Establishing local militia had been common practice in North America since European settlement, and Upper Canada was no exception. In accordance with the basic principle that all men were responsible for the defence of their country, most able-bodied men ages 16 to 60 were required to serve in local militia companies organized by counties and political ridings. Based on the population at the time, an estimated 11,000 militia could be mustered in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. In comparison, with nearly 10 times the population, the United States had access to 500,000 militia.
Sedentary Militia
Known collectively as the sedentary militia, militia units were typically called out only when needed, and were expected to provide designated quotas of men whenever a particular service was required. Training was minimal, consisting of annual training days which were little more than musters of the locals who brought along whatever weapons and supplies were at hand. (Photo at right: Six Nations war club, porcupine quilled neck knife, leather knife sheath and hand-hammered knife, tomahawk, powder horn used with a musket. Photo courtesy of Zig Misiak.)
In time of conflict, the militia’s main function was supporting the British troops by transporting supplies or building roads and fortifications. Untrained, ill-equipped and unpaid, the militia was never intended to be a major fighting force in the defence of North America, a role which fell primarily to Britain’s regular forces.
Indeed, at least half the men called out for militia duty failed to show up and many of those who did rarely stayed for the duration. Only about 4,000 could be counted on due to the number of relatively new migrants from the United States prior to the War of 1812. In Upper Canada, three of five settlers were Americans who did not have strong loyalty to Britain and were more interested in land than whose flag flew over it.
In 1812, at the instigation of Major General Brock, the militia was strengthened by the formation of flank companies of 100 men each. Comprised of younger men, these flank companies trained up to six days a month, and though they were not paid, served on a more regular or full-time basis. By the last year of the war the militia fought well alongside the regular British infantry. The plundering and destruction perpetrated by the American invaders earlier in the war hardened resistance and made the militia more determined to protect their homesteads and settlements.
Local Militia Units
At different times before the formation of Brant County in 1852, the local sedentary militia units were associated with regiments from other counties which had boundaries within the present Brant County, including the Norfolk, York, Oxford, Lincoln, Wentworth, Halton and Gore regiments.
During the War of 1812, three militia units were organized from the present Brant County and Six Nations area. As part of Oxford County, the men from Burford and Oakland served with the Oxford regiments. White settlers from what is now the city of Brantford, Onondaga, Tuscarora and Brantford townships served in the Lincoln regiments. The Six Nations warriors who comprised the third group served with other tribes from Upper and Lower Canada and the West.
During the War of 1812 Burford settlers were well accustomed to military activity in their midst. Burford’s militia company, known as the Burford Company of the 1st Oxford Regiment, was formed in June 1799 under the leadership of Captain Benajah Mallory. This was the first sedentary militia unit established in what is now Brant County. When the war broke out the Burford Company was led by Captain Marvel White, a retired half-pay British army officer who was also Burford’s first school master.
On June 27, 1812, White and his Company were placed under the senior command of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Bostwick, a brilliant young officer from Dover Mills (Port Dover) who later commanded the local forces at the Battle of Malcolm’s Mills in 1814. Bostwick, in turn, was under the command of Colonel Thomas Talbot who was overall commander of the London District militia which included the Oxford and Norfolk regiments.
As one of the few interior settlements in western Upper Canada, and strategically located on the Detroit Trail, the great military highway between the Niagara and Detroit frontiers, Burford was an important military post. In anticipation of the war the government had improved the road between Brant’s Ford (Brantford) and Oxford and various military units frequently assembled in Burford. The schoolhouse became a military guardhouse and supply depot. Officers of the regular army and militia officers on duty headquartered at the home of Lieut. Jacob and Sgt. Adam Yeigh (now 73 King Street). A troop encampment was set up beside the Pioneer Cemetery, and both British regulars and militia trained and paraded on the Common Parade Ground opposite the Cemetery.
In 1814, as the British hold on the western peninsula of Upper Canada was threatened, there was a plan to move the British troops encamped at Burlington to take up a position in Burford. There they could be joined by other detachments, and along with the militia and native allies cover any retreat of British forces and keep the Americans from reaching the Grand River so a retreat would not be cut off. This strategy was never executed in its entirety, but an officer and detachment of Provincial Dragoons were stationed in Burford to watch the road from Detroit and man defensive earthworks on the West Quarterline Road west of the village.
The Brant area did not experience the war directly until Brigadier-General Duncan McArthur’s raid, the skirmish at Brant’s Ford and the Battle of Malcolm’s Mills in 1814; however, this did not mean that the local militia units and Six Nations warriors were not active. They prepared for the defence of the settlements at Burford, Mount Pleasant, the Mohawk Village and Brant’s Fording Place. One of the major contributions of the 1st Oxford Regiment for the duration of the war was helping to guard settlements along the north shore of Lake Erie from American raids and invasion. Units also participated in most of the action in other theatres of the war, including the Battle at Fort Detroit, the Battle of Queenston Heights, the Battle of Fort George, and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. After the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in July 1814, small units were posted to guard the local mills which were critical to provision both the settlers and the military.