of the British Major General Isaac Brock, who was killed by a bullet to the chest. The bullet hole through his woolen jacket is visible under the left lapel.

The battles of this war were fought in widely separated locations -- on the Atlantic Ocean, the Oregon coast, Great Lakes, New Orleans, and the small towns along the American-Canadian border. An astounding 35,000 persons from all sides were killed over the 3 year conflict. For the British, the War of 1812 was a distraction as they were engaged in a titanic struggle with Napoleon’s France on the continent. Americans prevailed in large part because the British were preoccupied and Wellington, after defeating the French, was unwilling to continue the war in American.

 Two of the highlights of the exhibit included
1. A battlefield grave marker (on right)
2. The original Treaty of Ghent that concluded the conflict opened to the page where John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and Albert Gallatin signed as representatives of the United States.

Isaac Brock's jacket - note partial view of bullet hole in center

Captain Bob